Skipping The Commute

A few years ago I was commuting from Lafayette, LA to Baton Rouge, LA four days a week for work. (I had Fridays off) This was driving on I-10. I did this for about seven months and it was awful. Driving on the interstate was fine usually if there were no wrecks or bad weather. It’s when you exit I-10 and drive into Lafayette city traffic. That is a nightmare. It would take me about 20 or 30 minutes to get from the interstate to my apartment. In the mornings it would take me 10 minutes because I would leave my apartment so early.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2019, the average one-way commute in the United States was just over 27 minutes or 54 minutes a day roundtrip. That’s 4.5 hours a week sitting in your car. Think about all the other things you could be doing with your time. I wanted to see how much time/money I was spending on this commute. Below is a breakdown.

1. Time - I’d leave my apartment around 6:00 a.m. Leave work around 4 p.m.

   1 hour each way

   2 hours a day

   8 hours a week

   32 hours a month

   7 months - 224 hours or 9.3 days

2. Cost - I would fill up my car once a week. I had a Prius so the cost was not too extreme.

   $25 a week

   $100 a month

   7 months - $700

3. Miles - From my apartment to my work:

   60 miles one way

   120 miles a day

   480 miles a week

   1,920 miles a month

   7 months - 13,440 miles

4. Stress - I believe I am a good driver. Most people think they are good drivers. But even though I feel comfortable behind the wheel it is still stressful. Some cars are traveling 20mph over the speed limit. 18 wheelers are passing each other. On my route, there are two bridges known for a variety of issues due to wrecks or bad weather.

I no longer commute. I moved to Baton Rouge. My commute now consists of me walking to work which is 12 minutes. (.5 mile) A month after moving, I sold my car to CarMax for $5K. It had just over 120,000 miles. I didn’t have any major issues with it. I simply didn’t need two vehicles. My wife also has a car and we use that one. I hardly use the vehicle. My work is down the street. My gym is closer than my work. The grocery is closer than my gym.

Now I save money on gas, maintenance, insurance, registration, I help out the environment, and I have a stress free commute. I understand most people can not or do not want to live near their work. I live in a city where it is possible for me. After walking to work for nearly two years, I hope I never have to commute to work in a car again.

I'm A Turkish Van Cat Owner

We have a Turkish Van in our apartment. MOZART. He’s a big guy. 13lbs or so. He’s been with us for four years. A guy was getting rid of him on Facebook and we took him in. While there have been some ups and downs living with him, overall it has been great. Here’s why he’s a good bud and why he’s a lil devil:

1. Follower - One of my favorite things about him is he loves to be around us. He follows us from room to room. If I’m in the kitchen then he sits on a chair at the table. If I’m in the bathroom he sits on the floor or on the toilet seat. Turkish Vans are known to follow their owners wherever they go.

2. Shed - He sheds a lot. There is hair everywhere in the apartment. I often find strands in my food. I’ll remove them but I wonder how many strands of hair am I not finding.

3. Food Bowl - He scratches the ground around his food to mark his territory. He does this daily. Sometimes he even scratches at the wall by the food. This website explains why cats do this.

4. Plants - My wife loves to have plants and flowers all over the apartment. The bad thing is the cat likes to eat them. We can not leave flowers or plants on the table because he will destroy them. We hang our basil in the window and have shelves on the wall to hold plants.

5. Bear - When we return home from work or school we always find this teddy bear in different spots around the apartment. The bear belongs on the bed once it’s made. But for some reason, our cat takes him off and drags him throughout the apartment.

6. Water - He loves water. No joke. Every time my wife takes a bath, he sits on the edge of the tub and lets his tail hang into the water. His coat is water-resistant. I’ll drop water on him and he doesn’t feel it. It slides onto the floor.

7. Travel - If we decide to have a weekend getaway then we have to figure out what we will do with him. We can’t put food and water in his bowls and expect him to have a good weekend. He would destroy the apartment. One time he turned on the faucet in the bathroom and water-filled up the sink and overflowed onto the ground. That was a mess. Another time he chewed the wire behind the fridge to the ice maker and water leaked all over the kitchen. Another mess. Turkish Vans really do like water.

8. Lap Cat - You can’t pick him up and hold him. No way. He will leave. He only sits on your lap or near you when he wants. At night he sleeps at the end of our bed. In the morning you can find him sleeping on your chest, neck, or sitting on the side of your head. Sometimes he sits on my back when I’m sleeping on my stomach.

9. Knock Knock - He knocks over items throughout the apartment. We often wake up to find random tchotchkes on the ground. You can put a pen on a table and he will sit by it and then slowly push it off.

10. Blankets - We have blankets on parts of our furniture so he doesn’t claw up the sides. I run after him or yell so he stops. That often does the trick but it doesn’t teach him a lesson. My mom says to smack him with a newspaper but he’s pretty quick.

These are the ups and downs of having a cat.

Differences I Noticed While Living In France

In September of 2016, I moved to France to teach English at two high schools. I had no teaching experience and my French was so-so. I lived in the city of Rennes which is about three hours west of Paris. While I was there, I noticed a few things that were different compared to life back in Louisiana. I made a list on my iPhone so I wouldn’t forget.

1. Grocery Store Cashiers - They sit down. They are not on their feet all day. They scan your items and then you bag your own groceries. You have to bring your own bags too, and if you forget they charge you a fee for using plastic bags.

2. Price Your Own Produce - You price your produce so the cashier doesn’t have to do it at the register. Say you want three apples, you put them in a bag, type the number of apples into a nearby machine, and it shoots out a lil sticker that you attach to the produce. This makes a lot of sense when it comes time to check out, as the lines move so much quicker.

3. Grocery Cart - You have to pay a quarter to use a grocery cart in the store. (I believe it was a quarter.) When you are finished, you return the cart and get your quarter back. This way there are no grocery carts just hanging out in the parking lot, blocking spaces and whatnot.

4. Shaking Hands - I would go to the gym often. When someone new showed up, they would come up to nearly everyone in the weight lifting area and shake their hands. Whether I was doing leg press or dumbbell curls, said person would come up to me to shake my hand. This one time I saw a guy come in and make his way around the room, I started my next set thinking surely he would skip me, but nope. He waited until I was done and shook my hand.

5. Dinner - At a typical French dinner: bread, cheese, and salad are eaten after the entrée. Not before. So it goes appetizer, entrée, cheese/bread/salad, dessert. Nearly every Saturday while I lived in France, I had dinner at a teacher’s house who I worked with at the high school. There were always guests and great French conversations.

6. Dog Business - Typical scenario: A lady is out walking her dog. The dog uses the bathroom on the sidewalk. The lady leaves it right there on the sidewalk. I saw so much “merde de chien” on the sidewalks. You have to be careful when walking there.

7. Dressing Room - Guys always have their girlfriends with them at the clothing store. They both go into the dressing room so she can see what he looks like. This makes sense too because your girlfriend or wife has to look at you so you probably want her opinion. I can never see this happening with some of the guys I know.

8. School Day - Schools have a half-day on Wednesday. The other four days the school day starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. I’m not sure if those hours are for all students though.

9. Smoking Students - When I would arrive at the school, the students would be standing outside in a designated area smoking cigarettes. So much smoking.

10. Transportation - I didn’t have a car so I relied on public transportation. I used the metro and the bus system. It was fantastic. The metro made traveling around the city super quick. It was clean, safe, and not expensive. The bus system was excellent too. The bus would always arrive and leave on time. A lot of the high school students would go to the back of the bus. I enjoyed sitting in the first row on the bus so I could look out the window.

11. Pounds - I lost ten pounds while living in France. I believe this had to do with how much I would walk each day. I’d walk to the grocery, metro, school, gym, etc… My diet changed drastically too. I didn’t cook rice and gravy or eat boudin or fast food. I did eat a lot of cheese, baguettes, and drink a lot of wine though. I ate so much cheese while I was there that I got constipated and had to go to the pharmacy to pick up some medicine. I couldn’t help it though because there were so many delicious cheeses.

12. Wine - The wine prices were so affordable. I am talking bottles of Bordeaux/Côtes du Rhône/Burgundy for under $10. Many were under $5. The wine selection at the grocery store was huge. I would try a new bottle of Bordeaux nearly every night. I don’t think I bought a bottle that cost over $10. My favorite wine by far is Bordeaux. When my parents came to visit in the spring, we traveled south to the city of Bordeaux and went on a winery tour. We visited three Bordeaux vineyards. I bought a bottle of wine at one of the vineyards and saved it for the night when I proposed to my wife.

I know there were other differences, but those are a few I remember.