Vanpooling, Gas Prices, Traffic and Precious Naps

I ride the vanpool everyday to work. Thank God for small mercies! If it wasn't for the vanpooling I would be spending atleast a 5000 bucks a year just on gas! Currently gas prices in and around where I live average at around $3.00 per gallon...and my car requires around 9-10 per tank...thats around 30 bucks everytime I fill it.If I drive to work, I would have to fill the tank atleast twice a week and that would cost me 60 bucks a week...So you do the math for a year...Ofcourse, I don't even have to add the miles to go with it...I would obviously spending too much money just getting to and from work...

Vanpooling has some other social benefits...They say that Vanpooling can reduce accidents significantly - it reduces the number of drivers on the road!Which was the idea behind building only 3[2+1(commuter lane)] lanes on I-405 WA...They wanted to reduce the number of single drivers,increase carpooling/vanpooling (to conserve gas) and reduce the traffic atleast by half...

And then ofcourse You would imagine when the government comes with such a bright idea people would automatically jump to it and start carpooling, right? Wrong! Well contradictory to the idea of encouraging car poolers by reducing the number of lanes on I-405, the whole plan has actually made driving a nightmare for carpoolers & vanpoolers!! People continue to drive alone everyday, they cheat by driving in the carpool lane, when there is no cop in sight...And I have listed just some of the day to day tug of wars that car poolers have with single drivers...what is worse is the lack of foresight (on part of the government) in planning the exit ramps that is seriously discouraging. Lack of commuter lane exits pushes all the traffic to the right most lane when heading towards an exit creating traffic jamps for carpoolers while trying to exit. There are numerous such impediments that commuters face on a day to day basis that can cause frustration. Phew!!! There goes all that pent up anger~

I-5 I-405

I am not saying that everyone should carpool...I understand that people that drive short distances, namely 5-25 miles do not necessarily need to carpool or vanpool. For that matter, it totally depends on what route one takes too. But, if you know you will be on I-5, I-405 or even I-520 during peak hours and you know atleast a couple of others that do that take the same route, what does it take to get together and car pool??? It only takes a little discipline and some accommodating on your part to save all that gas money and reduce traffic!!! Anyway, I feel like I am beating up a dead snake!

Alright, now to my most favorite part about "Precious Naps"... So, I take a nap when I am on the Van...mornings and evenings...thats my most looked forward to and special moment in time....I will squeeze out some time to sleep wherever possible given the fact that I have to get so freaking early to work everyday!

But lately, I have been missing out on my sleep sessions...Reason is this new chick who sits right besides me and cleans out her purse!!For crying out loud!!! The non stop sound of paper crinkling noise just annoys the hell out of me...She is apparently collecting all her bills and bits of paper and folding them constantly to throw them away? Ofcourse I lose my sleep for the next 1/2 hr or so...She is the most inconsiderate rider and if I do it by ranks....another guy in my van would win the 2nd place! He is obnoxiously loud and is constantly on the cell phone when we are riding back home...Jeez!! Dude, where are your van pool etiquettes?

Anyway, I guess I have poured out all my distress about vanpooling...If it isnt for blogging, I would be suffering with heart attacks at a premature age!!! I hope to have a good ride back home today...hope I catch a little nap while I do...

-HD