Well Shit
I am frustrated, annoyed, angry, and disappointed. Go figure.
As you may have known, tomorrow there is a renaissance faire over past Pasadena. I was going to attend it, as was my good friend Ivegotanaxe. I managed to clear the day, but lacked transportation.
So I asked if they could pick me up on the way. The alternative was public transportation.
Now, I live a bit out of the way, and wasn’t that sure if they could made it. I retained hope, obviously.
Tonight, I called them, and found out that, no, they couldn’t pick me up, as the drive for them is rather long already.
Which leaves public transportation. I looked in a few maps of LA, and discerned the route they were going to be taking. The closest to me was a section of the 210, in Pasadena. The question was how to get there.
I checked the metro system, and found that the Gold Line rail crosses the 210 with stops nearby. Looking at the other end, nearer to me, I found it goes to Union Station.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, I go to school at LATTC. I take the Big Blue Bus(Santa Monica’s system) to school. I take the 9 bus out of my neighborhood, then take the 10 express into downtown LA. The 10 express goes to Union Station two stops after where I get off.
So, I figured, I could take the 9 to Santa Monica, then the 10 to union station, and then use the Gold Line to get to Pasadena, where I get off at Memorial Park.
With coordination with Ivegotanaxe’s family, they would pick me up around there, and take me the rest of the way to the faire. Then, on the way back, I would simply do the reverse.
I figured I’d just mapquest nearby restaurants so I could have a bite to eat while until they showed up at the designated restaurant - I also would be safer and warmer inside such a place.
I checked all the dates and times, and found that it would take me less than one hour to get to Union station, and then, depending on how long until the next Gold Line arrived, about thirty minutes to Memorial Park. Assuming they would be coming through at about 9 o’clock, I would have to leave at 7:30. There was a 9 at that time, a 10 connecting, and no obvious problems with the Gold line, since by then it would be 8:30. To be safe, I figured I would take the 7:00 9 bus, giving me leeway to eat or be late. (otherwise I would only eat if Ivegotanaxe had traffic) I could adjust the times to their estimates of time, and stay in contact via cell-phone, be sure about how everything was going during my trip. It could also be used to call assorted kinds of help if something went foul.
Quite good, right? Nice training for living by myself in Arizona starting this fall. (I might note that I avoided in all of this the amount of work it took me to do it all.)
My mother decided not to allow me to go. She cited that she didn’t want me risking my life going through downtown LA in the morning, and that she didn’t want me going via unfamiliar transportation.
We then argued over the safety and merits of my plan.
You see, I’ve wandered around down-town LA after and before class, as well as during that weird incident with the Wilshire bus. It really isn’t that bad. Yes, there are homeless people sitting around, and under the 10 freeway smells like piss for the obvious reason, but it’s not that bad a place. I feel that people imagine downtown via the stuff that pops up in the news… it is dirty, it smells, it’s rather run-down and there are some raving loons(less than in Santa Monica, strangely enough)… but it’s not that bad. Furthermore, I am quite wary. If you have heard my axiom “strength and vigilance” explained, you would know what I mean. Yes, I am secure and am confidant. However, I know that security and the confidence it affords are because I am wary - so I stay wary and distrusting at the same time. Furthermore, I was only going to be in downtown LA for at the most fifteen minutes, the entire time at union station, where there are freaking security guards. My four block walk from where I get off the 10 to LATTC is more risky, and I do that four times a week.
And it’s not that unfamiliar. As I noted earlier, I take those two buses regularly, going to school and back. I take the 9 eight times a week, and the 10 four times. The unfamiliar part is the Gold Line rail, but it’s not that hard to know when to get off, when you know both the stop and the stop before it. As for getting on, I’m at union station, the main hub of the entire Metro system - there has to be someone I can ask directions from. The other unfamiliar part is after I get off at the Memorial part stop, but the streets there are readily accessible from mapquest. If things time-wise go weird, I can just coordinate via cellphone.
Lastly, I am entirely capable of improvisation. I love to go into situations with a well thought-out plan, but can make do without. I become shameless in asking for what information I need, the reverse of what my mother seems to think.
This was illustrated in the weird incident with the Wilshire bus - I needed to get from the main UCLA Medical Center to my class in LATTC on time. I realized that the plan I had thought of the day before-taking the blue 2 to the 14 to the 10-wasn’t fast enough. So I talked with the help desk guy, and he refered me to a bus I could take downtown - the Wilshire bus(20 and 21). I ran down from UCLA to Wilshire, asking for directions on the way, and then checked with the people at the bus stop where exactly the 20 was going. I got on the metro 20, and further checked my route. Realizing that it didn’t quite go by my college, I checked which bus would take me down Grand to LATTC. I got off at Grand, and found that I had a good deal of time on my hands, so I walked down Grand, about ten blocks, to LATTC. No problems not solved.
That said, the plan I had made for that day was me saying that “heck, I’ll just use the Big Blue Buses.” In this case, I had done my best to fool-proof my route. All that remained was some coordination with Ivegotanaxe’s parents.
But my mother wouldn’t have any of it. She went ahead and called to nix any possible plans with Ivegotanaxe’s parents, then handed the phone to me. Ivegotanaxe has awesome and cool parents, but they would never go against my mother’s will. Nor would I - I respect my parent’s authority, despite what I outwardly show.
But the whole thing really pissed me off. I was disappointed that they couldn’t take me directly. I would have been disappointed if I wasn’t able to find a workable route to the faire. But I did find one, work it out well, and everything would have worked. …If not for my mother.
It is for the greater good that Ivegotanaxe’s family didn’t detour to pick me up. It is because of immutable forces that I wouldn’t have been able to get to the faire. I would be disappointed, yes, but not overly so. But the sole reason for this all not working was my mother.
It pisses me off. She noted the when I become 18, that she would be fine with all this. I am sixteen, and later this year I will be living in Arizona, quite out of her reach. I am going to be doing stuff like this there. Why the fuck not now? Why the fuck not practice on a system I am familiar with? In three months, yes, but not now?
Well shit.
Oh hey - in other news, I've decided to update this LJ every other day. Since my life is banal, you'll probably wind up with an earful of philosophical crap most of the time.
As you may have known, tomorrow there is a renaissance faire over past Pasadena. I was going to attend it, as was my good friend Ivegotanaxe. I managed to clear the day, but lacked transportation.
So I asked if they could pick me up on the way. The alternative was public transportation.
Now, I live a bit out of the way, and wasn’t that sure if they could made it. I retained hope, obviously.
Tonight, I called them, and found out that, no, they couldn’t pick me up, as the drive for them is rather long already.
Which leaves public transportation. I looked in a few maps of LA, and discerned the route they were going to be taking. The closest to me was a section of the 210, in Pasadena. The question was how to get there.
I checked the metro system, and found that the Gold Line rail crosses the 210 with stops nearby. Looking at the other end, nearer to me, I found it goes to Union Station.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, I go to school at LATTC. I take the Big Blue Bus(Santa Monica’s system) to school. I take the 9 bus out of my neighborhood, then take the 10 express into downtown LA. The 10 express goes to Union Station two stops after where I get off.
So, I figured, I could take the 9 to Santa Monica, then the 10 to union station, and then use the Gold Line to get to Pasadena, where I get off at Memorial Park.
With coordination with Ivegotanaxe’s family, they would pick me up around there, and take me the rest of the way to the faire. Then, on the way back, I would simply do the reverse.
I figured I’d just mapquest nearby restaurants so I could have a bite to eat while until they showed up at the designated restaurant - I also would be safer and warmer inside such a place.
I checked all the dates and times, and found that it would take me less than one hour to get to Union station, and then, depending on how long until the next Gold Line arrived, about thirty minutes to Memorial Park. Assuming they would be coming through at about 9 o’clock, I would have to leave at 7:30. There was a 9 at that time, a 10 connecting, and no obvious problems with the Gold line, since by then it would be 8:30. To be safe, I figured I would take the 7:00 9 bus, giving me leeway to eat or be late. (otherwise I would only eat if Ivegotanaxe had traffic) I could adjust the times to their estimates of time, and stay in contact via cell-phone, be sure about how everything was going during my trip. It could also be used to call assorted kinds of help if something went foul.
Quite good, right? Nice training for living by myself in Arizona starting this fall. (I might note that I avoided in all of this the amount of work it took me to do it all.)
My mother decided not to allow me to go. She cited that she didn’t want me risking my life going through downtown LA in the morning, and that she didn’t want me going via unfamiliar transportation.
We then argued over the safety and merits of my plan.
You see, I’ve wandered around down-town LA after and before class, as well as during that weird incident with the Wilshire bus. It really isn’t that bad. Yes, there are homeless people sitting around, and under the 10 freeway smells like piss for the obvious reason, but it’s not that bad a place. I feel that people imagine downtown via the stuff that pops up in the news… it is dirty, it smells, it’s rather run-down and there are some raving loons(less than in Santa Monica, strangely enough)… but it’s not that bad. Furthermore, I am quite wary. If you have heard my axiom “strength and vigilance” explained, you would know what I mean. Yes, I am secure and am confidant. However, I know that security and the confidence it affords are because I am wary - so I stay wary and distrusting at the same time. Furthermore, I was only going to be in downtown LA for at the most fifteen minutes, the entire time at union station, where there are freaking security guards. My four block walk from where I get off the 10 to LATTC is more risky, and I do that four times a week.
And it’s not that unfamiliar. As I noted earlier, I take those two buses regularly, going to school and back. I take the 9 eight times a week, and the 10 four times. The unfamiliar part is the Gold Line rail, but it’s not that hard to know when to get off, when you know both the stop and the stop before it. As for getting on, I’m at union station, the main hub of the entire Metro system - there has to be someone I can ask directions from. The other unfamiliar part is after I get off at the Memorial part stop, but the streets there are readily accessible from mapquest. If things time-wise go weird, I can just coordinate via cellphone.
Lastly, I am entirely capable of improvisation. I love to go into situations with a well thought-out plan, but can make do without. I become shameless in asking for what information I need, the reverse of what my mother seems to think.
This was illustrated in the weird incident with the Wilshire bus - I needed to get from the main UCLA Medical Center to my class in LATTC on time. I realized that the plan I had thought of the day before-taking the blue 2 to the 14 to the 10-wasn’t fast enough. So I talked with the help desk guy, and he refered me to a bus I could take downtown - the Wilshire bus(20 and 21). I ran down from UCLA to Wilshire, asking for directions on the way, and then checked with the people at the bus stop where exactly the 20 was going. I got on the metro 20, and further checked my route. Realizing that it didn’t quite go by my college, I checked which bus would take me down Grand to LATTC. I got off at Grand, and found that I had a good deal of time on my hands, so I walked down Grand, about ten blocks, to LATTC. No problems not solved.
That said, the plan I had made for that day was me saying that “heck, I’ll just use the Big Blue Buses.” In this case, I had done my best to fool-proof my route. All that remained was some coordination with Ivegotanaxe’s parents.
But my mother wouldn’t have any of it. She went ahead and called to nix any possible plans with Ivegotanaxe’s parents, then handed the phone to me. Ivegotanaxe has awesome and cool parents, but they would never go against my mother’s will. Nor would I - I respect my parent’s authority, despite what I outwardly show.
But the whole thing really pissed me off. I was disappointed that they couldn’t take me directly. I would have been disappointed if I wasn’t able to find a workable route to the faire. But I did find one, work it out well, and everything would have worked. …If not for my mother.
It is for the greater good that Ivegotanaxe’s family didn’t detour to pick me up. It is because of immutable forces that I wouldn’t have been able to get to the faire. I would be disappointed, yes, but not overly so. But the sole reason for this all not working was my mother.
It pisses me off. She noted the when I become 18, that she would be fine with all this. I am sixteen, and later this year I will be living in Arizona, quite out of her reach. I am going to be doing stuff like this there. Why the fuck not now? Why the fuck not practice on a system I am familiar with? In three months, yes, but not now?
Well shit.
Oh hey - in other news, I've decided to update this LJ every other day. Since my life is banal, you'll probably wind up with an earful of philosophical crap most of the time.