Locomotion

According to my highly academic research aka Google and Wikipedia, Los Angeles has the highest per-capita car population in the world.  These statistics are not surprising considering the following wonderful characteristics of Los Angeles, A)  horrid public transportation infrastructure

That above is the subway map for Los Angeles. I believe it serves about .01% of the population. Almost as useful as Steven Seagal in a real bar fight. I've given up on trying to remove him from my blog writing thought process. I'm letting the tidal wave of Steven Seagal-ism wash over me like a tepid aikido wave. You win Seagal. This time.

 B) the suburban crawl that has caused Los Angeles county to cover 4000 square miles, bigger than the entire country of Luxembourg.

C) the constant need for Angelenos to floss that whip while driving around. For those unaccustomed to American urban vernacular "floss that whip" means to publicly showcase your automobile in hopes of winning praise and attention from the opposite sex or to incite jealousy in those who envy your financial success. Used as thus: 

- Person A:  B Hizzle be flossing that whip, yo. What he done did? 

- Person B:  don't know man but he got the honeys all wanting to be the baby's mama. 

- Person A: Fo' shizzle. 

So, you'd expect my commute to work to be fairly standard. I'll give you a glimpse into my commute. 

Start of the morning. 

Yeah, son. Rolling in style. My GT has got 21 gears AND an ergonomic seat. Don't be hatin' because my ride has got 1/5 of a horsepower. I mean, I think I generate 1/5 of a power of a horse. Honestly, how much power does 1 horse generate. 

So every morning I get up around 6:20 and then leave the house around 6:40. First leg of the journey is a 3 mile bike ride to the Northridge Metrolink station.

The classy welcome sign. I'd want to put classy in quotes but then the SO might get mad at me for making fun of the Valley again. 

The lovely Metrolink train. Guess how much it costs for a roundtrip ticket from Northridge to Downtown L.A. Nope. Tack on another 100% to that guess. It's $14.75 for a roundtrip ticket. Good thing the company I'm interning for is paying for it or you'd get to hear me whine incessantly that I'm paying 15 dollars every day so that I can complete my 2.5 hour roundtrip commute every day. To make up for that lack of whining you get Steven Seagal rants. You're welcome. 

I work on the 28th floor of this building in Downtown LA. The view makes it easy to daydream and think about stuff other than how to fit 5 charts into 1 powerpoint slide or if my clipart has been distributed horizontally across the slide.

Now pictures I took on my commute home. 

The Metrolink station is located in between a trash processing facility and this huge electrical station.  I can hear those giant transformers buzzing all the time. I hope I'm not growing a third testicle. B-Hizzle. Now with Extra Testosterone. 

At the far end of the station's parking lot there's this youth center. Problem is I never ever see youths playing outside or inside. Actually, I never see anyone near it. 

This youth center is also surrounded by barbed wires. The entire perimeter is fenced up. Definitely looks like those youths will be having lots of fun. What the hell is the point of this place? Oh, so their website says the center "will provide the youth of this area with enriching, rewarding and instructive experiences thereby assisting in their development into mature, responsible adults. PALS will strive to be an outstanding citizen in the community by“Giving Youth a Brighter Tomorrow”. They are definitely promoting the right message but making the place look like a minimum security jail. Hey kids? Think school is like a jail? Well, we got a place that can really make you feel like you're doing 5-10 for grand theft auto and phonics. 

The place won an award for beautifying the area. I guess when you're surrounded by a trash facility and testicle growing electrical station then a barbed wire enclosed youth center is a step up. I'd consider that a blemish, the Northridge community calls it beauty. 

To the contractor who decided to build the fence that encloses nothing but is topped with barbed wire. That is just o-fence-ive. 

And with that, it is my bedtime. In about 6 hours I'm back on my bike, harnessing the raw power of B-Hizzle so that I can get into work on time.