Snake Eyes

Monday: Toyota Spyder. No radio. Tricked out sports car with stickers. Very pleasant late 20's asian woman driving. We talked about Thanksgiving & family. It was nice.

Tuesday: Honda Accord. No radio. 3rd time with these folks. Guy talked about a business trip to Reno where he lost at the tables. Fast driving but in control. I told the guy last time he gave me a ride he was talking about Vegas & losing at the tables. When I got out I told him to be careful in Vegas.

Wednesday: Honda Accord. No radio. Same guy as yesterday picks me up, and when the door of the car opens he shouts "just got back from Vegas." Total classic. What are the odds?

Wednesday Bonus Round: Coming home on the bus I jabbered with this guy the whole way home.

Thursday: Toyota Minivan. NPR. I sat way in the back because there was stuff on the middle seat. The driver & other passenger seemed to be miles away. A pleasant ride.

Indian Toothache / Tile Ho

Yesterday: Passat sedan. KPFA. 50 year old woman driver was animated & excitable. She often turned to talk to me & drove with 1 hand on the wheel, causing the car to drift slightly to the side. She talked about a meditation retreat she did in Thailand. At the end of her trip she visited India and hated it. Her family met her there on vacation. They had to run like linebackers, stiff arming the beggars out of the way as they went. Her 79 year old father was having dental problems at the time & decided to have 2 root canals while in Madras because it's so much cheaper there.

Today: Ford diesel. KFOG. 2nd time I've ridden with this guy. Construction worker type, but drinking Espresso Roma coffee while driving the big big diesel truck with one hand & balancing the coffee on the dash board at times. Things I learned about him in today's 20 minute ride: He specializes in tile work, and also does sheet rock. He makes $75/hour. It costs $70 to fill up the gas tank in his truck. He believes in very brief, business like cell phone conversations. He has a son. He gets a lot of work from craigslist - he's known to some friends as "the craigslist ho." This did not amuse the friendly, middle aged woman who was riding in the backseat. When I got out in SF & he drove down the street I noticed the truck had very large mud flaps with the state of Montana on them.

Vanity Kills

Yesterday: Mitsubishi sedan. NPR.

Today: Camry. Star 101. Indian couple. Wife had perfectly applied makeup which she was checking in the vanity mirror when I got in. Mid-way through the ride, she flipped up the vanity mirror, but then would periodically check herself in the rear view mirror. Star 101 is horrible, horrible audio torture. Plus the driver was a "I'm gonna get one car length ahead" style driver. You know the drill. Change lanes, move up, uh oh, it's slowing down, change back to the lane you were in - net result - one car length ahead. The end.

The Fog

Yesterday: Old rattling Mitsubishi sedan, KPFA.

Today: BMW Mini, NPR, foggy in the East Bay & it cleared when leaving the bridge into SF.

That's boring. But have you seen the gray album video mashup? Ringo scratches!

112 in Vegas

Civic. No radio. Driver gave a presentation in Vegas earlier this year & it was 112 degrees. I've ridden with this couple before - they are nice people. Last time the guy drove really fast - this time he drove fast, but it was a bit more relaxed. I read a story about another interesting ride today.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Tercel. NPR. Blah Blah Blah. Today I decided that the carpool blog experience will have a 1 year lifespan. I will fill in the stats from January to June, and then it will be a year in the life of a carpooler. Then I will move on to bigger & better things like blogging about what kind of tooth floss I'm using or some boring thing I did last weekend.

Commit

VW Golf. AM 740 (Madden/traffic) then NPR. 2nd time riding with this guy. Good driver. No traffic 'cos it's Vets Day.

When walking to BART this morning, a guy with saggy pants was erratically riding a cheap mountain bike down the sidewalk towards me. He was swerving so I steped to one side, then the other - he panicked & hit the brakes, then amazingly started berating me for not committing to walking on one side of the sidewalk or the other. I politely showed him there was a 5 foot wide bike lane right out there on the street. Duh. Next time I will commit. Next time if he wants to play chicken, I will put a little bit of shoulder in. Then I will draw a John Madden style chart in this blog to show you how the play transpired.