The Adventures of a DC Commuter Continue

This is a "series" I started on my MySpace blog. I'm happy to still be having adventures...at least for the sake of the stories.

I typically drive to and from work every day, but due to lack of parking, Metro is my transportation mode of choice when I enter the District. I almost had a Metro disaster the morning of my grad school interview, which was scheduled for 10am. Everything turned out okay, as the next day I found out I was admitted, but so continues...The Adventures of a DC Commuter!

I left at 9, giving myself about an hour to get to the school, knowing that the train ride itself was about 20 minutes. I probably coulda/shoulda left earlier to be on the safe side, but...I didn't. Apparently traffic on the way to the Metro station nearest me is still busy at 9am, which surprised me.

I got to the parking lot at about 9:20...cutting it close, but still enough time to get there early. I started looking for a spot...and I kept looking...I got caught following another guy looking for a spot. We split up, and neither of us found a spot.

9:25. Panic. I continued following the guy in front of me as he left the lot and drove across the street. The sign said METRO STATION PARKING (though not a part of Metro itself) but there was a big garage. *phew* I saw a guy outside and it looked like he was taking cash. I noticed another sign that validated that he was in fact, taking cash... $5 to be exact. I NEVER have cash....but miraculously I did that day!!! Paid him, ticket in my front window, 2 cars in front of me. Everyone seemed to be driving reeeally slowwwwly. Apparently a lot of people were too late to find spaces in the other lot. Four turns and two floors later, I found a spot in the garage. Thank goodness for the Yaris, because the bigger cars in front of me passed it up. Park, exit, cross street.

9:30. Walking quickly wasn't going to cut it. I started running through the parking lot with my huge tote bag, glad I decided against wearing the heels.

9:32 (according to the station clock). I used the $5 change from my $10 payment to Parking Garage Man to bring my negative Smart Card funds into the positives. 3 minutes until the next train. Commence math, trying to figure out when I would arrive. Profanities directed at self. "Are you fucking serious?! You are going to be fucking late to your *BUSINESS* school interview!?" Hopped on the train, resolved it was out of my hands, and hoped the Metro Trip Planner I had used the night before overestimated the traveling time. I decided I needed some zen, so I pulled out my book, Life of Pi, though I kept looking up at the Metro map to check the train's progress.

9:55ish. Pulled into the stop. I was delightfully surprised that the escalator was not one of the ones that were long enough to descend into hell, so I scooted out pretty quickly. AND the building turned out to be only 2 blocks away. *phew*

I think I got there at 10:00:30 am. I don't think they noticed...or at least, that's what I'm going to tell myself. "Yes, water would be lovely, thank you, it's really hot outside...heh" Ahh excuses for the sweat running down my face.