Discouraged, Again

It's been awhile since I've posted here. And the reason for that is that it's been a while since I've ridden either the bus or my bike. I'll explain.

I've run into some trouble with my bike. It's in the shop, and has been for several weeks. I should have it back soon, but let me tell you, every day is painful without it right now. The weather is PERFECT for riding. And it won't stay like this for long.

The bus system here works so much better when you're riding a bike than it does when you are a pedestrian, that I just can't go back to using it on foot (except for those rare occasions when the bus line running by my place is the one I need to get somewhere, and the even rarer times when its schedule is convenient). In those cases, I am fine with walking around the corner and grabbing the bus. I really look forward to that, actually! Riding the bus means I have time to read something, to space out and listen to music, or maybe just to file my nails.

I bused last night to see Wicked at TPAC, downtown. The reason I could do that is that I was meeting friends, and was sure that one of them would be fine with taking me home. It's so unfortunate that my home bus line will not take me home after 8:15. If it only would, then I could have taken the bus downtown TONIGHT to see Here Come The Mummies at Live On The Green (the new outdoor concert series). But alas. The only way I could have made it work would have been to take my car somewhere I could park it near another bus line, and then ride. I started to do that, but then thought better of it. The only places I could find to park were dark and a bit too deserted for my taste.

So I ended up driving downtown, trying to find parking, and not a bit surprised to find nary a parking space in sight. Unless, of course, I was willing to park very far away from the event, and walk by myself through nighttime Nashville. I only thought about that for about 10 seconds before I remembered that a girl got raped in that area, just last week. So, no. I choose no.

Now here I am, wishing desperately that things were different and that I could actually be an independent, public transit user, and it would get me places. I am getting tired of hearing the argument that "there just aren't enough people who use it." Of course there aren't enough people who use it. Our system is un-unseable.

But I will stop my whining now. I know that there have been some efforts made recently to improve the system, and I am uneducated with these. Suppose I should at least look into it.

What I really want to do, though, is leave. Maybe that will change again tomorrow.