Commuting

Ontario Place

     Well, I have been commuting from my town to Toronto for just over a year now and thought I'd share some photos I've taken from the bus.  Above is a shot of Ontario Place (soon to be a casino?) taken from the bus while it goes along the Lakeshore at about 7 in the morning.  At least the sun is starting to come up en route now.  I get up at 5 a.m. on weekdays and am usually out the door by 5:25, so that I can walk or bike to the bus station and catch the 5:45 into Toronto - that usually takes about an hour and a half and I try and nap/sleep/rest for most of that.  Fortunately, I work 1-2 minutes away from the bus terminal in Toronto, so it's a quick trip there.  Most days, I leave work at 3 p.m. to catch the 3:30 bus back home.  Tuesdays, I have a lab meeting from 4-5 in the afternoon, so i take the 5:30 bus home.  Coming home is also about 1.5 hours, but the weather or an accident can make it longer still.  One day last week there was an accident on the QEW and it took 3 hours to get home!  Luckily, I always have a book or a puzzle magazine handy to help pass the time away.  There's also my jPhone, so i can play games, surf the net or send e-mails.  Best of all, there is a community of regular commuters and even if we don't know one another's names, we know almost everything else about one another.  There's a lot of camaraderie and laughter amongst us and it definitely helps with the journey to and from Toronto.  There are some people who have been commuting for 20 or more years, and once you get into the swing of it, it's not so bad.  My only big complaint is that it can make my back quite uncomfortable some days, especially if I'm tensed up about traffic conditions outside, but hey it beats driving in and having to focus on the road the whole time!

Urban view