Time without a car
 

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time for that's the stuff life is
made of." Benjamin Franklin

Cars squander time. This seems counter intuitive when we see cars rushing
past us as we pedal. But, the bicycle is also maintaining our cardiovascular
health. For a car driver to achieve the same level of cardiovascular health
as the bicyclist, the car driver has to spend as much time exercising as
the bike driver spends pedaling.

Agreed bigtime. So a post office "run" (walk with a hand truck full of boxes) takes about an hour, I get exercise and I see a lot of neat stuff, and I'm always in a good mood when I get to the post office.

The explosive growth of heath clubs is the result of Americans getting fatter and walking less. Have you took a look at the cost of some of these clubs? Yikes!

Still. I happen to think alot of these health clubs are mixers so it can't be too bad. Another expense although.

Time is also lost trying to retrieve your mind after you arrive depressed and frazzled. Bicycling is relaxing, rush hour traffic is not.

hehe "heath clubs" I imagine people sitting around eating Heath (toffee covered in chocolate) bars.

I got a neighbor to help me out today, make a run to a local surplus place where I'd won in a sealed bid auction, a bunch of big ugly electronics gear. That was nice, and I got him a bottle of wine later today as a payback/counterfavor. But, it's interesting that as a driver he has a different view of time - we walked to the store together and waiting in line, I was peacefully zoning out, letting the lady in front of us take her time, my neighbor started griping out loud about how it's rude to check your reciept (aimed at the lady in front) while other people are waiting in line etc yadda yadda. Then, when another checker showed up and said she could help people, he hustled over there to her. Later, he gave a small lecture on this, something about the lady checking to see if her reciept is correct down to a nickel, while using up "a dollar's worth" of other people's time. Yep the old time=money rant'n'fume. What a miserable way to live.

I totally agree. As you move away from cities to highly rural areas time slows down some and if you bike it is even better. :)

Actually some of the most stressed out people I've had the displeasure to be around have been in a small town, ....... geez where's my memory going these days, can't remember if it was called Methtown or Crackburg.... too much of the time the "country" or "rural" areas are where the serious druggies go to hide out, no more small towns for me. "Highly" rural just sounds scarier.

I have lived in high density areas like Orange County and Monterey for nearly 11 years and even though I do miss the convenience ( and the beauty of the Monterey area ) it seem that the less dense an area becomes in population the less people want to rush around. Mind you, we have our share of the yuppie commuters and I am sure if I were to look hard enough I might find a hard core druggie ( unfortunately that is a national problem not just an isolated rural or urban problem ) but over all the people are kinder and gentler and more helpful to each other despite the small town clicks that might form. Perhaps that is why I have stayed here for awhile, that and the fact that I can ride for miles without seeing a car on the road sometimes.