I has a car!

Today, I took pretty much every form of ground transportation available to me.

I took a cab to work... this is familiar, as I've been doing that for days now. It pretty much knocks an hour's pay off of my profits, which is rough when you only work three hours and need to get there AND back.

Except I didn't cab back... rather, I took a bus. The buses aren't unreasonable ways to get places; they are only two bucks for two whole rides, for one thing, and you aren't expected to make small talk with the driver. But they only go where they want to go, and they aren't user-friendly about it. I'd think they'd at least make an announcement at major streets where we cross other bus routes, but they do not concern themselves with such petty matters. It got me lost once, but this time I did okay.

I took the bus to the subway; here, there are regular announcements, and here too the price is far from unreasonable. Heck, navigation is even far simpler, and getting where you want within the greater metropolitan area is cake on weekdays, at least. But you know what? It's fucking hot, cramped, dirty, and generally unpleasant. Made getting to Penn Station a very efficient bit of suck.

Commuter trains combine the best of buses and subways. They are rarely so cramped and never so hot, and while they go only in one direction, you have many options and they usually clearly announce the stops. Plus they tend towards the antiseptically clean. What they lack, distinctly, is the ability to go a medium-short distance. The gradient is set towards large jumps, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Of course I needed a large jump to get to Long Island. It's just that it wasn't quite long enough to get to my destination, but the next jump would have been too long. So, I got a ride. It's like a cab, but instead of paying with money, you pay with Nebulous Social Currency. NSC can't be earned regularly, suffers from diminishing returns, and some people are permanently broke. Fortunately, I had more than enough for Helene to give me a ride.

... to give me a ride to my car.

... to the car that is mine now, because I own it, and I can drive it wherever I want. Because it's my car.

... I have a car.