All In A Day's Work

My weekdays are always crazy. They start at 4:45am and i try to end them by 11:30pm. I spend approximately 4 hours on the road, 20 minutes waiting for my ride, 45 minutes taking lunch, 8 hours (and +/- 15 minutes at work), 5 hours uninterrupted sleep... the remaining 6 hours will be what you call quality time with my husband.

Every work day, something adds up to my list of "reasons why I hate the corporate world." When I first started working full-time, the only reason why I dreaded weekdays was my long bus rides. But with my new project with one of the largest banks in Hawaii, the list got longer and longer (and maybe by the time you get to read this, I've already talked to my boss about being moved to a different project!).

After 4 months...one reason fell off my list, and it is surprisingly the first reason I actually came up with in the beginning - THE BUS RIDE.

When I tell people I take the bus everyday to go to work in Honolulu... I always get the same reaction. Yup! You are right - my bus ride is LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG! I hated it at first - I mean who would like to take a 2-hour bus ride at 6am everyday and take another one after work and don't get home 'til 7:00 or 7:30 in the evening?! Well, I do... And believe it or not, I have actually found reasons to look forward to my LOOOOOOOOOONG bus rides...

1. Carl and I actually walk to the bus stop at Hale La'a Blvd. every morning to catch the 6am bus. It's like our "early morning talk" and I love it.
2. I get my dose of quiet time whenever I take the bus in the afternoon. I take the 88A (Northshore via Kahekili) which is an Express Bus. The Express comes about 15 minutes after the regular route bus (55 - Kaneohe Circle Island) leaves the bus stop. Meaning, the Express is rarely full, since almost everyone heading to the Northshore has already taken the earlier bus. We have "regulars" on the Express and we mind our own business. We take our own QUIET time!




3. I love the view when you just get past the tunnel when travelling up Likelike Highway (towards Northshore). When I sit on the driver's side of the bus, the gorgeous Koolau mountains always amaze me. And when I sit on the bus door's side, I love the view of Honolulu's cityscape.




4. I always get excited when the bus hits Kahalu'u between 6:10pm - 6:20pm. When the Express hits Kahalu'u around this time, we've beaten the regular route bus that left Honolulu 20 minutes earlier! And that also means I'll get to La'ie at around 6:45pm!




5. Carl picks me up at the Hale La'a bus stop on most nights...and if he doesn't make it at the bus stop, it means something good is cooking up in our kitchen - or much better, DINNER IS READY!

And so, lately my bus rides don't seem so long anymore. In fact, it has become my escape from the crazy corporate world...and my gateway to Carl and mine's paradise called home!