I hate driving. I really do. I hate getting cut off, I hate people riding my bumper and THEN cutting me off. I hate getting run off the road. I hate people flicking me off in their mirrors. I hate it when people speed up when I put my blinker on. I hate it when someone decides that they need to be on the other side of four lanes NOW and they sail across all of those lanes and make me slam on my brakes, while I have to figure out how I'm not going to kill the three people tailing one another behind me. I hate how everyone on the road has no idea how to drive when it: snows, rains, hails, is foggy, or generally has any other road condition other than clear and sunny. And most of all, I hate that whenever I get where I'm going, someone bitches at me about how long they've been waiting.

So what do I do? I curse, I obsessively check my speed to make sure I'm at least driving the speed limit. I check my mirrors constantly. I can't listen to music, I can't listen to CDs, all I can do is sit there, in utter panic, for however many hours I'm driving and make constant adjustments for all the other idiots on the road.

6 million people get into car accidents each year, 30,000 of them die. I suppose that should be a comforting statistic, until you realize that anyone who drives at a non-average speed (too fast or too slow) is more likely to get into an accident. Additionally, people are more likely to get in an accident when they don't know where they're going (accidents are higher around labor day, Christmas and New Years. They are also higher during summer vacation. I.E. Times when they are driving to someplace they do not usually go).

By contrast, public transit does not have these problems. In Europe, somewhere around 1400 people were killed in rail transit accidents. Only 5% of these people were people involved in public rail transit. The rest were railyard accidents and people in cars who tried to beat the trains. As far as planes, the accidents are usually a handful of really bad plane crashes, ones that we always hear about on the news. Pedestrians get killed by cars at a rate of about 4,000 a year with 70,000 being injured. Compare that to 30,000 deaths and 6 million accidents. Not to be callus, but keep in mind that if you are fleet of foot, you reduce your chances. 19% of those who die and 11% of those are injured at 65 years or older. "Bike fatalities represent 2% of all traffic fatalities" says bicyclinginfo.org. 677 people were killed in 2011. Does that reduce your chances of dying? No. You don't know what pool you're drawing from, but the number IS lower!

Not only that, but cars are a big bite out of your pocketbook. For me to own a car (and keep in mind I HATE/LOATH/Seethe in an unending fire of negativity towards driving) is about 400$ a month (gas, oil, maintenance, fees, etc.) Studies show that the average family spends about 15% of their income on owning and maintaining their vehicles. That means that I spend 15% of my working life 'earning the privilege' to put myself through my agonizing commute every morning and night. Now, if I have an hour total commute, that means I spend...

8 hours of work * .15 = 1.2 + 1 = 2.1

8 + 8 = 16

2.1/16 = 13% of my life supporting or doing something that I absolutely loathe.

Or, I could spend 13% of my life getting fit, listening to lectures/audiobooks/podcasts/language learning programs, possibly reading a book if you could find a train. Quite honestly, I'd rather spend my money on that. If I were to spend my money on a really spendy lightrail plan, I would still be spending only... 161$ a month on transit, a full 200-300$ less than I would have to spend on my car. Keep in mind, these monthly figures are figuring in the costs of licensing, fees (gov't imposed expenses) and fuel, insurance, maintenance and repairs (natural expenses). Even if I were only paying natural car expenses, my car would still cost me 280$ a month.

Now, I'm lucky. I should admit here that I do not currently pay for the repairs on my car. I couldn't afford it. I get help. My goal is to be financially independent and take care of myself, so that means I still have to think of these things.

So, I've made a plan. It's called "Get Jinyu off of the road by 2015". I am going to (1) Find a full-time job, (2) Move within a fifteen minute walk of it and (3) Get rid of my car. I am going to (4) Figure out how to take planes, trains and buses to all my favorite vacation destinations and (5)I will never, ever drive again. I know, "good luck", right? Especially since I want to get a border collie and do disc. They just stuff their events in random parks where no one can get to if they don't have a car. But.. it's a hope.

Sources:
CDC Pedestrian Safety Fact Sheet
Walking Info
European Transit Statistics
Ask.com "How many car accidents happen each year
Bicycling Crash Statistics
Cost of Car Ownership

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So... I haven't got any idea what I'm supposed to write. I know, "No plot, no problem", but... yeah, it doesn't really work out as well as you might imagine. So this is what I've got:

My Best Friend is a Serial Killer:
In this absurd comedy, when Jean Hupert returns to the anonymous suburb she grew up in, she finds herself stuck in a spider infested basement. Fed, housed, but utterly friendless, Jean tries to rebuild her life one relationship at a time. Unfortunately, the first one she picks is with the local serial killer. Will be able to find the courage to turn her only friend over to the police, will she have to put up with his creepy murderous ways forever or will forever be sooner than she thinks?

Sister Josephina and the Time Traveling Nuns:
Sister Josephina doesn't remember Mother Superior Florence Thomas, but Florence seems to remember her. She is just about to discover the secret of the time traveling nuns, but will she be able to observe time the way God intended, or is she destined to interfere? Join the sister in this time traveling drama that seeks to question the bounds of fate and time itself.

Pony Princesses: Volume 1
In Ridington, all the little girls have their own ponies. Everyone except Mongoma. Mongoma is stealing all the ponies of Ridington and replacing them with useful animals like sheep, pigs and chickens. Can the Princesses of Ridington stop her before it's too late?! (Ages 8-10)

The Harin Chronicles: William
Will had a good chance of making it in the indy rock scene back in modern day America. He was cute, he was great with a guitar, there was only one problem: he sprouted wings. But that's not the only thing that's sprouted. Back in his father's kingdom, rebels are threatening to take over the country. William's hopes and dreams are dashed, but could his fate lie elsewhere? Perhaps in the ruined fables of the Harin family? Find out in this first novel of the Harin Chronicles.

Ecotopia
In the form of yet another YA dystopia, this satirical rendition of the new sub-genre depicts Nadia, a daughter of Ecotopia, a land so plagued by so called eco-friendly inventions that the solar panels block out the sun. Still, life is pleasant enough and Nadia has decide if making a place for herself means ruining everything for everyone else.

Thoughts? Feelings?

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So... I've been terrifying myself, again. I tell you what: watching "Ghost Hunters" or "Paranormal Witness" has nothing on watching videos on "How to humanely kill a chicken" and just to prove my point... and well, horrify the rest of you, I will repost it here:



Yup... What's really creepy is when they take off all the feathers you begin to think "Mmm, chicken!" but two minutes before you thought "OMG! But it's so alive!" I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't know if I'm going to become a farmer any time soon. ...such a hypocrite...

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So, it's Poverty week in Diversity class. I've always wanted to be one of those folks who helps the poor. I feel like such a yuppie saying it, "I want to help the POOR!". Well a yuppie without that cash. What is that? Intern yuppie? A guppy? I've tried. I got really involved with the orphanages in Korea. I taught ESL to kids at the orphanage once a week for about a year. I was... freaking terrible at it. I mean, I brought flash cards and we did games, but they didn't speak much better English than when I first met them... and I'm not sure how much of it had to do with me :"). They were good kids, though. Wild crazy kids who made me tear my hair out, but good kids all the same.

Then I got back and I thought, "I'll do social work!" Everyone I talked to took one look at me and said, "Don't do it! Don't do it!" People kept on telling me about all the folks who commit suicide because they just can't make a dent. They told me about how much you take on and how you have to either become numb or quit. And I thought... oh well. So, I took that job, helping kids, and I couldn't do it, I don't know why, I lasted one freaking month and then I moved to another state. Really, mature, Jin. Anyway, then there was last year. I took the job in the needy families room because... there I was, trying to make a difference again, and-- well that's turned out 'GREAT'. I just am starting to realize that maybe I can't help being a f*ing yuppie, maybe I can't help the poor.

-but... Well, then I did this volunteer thing, and I just- I hate dealing with sensitive information, and there were all these people and all this... emotion. It's like, I could feel what they felt and what they thought. It went as follows:

1.) Who the hell are you?
2.) Who the hell do you think I am?
3.) Oh I guess they think you're cool.
4.) Wow, you think I'm just like anybody else... sweet!
5.) I still don't trust you.

Well, that lasted only the one time. I felt like I was on the first day of a new job and I already had my fill with the job I had. I just couldn't see myself doing it very long and on top of that, everyone thought I was someone I wasn't... It just squashed my brain.

Now, I'm here... I've got a basketful of unfinished business and no way forward. I am a yuppie with a part of a job, reading articles about cool things other people did, looking at an economy that promises to collapse in on itself and I think, "What can I do?" I mean, I'm not writing a check. Even if I had the money, what? "Here's some money, good luck." I mean, that's no way to treat a human being. Oh, right, look at me wave my checkbook and all your problems will go away. I don't think so. So, on I go. I check Facebook for the hundredth time. I think about all the work I have to do to get good at all the things I'm bad at and I despair.

It's like, "Thanks school. Now I'm great at being 'creative' and finding more than one way to make a box. I'm really helpful." Goll. So what do you think? Can you make a real difference? Or are you just... a gluyuppie?

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Be it extremely emotional, controversial, messed up, or whatever, this entry has been password protected.

If you know it, enter it; or, ask me for it.

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Be it extremely emotional, controversial, messed up, or whatever, this entry has been password protected.

If you know it, enter it; or, ask me for it.

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