Realization of the Day:

Boy did the transit strike screw things up.

I am very lucky: I walk to work every morning. Most Londoners don't drive to work since there are steep fees for green-house gas emissions if you drive in Central London. If I remember correctly, parking even costs more if you have a car with a high emission rate. Honestly, I think they should start using this in Los Angeles and see how fast people switch to more energy-efficient cars.

Anyway, most people take the bus, the tube, the train, their legs, or their bike to work. Everyone still acts like they're in cars though. Nobody looks at anybody else. Everyone is in their own little bubble of personal space. I smile at most people I pass, especially if they're looking particularly glum. It's still novel for me to be here, so I'm generally happy to be out and about; not so, for many grumpy Londoners in the mornings. I see the men going to work in their wonderful British suits (usually pin-striped, with French cuffs, and brightly-hued ties) and I can't help but smile at their style compared with the American penchant for navy-blue suits and neutral ties. It wasn't until last week that a friend told me that these men probably thought I was flirting with them. Awesome. I have frightened dozens of British men with my strange California ways! I have pierced their bubble of solitude and made them feel really uncomfortable! Nobody is safe from my dimpled smile!

I'm not smiling these days though. For the past three days, there's been a nasty transit strike. (This article has a great picture of how the tube stations looked.) 2/3 of all the tube lines were shut down this week, effectively bringing the city to a crawl. Even my path to work changed drastically since more cars were on the road and more grumpy people were trying to dodge my friendliness. My colleagues at WBL were trying to change their schedules so that they wouldn't be travelling in rush hour, but effectively every minute was rush hour. The lines to get into all the tube stations were so long that many people just gave up. There were much fewer people using the library this week as well.

After being here, I really wish that west Los Angeles would have some kind of above-ground train system. Above ground because I would be much more comfortable using a train in a state renown for its seismic bumps if it was in a giant earth-cave.