Administrative Sparkle Blog

I have always preferred working close to home.  So close in fact that I don’t have to drive if I don’t want to.  I can ride a bicycle, walk, rollerblade, whatever strikes my mood.  I just don’t like dealing with commuting traffic and paying the costs related to commuting to work, including gas and parking.

I think it started when I was a divorced mom raising two young children on my own.  I chose to live two blocks down the street so my kids could always come to my work when I was working late.  When I lived in Minneapolis, I lived two blocks from the metrodome, four blocks from my work, six blocks from the river, and could take the train into the heart of Minneapolis for music and dining.  Now I live in a Historic Park of Sacramento and just walk through the downtown mall and across the street to my job.  I live one block from the riverfront and I’m in the heart of great dining, music, museums, and theater.  Where I live overlooks the downtown city lights and on the weekends I can hear the horse drawn carriages clacking away as they round the corner under my windows.

The only transportation I keep is my bike.  Well, that’s not quite accurate.  A motorcycle.  Wait a minute that’s not quite right either.  Okay, a scooter.  Yeah, but it’s freeway legal, classed as a motorycycle, but the gas mileage and maintenance of a scooter.  That’s it!

Tonight I went for a ride with my sister.  She used to own and ride a motorcycle ten years ago, never thought she would again because she just never quite felt comfortable or safe on one.  After she saw what I decided to use as my mode of transportation after returning to California, she was hooked and got her own.  A Sym.  I ride a Honda.

I have to put my brain in a different mode when I ride with her.  She won’t ride the freeways.  But tonight I had suggested going to the other side of the river.  This can be done by driving through Discovery Park.  I tend to “idle” a bit faster mentally.  She probably drives five miles below the speed limit, while I probably tend to drive five miles above the speed limit.  Which means, at some point I have to slow down a lot for her to catch up.  I find myself at times getting impatient, but remind myself that I’m out to enjoy the ride, hang out with my sister, and the fantastic ride in some gorgeous weather.

On our way home, Discovery Park was closed.  We couldn’t get through and there aren’t that many alternatives to getting across the river to downtown without using the freeway.  Our only option was to route all the way around the perimeter and through the east side of downtown.  Instead of getting home in 10 minutes it would have taken going through the park, or 5 minutes had we jumped on the freeway, it would now take us at least 30 minutes to drive around the river line, past the University of California in Sacramento, and through downtown.

Sometimes we just don’t get to our destination the way we want or the way we think we should.  We all have different ways of doing things.  We can still get to our destination without having to make ourselves or others uncomfortable in the process.  When faced with roadblocks is when we get creative, finding other alternatives.  And, the journey just might be that much more interesting. So enjoy the experience.  It’s definitely worth the relationships that you build along the way and discovering new perspectives as you go.

Success really is more than money.  It’s about the passion, the people, and the challenge.

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