Tag: Stat Tracking

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Bussing Broker: Week 6

Yesterday was supposed to be my tour day.  That didn’t happen.  I had the properties I wanted to see picked out, packed everything up, gloried in a rain-free sky, and went to fetch my bike for rolling around Belltown.

My front tire was flat.  Again.

This is the third time I’ve replaced the tube, gone for a ride, and found it flat when I planned to go out again.  There will be some heavy diagnostics done on that wheel this weekend because I suspect there’s something systemic at play.

I could have done a bus/walking combo, but had so many things squeezed into my agenda anyway that I skipped tour.  Instead, I toured Kirkland today.  I was meeting a client out there, so snagged a car for the tour.  Alas, a failure.  But I saw just about everything to see in Kirkland today, so there’s a silver lining.

I’m counting the portion of the car time spent on touring, but not the bridge tolls.

Location: Kirkland
Time: 3 hr
Transit modes: Car
Cost: $24.56
Cats petted: 0 (8 properties and no cats?!)
Tea consumed: Medium “The Subway to Venus,” from Tea Republik, iced.
Properties Viewed: 8

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Bussing Broker: Week 5 Part 2

Today was three properties in Capitol Hill.  A condo on Broadway, a co-op on 15th, and a new construction townhome on Denny.  The plan was to cross my fingers against rain and walk to all three.  I could have biked, but I’ll confess that biking up the incline from Broadway to 15th is a bit demoralizing, especially when I’m dressed for work and not cycling.  I made it to all three without incident.  The whole trip was over (from desk chair back to desk chair) in an hour and a half.  There were a few rain drops, but I made it mostly unscathed.  Hurray!

Location: Capitol Hill
Time: 1.5hr
Transit modes: Feet
Cost: $0
Cats petted: 0
Tea consumed: None
Properties Viewed: 3

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Bussing Broker: Week 5 Part 1

Today was a trip to the U District-Wallingford-Green Lake corridor, with a showing in each.  It rained.  I got very damp.  Also got off to an inauspicious start when I missed not one, or two, but three buses I wanted to take to the first open in the U District.  That meant I didn’t leave my office in Capitol Hill until eleven when I’d meant to be at the first property by then.

Things recovered nicely from there, though, and the rain let up halfway through.  I was very pleased to have brought a thermos with tea in it.  English tea with bergamot and a bit of honey cures rain.

I had to transfer buses to get to the first open, but the transfer went smoothly! Bus from first to second, and foot to the third, then bus back to the office with another transfer en route.  But, I made the final transfer less than two hours after getting onto the first bus.  I call that success.

Location: University District, Wallingford, Green Lake
Time: 2.25hr
Transit modes: Buses / Feet
Cats petted: 1
Tea consumed: 1 Thermos
Properties Viewed: 3

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Bussing Broker:Week 4

This week I combined touring Mercer Island with doing leg work on a vacant lot for a client.  It was pouring rain, and daylight was precious, so I opted to drive this time.  Alas.  And I ran into my first real crisis of carlessness when the car I’d reserved wasn’t there at the start of my window.  Ack!

A quick phone call to Zip Car got me a reservation, slightly bumped back, for a car that was available, and I did my rounds in a BMW for the price of a Honda.  And, despite the delays getting started, I parked the car right at the close of my original reservation window.  I call that a success.

Stats for this week are a little wonky, though, since they include client time.  Without the client work, I’d have probably done a bus/foot tour north of the canal.

Location: Mercer Island, Bellevue
Time: 3hr
Transit modes: Zip Car
Cats petted: 2
Tea consumed: 1 thermos
Properties Viewed: 6
Total cost: $24.56

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Bussing Broker: Week 3

This was a busy week full of client meetings and showings, so I didn’t make it to much of tour.  I did squeeze in two Capitol Hill properties today, though.  I’d hoped I’d get a chance to test out the new street car for tour, but the tour options weren’t convenient to the street car route.  That test will have to wait for another day.

Instead, I went on foot to two condos near the Group Health Hospital.  Both were cute, but neither had cats.  I’ll get to ride the street car this weekend, but this catless tour will never be repaired.  Alas.

Location: Capitol Hill
Time: 1 hr
Transit modes: Feet
Cats petted: 0
Tea consumed: None
Properties Viewed: 2

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Bussing Broker: Week 2 Part 2

There were four properties in Fremont and Ballard I wanted to see today.  The weather was okay and I was pretty excited because today was the day I was going to try biking to showings.  I was so excited, in fact, that I went rushing out of the office and left my helmet in the office.  I didn’t notice until I’d gone far enough that I did not want to turn around.  My office is on Capitol Hill – leaving is a much more pleasant experience than coming back by bike.  So I chased down a bus and still made it to Fremont in time for the first property I wanted to see on tour.

Half way between property one and property two, I noticed that my front tire was going flat.  I had just changed the tube in my front tire, so this was rather inconvenient.  I was already sticking to low traffic residential streets because I like my brains to stay securely inside my skull, but even I am not so stubborn as to try being a bicycle rider with one tire and no helmet.  I walked to the second showing, then hopped a bus back to the office.  My first great catastrophe of the experiment, but I still made it to half the tour, so I’m feeling more put out about missing a chance to get in a daylight bike ride when it wasn’t pouring down rain.

I’m counting the cost of the new tube against this tour, though.

Location: Ballard, Fremont
Time: 1.75 hr
Transit modes: Feet, Bus, Bike
Cats petted: 0
Tea consumed: One bottle water, no tea
Properties Viewed: 2
Cost: $7.98

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Bussing Broker: Week 1

I may have been slightly too enthusiastic about this project.  I dashed through my work for the morning and then hopped a bus up to Fremont with a plan to see four properties.  The bus got me there much faster than I’d expected it to.  So much faster that I was awkwardly early for the open of the first property.  I was forced to pass some time browsing the cookbooks at the Book Larder.  I’m feeling generous, so I’m not counting the expenses involved in that diversion against the project.  This time.

The weather was pretty pleasant, and I was armed with a thermos of tea which I sipped quite contently while wending my way from one property to the next.  It was definitely a bit slower than if I’d driven from property to property, but as anybody who’s tried to park in Fremont can attest, I saved a bundle of time by not having to park.  Probably a net loss for time by the clock, but definitely a huge gain in terms of avoiding frustration.

All told, it was an excellent and very encouraging start to the project. I’m excited to see how next week goes.

Location: Fremont, Green Lake, Ballard
Time: 2 hr
Transit modes: Feet, Bus
Cats petted: 1
Tea consumed: One Thermos
Cost: $5
Properties Viewed: 4