I have successfully scootered to work!

2019-02-07T17:45:40Z

T and I only have the one car between us, and since I work on campus which only has expensive and inconvenient parking, T generally takes the car. Unfortunately, that means I'm very dependent on Austin's crummy public transit, which generally doubles to triples the time any given trip takes me. I also live a mile and a half from the nearest bus stop, which doesn't help. So T and I are constantly coordinating with one another about rides add going places, and I get frustrated about that sometimes.

Also unfortunately, I have airways narrow enough to startle and horrify the ENT I visited last year, narrow enough that when I asked "what can I do to make exercise something I can engage in without constantly shorting out my breathing?" he awkwardly hemmed and hawed before suggesting I try dieting. And my balance is crappy. And I haaaaaaate bikes.

But there are little rentable electric scooters all over town right now, and buying your own is actually affordable. So I'm looking at whether or not I can train myself to use the rented kind with an eye to maybe buying one to use as a commuter vehicle.

Previous attempts to try biking have foundered on me not being strong enough to lift a bike onto the bus rack and finding bikes terrifying when I get freaked out practicing and have to stop. With the scooter, I started and stopped a lot--the ride was projected to take 10m and wound up taking 30m--but I wasn't as scared because bailing didn't feel like so much of a transition. And I did the whole ride on my own. Victory!

My ankles are bruised all to hell and I still can't breathe through the phlegm very well, but I'm cautiously going to label this a success. Hopefully I'll continue having some luck with this approach. We'll see.

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sciatrix

I have successfully scootered to work!