New terms

The city is a world of its own.  There is so much to learn and so many ways that people have adapted to the way of life there.

This week I learned two new terms: slugging and geo bachelor.

No slugging is not what you do with your fists.  It isn't what you do when you use a piece of metal rather than a token to catch a ride on a bus or train.  But it does have to do with transportation.

In the evenings when I have been heading home I am traveling north.  The main bulk of the traffic is traveling south...or rather they are sitting in cars, idling and hoping to be moving at some time in the next week.  That depends on the accidents caused by people who aren't paying attention or who are trying to weave in and out of traffic to save a nanosecond.

There is also another couple of lanes of traffic that seem to be moving rather well--the HOV lanes.  Another acronym meaning High Occupancy Vehicles ONLY or else you'll get a hefty ticket.  To travel in those lanes you have to have 3 or more people in your car.  You get to move with less traffic and if its possible, go 65 MPH on the way home.

There are lots of people who live in Stratford, Woodbridge and Fredericksburg, VA who travel daily to DC.  They don't want the Metro or trains.  They skip the buses and vans.  They want to drive their own car.  There are also people who will take their lives in their hands and ride with someone who they don't know.  Thus, people wait at prescribed places (not posted anywhere that I know) for rides with persons who want to drive in the HOV lanes.  No cost...except the possibility of your life.  Some of them like to drive 80-90 in the 65 zones.

Gotta get home.  Or drive out my frustration with work.

On the way back you can meet in lines at the Pentagon for a ride home.  That's slugging.  Sometimes there are more people waiting than cars.  Sometimes there are more cars than people waiting.  There are also places in the city where you can catch a ride to other destinations.  It used to be called car-pooling but with a little bit of an unknown twist.

I have been a geo bachelor for the last six months.  I live somewhere to be able to work but my permanent home and wife are somewhere else.  There are many others like this in the DC area.  In fact, I just moved into a house with 5 other geo bachelors (one of whom is a bachelorette at 61).  They are from NC, NV and other places I'm going to learn about.

Private room, shared bath with one other, common area, plenty of refrigeration space, full kitchen with privileges, laundry, street parking in a very quiet upscale neighborhood and an in-ground pool out back when the weather gets warmer.  Not bad.

I found it on www.airbnb.com.  We saw a story on TV about this type of lodging.  It's a way that many are paying for houses they can no longer afford or they want to give someone the opportunity to supplement their income and utilize some of their home.  You can stay around the world for a night, a week or for months (6yrs for one of my housemates).  The price is right and the options are incredible.  Check it out sometime.

God has now moved me from Alexandria, VA to Bowie, MD, into a house with others.  It will be interesting to see how this changes life and what new opportunities it opens up.  I've got to say it's better than the homeless shelter I lived in for a month back in 1991.

Subcultures.  There are lots of them in a city.  Most of them are off the radar.  I had never heard of geo bachelors or slugging.

I want to start writing a series entitled "I dream".  One of them will relate to community.  I wonder how this community will develop.