What goes around . . .

I've been working in downtown Houston for over a month now. This has been such a good change - I have a company provided bus pass, so no more horrible Houston traffic every morning and evening. No more filling up the gas-guzzling Expedition every five days. I love working in a city, as opposed to a random building off the freeway. My office is on the 52nd floor, so I have a really nice view of the city. When they finish renovating our floor and I move to the other side, the view is even better. Anyway, I wanted to blog about some of the odd similarities I've found between Houston and Washington D.C.

1. The Slug Line. I take a commuter bus in and out of work everyday. However, most mornings I have a really hard time getting to the park and ride before 8:30am. This is when the last regular bus leaves - the ones after that run every hour, and stop at some other places before getting downtown. Luckily, I've never had to get on the 9am bus, because there's a slug line. Just like I did 14+ years ago, I get a free ride to work with a stranger almost every day. I generally take the bus home - there isn't a centralized location to pick up riders going home. Plus, I do have a free pass and the buses come frequently in the early evenings when I'm headed home.

2. The Tunnels. During my various stints as a page and intern at the Capitol, I spent a lot of time in the tunnels that connect all the buildings. It turns out that the buildings in Houston are connected by tunnels too. There are restaurants, stores, banks, even doctors and dentists with tunnel locations. Since Houston weather tends to alternate between hot or raining, this is a good thing. Last week I did quite a bit of exploring and found some new places to eat, but this week I'm brown bagging it, in the interest of my wallet and waistline.