I have a confession to make: I love my commute.
I may be cheating: I'm only traveling into the city Monday through Thursday. Perhaps it's Friday that crushes one's soul. Or, perhaps there's still a bit of novelty attached to what is certainly a very new daily routine for me. Whatever the case may be, however, the status quo is such: Every morning at 8 AM I pay three dollars for parking, and another two for a bagel, never having woken up in time to make myself breakfast. I wait about fifteen minutes for a New Jersey Transit train to arrive. I'm not alone, of course; a woman stands far back from the platform so that she doesn't blow smoke in anyone's face. A young guy who doesn't sound like he speaks English tries to decipher the train schedule. I'm enjoying my bagel, with butter.
Everyone piles on board and a somber game ensues: thirty seconds later, scores of dejected early-risers walk the aisles of the train, looking for a stranger that doesn't look too fat or too dirty to sit next to. I take a seat next to someone kind enough not to look like they want to kill me.
And as the train starts gaining momentum on its route to New York City, with a full work day ahead of me and with my two hour (combined round-trip) commute in mind, I smile, and I turn on my DS.
God bless the public transportation system.
So, now that I have an extremely busy schedule and loads of responsibilities, I actually have more time to dedicate to gaming! I've been thinking about giving The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass another chance once of these days; my first try at it didn't get very far and was frustrating. I'm looking forward to trying out some portable games I've never had a chance to try, as well - and I'm open to suggestions!
Can anyone out there relate to the joy I am feeling at the thought of spending two hours a day on the train? Or is this, perhaps, a result of some sheltered naïveté that I am soon to grow out of? Share your thoughts in the comments!
One last thing: if anyone is interested, Bethesda recently released The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall as a free download on the Elder Scrolls web site (source: Kotaku). The Elder Scrolls: Arena has also been available there for free for some time now. If you're interested in something a little more modern, however, you may be delighted to hear that hot on the heels of the announcement of a new MechWarrior game, MechWarrior 4 and all of its expansions will be released for free, at the BattleTech and MekTek.net web sites, sometime soon (source: Kotaku).
Enjoy some free gaming courtesy of the wonders of infinite supply and sporadic demand! And help me out in my search for some good commute games.
Image courtesy of JanneM (Flickr).
That does sound pretty sweet. The only DS game that I am watching right now is Scribblenauts. That game looks so awesome. Not sure when it is being released though.
ReplyDeleteNice, I love riding trains. It's especially good when you get those new 2-story cars. Lately, though, I've been hearing good things about the "Bolt Bus", a cheap bus service to NYC that apparently has FREE WIFI.
ReplyDeleteI love trains!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you have a real job. Look at you, all grown up.
I agree. Granted I only commute to New York 2 times a week (Thursday and Friday) but I do somehow enjoy it even though I have to wake up at 5AM. I think the best feeling is getting on the bus after a long day of work and kind of just relaxing. It's the only time I really get to sort out my thoughts. I see the same people, on the subway, on the bus. And yet somehow it is sad. I see the same people everyday, I wonder if they remember seeing me the day before? Or passing the same homeless people every day. Anyway the whole thing makes me think alot. On a lighter note, I've been really upset that I don't really have a game system to bring to school next year haha except for my N64, and since I'm going to have my own room I'm thinking it's about time for me to actually beat Zelda :) This is just one of the things I think about during my commute. I think the only thing I hate is getting home so late. It sucks when it's a Friday and I get out early and still get home at like 7. LAME.
ReplyDeleteI should bring my DS on the bus haha. I have crappy games though if you have any suggestions please share. Maybe I'll get Pokemon.
ReplyDeleteIf you want suggestions that you might already be familiar with, try New Super Mario Bros., which is very similar to the old NES Mario games but updated for modern tastes. Or go with Mario Kart DS, which is probably the best one in the series. If you want to be more adventurous than that, though, do a search on a game site for a "Top Twenty" list of DS games, and read till you find something that piques your interest.
ReplyDelete