A normal commute

Oh, darn, I need milk and bread and chips.  I will be back in a couple minutes. I might gas up the car while I am there.  See you in 20 minutes...   This scenario does not apply to me.

Wednesday I had a meeting on one of the UM campuses. The meeting was scheduled for 8:30 - 12:30.  As usual, I planned to take advantage of the time on the mainland for food shopping, fuel pickup and a liquor stop.  Yes, G&Ts are important to island life. Plenty of time for all of these tasks. But the fuel dock closes at 6:00; I had to keep that in mind.

Okay.  The meeting was to start at 8:30.  I thought I would plan my arrival for 8:00 to allow for issues. I will provide you with the normal time and the time I gave myself (ex: 15/20 min.). So... my travel schedule:

• Load the boat (15/15min.) - Load garbage (disposal of my garbage is at any trash receptacle I can find) and empty diesel cans
• Crossing (35/45 min.) - the weather and water conditions can alter the crossing timing
• Docking (15/20 min,) - I keep my car at BNP. So I have to dock, empty trash into their trash cans and walk to the parking, get car ready - I keep sunshields in all windows
• Drive to UM - Coral Gables (50/60 min. from GPS) 

The time I gave myself was about 2 hours and 20 minutes. And I was planning an early arrival. And I actually started a few minutes early. The end result?  I was 30 minutes late to my New Employee Orientation. I am finding it almost impossible to plan a trip to town. 

But that was not the end of the timing issues.  I returned to Broad Key at 8:30pm. And I did not get diesel fuel, did minimal food shopping and did nothing relaxing and "Time for me". 

It has taken me three days to write this. I have had interruptions and visitors. And this post has not just "flowed". I wanted to tell you what a trip to town might be like but it was not as easy as I wanted. So, while I know I should not, I apologize to you, my loyal readers, for not providing much entertainment. Thank you for making it to this point.

cz, 10:55 10/19/14