I only live about 3 or 4 miles from where I work, but I walk so it takes about 25 minutes.
On the way are:
1 Denny’s (and one Denny’s clone called Jonathan’s)
At least five conveniance stores
2 Indian curry restaurants
Five hotels or so
The Shinjuku police station
The headquarters of the company that contracts me out as a programmer
Four or five entrances to the subway
The Tokyo Municipal Government building
A whole lotta office buildings
A Kinko’s
One bookstore
A big metal statue that spells LOVE
Shinjuku’s electronics store district
Two or three pachinko places
etc.
Not necessarily all of that, but depending on which turns I make.
One idiot girl on a cell phone driving in the fast lane in a small car (I was in the middle lane of the M6 - so I executed a technically illegal maneuver).
30 seconds later I am watching her skid past my rear bumper as she careers across 3 lanes and back again (without having hit anything), after drifting into the central median barrier. I’m pretty sure she was OK, but she’ll need a new car seat. And a new car.
I’m glad I passed her. I didn’t stop (it was behind me - I wasn’t involved). I’d love to hear a recording from her phone
Sadly, I walk to work and pass …houses. Mostly with dead or dying lawns (we’re in a drought and can’t water them) but also a bakehouse, a newsagents and the entire walk takes … oh about 9 minutes. I am lucky. However I do dream of being a transient urban type who passes cafes and busy people. But noooooo, I live in the country, the only thing I don’t see is people actually milking the cow. ooohhh help.
On my commute, which is usually evening, I pass one coffee maker, one flight of stairs, two sleeping children, and three doors as I work at home.
On my morning commute to take the then awake children to school I pass one bowling alley, five pubs, four restaurants, the basilica, the library, three grocery stores, four florists, two fishmonger’s, two bakers (one bread and one pastry), one butcher, two canals, six bus stops, two wine shops. I am often passed by groups of kids cycling to school and little old ladies and men cycling to run errands. One guy cycling to work in a very fancy suit who is always talking on his cell phone, even in the rain, and my seven year old.
This month I pass a huge construction site right in front of the basilica as the city attempts once more to build a market place which is not stomach-heavingly ugly after assuring us all that they know what they are doing. I also pass the pile of rubble that was the third oldest building in the city where the city attempted to fix the sewage pipe after assuring everyone that they know what they are doing.
On Tuesday I pass the weekly market on that side of town.
My commute is around 25 miles. Most of it is country roads, but I do pass 2 post offices, 3 small local market type stores (one with gas pumps), 1 Catholic school, 1 Catholic church (not associated with the school), 1 hotel, 1 rarely-open antiques mart, 1 garden shed, 1 electric power plant, 2 Welcome Centers (one in Va, one in Md), 1 auto detailing place, and 1 convenience store. Nary a franchise restaurant along the way.
It’s a slow day at work, so here’s what I came up with for my 11-mile commute:
[ul]
[li]1 abandoned gas station that’s becoming an eyesore[/li][li]3 Albertsons[/li][li]1 Applebee’s[/li][li]1 Babies R’ Us[/li][li]10+ banks[/li][li]1 Bed Bath and Beyond[/li][li]1 Blockbuster video[/li][li]1 Carls’ Jr.[/li][li]2 Chevron gas stations[/li][li]3 churches[/li][li]1 Coldstone Creamery[/li][li]1 Dairy Queen[/li][li]1 Denny’s[/li][li]1 Fred Meyer[/li][li]1 Fuddrucker’s (under construction)[/li][li]1 Goodwood BBQ[/li][li]1 Hollywood Video[/li][li]1 hospital[/li][li]4 hotels[/li][li]1 IHOP[/li][li]1 Interstate interchange[/li][li]2 Jacks-in-the-Box[/li][li]1 KFC/A&W[/li][li]1 Kohl’s[/li][li]1 Krispy Kreme[/li][li]1 Lowe’s[/li][li]2 McDonald’s[/li][li]3 Non-Starbucks coffee shops[/li][li]6+ other pizza places[/li][li]2 Pizza Huts[/li][li]1 Quizno’s[/li][li]2 river crossings[/li][li]1 set of railroad tracks[/li][li]3 Shell gas stations[/li][li]1 ShopKo[/li][li]1 Sizzler[/li][li]1 Staples[/li][li]3 Starbucks[/li][li]12+ subdivision entrances[/li][li]2 Subways[/li][li]19 traffic signals[/li][li]1 trucking company whose main building burned down recently[/li][li]1 Walgreen’s[/li][li]1 Wal-Mart (a second one is just past where I work)[/li][li]1 Wendy’s[/li][/ul]
This is by no means a complete list, just the places I can remember offhand.
38 mile commute, on the freeway. This is just some of the interesting ones.
A large equipment auction yard. I’ve seen cement trucks, firetrucks, a hearse, and ever kind of road making equipment you can imagine up for sale.
A place that makes cement vaults for cemetaries. The ones that goes into the ground, that your coffin goes into.
A Christmas tree farm. There always seems to be a sofa sitting next to the freeway, in front of that place. Not always the same sofa.
A random junk yard. There has been a submarine for sale there for the last 7 years. The 9’ tall fiberglass rooster seems to have sold, and I haven’t seen the 12’ long shark for a while. I do kind of want the old Mobile gas sign that’s sitting around.
3 golf driving ranges.
A truck stop that everyone knows as the BIG STEER, because they have a huge bull sitting on top of a 40’ pole.
A closed gas station, where the gas cost about $1.19 when it shut down.
Fleet Farm - if you can’t get it at Fleet Farm, you don’t really need it.
1 factory
Gas station
Bar
Gas station
Bar
Closed gas station
Walgreens
Bar
Gas station
Used car lot
Gas station
Hardee’s
Cows
Cows
Cows
Cows
Cows
Cows
Calves
Cows
Gas station
Place where there used to be cows
Unless “Philadelphia” is the name of some remote village in northwestern China, there is no possible way that you can drive 35 miles without passing a Starbucks.
