Vacation and Productivity
Pedro, a friend from work, and I caught the bus to Montaitas this weekend. When I say bus, I don֕t mean something like the local buses because these buses actually have fixed locations where they stop. To catch the local bus you just wave at it from whatever curb you happen to be standing when you see it trucking by. (Sometimes I even walk twenty feet from where I caught it the day before just for fun). The bus slows down as it nears you and your job is to not hesitate and jump right on. Getting off the bus is quite similar; you just stand up and yell, “Pare!” as you’re walking (or maneuvering) toward the door and the bus drivers job is to try to slow down to a reasonable speed before you lunge from his moving vehicle.
Montanitas is a wonderful little traveler֕s town on the Pacific, full of people heading North and South and those that seem to have lost track of time. And time is somewhat of an anomaly there; we were there for less than 36 hours yet it seemed like three days of vacation. The patio at our hostel probably got the most of my time, the sea humming, a fresh breeze, the people coming and going, and a book on productivity.
The same book served as a marvelous lead for contemplation on the bus as well. The bus, similar in shape and function to any bus you may now have as an image in your head, was driven by a man and his two sons while three other people collected money, arranged luggage and ran through the streets looking for riders. It doesnt always require six people to operate a small bus down here, but it is often more than I am used to and dramatic measures help draw out the productivity juxtaposition here.
It would be fine if you want to compare this experience to a US bus experience, though I am going to continue with a more precarious contrast. Google recently released the beta version of a program that guesses what web pages you are going to visit (from your past habits), preloads them (while you are using the web for other things), and then records how much time it saved you by having the pages preloaded. I will let you conclude what you wish about the relationship between productivity and development.
We may have increased our own productivity on the ride back. As we rode we watched the new Batman movie. Yep, the one that just came out last week in the movie theaters - already showing on the bus, in your living room or available for two dollars from that guy with all the gum and cigarettes two doors down from the movie theatre.
