I am now a commuter. I didn’t want to be a commuter. I didn’t ask to be a commuter. It just happened and so now I’m a commuter. The house is about 15 minutes away from the office. There is a freeway (I-5) involved in the picture. So far the drive has been quick. Today, I got my first taste of "time to find an alternate route."
We used to go places and visit people in the Arlington area and I would say "I would not want to sit in this traffic day in and day out." Perhaps I’ll blog about those things which I’ve said that unfortunately came true. Neither am I comparing my mini commute to the mega commute that some of you in Arlington and LA experience.
So far it’s been an interesting part of my day. Time alone in the car. I’m curious as to your suggestions to pass the time on the commute. I tried praying but I kept weaving in and out of my lane. I’ll be especially interested to hear the suggestions of Greg and Brad and how they handle their mega huge commute from the house to the office.
8 Responses to “Commuting”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
August 16th, 2006 at 9:19 am
I have a 30 second commute to the Lausanne office. I usually think about spiders.
It’s an hour commute by bike, train and bus to the Geneva church. I read and think. Now that I’ve got the video iPod, I may do something else. But there is something about reading…
August 16th, 2006 at 9:29 am
Greg might have the most dangerous commute of all of us since he has to get past Chipper each day on the walk to work.
I do a lot of praying and talking (is there a difference) to God in my car. Maybe you should consider not talking on your cell phone while you’re praying? Just a thought.
Living in beautiful West Cocoa I have to worry about the occasional wild boar or rogue cow on the way to work.
August 16th, 2006 at 9:39 am
I have a 10-minute drive to work each day. I have utilized that time for prayer. It’s easy for me to do because it’s quiet time, and it’s early (not much traffic at all). But if that’s not working for you, maybe you could think of ways to rid your new office of the mice that undoubtedly hid in boxes and followed you to the West Coast.
August 16th, 2006 at 4:29 pm
I have a 45 minute (door to door) commute by light rail which also includes a short drive to the park and ride, a longer train ride into downtown, followed by a short walk to my office. Here is how I usually use that time:
Minutes 1-5: Drive up and down my drive way as I remember various things that I forgot in the house
Minutes 5-10: listen to sports talk radio in the car and spend time thinking about how much more I know about sports than all these yahoos on the radio, then I start thinking, maybe I just know more than anyone about everything, maybe my mom was right, then I realize I drove the wrong direction while working through my self-adoration.
Minutes 10-13: drive the correct way back to my parking lot and apologize to God for being so insufferably arrogant
Minutes 13-20 walk to MAX train and wait for train. I generally use this time like most people to think about how it would work to have wings on my feet like the Roman God Mercury. I mean, I get that you can go fast, but where do you find shoes?
Minutes 20-35: Ride MAX thinking why people think their life will be better with holes in their ears, nose, lips, tongues and all the other places people pierce these days. I also, pray, hum, whistle (usually something by Mozart or Vivaldi), sleep, read my blackberry, break dance and plan my scheme for world domination
Minutes 35-45: Walk to my office and wonder how many packs of cigarettes I second hand smoke while walking to my office. I also use this time to remember that I left something else I need at home.
Hope that helps.
August 16th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
Randy, welcome to the wonderful world of commuting. I left a post explaining my commute, but it didn’t take. I’ll try to re-create it so you don’t miss out on the benefit of my wisdom.
August 17th, 2006 at 9:19 am
Randy / Meowmix, that mouse made one heck of a commute
didn’t it. We know they were pretty smart based on those videos Randy took of them.
August 17th, 2006 at 10:23 am
Oddly enough, I taught a combined class with the adults and youth last night. In identifying similarities and differences, one group commented they all came by car. I asked if there was anyone who didn’t come by car, and after a brief pause one of the teens said, “You.” It wouldn’t have been so bad it if didn’t have this heavy “duh” sound to it.
It is actually kind of rough not having a commute. There is no transition in my day. Everything runs together in to one big blur of churchwork. Sort of like forgetting that I didn’t arrive by car, I think there is part of me that assumes I live at the church building. When I had a commute it was like having different phases in my existence that I could separate from each other.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:29 am
My commute is 5 minutes (3 if I catch the lights right, 20 if there’s an accident). Since I live in Memphis, most of my time is spent dodging the drivers who think that lanes, stop lights, turn signals, etc. are for everyone else but them. (Most of them are depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.)