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Commutes | Pad Patter 12/20

weaselwatchr

weaselwatchr

Viva, Las Vegas!
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Apr 13, 2013
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Do you commute to work or to school? Is it a long one? Did you used to if you don’t anymore? What’s the worst or best thing about your commute? Do you do anything during your commute to make the time go by? My answer will be in a following post.
 
My commute is down the hall from the bedroom to the "office/craft room". Yes, I am retired.

But before I retired I worked for a company in my small town of 9,000. It was about 3 miles and 8 minutes to get there... unless I got stopped by a train. We have railroad tracks that cut right through the middle of town and it is quite busy. There is one way to get around the tracks if they are blocked which would add about 5 minutes to my trip. Thankfully, my employer was not far from this detour. I worked this job for 16 years.

My previous job before that was in another city, 15 miles away. About a 25 minute drive, more if I had lots of traffic.
 
Do you commute to work or to school? I don't commute, but I do provide chauffer services to the high school for my son, which is only a couple of miles away.

Is it a long one? No, short commute. About 10 minutes, maybe longer depending on if we leave later and end up in the crazy rush of kids driving to school.

Did you used to if you don’t anymore? Yes, I commuted 30-45, sometimes even longer, when I worked downtown as a legal assistant. Of course, after I left that job, the state did a major overhaul on the interstate and now getting downtown is so much easier!

What’s the worst or best thing about your commute? Student drivers. I know they need the experience, but the school drop off line is not the place to do it. LOL They take forever to get out of the driver's seat, and then their parent ambles around to get behind the wheel. They act like no one is behind them but there are usually 10 cars lined up in each of the two lanes. I'm a cranky old lady, and think that the drop off should be quick. Grab your backpack and go. Others obviously do not feel this way. @bestcee has had plenty of my complaining over the years.

Do you do anything during your commute to make the time go by? When I was doing drop off and pick up when Daniel was in middle school, it was a much longer commute. I ended up leaving the house early to pick up and had about an hour to myself waiting in line. I read or cross stitched while listening to podcasts.
 
I have been lucky. None of my commutes have been very long.

In college it was about 10 minutes to a department store.

When I was teaching in the 1990's I had my longest commute. With the help of Google Maps I just verified it was only 13 miles from my apartment. Google Maps is saying right now as I'm typing this at 1:30 local time it would be a 19 minute drive, but I'm pretty sure it took closer to 30 minutes, as it was the Los Angeles area and I was driving during peak traffic times before and after school. Also I enjoyed finding alternate routes and taking meandering drives home from Arcadia, through Pasadena, to Glendale, so I probably took as long as an hour when I did that. But it was for fun.

I did a lot of driving as a homeschooling mom in the 2000's and 2010's, but never thought of it as a "commute." There was a lot of variety in times and destinations. And I loved it, talking with my kids, listening to books or music, playing games.

My first post-kids job, in the stage theater box office, it was a 9 mile commute, at least 20 minutes, up the I95. I mostly listened to podcasts.

Working for USPS from Oct '20 to July '21, it was either a little bit further than the theater (further up the same road) or a little closer (I worked out of two post offices). I listened to podcasts or music; occasionally books.

Now I have the best commute ever. I don't even have to go up to Route 3, the busy road, instead staying in the residential area between my house and the school. It's just 4 miles. Rarely does it take longer than 10 minutes. It's weird how many days can go by without driving on Route 3 now. (That's the main thoroughfare in my county. Everyone drives it to go anywhere.) I don't bother trying to listen to anything except music. Sometimes I can't fully fit a third song into this commute. I'm not complaining. :lol2
 
I commute to the office I work at twice a week via public transport. I catch the bus which takes me around 30 minutes to get to my place of work. I normally stick my headphones in and listen to some music on my journey, or read a book. I then always make sure my phone is charged for the journey home as this takes twice as long as I get stuck in rush hour traffic.
 
Pre-Covid, I worked at 3 different gyms, and they were between 5 and 15 minutes away. Very manageable. I have minimized my commutes. 4 of the classes I teach are online, so the commute is up the stairs and into the fitness room. I've returned to all 3 gyms, and I've stacked my hours and days so that I can see several clients at a time, also reducing my commute. This year, I'm hoping my commute will get even better, as I'm converting a room downstairs into a bigger fitness studio so I can do pilates reformer sessions with clients from home.
 
Do you commute to work or to school? Yes.

Is it a long one? Not normally ... less than 3.1 miles, and 10 minutes according to Google, of course that depends on traffic.

Did you used to if you don’t anymore? I used to commute from Woodbridge, VA to Tysons Corner. 28.3 miles one way, so it took about an hour each way due to traffic.

What’s the worst or best thing about your commute? Driving past Tysons Corner Mall ... during the holidays Route 7 is a zoo!!! And even on a good day the Beltway can back up onto Route 7 causing me issues even though I'm headed down the road past the Beltway.

Do you do anything during your commute to make the time go by? I just listen to the radio or iTunes on my phone.
 
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Do you commute to work or to school? No. Homeschool mom. Just hop out of bed and I'm there..actually the work never ends. LOL.
Is it a long one?
Did you used to if you don’t anymore? My longest commute was about 45 minutes when I worked in downtown Orlando.
What’s the worst or best thing about your commute? Imagine a 45 minute commute in a car that often overheated and the air conditioning didn't work...and this was Florida in the middle of SUMMER! Yah, not fun. But I was young and poor and newly married and sooo happy...I didn't care too much.
Do you do anything during your commute to make the time go by? It was back before the days of cell phones (at least I didn't have one - remember, I was poor!) so I just listened to the radio.
 
Pre-pandemic, I had a 60+ minute commute to take my kids to daycare (and then preschool) + elementary school across town and then drive to work. Repeat that process at the end of the day. I did it because I had to but I didn't enjoy it as driving, even the same drive every day, gives me anxiety.

Fortunately for me/us, I got a full-time WFH job in September 2020 and I bought a house this past July in a new school district.

Now I (literally) roll out of bed at 7:30 am to get the kids up for school and walk into the office at 8 am to begin work. [Don't worry --- I do shower but at lunchtime instead of the beginning of the day.] Magical yellow buses take them back & forth to school and their dad drops them off & picks them up from my house when he has them so there are often days (sometimes a couple in a row) when I don't even get in my car at all! :beat
 
No commute currently as not working. When I was studying in person it was about 90 mins to 2 hours by train and bus depending on times I was travelling. If everything went to plan sometimes it only took an hour 10 but that was rare. Shortest commute to work was during high school when my part time job was 10 mins away or about a 20 min walk.
 
No commute, stay at home, grocery shopping and then back.
When I had the kids in school it was 13kms, which could take 12 minutes in little traffic or take me an hour round-trip in peak traffic.
 
Do you commute to work or to school? Yup, 33 years now
Is it a long one? It's about 35 min in the morning and 40-45 in the afternoon because of traffic.
What’s the worst or best thing about your commute? I've always kind of liked it in the morning because it's a good head-clearing and mind-shifting time from home crazy to school crazy. In the afternoon, I'm tired and just want to be home. Worrying about road conditions in the winter is the absolute worst.
Do you do anything during your commute to make the time go by? In the morning, we listen to a radio show that I've listened to for many many years. In the afternoon, Chance usually keeps me entertained with stories of the day or history lessons or his eclectic Spotify playlist lol. If he's not with me, I listen to podcasts.
 
When I'm working at my office, it's about .25 miles from my house. :giggle There isn't even a stop sign between our house and our work building (my hubby works for the same company, but the next building over from mine). Now though I've been working from home again since August due to covid surges in Michigan, so I just walk to my office in the dining room. I love that! Mostly because I can wear cozy clothes and slippers. :agree

I've always had pretty short commutes too. The only long one I had was in college and wasn't very far in miles, but took me 20 minutes to get there because there were something like 25 lights between my apartment and the tool and die shop that I worked for. It was impossible to not hit almost all of them too. I used to get so frustrated with that drive!
 
Do you commute to work or to school? I don't commute to work, but pick up Tyler from school (less than a mile)
Is it a long one? About 2 minutes depending on if I make the two stop lights ;)
Did you used to if you don’t anymore? Yes, I used to commute to downtown, about 5-6 miles. Roughly 20 minutes to work and 30 minutes home.
What’s the worst or best thing about your commute? I'm always thinking about what other more productive things I could be doing with my time. I'm a fairly impatient person by nature.
Do you do anything during your commute to make the time go by? Listen to music / radio.
 
Do you commute to work or to school? Yes.
Is it a long one? About 20 mins.
What’s the worst or best thing about your commute? Best thing is that it's shorter than my previous commute which was 45 mins.
Do you do anything during your commute to make the time go by? Spotify and sometimes podcasts.
 
I live in the Washington, DC area, and long commutes are very common here. I'm lucky--the school I teach at is about 10 minutes away. My longest commute was when I was living in Northern VA and commuting to grad school in Baltimore. It was about an hour and a half drive each way because of all the traffic. Luckily I didn't have to do it for too long, since I took a lot of my classes at a satellite campus 45 minutes from home before I finally had to cave and go to the main campus for my last few semesters. My first job after I got that degree was in MD, and it was a little over an hour on the train each way. That commute didn't bother me nearly as much because I could use the time better on the train than while driving.
 
gonewiththewind said:
What’s the worst or best thing about your commute? Student drivers. I know they need the experience, but the school drop off line is not the place to do it. LOL They take forever to get out of the driver's seat, and then their parent ambles around to get behind the wheel. They act like no one is behind them but there are usually 10 cars lined up in each of the two lanes. I'm a cranky old lady, and think that the drop off should be quick. Grab your backpack and go. Others obviously do not feel this way. @bestcee has had plenty of my complaining over the years.
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This would make me lose my mind!!!
 
weaselwatchr said:
This would make me lose my mind!!!
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gonewiththewind said:
What’s the worst or best thing about your commute? Student drivers. I know they need the experience, but the school drop off line is not the place to do it. LOL They take forever to get out of the driver's seat, and then their parent ambles around to get behind the wheel. They act like no one is behind them but there are usually 10 cars lined up in each of the two lanes. I'm a cranky old lady, and think that the drop off should be quick. Grab your backpack and go. Others obviously do not feel this way. @bestcee has had plenty of my complaining over the years.
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Oops, I was guilty of this with my two older grandkids, but we moved quickly ... jumped out, I handed the kid their backpack as we passed each other ... plus our kiss and ride lane was wide enough to let cars pass each other, and the line wasn’t particularly long to drop off ... getting out of the school’s parking was another story. What a nightmare!
 
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