Commuting

I commute a little over thirty miles (according to Google Maps), or around five miles more than I used to before I changed jobs in March.

That's further, each way, than most people (in times past) used to travel during an entire lifetime. And if I lived in California covering that distance could easily take two hours or more each way.

Luckily the Salt Lake valley isn't like California—yet. The daily drive can be done in thirty-five minutes when the roads are empty. At rushhour it usually takes at least forty-five or fifty minutes. A particular bad accident on I-15 through Davis County could slow things down by an extra half hour.

Tonight there was a traffic light out at the intersection of two fairly major highways (Bangerter Highway & SR-201) that added at least an extra fifteen minutes. At least I don't have to worry about multiple bridges being out.

I carpool as much as possible. This helps to alleviate the stress (not always having to be the one behind the wheel), saves money and fuel, and is generally a good idea. But this week I'm on my own; my regular carpooling companion is off at a week long SANS training in Atlanta.

I can't stand to listen to the radio very much (either FM or AM), aside from KBYU some mornings. The talk on AM is shallow, repetitive, and dull. There are no more consistantly good radio stations. They all start to sound the same, and there are far too many commercial interruptions. If I wanted commercial interruptions I'd rather watch TV (which I rarely do anymore).

Maybe I should buy an iPod and use the commute time for continuous learning? If UTA ever got a decent express bus route going from Davis County to the west side of Salt Lake County, I could sleep or read news or even do some in-depth self study. But we'll probably have commuter rail before that'd ever happen.

I quite enjoy my work, but in case you hadn't guessed already, the commute is driving me crazy! Some day (perhaps once the house is paid off in ~8 years?) maybe I could have the kind of commute that Kevin Walzer has to his job (hint: he has none).

Or perhaps my company will realize that since they're already paying for my broadband connection, I could actually use it some days, and not just when it's my turn on the after hours on-call rotation...

—Michael A. Cleverly
Tuesday, June 14, 2005 at 19:03