Slowly but surely I’m learning how taxing it is to have a really bad commute to work. It used to be that I had a nice quick 10 minute drive to work with absolutely no traffic. I would jump on the freeway, take it three exits, and then I was at work.
Now, that isn’t anywhere near the case. I have at least a 1.25 hour commute. On bad days it can be two hours. I actually tend to handle traffic better than almost everybody I know, but a 2-4 hour commute is taxing on you no matter what.
It isn’t even the drive that really bothers me. It’s the fact that I routinely lose about 3 hours of my day, every day, to a commute. This used to be the three hours I would devote to this blog. Since I have a very strict no blogging from work policy, this means I have to squeeze time in in the evening to be able to blog. I really wanted to complete my Polycom analysis but I just don’t have it in me when I get home at 11:00 and have to get to bed so I can be up by 7:00 to make the commute. Blogging this weekend was out of the question since I spent most of it moving. Luckily, I think I found a place much closer to work, and I hope to go and sign the papers tomorrow.
Quick thought on the market. The whole market is down. Like I said earlier, stay out for now. I think if you are going to buy, buy in a few days. Right now just does not look like a good time to go long in stocks. Nothing is really working except for the few stocks that are coming out with good news. I think a window might open soon, and you can get some good stocks at the bottom, but if you have to do something right now, short stocks.
That’s a lot of time sitting in traffic. Wow 1.25 hours times 5 days a week. I moved recently without really thinking about how far I need to travel for work. Turns out I shortened my commute from 25 minutes to 12 minutes. Feels great… especially after a long day at work.
I really think you should look into the Metrolink.
I know several people that take the Metrolink and they all love it. It’s a little too expensive for me, and I leave at erratic times to and from work. I might look into it again because I paid off my car about six months ago, it didn’t make sense to have a car payment and pay for the train. Ask your work if they pay for part of the monthly expense, they get a tax break because they’re contributing to “carpooling”. I have a friend that lives in Fontana that he takes the train into downtown Los Angeles everyday and his company pays 100%. That’s a lot of gas money he’s saving.
My work will actually pay for my rail pass. I’m only hesitant because I will move soon and that should make the commute easier. I get either a parking pass or a rail pass and switching is a pain in the ass.