$6 Gas; what's your guess?

[infinite monkey]

I commute 90 miles a day. There are no options for public transportation or even car-pooling. Even getting decent mileage it hurts the bottom line. And my bottom.

But what to do? We're at the mercy of whoever is getting fat off this and I join the ranks of 'complain and keep driving.'

[lupin..the..3rd]

Originally Posted by infinite monkey

I commute 90 miles a day. There are no options for public transportation or even car-pooling. Even getting decent mileage it hurts the bottom line. And my bottom.

But what to do? We're at the mercy of whoever is getting fat off this and I join the ranks of 'complain and keep driving.'

Or you could just move. 90 miles a day is insanity. I know- I used to do that myself years ago. And then I realized that by moving closer in to the city, sure, housing costs are higher, but with the many $hundreds of dollars per month saved on gas and car maintenance, it's a wash. And now I have a few more free hours in my day, instead of throwing that time away sitting in the car. My commute now is 2 miles. I go home for lunch every day, and on nice days, I walk to work. I will never ever go back to long-distance commuting. The hassle, expense, and hours of my life lost just aren't worth it IMO.

[infinite monkey]

I've certainly considered moving, but that's an expense I can't really take on right now either.

Some changes are going on at my old job. I talked to my sis-in-law and her best friend yesterday, both fairly biggy-wiggy at the place, and mentioned I'd come back if certain changes occurred.

I was about 5 minutes from work back then. The pay raise was indeed worth it, when I left, even considering gas and wear and tear on the car. Now, it's not only way more expensive, it's soul-sucking.

It's been raining for weeks. Nothing but accidents on my commute, every day.

I am tired of the commute. Tired of the traffic. Tired of the city.

p.s. I exaggerated on my commute, it's more like 60 miles a day (was thinking minutes as miles, which would be true except for a large portion of the drive all traffic is going about about 20-30 miles per hour, then stopping, then starting...more wear and tear than a straight shot unencumbered by thousands of people and interminable construction.) Of course, I do drive other places too.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by infinite monkey

I commute 90 miles a day. There are no options for public transportation or even car-pooling. Even getting decent mileage it hurts the bottom line. And my bottom.

But what to do? We're at the mercy of whoever is getting fat off this and I join the ranks of 'complain and keep driving.'

Originally Posted by lupin..the..3rd

Or you could just move. 90 miles a day is insanity. I know- I used to do that myself years ago. And then I realized that by moving closer in to the city, sure, housing costs are higher, but with the many $hundreds of dollars per month saved on gas and car maintenance, it's a wash. And now I have a few more free hours in my day, instead of throwing that time away sitting in the car. My commute now is 2 miles. I go home for lunch every day, and on nice days, I walk to work. I will never ever go back to long-distance commuting. The hassle, expense, and hours of my life lost just aren't worth it IMO.

IM--

I used to commute about 80 miles... each way. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...e=UTF8&t=h&z=9

Insanity is an understatement. When I moved to Seattle, I vowed that whichever I found first, a job or a place to live, I was going to put a pin in the map at that location, and draw a little circle around it and confine my search for the other endpoint to locations within that circle. My greatest radius (now, sadly, recently ended) was 17 miles, each way. And that felt LONG compared to the two previous commutes of under ten miles.

It's worth it to move one of those endpoints. Obviously it costs more to drive more. But it's not just more gas. It's greater wear on your car. It's more time spent at risk on the road. Most of all, it's more time spent fucking driving that you can't spend doing *anything* else, audiobooks notwithstanding. I would routinely spend two to three hours each way, each day. I'll never get those hours back. I have NEVER regretted changing that habit. My life improved when I stopped spending so much of it behind the wheel behind some idiot.

I am familiar with the conundrum you describe. I lived where I could afford the rent, and I worked where I got paid what I needed to live. This really was the case. But those parameters are changeable, albeit with difficulty. But for me it was totally worth it. I wish you the best of luck. Keep in mind the value of your limited hours; spend them wisely.