Commuting to work

[marillion]

Podcasts, podcasts, podcasts.... There are a million of them out there on iTunes or wherever android users get them.. Just find something that interests you and I'm sure there will be something for you to download.
A few suggestions:
Comedy/Slice of Life topics with a little politics and pop culture - The Mike O'meara show. It's daily, so it's always fresh.
Comedy/Interviews/Current Events - The Tony Perkins Show - Weekly.
Sci-Fi/Comics/Fantasy - Blastr: Who's Winning the Week? - brought to you by the SyFy Channel's news site. It's pretty good and has a good variety of guests and topics. Weekly
TNG Trek - The Greatest Generation - Two guys who discuss a TNG episode a week, going in order, season to season. Pretty funny and a little devisive. They obviously LOVE TNG, but aren't afraid to poke fun at it. Weekly.

I used to commute from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, typically an hour each way. Then I took a job in Farmington, NM, which is 2.5/3 hours from ABQ.. Made the choice to move there during the week and stay at a small furnished place and then come home on the weekends. It was convenient, but the time away from the family grew old VERY quickly. The money was good, but the time I missed with my wife and kids wasn't worth it in the long run. Now I'm back in ABQ and have a much shorter commute.

The other suggestion I have is to make sure you maintain your car. Beyond regular oil changes and that stuff, make sure your timing belt is in good shape. It's an expensive fix if it blows on you, depending on the kind of car you had. Mine blew and it was going to cost 5-6,000 bucks to repair. I ended up taking a good deal on a trade in. Also, be consistent with tire, brake and alignment checks.

 

[John Clark]

The other suggestion I have is to make sure you maintain your car. Beyond regular oil changes and that stuff, make sure your timing belt is in good shape. It's an expensive fix if it blows on you, depending on the kind of car you had. Mine blew and it was going to cost 5-6,000 bucks to repair. I ended up taking a good deal on a trade in. Also, be consistent with tire, brake and alignment checks.

Oh hell yes, especially on the belt. Also, keep an eye on the waterpump. Mine went at and they did the belt at the same time because it was coming up to the replacement time.

One of my colleagues had his timing go on him and it damaged the engine(They advised it would need swapping out at 60k miles and it was booked in for the following week. Unfortunately, it went just before he took it in). On the upside, his was a company car so it was covered.

 

[marillion]

wish I had been that lucky.. I was on a backroad with no cell signal and had to hitch a ride to the nearest wide spot in the road so I could call AAA... Thank God for AAA though... Saved me several hundred dollars to tow it back to Albuquerque.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Today was fine, but yesterday was a little wierd. There's this one tiny stretch that normally takes a minute to drive - and took twenty yesterday for what appeared to be absolutely no reason

That happens on the way home from Chicago now and then. This last Tuesday it took an hour and a half for seemingly no reason, no accidents, the tie-ups weren't at typical spots. It's normally an hour, even on Fridays, which are heavier traffic-wise.

Of course, last Friday after the Cubs rally was an hour and a half. No surprise.

 

[Triskelion]

Now, in Shanghai I take 2 subways for a half hour and walk about 20 minutes pretty much daily (as in daily). I have my tablet and can be productive if I choose to be, but I mostly read the news.

A couple years ago I was taking 2 hours between subway (standing) and walking about 6 blocks - one way. It was no problem and I quickly got used to it as long as I had my phablet. I did things like study linguistics or read fiction. The time blew by all right and I wasn't too tired - however I had almost no time for anything else in my day. I mean, that's a 12-13 hour day. Definitely reading and writing make the time plastic. I confess to having overshot my stop on several occasions (and still do).

I still prefer to stand because a) it's more active and b) there's a different cultural norm for personal space (as in none). Sitting is an invitation for dumbassery for some reason. BTW moving among the mobs is easily the worst part of any day in Shanghai. Why that might be, I'll leave to the imagination.

 

[Timewalker]

One of the questions on our municipal census one year was how far we had to commute to work. Since I worked at home, my answer was "about 15 feet." That's approximately how far it was from my bed to my computer in my office across the hall.

 

[spinnerlys]

I have two places to be as I work for two "companies".
As I live in Berlin, I have access to quite a good public transport system, though during rush hours it is often a pain to stand in two different trains for 25 minutes each, when no seat is available.
But it gets me reading and listening to music, and that is much better than the bicycle, though the added training from riding a bike is something I miss when riding trains. Hopefully the autumn is short and winter is coming fast, as that cold is much better to drive with bike than that wet cold.

Then again, I am a huge geek as far as mass transit (subways, light rail, streetcars, buses, etc.) goes, so that probably influences my decision.

Do you have any websites you frequent to replenish yourself with "news" and information about public transport?

I sometimes come across some videos on how tracks are build and such, but it is often more by accident than by choice.

 

[1001001]

My drive to work varies from 40 minutes, to 1:10.

Thank God for NPR.

 

[Hugo Rune]

90 minutes commute each way.

Earplugs
Coffee
Book (currently book 8 of 10 by Steven Erikson)
Lots and lots of prog music.

Hugo - earplugs are the key for me

 

[Relayer1]

Lots and lots of prog music.

Details ?

I took redundancy after 20 years when my office moved from Birmingham to Coventry. My round trip commute threatened to go from under 2 hours to between 3 and 4 hours depending on waits for busses, trains and traffic delays. I don't drive.

Just wasn't worth it...

 

[Hugo Rune]

Currently listening to lots of Haken, Frost, Flower Kings, Jethro Tull, Dream Theatre, Rush, Transatlantic, proper Genesis. I prefer the more metallic edge, but was brought up at an early age on heavy doses of Yes and Floyd thanks to a ludicrously pompous audiophile of an uncle.

Hugo - bit of Steve Wilson for the morning commute tomorrow

 

[Agony_Boothb]

The longest commutes i ever had were 1 hr max. My current commute is a 25 minute train ride. I live across the road from a train station which makes everything a lot easier.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

proper Genesis

Proper?

 

[Hugo Rune]

Proper?

Sorry, I don't count the likes of I Can't Dance as proper Genesis.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

My longest commute was from Baltimore City to Bethesda, MD. I-495 is actual literal hell on earth during rush hour. Destroyed my nerves and my patience for driving. My typical commute one way was at minimum an hour and fifteen, and depending on whether there was an accident or a delay of some kind, easily could top 2+ hours one way. I do not envy anyone who has a commute longer than 45 minutes.

Thankfully I've changed jobs and now my commute is 20 minutes, give or take. So nice. But either way, whether your commute is longer or shorter, I recommend hooking yourself up with some good podcasts. Podcasts have been a godsend for me. Here are a few of my favorites, if you're interested in that route:
-Mission Log (the Star Trek podcast that sets the standard for all others, imho)
-Engage (the official Star Trek podcast, more surface level than Mission Log)
-Weekly Planet - (comic book movies/comic books)
-Podquisition (video games, probably the podcast I listen to most consistently. I'm a huge Jim Sterling fan.)
-How Did This Get Made - (terrible movies)
-We Hate Movies - (terrible movies, surprisingly funnier than HDTGM)
-That Awful Sound - (like HDTGM and WHM, but music)
-Spocklight - Shoutout to @Spocklight's podcast. A few guys discussing the Trek movies as non-Trekkies.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Sorry, I don't count the likes of I Can't Dance as proper Genesis.

Let me guess. Nothing after Peter Gabriel, right?

 

[Hugo Rune]

Nope, but there is little post '83 that floats my boat

 

[Spocklight]

@Balok's Eggnog thanks so much for giving us a recommendation, we hope you continue to enjoy the show and that other members of the forum might let us accompany them on their commute also

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I used to commute from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, typically an hour each way.

Did you take a LEFT TURN at Albuquerque?

 

[marillion]

Did you take a LEFT TURN at Albuquerque?

CONSTANTLY! lol...