Commuting and the Time-Space Continuum
OK, my intelligent, logical readers, I'm perplexed and need a little assistance.
I live in the 'burbs. When I win the lottery I'm moving into the city, but given Sweetie's desire to not spend 2 hours a day commuting, we call the 'burbs home. In the job search I am not limiting myself to the 'hood. I'm looking in the city, as well as in alternate 'burbs. My official limit is 30 minutes or less each direction in commuting, but I'm willing to stretch that a wee bit for the right job. (Although, with the 'burb that I'm in, I shouldn't need to stretch it much, as if I go elsewhere it will likely be a reverse commute).
So in the search for the next great job I've been spending some time drivng around to potential employers to drop of appplications, interview, scope things out, whatever. One of the locales is in the heart of the city, just North of downtown. The drive there involves a couple of freeways, a bridge that always has traffic, and various city streets. Another locale is in a 'burb north of town, versus the 'burb east of town I currently reside in. It's straight freeway, that turns into local highway, and then you're there.
Distance-wise location #1 is about 5 miles closer than location #2 (15 vs 20 miles, per Mapquest). Time-wise it's about a wash, at least the times of day I've been traveling, so why is it that commute #2 feels about TEN TIMES longer than commute #1? Is it the fact that I don't have to turn the wheel on my car? That the freeway is just so darn boring to look at? That I really am that much of a city girl?
Please explain to me why commute #2 seems so much longer than commute #1. The interview at #2 went well today, and the worst thing I can see about the job thus far is the commute, so I need to figure this out.
I live in the 'burbs. When I win the lottery I'm moving into the city, but given Sweetie's desire to not spend 2 hours a day commuting, we call the 'burbs home. In the job search I am not limiting myself to the 'hood. I'm looking in the city, as well as in alternate 'burbs. My official limit is 30 minutes or less each direction in commuting, but I'm willing to stretch that a wee bit for the right job. (Although, with the 'burb that I'm in, I shouldn't need to stretch it much, as if I go elsewhere it will likely be a reverse commute).
So in the search for the next great job I've been spending some time drivng around to potential employers to drop of appplications, interview, scope things out, whatever. One of the locales is in the heart of the city, just North of downtown. The drive there involves a couple of freeways, a bridge that always has traffic, and various city streets. Another locale is in a 'burb north of town, versus the 'burb east of town I currently reside in. It's straight freeway, that turns into local highway, and then you're there.
Distance-wise location #1 is about 5 miles closer than location #2 (15 vs 20 miles, per Mapquest). Time-wise it's about a wash, at least the times of day I've been traveling, so why is it that commute #2 feels about TEN TIMES longer than commute #1? Is it the fact that I don't have to turn the wheel on my car? That the freeway is just so darn boring to look at? That I really am that much of a city girl?
Please explain to me why commute #2 seems so much longer than commute #1. The interview at #2 went well today, and the worst thing I can see about the job thus far is the commute, so I need to figure this out.
posted by Swankette at 1:16 PM
2 Comments:
You nailed it with the "wheel-turning" thing. You're bored. You need distraction. I have two recommendations, one free one not.
1. Audio Books from your library. I've lived off these for three years now. They rock.
2. Satellite Radio. I'm partial to XM, but Sirius is getting Howard next year if that rocks your world. The prices are reasonable, and you'll never bother with regular radio again.
Seconded on the wheel-turning. Even though it's the shorter chunk of my drive, I find that my time on I-71 feels much longer than my time on either end, on back country roads or city streets. Once you start identifying landmarks, that'll help to mark the time too. Y'know how, the first time you take a shortcut, it doesn't feel shorter? It's because you don't have any sense of where the landmarks are to say "OK, now I am in Marengo, and that's about the halfway mark."
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