Over the last month or so, I’ve gotten a new job and a new house.

The new job? AWESOME.  I love the new challenges, the new company, the new product, and the future that comes with it.

The new house? AWESOME.  All four of us (ok, six including the dogs) have something we absolutely LOVE about the new house.  For me, it’s the 3car garage with a workbench + 2 attics.

I’m also attending a Transformation Boot Camp twice a week that should land me a new body in a few months.  I’ll let you know how that works out. (get it? work out?  HAHAHAH)

My old commute was right about 12.5 miles.  There were other ways I could travel to possibly avoid some traffic, but it usually ended up right about the same length of time – 25-30 minutes.

The new commute is… actually, right about 12.5 miles also. 

Today’s rain turned the commute that’s normally 20-25 minutes into a 50-60 minute one.  In fact, I never got higher than 3rd gear on the way in.  You know it’s going to be a long 12.5 miles if you never hit 4th gear.

Which brings me to the clutch.  Every time I change into 5th gear, it grinds.  The mechanic told me I’d probably have to consider replacing the clutch soon, so I guess I’m not too surprised.

So, I guess that’s my point for today.  I have a car that grinds when it gets into 5th gear, and the Universe threw me a nice rainy day that made sure I never got close to using it.

Thank you, Universe.

Yeah, it’s been… oh, more than a month since my last installment of this weakly weekly series. I’m sorry. It’s beyond my control. You could paypal me though. I’m not above bribery for writing more.

Riding the bus

If you’ve been following my tweets or utterz, like I told you to, you’d know I started riding the bus to work when I can. I’m targeting 4 days per week because there are always those times when errands or schedules mandate mobility.

My initial impetus is cash savings. You see, I’m a greedy white male conservative that only cares about the green in my wallet, right? The greener my wallet, the happier I am. If the earth is green, I’m fine with that, but it’s not like I’m going to mess up my day to save the earth. My electric bill at home shot up over the last few months from low $200′s to mid $400s. I needz mah dough, yo. I’ve been riding about two weeks and I definitely noticed NOT filling up the car.

What am I saving? Well, according to Google, the most efficient route from home to work is exactly 10.0 miles. Times two makes it 20 miles. My car gets 15-18 mpg (I think, I should check that out, but according to my calculations of miles driven per tank, that’s about right), so at $4/gallon, I would spend about $5 a day in gas. However, that “most efficient route” is full of traffic, and there’s way too much stop-n-go idling. Not only does it take forever, it decreases the usable gas mileage. There’s another route that’s 12 miles that is a little better. The fastest way to work is to use the toll road, but it jumps up to 18 miles one-way, which effectively doubles my usage of gas (estimating). 36 miles at 15mpg is > 2 gallons per day. I’m guessing right now that I’m actually saving somewhere between $80-120 a month by riding the bus. The bus costs $1 per day for unlimited riding, less if I buy a monthly pass.

There have been other benefits, such as additional “quiet time” or “organizing time”. I can work on my blackberry or my laptop while someone else takes care of the driving, the signaling, the cutting people off, and yelling at other drivers. Since the actual time it takes to get to work is longer, I have plenty of time to go over the previous day’s missed emails, catch up on blogs, write a blog if I feel extra sparky, or (gasp) even do something that might be called work. But although commute time increases, productivity increases with it.

When I drive to work, about the only thing I do with my time is call into utterz. Don’t get me wrong – I love utterz and still make time to call in, but I want to be able to do more. About the only thing that would optimize my time on the bus even more would be fold-out desks or table surfaces. A laptop on a lap isn’t that comfortable.

Another benefit is the adoption of patience. Yes, patience. I’ll let that idea sink in for a little bit. Ya done yet? WHY NOT! DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND PATIENCE!?!?!? COME ON, NOW! TELL ME YOU UNDERSTAND PATIENCE! I AIN’T GOT ALL DAY!

There’s something about being on someone else’s schedule, having to be there early (5-10mins is the recommended window), and taking things s-l-o-w. You get more time for YOU. You notice the weather, the other citizens milling about, the trash on the ground, (pick it up, please), and you get to explore your thoughts. You reflect on the day so far. You have time to plan for the day ahead. The interruptions lessen because it’s just you and the bench. Or you and the bus seat. If I need some calm meditation time, I can close my eyes and center my thoughts. I drive out the low hum of the bus and the high whine of the engines. I halt my incessant wondering of “where’s he going when he gets off the bus?” and “does she have kids?” and “what’s his greatest accomplishment in life so far?” I open my mind for the Universe to send me signals and answers to the subconscious questions I’ve built up over the previous 24 hours.

So far, the Universe hasn’t answered back with the winning lottery numbers. But I’ll keep listening.

I’ll be there’s an 11 in there somewhere, too.

Best of LOLcats

I have one reader who mainly comes here just for the LOLcats. I think we all know who she is, but I’m too lazy to do an intervention. My favorite this week is a tie between the zombies one and the OMG LOLcat dog.

(btw, send your mycoke codes to Avi)

I’ve decided that the new Austin toll roads don’t suck.  Not one bit.  I know there’s a heated debate going on about Texas’ implementation of Toll Roads, especially around Austin.  I’m not sure I fully understand both sides, but I was like “eh” (insert shrugging of shoulders here) for a while.

I went ahead and got TxTags for both our cars a few months back because I knew someday I’d need it to save me some time, at least to not have to go through the change booth at some point in the future.  Plus, I think it’s a 10% discount by using the tag, so what’s not to like?

The first time I loved the Toll road (I’m talking about Toll-45 here) was when I needed to go to south Round Rock to visit a friend.  WOW!  I’m used to 20 minutes or so, maybe 25m depending on the lights.  I got there in under 8 minutes. 

The second time was when Caitlin “graduated” from UT Band Camp this summer, and the whole family went out to eat as a celebration.  We decided to go to Cheddar’s in Pflugerville and I happened to take I-35 to Toll-45 home.  We were almost home about 10 mins later and my wife looks up and “where are we? How’d we get here so fast?”.  We agreed the Toll Road was awesome then.  This trip, going our normal route, would have been a good 25-30 minutes.

Just this past week I was on my way home from work and I stopped by North Austin Medical Center, near work.  Family called and asked that I pick up pizza.  I decided to try going “the long way around” by taking the toll roads 1 and 45.  I was home WITH the pizza less than 20 minutes later, and this would have been something that at that time of day would have easily taken 40-50 minutes going the way I normally go.

So here’s my new commute. It’s more miles but I got to work in about 15 mins vs my normal 25-30.  I can take those minutes back any day! 

You know, I’ve always heard “as you get a busier life, set aside a few minutes each day for yourself.”  I always thought – “hey, you’re right!  Then I and save them up and then later I’ll have a few weeks saved up!”  Using the toll roads of Austin helps me save towards that goal.