New job here too!

[jasonl]

22 mile commute, child's play

Congrats on the new job! New jobs are hard to come by thanks to the economy being in the toilet. And it's well worth a long commute for better conditions.

Mine is a 91 mile commute one way. Thank God I have a TDI Beetle that makes 50mpg (about 4 gallons round trip). If I drive at or a little bit under the limit without getting run over, I could squeeze a few more miles out of it.

Use good name-brand fuel, drive non-aggressively and take routes that aren't as jammed up with traffic.

My Garmin has a traffic feature that I never got to use but it's supposed to tell where the traffic is and re-route around it.

 

[jasonl]

All Highway

The best part of my commute is coming home @ 2am. No traffic except for trucks and the occasional car. Cruise control @ 70 all the way to Crossville (65 going up the mountain).

 

[rp2813]

I didn't know they made TDI bugs. I don't think I've seen one of those on the road, unless they don't have TDI badges on them. I have, however, seen a couple of Smart cars on the freeway and they are more or less capable of keeping up with the flow of traffic but they look like deathtraps to me.

 

[sudsmaster]

Jason,

You cannot ever have experienced SF Bay Area traffic. It's not the distance that is the issue - it's the traffic jams. Back in the late 90's, it used to take me 1 to 1.5 hours or more to travel 25 miles down to the San Jose area. One jam after another. Friday afternoons were the worst; it could take 2 hours or more to get home those same 25 miles. I finally started a combination of bicycling and train (had to ride eight of those 25 miles) just to avoid the stress (plus it was good exercise). When the dotcom bubble burst, it got somewhat better for a while, and then that phase of my career ended and I haven't worked in the San Jose area since then.

The "Maze" is what is called the convergence of five major freeways just before the Bay Bridge toll plaza: 24, 80, 880, 980, and 580. One accident and it's bolloxed for hours. Fortunately I just have to skirt the Maze, but I'm hoping the traffic gods will be smiling. Due to the geography of the East Bay, there aren't a lot of parallel highway routes to take. Usually it's either city streets or a single major freeway in whatever direction you want to go. And while in years past you used to be able to hop on and off the freeway to take advantage of the streets, now there are metering lights on just about every on-ramp in areas prone to congesetion, so sometimes you just have to grin and bear it.

 

[neptunebob]

Suds, since you seem to like to work in machine shops, is all this work have anything to do with the nuclear industry? A radio host, Fred Honsberger says there are pleny of jobs in western PA, that a company would hire 10 machinsts now if they could. He tells this to people who complain they can't get a job. Every one of companies he talks about makes parts for nuclear power stations - one makes the casks for nuclear waste. Is that why there is so much work in that career?

http://www.kdkaradio.com/pages/1616397.php?contentType=4&contentId=1529372

 

[~sudsshane]

Hi Rich

Congrats on the new job! It is always good to see people prosper =)

 

[sudsmaster]

Bob,

It would depend on the shop. Some of what I did might have been used in the nuclear industry, but most of it has been for the high tech, solar, and biotech industries. One problem is that the machining business is highly competitive. It's capital (for the machines) and labor intensive. You can only cut the machine tool cost to a certain point, and after that it's labor that gets squeezed, both in terms of wages and demands for increased productivity per man hour. It can become somewhat of a problem when the labor is highly skilled, I suppose, especially if the owners like to manage by yelling and prides itself on "ripping new ones" out of employees and customers alike.

 

[mickeyd]

Bon chance, mon Ami !

Whenever I think of you, it's always of those delicious drinks, fruits & veggies from your garden and your marvelous contraptions. It's an American tragedy that you can't make a fortune right at home, doing all of that, especially tending bar for Aworg and faxing the drinks cross-country. Hey! maybe shortly --teleportal robotics.

 

[sudsmaster]

You are too kind, Mickey.

I am glad you were entertained by my amateur photos of drinks and sundry garden produce.

I never anticipated being thought of as a lime drop, but I suppose I've been compared to less delightful refreshments. I guess Laundress has her luggage, and I have my contraptions, LOL.

 

[alanlendaro]

Good Luck Rich! Change is good

Sounds like you are on a good adventure. Don't let the commute worry you - I had a job 15 min from home and I was miserable. Now I drive about an hour to a job I really love and am fine. My partner still comments (over a year after I switched) on how much happier I am. Its better to fight traffic for an hour or so and enjoy the next 8 hours than to breeze into work and be miserable for the next 8 hours.

 

[sudsmaster]

Good advice, Alan

I was thinking along the same lines. I'd get home within 10 minutes of leaving work, and feel deflated and depressed. I'll spare you the details, but I think the new job will be far more satisfying on a number of levels.

 

[mickeyd]

You remembered

and the Meyers lemon drops too. You know, Suds, I've often envisioned you and Laundress and I throwing back a few one day before we get too rusty and I can't quite get over the fact that we could have met her out walking in NYC during our deposed Governor's fiasco. Imagine.... a laundress siting.! You seem to know her best and longest. Have you ever had the pleasure?

Also forgot to mention your enrichment of my life through soap gratings--Dial, Ivory, and Irish Spring, mmm, mmm--on certain washdays.

 

[sudsmaster]

Miceky,

I remember Laundress aka Cimberlie de Sade from ThatHomeSite days, but I don't recall ever having met the Lady. Seeing as how she and I are on opposite ends of the country, a chance meeting would seem to be highly unlikely, but you never know...

I'd forgotten about the grated soap flakes. It was fun for a while but I went back to a liquid HE free and clear detergent for items that need extra softness. Still have a supply of grated soap, though, for when the mood strikes me or when I have some woolens or delicates that need a gentle treatment.