Advantages of a Long Commute and Construction Work

Yes, I do find a long commute has it's advantages. I live 54 miles from my main place of work. It also has it's disadvantages, so I will address those first.

• It takes time to get to and from work. The drive itself is about an hour, traffic permitting. This is how long it usually takes me to get home after work. To get to work, I allow myself about 1.5 to 2 hours. 
• My employer only gives me a 1 minute window for being "On Time" and there is no real leeway on this. 
• I also have to park and walk from the lot to my office. I allow myself a couple of minutes for this. 
• I do not like sitting in the hot seat "Cold" and want to observe the flow for a couple of minutes. 
• There is always the chance of construction and delays therefrom. For example, this last weekend they completely shut down I-5 in Seattle for badly needed roadwork.
• Every week I need to get fuel for the car. And wash it if the lines at Costco are permitting.
• Stuff happens. I have had to change a tire more than once and have not had it make me late, yet.
• It puts a LOT of miles on my cars. 500 miles a week just for the commute, not including detours and other shopping.
• Fuel wise it isn't that bad, only about 10-11 gallons a week, $35. One important reason why I drive a hybrid. A person living much closer can go through more fuel if they are driving a conventional vehicle.
• It is all freeway, and regardless of what they tell you, I still get better fuel economy on the freeway than in town with my Prius, about 60 MPG freeway and 48 MPG city. The tank average is about 55 MPG of late.
• I have little sleep when I take an overtime shift. It's workable, but not something I want to do on a daily basis.
• I want to eat in my car. I really am working on this.

For the advantages, I see them as:

• I see nobody that has anything to do with my job when I am not working except on very rare occasions. I can actually get away from work.
• I also have a disconnect between work and home life. An hour is plenty of time to chill out from a bad day. I can listen to my music or an audio book on the drive.
• I pay less in fuel for a month than the difference in living space costs. My mortgage is less than half of what I would be paying for anything in Seattle. $150 a month in fuel costs is peanuts compared to an extra grand a month for a smaller space.
• When traffic is in my favor, I can stop at Costco and restock the coffee bar for work. Or actually clean out my car of the inevitable accumulating junk. Or just sit in the car and listen to my music or audio book.
• It keeps me from overworking myself on overtime. Yes, I like the money, but having time with the family is important.

I should point out that my shifts are not your normal "Nine to Five" shifts. I work Thursday through Monday from around noon to 8 p.m. There is little traffic during my commute and I actually like having weekdays off. You can get stuff done. Movies are cheaper on Tuesdays. The stores are less crowded.

So, you can see that, with a little planning and Google maps, a long commute can actually help your overall well being and you can live a more relaxed lifestyle. 

I keep telling myself this.

And, it's only for 14 more years...

Strike Anywhere Matches

Apparently they are no longer considered "Safe".

We are taking the kids camping this week and I was in search of matches for camping. The ones we had in storage were beyond usefulness. Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Big 5 sports and the local drug store didn't have them. I ended up doing a search for them online and found them at Kroger (Fred Meyers). It was quite the hunt. I had looked at REI the day before, but they didn't have quite what I was looking for as I did not have a need for 3 inch long hurricane proof matches at $10 for 25, and they were still strike on box.

I found these at Fred Meyer, for a slightly lower price than through Amazon. But the value is still there. Good old Strike Anywhere Matches. I already had waterproof containers for storing them, much like the other link. The containers hold the contents of one little box of the pack, I cut off the striking surface from the empty boxes and stored one inside of each match bottle. It never hurts to be a little extra prepared.

I suppose that I may be a little choosy about the kind of matches I get, but for camping, I prefer the old standard. I guess I am a little old fashioned. I also am taking a lighter and 3 means of making a spark.

Pacific Science Center

Get the membership for the special event, come back for the regular exhibits.

Last year, we visited the Pacific Science Center for the Terracotta Warriors exhibit. When doing so, we purchased a family membership. The economics of this are great. Firstly, you are supporting a great facility. Secondly, it is a better deal.
Here is how we managed ours:

Family Membership: $139

• 2 named adults
• 1 unnamed adult (+$20 must be accompanied by a named adult)
• 6 children (must be accompanied by a named adult)
• 8 guest passes
• 15 IMAX tickets

For a single visit we would have been paying:

• 3 Adults @ $23.95 = $71.85
• 5 Youth @ $17.95 = $89.75

As you can see, the price is already above that of a membership. Add into that the discount for event tickets such as the Terracotta Warriors exhibit plus the included IMAX and guest passes and you have saved more than half of the price. 

Even if you were to only want to visit one time with two friends, your admission would be $71.85 for three adults and no IMAX or $98.10 with the IMAX, where you could get a single membership for $89 including the IMAX and 2 guest passes. The value gets better if you come back.

The IMAX tickets are for documentaries, but they are very nicely done and worth catching.

On the Terracotta Warriors exhibit, I will say that it was amazing. In Seattle, early in the American tour, there was only a rope barrier between us and the items on display. Later a sturdier barrier was added due to an incident of theft.

So, our return yesterday was just to take advantage of the last day of our annual membership, free but for parking and fuel. Total bonus. I got to visit the planetarium for the first time in more than a decade. Some of the exhibits are aging, I remember a couple of them from when I was a child. But they are adding some new items on a regular basis. 

If you live in Western Washington, or are visiting Seattle, make it a part of the tour especially if you have younger folk in tow. There are a lot of interactive displays and can be fun for young and old alike. If you do the math, it is usually worth a membership

Yech, I hate being sick...

Got sent home from work last night. The boss says I need to rest. O.K. I did. Now it's my weekend, and there is so much to do around the house I feel like I need to go back to work and get more rest.

Fed the fish in the pond, it's a 400 gallon Rubbermaid bin sunken into the ground with 17 feeder goldfish. The fish are now between 1.5 and 3 inches long. The water is kept clear with a home-brew bio-filter. (More on this later.) Having a few minutes with the fish is a happy time.

Finally saw the doc about this head cold like thing that's been hanging on for too long. I am starting to feel better already.

Winter is setting in, the trees are dumping their leaves on my bare soil that should become a lawn sometime next year. We were hoping to get all 28 yards of top soil moved around before Halloween, but that will not be happening. We have to park the cars between the piles of dirt in the parking strip, and I won't be able to get the wrought iron fence back up in time. (Well, maybe.) I wanted to get it back up and put Barbie heads on the spikes for Halloween, but my wife said NO to that idea. She does want the little tricksters to come to the door.

Wow, 3 days off in a row, whatever shall I do with myself? >;)