Drive Time

Why did the chicken cross the road, anyway?

Why don't we think things are just good enough in our own back yards?

I'm just filling space to get around this picture.

Ah, now...recently I moved to a homestead north of Wichita. It's quite a drive for someone around here, but I grew up in Western Kansas. Back home, we would drive 90 miles for a current movie release. It was also typically that far to get any kind of fast food (which was a treat when I was a kid--now I despise it, but eat it when life demands [another blog on fast food]. I lived in the country as a kid, and I wanted that for my children, so I sought after just the right place for, honestly, decades. Of course, re$ource$ kept me from buying the farm, until now.

This place of mine needs a name. [another blog, another time]

I have a commute of 20 minutes in the early morning, a bit longer when radars and traffic inhibit me in the afternoon. The national average commute was 24.4 minutes in 2002 (most reliable current data I could find via a US Census piece. I guess, once again, I'm average.

Those reading in the Wichita area have an average commute of 16.5 minutes, FYI.

This is the first week I've made the drive daily. Altogether over 200 miles. It will cost me over $2,000 in fuel alone this school year, given my big 4x4 Chevy truck and my driving style. I'm in the market for something economical.

Usually a nice commute gives me time to get my game on (early am) and then leave work at work (pm). Lately, however, drive time thoughts have been collecting in my head. I seem most moody when behind the wheel (especially Saturdays, when I get road rage while garage sailing). I've been thinking things like:

gotta get a cheaper ride (guilt)

i'm spending almost an hour a day driving...I need to multi-task behind the wheel

(early morning) wonder when the next deer will spring out?

gotta get a cheaper ride

*#$*@ petrolarchy we live in

this would take most of the day to travel 100 years ago

books on tape...books on tape...

sometimes, I even miss the semester I taught 5 classes online

So, anyway, there are other, less publishable things collecting in my head as I roll on down the road. I think I'll surf the net and find others to commiserate with on the subject of commuting.