My Horrible Commute

[bjarvis]

When I work from home, my regular morning commute is the long slog from the bedroom downstairs to the computer cave. If I'm in a hurry, I can cover that distance in five seconds; if I'm still half asleep, it can take as long as a full minute.

Working from California, however, my commute has grown enormously.


This photo is taken from the couch in my hotel room where I'm sipping a chilled glass of ginger ale. The red arrow indicates my office. The unfeeling bastards make me get dressed every day, walk out of the hotel, across the alley to the front of the building and press an eleveator button to take me to the 6th floor where I then have to walk unaided to my workstation.

The horror of it all is worthy of a Stephen King novel. In fact, it might be the only plot he hasn't used yet in some novel or another. Hey, Stephen! Call me!

Comments

[omero-hassan.livejournal.com]

Don't you have a union you could complain to? In California, I think that if you don't have a union, one will be appointed for you. It must be illegal to impose working conditions like those.

[pklexton.livejournal.com]

In California, I think that if you don't have a union, one will be appointed for you.

Not quite that bad, though I do laugh every time I read an employment agreement that recites that it involves employment "at will." An entire segment of the legal industry makes a living off the exceptions to that rule.

[cuyahogarvr.livejournal.com]

The only way your commute at home would be easier is if we put your bedroom in the garage.

Miss You :)

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Hey, if I slept in the garage, I'd have a private entrance with its own remote control! How cool is that?! :-)

[beartalon.livejournal.com]

When I travel for work, I am never within walking distance of the office. Someone had the idea "Instead of paying more for a hotel within walking distance, let's rent a car for him." Yep, lots of fun driving a car in a foreign city, especially when all the streets around the office are one-way only, or one-ways that change direction depending on the time of day. How odd.

Difference in hotel cost, $25 per day. Cost of car per day, $60. I see the savings, yes I do.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

On my first trip to meet the corporate overlords (a month after they hired me), I was given a choice of two hotels. One was cheaper but a half-mile away; the other was adjacent to the office but was 25% more expensive. Being obsessed with the financial well-being of our shareholders as I am, I chose the cheaper hotel.

Never again.

The time used in the half-mile walk in direct sunlight wasn't pleasant. Walking past the other hotel choice twice per day just rubbed in further that I chose badly. I haven't made that mistake since.

[beartalon.livejournal.com]

Even if it wasn't truly cost efficient, having a car in Europe gave me all sorts of freedom to look around the smaller countries, rather than being locked in one place. I'm not a hardware person, so I do not have the late nights trying to get a server working while most of my colleagues have gone home. Having the time off to explore was appreciated.

On both recent trips I found better flight deals (at least $400 less) than our travel agent did, so the car was really an earned benefit.

[bootedintexas.livejournal.com]

i can see it now "THE COMMUTE" ....getting to work can kill you....