Commuting Options

Dear Friends and Family,

I hate to say it, but this is what my life has been reduced to... My excitement for the day yesterday was, big drum roll please, I tried taking the bus to work. Or, rather, I took the train to the bus to work.

On the positive, I slept in both directions, which means more sleep for me overall. I've been dragging this week with getting up at 4 every morning after two weeks of sleeping in. And, it's cheaper than gas. I think I can save on auto insurance by making my car a leisure vehicle. And, to ease my sleep even more, it's more environmentally responsible. The icing on the cake? I get at least 10-15 minutes of walking in just getting to the train station.

On the negative, I'm on a schedule. I need to come and go on the bus schedule which I'm not sure is going to work with the new job. Working out will be tough, since the last bus leaves pretty early. Time wise, I think it's break even in the evening, but, I think it takes ~30 minutes more in the morning. Not sure, exactly, but, that's what I think, based on my three data points at three different times during a very non-standard week... in other words, lots of room for data error. And, so far the weather has cooperated - dry and warm. Not sure how much I'll like it in the cold.

As insurance, we bought the Jetta, warts and all. It's still at the mouse house, but we'll be driving it back Jan 1. It'll be my other commuting option.

What are my options? And combination of the following:

1. public transportation: bus and train
2. carpool: with Mr. mouse, we drop him off at work and I take the car from there
3. carpool: with Mr. mouse, he drops me off and doubles back to work (exception based at best, probably)
4. hybrid: semi-public: train to car left at park and ride
5. private: car

I guess we'll have to see how the schedule and options evolve over time. Keep in mind, you can choose a variety from the above on any given day. Once you have two cars here, there's no commitment to one or the other. So, I can do option #4 in the morning and #1 on the way home and do #2 the next morning and #5 in the evening. The permutations can make your head spin... Well, at least I know I have flexibility, if nothing else.


Cheers!
mouse