Quick poll: what would you do? (professsional job question)

[George]

I've been told this thread was a mistake. That's probably true. Sorry.

[novicius]

90 minutes to go 30 miles? Did you move to L.A. without telling us?

If you can't handle the commute, don't take the gig, honestly. You won't be able to rationalize it enough. My wife is in a similar situation and she hates it more than anything.

[George]

Your reply is noted and much appreciated. Really!

I'm just having one of those classic quandaries that we've probably all seen in a Film Noir movie or maybe a Star Trek episode:

Money vs.Integrity

or, perhaps

Safe and sure vs. reckless abandon

...and I'm stupid enough to mention it online. Shame on me.

[George]

The really sad thing is that someone I really trusted to give me solid counsel about such matters pretty much said "TAKE THE MONEY!" without allowing me to explain further. That hurt.

And, it's not like we're talking about a lot of money here. I'm still an under-achiever, I promise!

This thread was my worst decision since my "should I shave my beard" thread (which was also about job-getting).

Move along.

Nothing to see here.

[LHutton]

I'm fortunate enough to work from home, except when there are meetings. Just as well because I view commutes as unpaid work.

[G'day Mate]

Commutes are the best part of my day, and they save me money and keep me fit!

[LHutton]

But then you waste even more time showering when you get to work and stand a good chance of being knocked off once a year.

[G'day Mate]

Everyone showers in the morning, don't they?

Anyway I'm not pointing out that the health benefits of cycling outweigh the risk of accident, just stating a different perspective.

[LHutton]

Yeah, but you'd need a separate set of clothes and to essentially dress twice. That said, I'm glad cyclists do exist when I do have to turn up, one less car on the road.

[G'day Mate]

It may seem hard to pack a shirt, but it's not prohibitively inconvenient. I also make my own sandwiches in the morning.

[LHutton]

I'm a lazy cunt. I cycle but only for exercise and on back roads that are virtually deserted. The UK is a very busy place wrt cars and you can almost guarantee being knocked off once a year if you cycle to work every day (octuple that in London/cities to allow for the cunt factor). The journey also takes 45 minutes in a car when I do go, it would take hours on a bike. I eat at the burger van on the 1-2 days a month I turn in.

[G'day Mate]

As I said, different perspectives. In fact, part of the criteria for the new house we bought last year was that I would be able to continue to ride to work.

[Rare White Ape]

…and stand a good chance of being knocked off once a year.

Is that something you'd factor into it if you took up cycling to work? And if so, would you consider one incident of that sort per year an acceptable thing? I ask because it sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me. And if I had the capacity to feel sorry for you it would be because you'd spend a fair chuck of the year laid up because of your inability to ride a pushbike and watch out for hazards.

[LHutton]

Is that something you'd factor into it if you took up cycling to work? And if so, would you consider one incident of that sort per year an acceptable thing? I ask because it sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me. And if I had the capacity to feel sorry for you it would be because you'd spend a fair chuck of the year laid up because of your inability to ride a pushbike and watch out for hazards.
No, it wouldn't be acceptable to me. And watching out for hazards does little good if a car comes up behind you and turns left straight through you at a junction. Some car drivers are literally incapable of seeing anything less than 3ft wide.

The other hazard in the UK is road-side hedges, which produce lovely thorns that evolved over thousands of years to have 100 times the potency of any nail or tack.

[novicius]

The really sad thing is that someone I really trusted to give me solid counsel about such matters pretty much said "TAKE THE MONEY!" without allowing me to explain further. That hurt.
Yeah the money would need to be a very noticeable and significant jump in base pay for me to advise taking a gig where you're commuting up to 3 hours/day in the car. :down: #notworthit

[Dicknose]

I haven't had a commute longer than 20 minutes for about 20 years.
Occasionally I have to go somewhere after work and man does it suck sitting in traffic. Even on the bike it's not much fun doing the lane split from hell.
Money is nice, but we need it to do the things we like. I tend to think if your job or commute sucks then you need a lot more money to make up for it and get the smile back on your face.
If it's "commute or starve" then suck it up. Otherwise have a good hard think about how much money you need to make up for killer days.

[Godson]

Is that something you'd factor into it if you took up cycling to work? And if so, would you consider one incident of that sort per year an acceptable thing? I ask because it sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me. And if I had the capacity to feel sorry for you it would be because you'd spend a fair chuck of the year laid up because of your inability to ride a pushbike and watch out for hazards.

A+ would read again.

[21Kid]

Awww, I missed the original question, but I can gather what it was from the responses.

FWIW, I don't mind dumb questions. :finger: But really... what are friends for? :D

[thesameguy]

I have a fifteen minute rule when it comes to commuting, but I hate commuting. I work with people who spend 90-120 minutes in traffic every single day and they don't mind one iota.

Me, at Minute 16, is sincerely wondering what the hell is taking SO LONG

[Godson]

I'm the same. My commute in the am is 7-10 minutes, depending on lights and how much I feel like braking the speed limit.

On my way home in rush hour is 12-16 minutes.

[LHutton]

It takes me 10 seconds to walk from the kitchen to my study.

[Crazed_Insanity]

My commute is about 40min~1hr+ depending on traffic. (30 miles one way!)

This is about my limit time-wise.

I don't really mind driving, just don't like to be stuck in traffic. I'm lucky that I don't have to be stuck in traffic most of the time. My commute is mostly opposite of the usual flow of traffic. Of course, there'll be days when there are accidents... that drags..., but I'd just get off the freeway or find alt routes to get home.

I dunno, maybe having a car like S2000 really help ease the pain! I'm also lucky that my job is pretty flexible schedule-wise. My manager doesn't care when I show up or when I leave as long as I get stuff done. If I have a job that requires a fixed schedule, then this won't work.

One of the main reason I had to turn down a job with higher pay because it demands a pretty strict 10hr work days.

[thesameguy]

I love driving, and I drive a lot - but commuting in traffic is no bueno. I have a somewhat flexible schedule so it's a rare day I need to participate in the worst traffic. On those days I do, my commute might stretch to 25 minutes... it's about eight miles. Most of the time I'm not in traffic, just a lot of surface streets and I can do the eight miles in fifteen minutes. Most of my mileage is racked up going other places - the bay area, Tahoe, Fresno, sometimes even SoCal. When it comes to those longer distance hauls I have complete control of scheduling so I definitely miss traffic. Me, some old '80s car, and a highway is a-ok... especially if that highway is #50 up to Tahoe. It's a great drive and I'm fortunate to get paid to make it.

My last job was a 17 mile commute, almost all freeway, rarely if ever during rush. Most of the drive was at 70 or 80, but the last three miles was slow ass surface streets near Random's place. At minute 10 & mile 12 (or so) I was usually getting off the freeway. The last five miles took a solid 10 minutes. It was terrible. About halfway through I would invariably wonder why a big ol' save the trees hippie community would create a traffic pattern that ensured everyone was required to stop at every signal. DON'T THEY KNOW THAT CAR EMISSIONS ARE WORST DURING ACCELERATION??? You'd think a place that professed all those values would want to encourage steady-state cruising. Over the course of three years, I was able to conclude the entire city was a farce based on lies.

[FaultyMario]

I talked to my new boss. He let me have 2 work from home days. And I was on the "commute or starve" demographic. It was eating my soul.

[TheBenior]

Lately, it's 20 minutes for me to get to work, and 40-60 minutes to get home. It's 15 miles, with 11 of that being highway on the way in (on the way back depends on how bad traffic is). However, it's still 15 miles completely within the Chicago city limits.

[Rare White Ape]

My commute by car is 10 minutes. On the motorbike that can turn into 5.

By bicycle it's still 10 minutes.

[IMOA]

I hate commuting and will do anything to avoid them. Currently my commutes are:

Bangkok - 5 mins walk
Sydney - 12 minutes drive (seriously dangerous for the licence, I have a habit of hitting ~110mph which is really dumb in Australia) I might start riding and it would be about 30 minutes I guess
Tokyo - 10 minutes walk
Osaka - 5 minutes walk
Gent (Belgium) - 15-20 minute drive. Dodging suicidal uni students on bikes doing everything they can to be hit by a car

I do try to keep it to 15 minutes but 30 minutes doesn't really bother me too much I guess, eg 5 mins walk to the station, wait a few minutes, 15 minutes on a train and 5 minutes walk to the office is 30 minutes and not too much of a big deal. Likewise if it's an interesting drive that doesn't bother me too much, I sometimes take the long way home (Macquarie park to crows nest via akuna bay/west head/akuna bay for the sydney folk), this adds near an hour to the commute but it is a rather entertaining drive home :) We are looking at another job in Bangkok atm and unless I want to live out in the boondocks that will be a 1 - 1 1/2 hour drive each way, to do that I'll be using a driver and sleep in the back of the car because driving myself on that trip in Bangkok traffic at the end of the day would kill me.

[Rare White Ape]

Macquarie park to crows nest via akuna bay/west head/akuna bay for the sydney folk

Only 20 minutes ago I was listening to a hilarious clip of Ray Hadley on the radio turning red at the face talking about riders in groups 100-strong organised on social media and terrorising the locals up that way on regular night rides. If only he knew the truth of it, that the vast majority of the riders in these Facebook groups are learners who couldn't terrorise a pedestrian crossing.

So yeah, take it easy up there this week until the attention from the moron on the radio dies down.

[Kchrpm]

I used to commute ~45 minutes every day, strengthened my fondness for talk radio. Now my commute is shorter (3 miles, ~7 stop lights), but I still want to hear funny conversations, so I have podcasts at the ready.

[IMOA]

Only 20 minutes ago I was listening to a hilarious clip of Ray Hadley on the radio turning red at the face talking about riders in groups 100-strong organised on social media and terrorising the locals up that way on regular night rides. If only he knew the truth of it, that the vast majority of the riders in these Facebook groups are learners who couldn't terrorise a pedestrian crossing.

So yeah, take it easy up there this week until the attention from the moron on the radio dies down.

Still in Bangkok this week but heading home Friday night for rennsport on Saturday. Looks like I have 4 weeks at home, longest stretch home since last July so should be able to get to the track.

[Dicknose]

I live at Macquarie Park and used to work at Crows Nest - the reverse IMOA!
And I never considered going via West Head!
I stuck to the bus lane on Epping Road (aka Epping Road motorcycle raceway)

Hmm might go to West Head tomorrow (past midnight, so today)... Thanks!