Commuting

I live in Salem, OR and work in downtown Portland, OR. Door to door, it's 53 miles from my house to where I park. Since I'm also a cheap bastard, I park in the free parking area, which is 26 blocks from my office. So.. On a good day, my commute is an hour and a half including the walk.

So... What do I do for 3 hours a day? Well, the drive is nice for winding down after a long day. I usually either think about what I have going on around the house, what we're doing with the boys, or find a good radio station to listen to.

The walk is nice as well.. It's basically my only exercise I get during the week, so it's good for me. Since I'm a car nut, I scope out the cool cars to see between my office and my car. There's the regulars. 1 Ferrari 308, 1 Lotus Elise, a handfull of Minis.. Today I saw 5 Minis on my walk. I guess that's because I work about 8 blocks from the only Mini dealer between Seattle and San Fransisco. Saw a nice Infinity G35 Coupe too. One of my co-workers has one of those and they are pretty cool cars. Saw a guy in an older Alfa Romeo spider. Usually see him a couple times a month. Saw a dark red Fiat Spider as well..

Tonight's commute was nice as there was minimal traffic since I left work after 6:30. The sun was out and it went by quickly. It's those days when I have 20 miles of stop/go traffic in the pouring rain that is annoying.

People look at me like I'm nuts when the find out I commute so far. They tell me I should move to Portland. Well. I like living in Salem. I'm not a big city kind of guy, and the cost of living down here is so much less than in the Portland area. Plus, Julie's got a good job working here in Salem and the boys are in a good school.

Enough rambling for now.