The Commute!
Quick thought: I remember when I first came to California, I couldn't believe how bad the roads were. Not all the roads, of course, but just highway 101, the first road I encountered after flying into SFO from Atlanta. There are other highways of course, which are a lot nicer - 280 for example is pretty smooth, but 101 is a disaster. And now I'm commuting down it. Wow. It takes a little over an hour to get down to Yahoo from SF in the morning - though I did make it home in just under an hour last night. But I left well after peak rush hour, if I left here at say 5:30, it'd probably take me over an hour and half or more. It's amazing.
Part of the problem is just getting to the freeway! I live in the North of San Francisco, so first I have to cross the city, battle my way onto the highway (the benefits of not having inter-city highways is the drawback of not having enough highway onramps), then drive down 90% the length of the Peninsula where anything could happen along the way. Any sort of disruption will block the highway for miles in both directions.
None of this is new if you're a commuter, and many many people have done and are doing this every day, but wow it's as bad as it I thought it was going to be. Since I've already been dreaming of getting a house (renting at first) down in the Valley to 1) get out apartment living and 2) have nicer weather, this may be the final excuse I've been looking for to get out of San Francisco for good. I *love* San Francisco, and the fact that I live two blocks away from the bay with views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio, Palace of Fine Arts and other fantastic cultural and natural goodness makes me really think twice. But I'm so ready to have a little house in the burbs. Now I have to convince my non-driving European wife about that as well... Can you tell I'm building my case?
Anyways, I guess I'll have to get everything set up to receive PodCasts now so I have something decent to listen to on the way to and from. I love Terry Gross's voice, but there's only so much Fresh Air you can listen to. I might be able to stream some shows as well on my EDGE phone, but we'll see. Maybe hooking up my laptop to my UMTS phone via bluetooth? Hmmm. Note to other Bay Area Drivers: watch out for a swerving Saturn VUE on 101 around 6 p.m. daily...
Maybe my first purchase after my gadget moratorium is over might be a Sirius Radio...
-Russ