A Killer Commute

My commute is to the bathroom every morning....Retired = vacation every day

Yeah, I have to walk about 15 paces to get to my bench to work on bows, but it's tough... 'cos soon as I've been in their 5 minutes I need to go to the loo
Del

I've composed a theme song for your visit....

Back in "the day", I used to drive to work through a corner of a National Park, Watching out for large animals on the road can be troublesome.

Never had a problem waking up. until I turned 50, never needed an alarm clock.

In all seriousness,... early in my career, one of my jobs I traveled about 45 miles to work, about 45-50 minutes. Gave me time to think, plan and organized.

after 4 years,... it got to be a real pain,.... I n the morning, I traveled east, and along the way, the sun would break over the horizon, and on a clear day, it can be rather uncomfortable,... eyes start watering, and if I did have my polarized sunglasses on, made it rough.

And on the way home, of course the sun was also in my eyes,... and what compounded it, is that after a 10-12 hour day, it was trying to fight to stay awake on the drive home.

Of course, shortly after I left, they made it into a 4 lane highway.

And now, starting about 2 years ago,... I'm really beginning to look forward to at least semi-retirement. But I like to stay working as long as I can. Even in retirement.

But I have to add,... when I did some jobs in California,... the commute they did,.. was insane.

15 minute car drive, that includes stopping at the corner shop for a newspaper. Drive is through some very nice countryside. My record journey home from company car park to my front drive is 7 minutes.

My first job had a 50 minute commute, though it was against traffic it definitely wore on me after a few months. It was incredibly frustrating to be done with your work day, then have to face nearly an hour home. I also was paid so little that to fork over a fairly significant amount of money for gas every week, also made it nearly unbearable.

Now, I have a quick 15-20 minute drive and I'm thankful everyday!

One witnesses a lot of near misses during the summer months.

More enjoyable?

Ride this.

All 5.25 miles of it. But sometimes I might have to take the 'long cut' if the weather is especially nice.

Yeah, I'm done with long commutes. Been there, done that, don't want to ever do it again. In fact, I think I'll go home and make a sandwich for lunch.

There was one thing I was really impressed by, I was going down the highway (to work) and this Gold Wing passes me,... I was so impressed, it was quieter than a sewing machine,... and compared to hogs, not one bit of vibration.

The Buell has a Harley engine in it. Some vibration can be considered part of the experience (so long as it doesn't become a hindrance or distracting). Buell did a very nice job with engine mounts so that little vibration is felt through the handlebars or seat once you get it off idle. At idle, it hops all around.

I've owned a couple of Honda V-4's in their Interceptor models and they are mechanically very smooth due to their 90 degree vee configuration, but the engine sound is distinctive.

Gold Wings are very good at what they are designed to do. Gobble up huge tracts of land in a more or less upright position. Considering their size, they do pretty well in the turns, but with an 800 lb. plus bike, physics still plays its part.

I would consider ourselves to be blessed that we have so many choices to satisfy nearly every desire.

I have a Subaru Forester with its boxer engine. Although it is a rapid car & a smooth ride, it also wobbles at idle. Feels like you're on a small boat on rippled water.

My first bike was a ts400 Suzuki. It was my brother's that I beat pretty badly on the farm. When he began to notice, he didn't complain at first because I kept it pretty well maintained (tires, chain, etc.) Eventually, though, it began to show. It got to a point where I had to buy it from him...when I was old enough to drive it, that is.

Soon after, I read the reviews on the GS1100. I wanted so badly to get it but lacked the money at the time.

I emptied my savings account as a junior in college to get one the first 1983 Honda 750 Interceptors for about $3,500. A very different bike for the times. Technology quickly overshadowed it in the next four or five years, but it handled so much better than my 1970 CB750. And much smoother too.

I recall, I think it was in the late 70's or early 80's, Honda came out with a new transmission. The Honda hawk or something...

That Susuki had a shaft drive; when I was readying the reviews, they were saying it was a nice balanced bike (you could throw sparks on the foot rest while taking a curve).

My brother had a '74 Sportster and he couldn't do that after trying, but he could take the ditch and tear up the 15th green on a golf course. And he had a 3" scar on his back to show to prove it. ;)

I used to have a Honda Shadow 750 with a shaft drive.. It was a pleasure to ride.. just enough rumble while being a smooth ride. I threw a few sparks off the footrest in the turns until the bottom of the foot rest came off.

I don't have that bike anymore, but the footrest might be out in the garage.

It made every commute a treat.

One perk of biking in Illinois? No helmet law.

When I first started riding,... not wearing a helmet was just part of a long list of rules, laws and regulations that I was breaking.

I'm glad I can put the teenage years behind me.

I recently leased a 2017 Lincoln MKZ and it is the technology wave of the future. The salesman told me it has all the technology incorporated in it that is necessary for self driving. It just does not combine it for the execution. It has lane markings on the dash to alert you of crossing a line. If you signal a turn to the left lane, it will warn if there is a car in the blind spot. It has adaptive cruise control so it automatically slows down as you approach a car in front of you going slower or if you go to left lane it will automatically move back up to the set speed. Plus many more that I have not figured out yet no doubt.

They feel that in 3 years, cars like this will be available as self driving. I am ready!

I wonder if that would cope with our local hazards, the occasional flock of sheep coming towards you, catching up with horse & rider and, on one occasion, finding a group of people trying to persuade a bull to return to its field.

I have never worked closer than 30 miles from home. For the last 15 years I have a 50 mile drive each way door step to door step. I have a friend about to accept a job about 70 miles from home. I know another who commuted about 100 miles each way. Now that's too much.

When I was a young adult I would commute to a farm about twenty miles out of town. Seemed like I was doing it backwards.

I would be up at the crack of dawn and come home at dusk. This avoided any rush hour I might have encountered.

Most of the distance was on a freeway so I could get up and cruise. Part of the time I had a hot rod(?) Ford Falcon and then I got a big old Cadillac that just loved to go 80. I put stereo tape deck in the Cadillac.

I worked six days a week except during harvest which was seven until it was done. In Winter cut back to forty hours a week.

The farmer paid 25% above minimum because it was the only way he could get good workers. I worked so many hours I didn't have much time to spend my wages. Sundays off were a blessing. Did my chores in the morning and partied in the afternoon. And Saturday night, of course.

To this day I say it was the best job I ever had. I could go on but this is it in a nutshell.