stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2022-09-18 12:08 pm
stevenpiziks) wrote2022-09-18 12:08 pm
The New Commute
Now that I'm living in Ypsilanti again, I have The Commute.
I've had it before.
When I was hired in Wherever in 1993, I lived in Ann Arbor, then in Ypsilanti. I got used to a 45-minute commute. Then I moved up to Wherever and then to nearby Waterford, and I got used to a much shorter commute. It was heaven, really. Not only was my commute extremely short, it meant I could run over to the school building if I needed something I'd forgotten or to take part in an extra-curricular event.
But now I'm back down in Ypsilanti, and I have the new/old commute.
It's not as bad as I'd feared, but there's some adjustment going on. I persuaded the school to give me sixth hour prep, which means I can flee the building a few minutes before the daily student traffic jam, which gets me home half an hour earlier, though it means I have to take more work home with me, since I'm not staying after school to do it. I'm also not a morning person, and getting up in time to drive 50 minutes and be at work by seven is difficult. Back when I first lived in Ypsilanti, I hit on the trick of making a breakfast sandwich the night before and eating it in the car or at my desk during first hour. That saves me a lot of morning time! I also shower and pack everything for work before bed, so when I get up, all I have to do is get dressed and leave.
When I lived in Waterford, I got up at 5:50 AM. I ate a regular breakfast, not a car sandwich. Now, I get up 5:45, only five minutes earlier. Yay!
Additionally, I don't have kids at home. When I lived in Ypsilanti and the boys were young, I had to drive to Wherever and back, then go pick them up from school (no bus), which was another 40 minutes of driving. Then it was overseeing homework and supper and spending family time, as well as trying to keep a writing career afloat. It was exhausting, and The Commute made it worse. Now? It's just Darwin and me, and he's low maintenance. I get home at 3:00 and don't have responsibilities to anyone but myself. That makes the drive a LOT easier.
The nasty part of the commute is the construction. I have to use highway 275, and it's being completely redone. Miles and miles of the entire southbound side are being torn up down to the foundations and being completely replaced. All traffic is shunted over to the northbound side, which is now two lanes through Jersey barriers in both directions for a good ten miles of my driving.
I'm actually lucky, as these things go. I leave the house at 6:00, well before rush hour. Also, most people who live in the northern suburbs like Novi and Wherever work in Detroit, and they're all going south in the morning when I'm going north. In the afternoon, this reverses itself. So I never get caught in rush hour. Still, it's unnerving and a little stressful to drive miles and miles on narrow lanes set off by concrete walls, competing for space with huge trucks.
The construction is projected to last TWO MORE YEARS. This year, they're supposed to finish the southbound side. In the spring, they'll work on the northbound side, which will again leave two lanes of barrier-divided traffic in both directions. At least the pavement will be new.
I love living in Ypsilanti and I love our house, though, and it makes The Commute way worth it!
I've had it before.
When I was hired in Wherever in 1993, I lived in Ann Arbor, then in Ypsilanti. I got used to a 45-minute commute. Then I moved up to Wherever and then to nearby Waterford, and I got used to a much shorter commute. It was heaven, really. Not only was my commute extremely short, it meant I could run over to the school building if I needed something I'd forgotten or to take part in an extra-curricular event.
But now I'm back down in Ypsilanti, and I have the new/old commute.
It's not as bad as I'd feared, but there's some adjustment going on. I persuaded the school to give me sixth hour prep, which means I can flee the building a few minutes before the daily student traffic jam, which gets me home half an hour earlier, though it means I have to take more work home with me, since I'm not staying after school to do it. I'm also not a morning person, and getting up in time to drive 50 minutes and be at work by seven is difficult. Back when I first lived in Ypsilanti, I hit on the trick of making a breakfast sandwich the night before and eating it in the car or at my desk during first hour. That saves me a lot of morning time! I also shower and pack everything for work before bed, so when I get up, all I have to do is get dressed and leave.
When I lived in Waterford, I got up at 5:50 AM. I ate a regular breakfast, not a car sandwich. Now, I get up 5:45, only five minutes earlier. Yay!
Additionally, I don't have kids at home. When I lived in Ypsilanti and the boys were young, I had to drive to Wherever and back, then go pick them up from school (no bus), which was another 40 minutes of driving. Then it was overseeing homework and supper and spending family time, as well as trying to keep a writing career afloat. It was exhausting, and The Commute made it worse. Now? It's just Darwin and me, and he's low maintenance. I get home at 3:00 and don't have responsibilities to anyone but myself. That makes the drive a LOT easier.
The nasty part of the commute is the construction. I have to use highway 275, and it's being completely redone. Miles and miles of the entire southbound side are being torn up down to the foundations and being completely replaced. All traffic is shunted over to the northbound side, which is now two lanes through Jersey barriers in both directions for a good ten miles of my driving.
I'm actually lucky, as these things go. I leave the house at 6:00, well before rush hour. Also, most people who live in the northern suburbs like Novi and Wherever work in Detroit, and they're all going south in the morning when I'm going north. In the afternoon, this reverses itself. So I never get caught in rush hour. Still, it's unnerving and a little stressful to drive miles and miles on narrow lanes set off by concrete walls, competing for space with huge trucks.
The construction is projected to last TWO MORE YEARS. This year, they're supposed to finish the southbound side. In the spring, they'll work on the northbound side, which will again leave two lanes of barrier-divided traffic in both directions. At least the pavement will be new.
I love living in Ypsilanti and I love our house, though, and it makes The Commute way worth it!