Commuter

Sometimes I wonder if the 6-hour drive back to SLC is worth it.  I’m spending 12 hours in the car every week since I have a three-day work schedule in Tonopah followed by four days off in a row.  Then I sleep one night in my own bed and I feel like it is all worth it.  And then I think, well I’m probably spending less time in my car per week than the average Californian does on their weekly commute to and from work, so I figure I’m right on par with a large population of the nation.

The commute today was brought to you by NPR podcasts (Wait, Wait, the Sunday Puzzler, Car Talk, and The World).  I try to listen to things that are kind of engaging like Wait, Wait and the Puzzler, but honestly I usually blank out halfway through the question and wonder… what were they talking about again?  But they do keep me relatively alert on the drive.  And Car Talk just makes me laugh.

The commute today was also brought to you by:  homemade chocolate chip cookies (I made a batch last night before I left Salt Lake), Peet’s coffee, a Filet-o-Fish Value Meal in Ely, and a bag of Smartfood Popcorn.  I’m sure all of it went straight to my coronary arteries and to my hips.  Which is why when I got back to the condo in T-pah, I did not hesitate (he who hesitates is lost, or is at least caught napping…) and put my running shoes on and got out the door with the dogs to go for a four mile run on the mining roads.  Perfect timing—we finished with the run just as it was getting dark.

A month has gone by already, and I have two months left here in the sticks.  I’m looking forward to visiting my friend Kate the week before Christmas up in Reno, and probably heading up to Tahoe as well.  We haven’t seen each other since high school (twenty years ago!) so I’m sure we will have lots to talk about.  After Christmas, I will have approximately only one month left!  Time sure flies…