Tag Archives: commute

Commute-racing

I don’t know if its just me, or every red-blooded man, but on the morning commute, driving to the station… if I have an inkling that one of my neighbours is driving the same route, I like to win.  Or at least, not to lose track of them on the drive in – whilst staying within the speed limits, obv.

I’m not a massively competitive person in general; it comes from a lifetime of not winning that many things (except with Amanda and Emily of course, best wins ever), but there’s something about that early morning drive that just makes me want to punch it on. There’s also the challenge of breaking the seven minute commute time – it used to be six, but then I changed car-parks. This somehow felt more significant when it was a cycle time, in my days of cycling into work when I lived in London.

Of course, the sensible thing would be to try to negotiate some kind of car-pool, but the practicalities of that (particularly the return trip) escape me. And of course, against one neighbour’s 350z I struggle to keep up…

Perhaps when the weather warms I’ll think about cycling in, like BIL… Much healthier competition.

Commute-lag

Enjoying the return to work, but the commute hasn’t got less painful. The trains are persistently overcrowded, I’ve been standing whilst trying my new work-on-the-train routine (Macbook Air + 3G card – light, but not light enough for easy one-handed typing!), and the intermittentness of the 3G signal is frustrating. One day I’ll get to grips with this…

At least the MacBook is getting a good flexing, though. The super-quick resume from standby is fantastic, and my love-love relationship with Evernote continues – amazingly handy for catching thoughts, actions, draft blog-posts, to-do lists and more.

{Aside} – given how remarkably overcrowded the trains have been, I can’t believe they’re planning on massive residential developments in the area. I’ve a mind to get involved in the protest.