The NPR Effect

I started a new job last week and so far it's great. I enjoy the people, the work is interesting and challenging, and it even looks like I get to suggest some re-organization (my favorite)!

My only complaint is the commute. The office is located at 360 and Bee Caves, about 12 miles from the house. Add in the "for the summer only" dropping off of J at his summer camp and I am driving about 30 miles per day.

So what, you say? So what indeed. Plenty of people drive a lengthy commute to work (although with the cost of gas, that dynamic may change when people begin to choose the "right job" in future) and 15 miles isn't that bad, really. Plus, the benefits of a steady paycheck and fulfilling work vastly outweigh the negatives of too-much-time-in-car.

But then one has to consider the "NPR effect". That is the effect of additional time in the car has brought me into the dreaded window of... hearing the stories I heard in the shower again when I am in the car. Ugh. Since NPR runs their morning programming (lasting 2 hours) twice in the morning, the story you hear at 6:20 am is the same as is broadcast at 8:20 am.

I guess I can work on getting out the door faster, thereby missing the repeat, or getting up and into the shower earlier. Neither of which is easy as it's not just me who has to move faster...

Or I can spend my nights and weekends working on a teleportation device, thereby solving my own problems, the problems of the earth and oil consumption etc. Of course, my teleportation device would run on the whine which emits from 4-6 year olds when you ask them to "hurry it up" in the morning, an inexhaustible resource.