The Letterville BullBoard: Commuting to work

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Posted by captain ken (Member # 742) on :

Hey 'Heads!
Wer'e buying a house alittle north of here and was wondering what others are doing for a commute and their feelings on it?
I have been within 5 minutes of the shop now for a long time, now I'm gonna be doing 30 miles each way.

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"A wise man once said that, or was it a wise guy?"

Ken McTague
The Witch city
Salem, MA

Posted by Corey Wine (Member # 1640) on :

Murphy's Law will kick in and the gas prices will soar. You may find yourself speeding excessively going home (after all, you get home quicker that way). But it's gotta' beat going 30 miles into downtown Calgary with a major transit strike going on for the past 2 weeks. No buses, no light rail transit(above ground subway). Just a bunch of pissed off commuters in a parking lot called "The Deerfoot Highway!!"

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Corey Wine
signCONCEPTS
Airdrie, Alberta, Canada
The ex-Californian Canadian
signconcepts1@home.com

Posted by David Wright (Member # 111) on :

My shop is at the end of the block. I really don't want to waste my life in long commutes.
Now if sales would jump dramatically... maybe.

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Wright Signs
Wyandotte, Michigan
Since 1978
http://www.wrightsigns.bigstep.com

Posted by PKing (Member # 337) on :

50 feet one way,50 feet back!
Live is hard,but someone has to do it

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PKing is
Pat King of
King Sign Design in
McCalla,Alabama
The Professor of
SIGNOLOGY

Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :

HAHAHAHA Duckie!..it is about 50 ft either way from my bed to my "work station" (computer and cutter)too! BUT if I have to do serious stuff like spraying or cutting panels it a LONG way away!!!! About 100 yds away. It is tough in the winter but a nice stroll in the summer!

SUMMER????? What is that? Haven't seen summer since last July!

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Dave Grundy
AKA "applicator" on mIRC
"stickin' sticky stuff to valuable vessels and vehicles!"
in Granton, Ontario, Canada
1-519-225-2634
dave.grundy@quadro.net
www.quadro.net/~shirley

Posted by cheryl nordby (Member # 1100) on :

I used to drive 30 miles each way. After awhile it got to be a real pain in the you know what. I did like having a shop tho. I just had a hard time 'staying in the shop'!

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surf or MoJo on mirc
Cheryl J Nordby
Signs by Cheryl
(206) 300-0153
Seattle WA.....!
signsbycheryl@hotmail.com
A day without sunshine is like, you know...night http://signsbycheryl.homestead.com/home.html
http://mojosignco.homestead.com/home.html

From sharp minds come sharp products

Posted by Kelli (Member # 248) on :

Ken, my shop used to be a 20 minute commute. The tediousness of any commute depends on the traffic and road conditions. My 20 minutes was driving in the Florida Keys, so it was rarely a chore. Living in Miami and driving anywhere is a chore. I've started listening to audio books on tape. Now I don't get bent out of shape if the traffic isn't moving and it makes the time go by faster. Hard part is getting out of the car!
I have a Rio player with a cassette adapter and signed up for audible.com's light listener program (2 audio books per month for $9.99) their url is http://www.audible.com

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Kelli Cajigas aka Janda
Dolphin deSigns & Banners
“A satisfied customer will tell two friends, a dissatisfied customer will tell ten.”

Posted by Bob Gilliland (Member # 28) on :

Ken,

In the past six weeks I have had four business trips in the Chelmsford – Derry – Manchester area. I never knew that the entire Boston workforce lived in Manchester and traveled Interstate 93 / Rt 28 / Rt 128! I was going nuts with all that traffic and no viable alternatives. In summary, GOOD LUCK! and best wishes.

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For what it's worth

Bob Gilliland
The InKnowVative Group
Harrisburg, PA
717.564.7650
bgilliland@inknowvativegroup.com

"A new idea is first condemned as ridiculous, and then dismissed as trivial,
until it finally becomes what everybody knows"
William James

Posted by Barry Branscum (Member # 445) on :

welp...
my first "shop" was in my home.....the second was 15 yds to the north of (yet another) home....

The third....well, it was a 20 mile commute in my lil beat up ford ranger...Arkansas Ozark hills n curves+ I hate to drive= misery....I lasted at that for 6 mos.

My current shop, (and final one till we build one to suit) is located about 3 blocks from the home we bought 3 years ago. It is the perfect distance, at least at this point in time. It is far enough away that I can "leave work" at the office, but close enough that I can run pick it back up whenever i want!!

Bless ya, Cap'n.....but I would hate to do the commute thing again.....

anyhoo, that is my dos centavos.....

Barry

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Master's Touch Signs & Screenprinting
Clinton AR
5017456246
ICQ 17430008
"Imagine the Possibilities..."

Posted by Brian Stoddard (Member # 39) on :

20 feet from the back door, I love it!

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Brian Stoddard
Expressions Signs
A few puddles east of Seattle

Posted by Mark Jordan (Member # 291) on :

I dreaded moving to Houston, the 4th largest city in America, because I feared a long commute. But I ended up buying a house 9/10 of a mile from work. It takes all of 2 minutes on a bad day. I've never lived so close to work!

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Mark Jordan
Houston, Texas
msign205@aol.com

Posted by Bruce Williams (Member # 691) on :

Avoid car-commuting if at all possible. It's time-consuming, expensive, dangerous and boring.

There's always a strong risk of a breakdown, or a wreck, halfway to nowhere.

And here's some unpleasant math: It's not unusual today to drive an hour to work everyday, and an hour back. 2 hours out of 24 equal 1 out of 12. That's a month out of a year, doing something you only want to get over with. You know the term "road rage?" It hasn't been in our language very long, but it sure is now. That doesn't sound like any way to live, particularly if your inclination is to make artwork. I'd rather stay home and do nothing, for free.

Bruce Williams
Lexington KY

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Bruce Williams

Posted by Barry Branscum (Member # 445) on :

YEESH!!!!!!

That is actually SIXTY HOURS...a work week and a HALF every month in the car DRIVING to and from......

can somebody say eyuuuck!??!

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Master's Touch Signs & Screenprinting
Clinton AR
5017456246
ICQ 17430008
"Imagine the Possibilities..."

Posted by Adrienne Pereira (Member # 1046) on :

Three feet from the bedroom door.......unless I have a big thing to paint and then its a full 20 feet to the garage from the studio...whew! But that's how i get my workout for the day....oh and while i'm out there I can throw a load of wash in too

Love working at home!
But..if I had a shop, I would want to be real close to it, like 3 blocks.
A

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Adrienne Morgan
Splash Signs
www.splashsigns.com
"Rainkatt'on chat

Benicia, CA
707-550-4553
adrienne@splashsigns.com

Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :

Oh boy, I work mobile, even if I cut vinyl in the shop it gets applied on site so I'm always commuting. Drove to Little Rock the other week to do a couple of trucks thats a two hour haul and it's not unusual to make about ten of those a year. I work about a 250 mile radius, don't mine the driving ( cept for the L.R. trips as the road and scenery are the pits

) I make any trip I take worthwhile and have one rule I strickly adhere to. I never, under any circumstances drive in ANY cities rush hour traffic........it's my rule and they can't make me change it

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George Perkins
Millington,TN.
goatwell@ionictech.com

"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"

http://goatwell.tripod.com

Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :

And I have been concerned about the fact that my new shop is 200' from the house instead of the 60' I am doing now. I should be moved in within the next couple of months. I guess I'll just have to try it and see how it works. I'm sure I will use a little more gas in the winter.heh heh

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Don Hulsey
Strokes by DON signs
Utica, KY
270-275-9552
sbdsigns@aol.com

I've always been crazy... but it's kept me from going insane.

Posted by Donna in BC (Member # 130) on :

My current shop is 30 minutes away from my home. Sure, that's an hour a day just driving. However, it can also be productive in other ways. You drive the 30 minutes once, and you're in the hub of all your customers all day. Your daily trips are short and sweet and your coffee maker is still turned on when you return to the office. If work slows down, you stay at work and be productive elsewhere, which normally results in backburner projects you've put off for far too long.

On the other hand, you're homebased and 30 minutes from town. Your customer base is away from you so short trips are now out of the question. If you have to drive twice into town in one day, that's 2 hrs shot instead of the original 1.

I'm about to dive into being 30 minutes away from most of my customer base. (homebased) I've dropped the jobs that require me to run to them yesterday, in hopes of capturing a customer base that works more on appointments and longer deadlines.

In summary, my town location was pretty remarkable. I'll miss it in many ways. If my current main focus was to make the most bucks possible, I'd stay there. However my current priorities are different, that's why I'm changing location.

Best of luck! Commuting isn't always a bad thing. (unless of course, you live in the perfect neighbourhood that allows you privacy and close to ALL your customers.)

As a sidenote, once you're farther away from your shop, it's really handy to have double of some things. Being set up at home with a computer that holds all your work files is a must. A home fax machine, etc. All the things that help you be productive in an emergency.

Once you're home, you're bound to remember something you wished you brought home with you. In my truck, I always carry certain things I don't bring into the shop to ensure they're always with me, such as heat gun, extention cord, work bench, extra vinyl stripes, cleaners, an extra signkit, etc. You'll become more organized simply because you HAVE to be.
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Graphic Impact
Abbotsford, BC, Canada
gisigns@sprint.ca

[This message has been edited by Donna in BC (edited March 14, 2001).]

Posted by captain ken (Member # 742) on :

Thanks for your responses, It seems I found all the home based letterheads. I should note that although its 30 miles away the commute is mostly highway and is somewhat scenic, it should be an easy ride. I don't envy the 1,000s that commute into Boston everyday with traffic making a 20 mile ride last an hour. I timed the trip the other day and it takes about 35 minutes. As Donna said thats not bad to be removed from the city and still work there.
The house will be our first "home" and has a river running behind it, it's in a nice scenic little town. So it seems worthwhile to commute.

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"A wise man once said that, or was it a wise guy?"

Ken McTague
The Witch city
Salem, MA

Posted by David Fisher (Member # 107) on :

Hi Ken,
I commute to work taking anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour each way depending on time of year, weather and where I'm working at the time.
After a 1 in 100 year storm last Friday it took me 2.5 hours.
I dont find it a hassle at all, I've learnt and invented some terrific insults along the way and I've taken to "wholistic" navigation some days for a change of scenery, which means if a road looks like it goes the right way then give it a go!.
A good radio station helps.
My brother in law also swears that its a great way to meet women.
Busses are even better (not that its an option in this case) providing a chance to have a good long read or with a doodle pad to do a little brain stretching.
Commuting can also be a great source of exercise for your middle right finger and diaphragm.
In short its more of a state of mind to my way of thinking.

David

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D.A. & P.M. Fisher Signwriting
Brisbane Australia
da_pmf@yahoo.com

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