After work yesterday a coworker and I went to the range at Bass Pro.  We took separate vehicles and upon arrival he announced to me that there had been almost no traffic on the way (especially at the 635-Bass Pro exit) (we’ve all been discussing the traffic situation a lot here now that we’re in this new office).  My perception had been that while cars were still moving (albeit slowly) that there was too much traffic.  The main difference between us is that he was raised in Chicago and I grew up in the country (where the biggest traffic hassle was the occasional loose cow or a slow-moving tractor).  I think what bugs me the most about these situations is the squirrely stupidity that a lot of drivers exhibit.  There’s a lot of jockeying for position and last second (unannounced) lane changes (like the idiot this morning who crossed FOUR LANES of traffic on 114 to try to get on the exit for 635).

Anyhow, I suppose it’s all about how we perceive these things.  In terms of distance my commute to the new location isn’t that much further than I used to have from Denton to the old office (22 miles vs. 18 miles).  However they couldn’t be more different in terms of quality of driving.  The old commute was mostly in the country while the new one is all in town.  Further, it didn’t really matter what time of day I left on the old commute, while with the new one I have to leave at the butt-crack of dawn (i.e. 6:15am or so) or it turns into a hellish stop-and-go nightmare.  Anyone who lives in the Southlake/Keller area and who has driven 1709 in the morning or evening knows what I’m talking about.

This whole commuting business has me seriously considering working from home full time.  The only benefits I see to working in the office are the network (i.e. true high-speed networking without any silly upload speed cap) and having contact with some of my coworkers.  If I worked at home I wouldn’t have to drive amongst the Andretti-wannabes, I wouldn’t have to dress in uncomfortable clothes (I think I mentioned previously that I hate tucked-in shirts), and I wouldn’t waste an hour or more each day commuting.  The downside is that I imagine that I’d start to get a bit stir-crazy spending at least 9 hours per day in my home office (my company requires me to bill at least this much to a project to meet their “productivity” quotas; it’s really to support all the management overhead).  Maybe I could get a dog to keep me company during the day.  At least the dog would let me vent about some of the stupid policies I encounter…

I’m going to give this location another month or two to see if I get used to it.  In the meantime I’m going to be doing a few things to make my home office more useful for those days I work there (i.e. getting a second phone line, etc).  If I’m still pissed off from dealing with traffic and getting up early I may just start working from home full time early next year.