Driving Myself Batty
I think I've established by now that I don't like driving. One of the nice things about the past 18 months has been taking the kids to day care on foot, and without having to deviate from my path to work, no less. Not only do I get some kid time, but Amy doesn't have to worry about drop-off or pick-up.
Fast forward to the present, and since we've put Jada in a new school, Amy's driven Jada to the new school four days a week, since she has places to go from there, while I walk or bike Aaron to the old school; once a week, Aaron stays home, and I bike Jada to school. Not as convenient of a routine, but at least from my standpoint, still no car involved in terms of me having to drive.
Last month, I did take both kids in once, as our repair shop is not far from Jada's school, and it was time to get the oil changed. I distinctly remember how frazzled I was to deal with school traffic on the way in (not only our two schools, but two other schools in between) and rush hour traffic on the way out (Jada's school is near a highway on-ramp).
Earlier this week, I was even wimpier. I only had to do the drop-off and not the pick-up, so all this entailed was dropping Jada off, dropping Aaron off, dropping off the car back at home, and taking the subway downtown to my meeting first thing in the morning.
But, now spoiled by only having to worry about one kid a morning, I was completely thrown off my game. We headed out ten minutes late, as I tried and was unsuccessful in assuring myself it would be OK for me to be late for my downtown meeting. We got one block when I realized I had forgotten to grab the kids' snacks, which Amy had left out for me. Doubling back and grabbing those, we got five blocks when I realized I had forgotten some paperwork Jada's teacher needed that morning. Doubling back yet again put me right in the sweet spot of when everyone was dropping off their kid, rather than being able to get in and out before the big rush.
I realize I am describing half of American moms' morning routine; hey, let me be the typical dad who asks for sympathy when he tries to do one little thing. Shrinking violet that I am when it comes to driving, I was so frazzled that I promptly caught a cold later that morning and had to stay home from work the next day.
Needless to say, my opinion of having to do the morning commute thing via car hasn't changed. Later that week, it was on me to pick up both kids, and despite the relatively long distance and threatening clouds, I walked the whole thing and had absolutely no regrets about not getting near our car.
Comments
- To get to my office located in Bala Cynwyd, right off of City Avenue, I can either spend 15 minutes in the car, or 23 minutes on my bike. Seriously! That's your choice: 30 nerve-wracking minutes daily in the car, or 46 minutes of daily aerobic exercise.
- To get to the other Oracle office in Berwyn, I can do a seriously nerve-wracking 30 minutes in the car, *each way*, or I can bike 1 mile to the Overbrook R5 station, sit on a train for 30 minutes or so, and then bike 1.7 miles down a steep hill to the office.
There are two little drawbacks to the Berwyn bike/train commute:
- When you bring your bike on a SEPTA regional rail train, you are a super weirdo. You just need to get used to it.
- At the end of the day, it is a ride *up* a steep hill, back to the Berwyn R5 station.
Still, I think it's a no-brainer, because with the bike/train option I am getting exercise and I can read for about 30 minutes each way on the train. The round trip tickets cost $7, which is less than the IRS mileage reimbursement rate, for the car commute.
And finally, I have to confess that I have not yet equipped myself properly for the biggest drawback with bike commuting: rain. I got soaked down to the skivvies this past Monday, on the way home.
I too was soaked on Monday. That storm came out of nowhere.
I own a car as well as a bike and live out in southwest Philly. I have found that unless I need the car to haul something like a lot of groceries, biking is much less frustrating (fun, even) and probably faster.
One interesting thing I have noted lately: they are not joking about the dramatically increased number of bikers statistics in the city. It's a shock to the system for those of us who are snobs about our superior commuting choice...
So, if my commute is 27 miles roundtrip, and I were self-employed, I would submit $14.85 as a tax deduction for that day. The idea is that between your gas, insurance, and wear and tear on the car, the cost to you for that drive was that much. So... if I do the same commute for $7 in rail tickets, and the rest on the bike, I am saving. Never mind that in my current employment situation I don't get to submit mileage reimbursement. It's about the "actual cost".