Commuting is something I’m not willing to do.  I live 3.25 miles from the office.  I’m looking for something closer.

I bike to work when it’s warm and not raining.  Which, thankfully, is most of the time here. 

TANGENT ALERT: 

A couple miles up the road in Redwood City there’s a sign that says, “Climate Best by Government Test.”  Apparently the U.S. and German governments scientifically determined Redwood City to have the world’s best weather in a three-way tie with the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean Coast of North Africa.  

A colleague insists that Hitler planned to move his headquarters to Redwood City after he took over the U.S.  I haven’t found any supporting evidence.  But it makes circumstancial sense.  The government test was conducted before World War I.  Presumably Hitler could have known of the test. 

Free lifetime WMD email subscription to the first person that finds anything.

END OF TANGENT

When I drive I get 20 mpg and use a third of a gallon of gas for the round trip.  That’s $1.50 per day.  It takes less than 10 minutes.

A colleague lives 45 miles away.  He probably gets higher mileage because he’s on the highway.  I assume he gets 25 mpg.  He uses 3.6 gallons, or $16/day.  He also has higher cost of insurance, wear and tear, depreciation, etc. 

He spends at least 45 minutes each way.

Yikes — more than $16 and an hour and a half every day! 

Two thoughts come to mind:

That’s roughly the cost, in time and money, of a nice lunch.  If someone offered you free lunch every day, and did your job for you while you ate so you didn’t have to make up the time, would you take it?

The $16 is measly compared to the time.  Think of it this way.  Suppose there were a store where you could buy time.  Let’s call it the time store.  The time store sells 90 minutes for $16.  Would you buy? 

I would.  I’m long time. 

First and foremost, it’s the only way I could get back the time I watched Zoolander. 

Almost as important, I could engage in “time arbitrage” and make a profit.  Anyone clearing $11/hour after tax could do this.  Note that you can’t easily do this with a salaried job because you don’t make more by working more hours.  It takes an hourly or overtime job, or a side job.

But what would I really do?  I would spend 90 minutes not working!  There comes a point in life when time becomes more important than money.  I always figured that point would come in my 50’s.  I was wrong.  It came in my early 30’s.

I realize that there’s a commuting tradeoff.  Many people commute because housing is less expensive.  That’s certainly the case where I live.  I’m paying a housing premium to be where I’m at. 

I’ve never tried to put a number on it.  Someday I will.  I have a hunch I’ll conclude that my time is more valuable.