[Clev]

So, we're outta here.

After 8 years of commuting 65-75 miles one-way, five days a week, we're moving in a couple of weeks.

A lot of mounting issues with our living/working/school situation contributed, but the last straw was when we went through our bank statement and saw how much we paid for gasoline last month.

$680.

What!?

Yeah, $680. About $50 of that was for my wife, since the nearest reasonable grocery store is 15 miles each way down a winding mountain road, but for me, even at 34 mpg, I'm spending $630 a month to commute. (And that's not including the other costs involved in driving a car over 36,000 miles a year.) Add to that the rent, the higher electric and gas bills, the skunks, the flatlanders, the weed abatement, the snow and the four hours a day I spend in the car instead of with my family, and the answer is obvious: we need to move.

So we're renting an apartment near my workplace. "Near" as in 4.6 miles one-way along a bike trail. Now that's a commute I can get used to. I work in a second office two days a week, but that's now 22 miles one-way instead of 75 miles one-way. Deleting the uphill/downhill portion of that commute, I think I can improve the mileage on the Clunker even more, while still enjoying a fuel-free commute three days a week. And since the apartment building is 30 years newer than the mountain cabin, I expect the rest of the energy bills to decline as well.

I've already downloaded two years of historical usage data from the gas and electric companies, and look forward to comparing the 1,138 sq. ft. apartment to our old 1,260 sq. ft. house. I'm also purchasing a water heater blanket and pipe insulation for the exposed pipes in the water heater closet. Everything else is at least insulated to late 1980's standards.

Looking forward to wiping the dust off the Dahon and getting commuting!