Commuting to work

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I had to find a place to live and now we got this great apartment, but we signed a lease and I really don't want to break it. Also this apartment is built for a disabled person so it's great for my husband.

But anyway it looks like I need to find a job in order to survive long-term. In this area searching for stuff, I applied to a couple things close by but they don't seem appropriate to my bird background. The bank two blocks from here didn't end up responding to my video interview. But I found two jobs I applied for that do fit my background, but they involve a commute, one is 50 min. Away and the other one 1hr. 20min...

I'm just saying, is a long commute like this even worth it if I got hired in relation to the wear and tear on a vehicle and driving it to work everyday in weather, etc? Of course after a year we could always move closer to the job.

I just don't know, but maybe I'm thinking too far ahead because I haven't even been asked to interview yet.

The 50-minute commute isn't bad, actually. My commute is 1 1/2 hours (each way) every day.

The problem is the gas costs, really. I would assume that a 50-minute commute is at least 80 miles round trip per day. That's 400 miles total per week. That's one tank of gas that costs in the neighborhood of $30-35 if gas is in the $2.50 per gallon range. That's a good reason to get a relatively small car.

The gas costs would almost double with the longer commute.

I have a small car and gas here is currently 1.99 a gallon and it takes only 15-20 dollars to fill it up. Problem is it's a bit older and I have a fear of it tearing up on me.

Do you have a mechanic-friend?

My commute ranges from 35 to 90 minutes, depending on weather, time of day, day of week, and how many 18-wheelers are on the road.

My uncle used to be my mechanic but well we are not on good terms with him anymore. We know someone else here in town but we haven't talked to him in awhile.

How old is the car---and how many miles does it have on it?

2004, over 244,000 miles

Yep. Lots of miles.

I’ve had cars with about 150,000 miles last a while.

Petrol (gas) over here is £1.20 a LITRE. ~$6.80 a gallon (and I am not sure we use the same gallons...)

In the past is has been as high as £1.33/l ~$7.60 a gallon.

Can you send some gas over here for us, please?

I filled my car up with only 15$ USD a couple days ago. And on top of that the zoo job is in Ohio and in Ohio gas is consistently cheaper than it is in Michigan...

I still haven't heard back from the zoo job but the last day to apply was the 27th and also because of the holidays I might just not have heard from them yet. But those jobs are so competitive, I have the experience they are looking for but I took care of birds/reptiles so long ago I'm wondering if they would consider such old experience?

Ive applied to a couple more things but I really don't know when I'll start hearing back from places.

My commute is an hour and twenty minutes each way.

When there's no pandemic, my commute is 45 minutes to an hour in the morning, and 90 minutes in the evening. It depends on whether or not there's an accident, or rain which leads to accidents. I have to be at work at 8am, so I leave between 6:30 to 6:45 at the latest. I like to give myself an extra window of time so I don't run the risk of being late. Too many of my coworkers were arriving late that unless it's something beyond your control, you get docked pay if you're late. The rare times I had been late, it was because of a bad accident I couldn't have avoided, so I didn't get penalized.

If either potential commute is through traffic then there could be different times on different days...probably longer.

If you've met one Aspie then you've met one Aspie so what follows may or may not apply to you: I am an Aspie, though I did not know it before retirement. Commuting was something I hated, and more so if the in-route delays and traffic were variable from day to day. And consistent stop-and-go congestion was also incredibly unpleasant. If you have similar concerns perhaps you should include that in your considerations.

My commute is 0 minutes thanks to working from home during the pandemic.

If your job can be done from home, have a serious talk with your manager about working from home.