Walking To Work

Something I've been thinking about...if a man walks to work , since its only 3 miles, and walks home....depending on weather and traffic and energy level and age it takes maybe an hour to an hour 20 minutes, each way. Now there is the health advantage, the traffic risk, the overall enjoyment and joy of getting to know neighborhoods along the way over the year...seeing yard sales, houses for sales, cars that broke, projects in yards...the list goes on.

Walking home...another hour to hour and a half, the relaxation and unwinding from the day, the familiar smells in the air as I pass the neighborhoods, the predictable cars arriving, the same kids playing, the war growing more tense between the kid on the left with a mean challenging aggressive stance facing off across the road three girls who are obviously 100% convince they are going wherever it is they intend to go and do what they intend to do, but their collective minds are assimilating some way to deal with this potential threat to their safety...maybe tomorrow they will be at peace or a new tactic will be seen.

Now to start a vehicle each morning and warm it up and drive that short distance, is at the absolute worst of fuel mileage in a pickup...probably close to 12 miles per gallon at best. That is half a gallon a day to work and back...at best 2.5 gallons of fuel per week. At $2 per gallon that is $5 at $4 like it has been recently...thats $10 so we can figure that is a savings of $6 per week in fuel rounded out a bit. Time saved 9 hours a week at least, saved by driving. spend those 9 hours working for even $6 per week and thats $54 a week that "walking" costs.

Yet the car has a cost of more than $6 fuel. Buying a car, maintaining a car, repairing a car, insuring a car, paying interest if applicable, paying for tags and registration fees....how much does that cost per week just for the trip to work and back? Spend 1500 on a used pickup, put 1100 in repairs, add in say 50 for tag and registration, get 4 years of driving out of the motor.
That is $2800 for the 4 years. Then you sell it worn...for 800 if you're lucky, so you're total ownership cost in this very very conservative clunker version of a vehicle is $2000 for 4 years.
If you borrowed money at 10% to buy the thing and pay it out in 2 years...add about $200 for interest and the full coverage for the 2 years add $1600 for the 4 years....come to think of it even if you didn't have a loan, paid cash for the pickup, threre is going to be $800-$1000 in Liability for the 4 year period.

You can tell I'm thinking this through as I type it, so you may notice other plus and minus things to either side that have been overlooked...

Driving:
Save 9 hours a week to be used either making $
lose the benefits of the walk.
one fuel $6 per week fuel
$936 three more years to make the 4th year of fuel cost
$1500 vehicle purchase
$1100 repairs and maintenance from initial purchase repairs and maintenance thru 4 years
$800 liability for 4 years
$200 tags for 4 years
-$800 sell the worn out clunker
total 4136 divide by 4 = $1034 per year, 365 days per year minus 100 for weekends if we are lucky , -28 days holiday, vacation, sick....=237 work trips per year...that means the vehicle cost fuel and all is $4.36 per day.



Walking:
lose $54 a week potential gain from working these hours spent walking..but since that's kinda pushing it most people don't that kind of drive to spend an hour a day at making money. so this one is only included for those whom it would apply to )
gain physical health
gain enjoyment in the neighborhood stroll instead of using the hours of enjoying something else.
slow life down a bit psychologically.
fills up 9 hours of your week out of or into your life.
Save $1034 per year on vehicle ownership and usage for work and back.

Driving a 50mpg mini scooter....hmmm...rather just dream of buying one some day and who cares about the cost per day...just enjoy the scooter ride even more than the neighborhood stroll? Probably...and could double the life of the scooter and half the cost by walking half time scooter half time....divide out over 8 years usage that way..I like thinking of this one, sounds fun, can't afford it yet though :(

So the question is....14 hours a week ...
is this the most enjoyable meaningful way to use these hours...walking, neighborhood smells, feeling of familiar, belonging...this is your daily route, your stroll, your exercise, your thinking time....save $1034 a year which is very close to an entire month's take home. $86 dollars per month is what you save in your budget by walking to work.

And you get exposed to and forced to endure the various weather. Rain, storm, snow, spring, summer, wind...ahh, I've missed those. Living an indoor life. But now, working out in the elements, the joy of truly experiencing them, and having bad days to compare with and enrich appreciation for the good.

A closer feeling to nature, with the changing of the seasons being more than seeing a number on a bank clock and temp sign. Sure it takes 14 hours a week, but they go by either way, what would be more fun, beneficial, relaxing, sensational, familiarity with a few miles of neighborhood,


Or should the 14 yours a week be used a different way by like using a vehicle...at $1034 a year minimum. But freeing up 9-10 hours to be used for some other activity more rewarding, more enriching, more desired. (while reducing your otherwise usable income by $86 per month)

Riding to work? Close to the same as walking maybe...but changes the time elements and the enjoyment levels. Slower speeds give richer detail. The ride gives a joy of its own, saves half the time and is nominal in cost, equal or better in exercise, less in safety, still get a routine and view of neighborhoods, depending on speed /time desired to be used. Still saves you from having to leak 86 bucks a month out of your hip pocket. But walk sometimes, to get the slower, more sense aware passes thru familiar neighborhoods.

Winter is likely going to be harsh this year...
Yet I work in the harsh anyhow
And the harsh..is an experience that is stimulating to the senses.

Anyhow, back to something else now....

Anybody you view with contempt?

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'

"But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner! "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Ever feel too unworthy to pray? Looks like the real problem is when a person feels worthy to be heard in Heaven. Ever view others with contempt and don't even want to be in their presence because they are too unworthy? There is alot to be learned in these few verses of Luke 18.

The responsibility the purpose in life of providing for self and family and helping others

8 days ago...on the 3rd...evidently I titled this post...though I don't remember doing that and wouldn't have noticed it had my older brother not emailed me about the brevity of it...LOL. So now I'm trying to think about that title...fresh, because I have no idea what the original article was going to contain.

That responsibility and focus in life permeates practically every aspect of living. Finally got a job I can do with limited hearing, its hard work but peaceful for the most part. Still don't know exactly what I'll be making since it will be a couple more weeks before the first paycheck, but it is a relief to finally have a reliable income. Once the brain goes into "survival mode" there is a constant pressure to remedy it and get back on my feet.

Yet not everybody is that fortunate. While repairing apartments for government subsidized housing it was often very very sad-making to see the struggles people had even for the most meager existence. There are SO many people in our country right now that are just barely able to keep utilities on and food on the table...and there are SO many people in our country right now that can't even do that...utilities getting cut off during the month, some days of the month scarcely any food to eat. Once the car breaks down it stays broken. Some of these people even have full time jobs but at a minimal wage...since we've exported most of our jobs that enabled the undereducated a means of a decent living.

I suppose just the title of this blog was enough in itself to express where my thoughts were.
But the next day I finally started work...and hopefully once things are caught up, that "worry" will gradually exit and just become routine again.

Waiting

Waiting is an interesting status to be in. Thinking maybe I finally found work I can do with my hearing loss that will be a decent living...(even though it will involve working with loud equipment much of the time and no doubt contribute to the decay...it will still be a source of income). Yet they call me on like the 20th to let me know I was selected, and schedule me for a full physical including back x-ray and all for the 23rd...I find out from the drug lab that they didn't receive the specimen for their part till the 29th and it is "being processed".

That is where the wait comes, since I know that 3 and possibly 4 of the prescriptions I've been on for my shoulder will test positive on their 5 panel screen...so the test has to go thru the first process then the confirmation process where they make double sure it wasn't a false positive...so I keep waiting so that when it comes in I can haul my scripts down there...but calling the doctor several times a week has really ticked off his assistant ( I think because the employer has been calling too).

This "war on drugs" has gotten ridiculous when they are allowed to hold up employment for half a month before they get their answers. But waiting has given me some time to think about alot of stuff. It is hard to relax and navigate life with immediate issues like "income" demanding so much concentration. There are quite a few things I want to blog about but "all circuits are busy" that part of my brain doesn't want to work on summarizing other issues that are stirring in the subconscious...it just stays stuck waiting fully focused on this major issue. So the title of this post catches you up on my status...though I finally did call the lab itself and have at least reason to hope the waiting will end very soon. Just hope it ends before the job window does !!