you may find it isn't as bad as you think...? I've gotten used to my 30 mile one-way commute

My last commute was 35 miles one way, so I'm familiar with the amount of time on the road. I don't have a Prius, and from my other experiences doing work in Orange County, the commute is way more traffic-heavy than going to Simi.

There's a job opportunity that's five minutes (parking time included) away from me, and even taking into account lower pay (same pay I made in 2002, not 2006) and social entanglements, I really want it. In fact, the idea that I might not be up for a position at the Westwood location, but instead in Santa Monica made me even a little sad.

I don't want to drive. I'm a hysterical shell of a person, and whatever I can drop from my menu, the better.

Speaking of which, I just got a call about the wisdom of me taking the black belt test. I'm responding irrationally to it, because it was at least half motivated by concern for my mysterious ailment, but the other half was "Well, can you pass?" which is the sort of thing that drives me insane, and I'm going to have to get myself talked down from this particular ledge.

They are letting me take it (read: sending out an invite), but still. I'm only marginally the brokennest in the room. I know they didn't call the other two. Which makes me feel like a whiner for them to know more about my pain than others.

My commute often takes an hour one way, but I'm either walking and listening to my iPod, or reading on public transportation for most of it, so it's pleasant personal time rather than detracting Fun Time away from the job.

I have to start driving to Simi at the end of the month.

NOT looking forward to it.

"Ice Ice Baby" just popped up on my iPod. "Slice like a ninja / cut like a razor blade." Aahahahaha AWESOME.

I'm becoming a little tired of my public transportation commute. Since work moved, the nice Metra trains are less convenient for me, and since their ridership is up, there's often no place to sit on the trip home. CTA trains, OTOH, have gotten slower, and it seems like I'm encountering urine smells more often. Commuting by public transit takes me 40 min - 1 hour each way. If I drive it takes me 20-30 minutes each way, even during rush hour. So I'm tempted to become one of those "drives to work" people....

I'm downtown, so I can't afford to drive to work. Or, rather, I can't afford parking.

"Ice Ice Baby" just popped up on my iPod. "Slice like a ninja / cut like a razor blade." Aahahahaha AWESOME.

Have you seen his movie Cool As Ice? You would laugh. You would laugh and laugh. Then you would burn a copy for Ple. Then Ple would write porn about it because she's twisted like that.

I'm downtown, so I can't afford to drive to work. Or, rather, I can't afford parking.

Oh yeah. I can't remember the last time I actually drove downtown. Maybe it was to drop someone off at the Amtrak station. Oh, and then there's the time I gave SA a ride in my Lincoln convertible, but we didn't actually stop and park downtown....

Let's see - I think it was the time I drove to the Apple store on Michigan Ave. and ended up paying $18 for parking for an hour or two.

I can tell this is going to be a "I'm hungry all day long!" day. I got here at 10:00, and in the following hour ate both my breakfast and my lunch, and my stomach is still growling. I'm going to wait until 1:00, and if I'm still hungry, I'll get a cup of soup at the cafeteria.

Drink tons of water between now and then. It might mollify you, for a while.

After the cafeteria closes at 3:30 (which is when I usually get my mid-afternoon cravings), we've got the vending machines or nothing. Blah.

basically, what Sumi said. Make sure you always have healthy snacks (something savory like nuts, something sweet like carrots) in your desk all the time! That way you won't have to rely on the cafeteria/the snack machines having something available that is appropriate for your diet.

Are you working with a nutritionist at all? Or your doctor? (not to be nosy, it's just a subject i'm a little obsessed with right now)

And, go you on your 20 laps last night! I had a goal to learn to swim last year that I totally failed to meet. But I'm joining the pool again this summer and will try again.

(Which, sarameg, that reminds me. If you ever want to go to the pool this summer as my guest you are totally welcome to come! It's like $6 for guests. It's the one in Mt. Washington. I'll be going a lot because the Twins will be old enough to really appreciate it this year and they now live in walking distance of it.)