How to Speed Up the Day

I have a coworker who listens to her iPod while doing filing and data entry type tasks. She is totally hooked on NPR news and other news related podcasts. When I pop my head in her office she pulls out her ear buds and tells me what the latest news is, only she is usually weeks behind real time. Today she told me that Gadhafi was dead. 

A few months ago I started listening to podcasts too. I had heard of something called Too Beautiful to Live (TBTL) and decided I would check it out. It took about 15 minutes before I was hooked. It's the perfect thing to listen to while working, exercising or driving. I love the silly banter between the hosts and now that I have been listening to it for a while I am starting to get some of their "inside" jokes. 

I am new to the podcast scene, and would love some more things to listen to. Do you have any favorites?

A Bump in the Rear

I have been working at a new refinery for seven months now. It is a different kind of job, but I am mostly enjoying it. The biggest change is the location. Now instead of driving twenty minutes to work, I drive an hour. In the summer this was fun. On the drive home we (Nathan and I commute half way together) would have the sun roof open, the windows down, take the scenic ocean view route and blast lots of Queen. Commuting is great! Long days in the sun! Daily road trip!
Fall came overnight, and I discovered several things:
1. I need a new battery in my car.
2. I need a new battery in the other car.
3. I need new wiper blades.
4. I need the heater fixed.
5. It is dark all the time.
6. I don't want to drive an hour each way anymore.
The crazy person in me started thinking about how many hours I spend driving and how many miles of highway I am on daily and calculated that my chances of having a collision are greatly increased. So naturally I got rear ended yesterday.
Commuting is great!
7. Filing an insurance claim is my least favorite thing in the world.

I discovered something else about all of the driving. Each day I get an hour of uninterrupted kid-free time with my husband. We talk, listen to our favorite pod-casts together, plan the future, or sometimes just stare out the window into the dark. Who ever is driving gets to wear the extra warm gloves and hat (driver side heat is currently stuck on air conditioning). We hold hands. When he is driving, I am sure I infuriate him with my pretend braking and clutching the passenger handle, but he hasn't complained yet. He makes sure I have a hot espresso in my to-go cup before we leave. He fixes the fog lights when they fall off. He reminds me of all the money we are saving by not buying a new car. He laughs at my silly work stories and helps me remember my lunch. It turns out that I am pretty smitten with this guy, and I am so lucky to get all this extra time with him.

Commuting is fine. It's a necessary thing right now, and I think we are doing a pretty bang up job with handling it for the long term. And soon we will have a new rear bumper -I'll get that new car one piece at a time!