I had Forgotten about Rush Hour

[GT1 Doug]

Normally, I am on the road well before dawn if I am going fishing or after 10AM if I am running errands. Today I had an early appointment that put me right in the middle of the morning rush hour. I had forgotten about the chaos of the morning commute, everyone jockeying for position, trying to get a little further up the queue. I suddenly remembered the stress that would begin each day before work even started. Today, I just watched it all around me and smiled. It is great not worrying about being late to work. Not doing this 5 days a week has to be good for a couple of points off of one's blood pressure.

 

[truenorth418]

We've had some rough morning commutes recently here in the northeast. I was so grateful to be handling them from the relative comfort of my apartment and early retirement.

 

[jclarksnakes]

I do my part and sleep right thru morning rush hour. Occasionally I stupidly forget and am out in traffic during evening rush hour. Making that mistake about once a month is all I need to be thankful that I retired.

 

[Ronstar]

I try to go out for breakfast before the morning rush, run errands mid-day and avoid the afternoon rush. I also avoid the rush hours with my part time work hours. But next Tues I have a meeting at 9 am with a 1.5 hour commute that I'm not going to be happy about.

 

[MichaelB]

When I am in rush hour traffic, especially Monday AM and Friday end of day, and see all the stressed drivers, all I can think about is how good it is to be retired.

 

[Walt34]

The Washington, DC metro area traffic was the reason we moved to WV. Almost Heaven!

 

[audreyh1]

That was a major reason we moved out of the "big city", Austin, and settled in a smaller metropolitan area. If we decide to drive to the beach at 7:30 in the morning (an 80 mile trek), we drive down the main expressway through several small cities at morning "rush hour", and no problem! Stay in the left lane and you'll zip right through with no delays.

If we get delayed out somewhere in the afternoon and return home around 5 pm - again no problem. Merging traffic will keep the right lanes busy, but left lanes are full steam ahead - no slowdown.

It may be simply that the roads here are adequate for the traffic - something that is not true in most parts of the country, and a major problem in Austin. And considering our counties are some of the fastest growing in the US, that's pretty amazing.

It's easy to avoid traffic for errands, but other activities such as birding mean early am outings, so it's nice to not have to worry about getting caught in traffic jams or slowdowns.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/real_estate/1204/gallery.US-Cities/7.html

 

[eytonxav]

I probably would keep working for another year or two if weren't for the commute. Way too many speeding morons who ride your bumper and cut you off, not to mention that practically my entire commute is through massive highway construction and having to put up with the delays that causes

 

[yakers]

What is rush hour? I seem to vaguely remember it, and I live in southern California. Retirement life is good

 

[HighRoller]

I drove in the Houston area traffic every day for well over 40 years before retiring and "getting" away. (Worked downtown ) Now, when I go back into the city (several times a year) the traffic reminds me very quickly of one of the main reasons I moved away. There are a few things I miss about a big city (maybe), but the traffic isn't one of them.

 

[ducky911]

Hi,

I did know it was a Saturday and I went to Costco.

 

[scrabbler1]

The closest I have been to a morning rush hour is watching the cute lady on TV give the local traffic reports along with video feeds from major highways. I suppose if I were stuck in rush hour traffic, being in a car with her would not be so bad!

Evening rush hours I have driven in a few times but rarely beyond a few miles away and never before 6:30 PM.

I used the trains to get to work in my years of working so I also take some joy whenever there is a story about delays, service suspensions, or fare hikes (which we just had one last week). "I am soooooo glad I don't have to deal with any of that crappola any more!"

 

[ChainsBeGone]

I had a job in Atlanta for 4 years that required a 66 mile daily round trip. The 90 minutes a day spent in the car really got old and wore me out and wore out the car. My family had a completely separate life than mine, which was spent all day either in the commute or at work. Fortunately, I've never had to take another job that required that kind of commute. And, even more fortunately, the commute won't even be an issue after I retire on 1 June, (age 48).

 

[mickeyd]

put me right in the middle of the morning rush hour.

Ocala now has rush hour? I guess it's been a while since I was there. Spent most of my FL time in Tampa or Orlando or Tallahassee.

I echo your joy of not having to fight the daily traffic mess. I find enjoyment in being able to schedule all of my travel about the area at off peak driving times. Another big benefit of ER.

 

[ERhoosier]

Losing that 75+min (RT) daily commute sure will be nice when I finally ER

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Still commuting here in DC. But I abhor traffic, so I paid more (a lot more) to get a house which is just a 15-20 minute drive to work. Mrs NFO conducts her errands during the middle of the day. On weekends, she says everything is so much busier, and I think the roads are less crowded.

 

[Midpack]

I've driven into Chicago during rush hour a few times since retiring expecting the worst, but I've been pleasantly surprised so far. It's amazing what any accident (thanks gapers) and/or construction can do to traffic. When I've driven to O'Hare my times varied from 1¼ to 3½ hours (once)!

OTOH, I know my luck will run out sooner or later...

 

[Original Wally]

Normally, I am on the road well before dawn if I am going fishing or after 10AM if I am running errands. Today I had an early appointment that put me right in the middle of the morning rush hour. I had forgotten about the chaos of the morning commute, everyone jockeying for position, trying to get a little further up the queue. I suddenly remembered the stress that would begin each day before work even started. Today, I just watched it all around me and smiled. It is great not worrying about being late to work. Not doing this 5 days a week has to be good for a couple of points off of one's blood pressure.

Isn't it great?

 

[freebird5825]

The closest city that has a rush hour of any size would be Syracuse NY. I never had to deal with that, however some of my former colleagues would deal with the mess to get to the NYS Thruway to commute 1 hour to here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griffiss_Air_Force_Base

Rush hour for where I live consists of schoolbuses causing a long line of cars on a 2 lane state highway.

One of the local dairy farms was recently bought by an Amish family. It is so cool to see the horse and buggy go by on the county road I live on. Talk about time warp!

The county road now has this type of sign on it.

Courtesy of istockphoto.com

 

[easysurfer]

Avoiding rush hour driving is one of my favorite reasons of being retired. When folks ask me is being retired nice and I mention avoiding traffic, they often think I'm kidding, but I am not.

 

[SumDay]

I had Forgotten about Rush Hour

It's a nice thing to forget.

 

[davemartin88]

The Washington, DC metro area traffic was the reason we moved to WV. Almost Heaven!

+1! We don't miss the Northern VA traffic at all. Every once in a while, we'll be on the road locally and be on the main road through town when the high school lets out, 5 or 10 minute delay at worst. I saw an article in our local paper the other day talking about steps to install a roundabout or other ideas to cope with the local traffic problems around the school. DW and I spent a few minutes trying to figure out what problem they are trying to solve.