The main thing I'm counting down, is how many more employee reviews I have to go through, how many more goal-setting sessions, how many more Christmas/holiday parties I have to dodge, etc.
Unless I get cold feet or fall into OMY syndrome, my goal is to call it quits in April 2021. So, in theory, I'm down to my last one, of all those things!
I'm definitely looking forward to ending the daily commute. For years, I was a bit spoiled actually, only living about 3.5 miles from work from 2004-2010, and then in 2010, our office moved, so I was only 2.5 miles! A bad commute was about 10 minutes.
But, in late 2018 I moved. It usually takes about 35-45 minutes to get to work, and is about 18 miles. That's not *horrible*, but after getting spoiled, it's not fun. And, it's the longest commute I've ever had, in my life. The commute home varies. Some days I stay a bit extra late, and by then it's actually quicker to take a ~24 mile route home that's mostly highway, but only takes about 35-40 minutes, whereas if I went home the way I normally go into work, more like 45-50. But some days, I leave early, before rush hour, but don't always go home.
Also, I've noticed that drivers ARE getting worse. More impatient, taking greater risks, more entitlement mentality (who cares if there's a stop sign, I'm going to run it!) etc. On the flip side, cars are also safer, in general. Back in college, and in my early days of full-time employment, I had a 1968 Dodge Dart 270 hardtop coupe. No ABS, no traction control, no airbags, crude (by today's standards) crumple zones. Drum brakes all around. Heck, it didn't even have a central B-pillar, as it was a hardtop, so it would have been extremely vulnerable in a side impact. About the only "safety" features it had was shoulder straps, a collapsible steering column, front headrests, a padded dashboard, dual master cylinder, and a lot of good, old fashioned thick sheetmetal and bumpers that help protect the car in low-speed impacts, but not necessarily the occupants, at higher speeds.
These days, I mostly drive a 2003 Regal, which is a pretty safe car. When it was new, the GM "W" body scored pretty well in NHTSA crash tests. But, cars are even safer now. And in many cases, heavier. There's also a greater mix of trucks, SUVs, crossovers, and other heavy vehicles that sit high up, and don't necessarily hit a car "bumper to bumper".
I have a feeling I'm less likely to die in a car crash now than I was in, say, 1992. But I'm probably more likely to get into one in the first place, what with the increase in traffic, bad drivers, etc.
