Do you ever feel like you're going no where fast, or going somewhere but very very slow? A couple of days ago, I set my GPS to track my day. I was astonished by how long it took me to get anywhere.
This was my day: I took Alyssa to daycare. I went to the rec center to go swimming. I went home. I went to lunch. I went home. I went to daycare to pick up Alyssa. I went to my office. I went home. I went out to dinner to celebrate my anniversary. I went home.
This sounds like a lot of driving, and to an extent it was. However, it was "only" 36 miles total for the entire day! That's hardly anything considering I sometimes have to drive one place that is 36 miles. To get to these 36 miles, I was in the car for a total of 1 hour and 31 minutes. I was stopped at stop signs or traffic lights for 15 minutes and 47 seconds. That leaves about 1 hour and 15 minutes of actual driving time.
How in the world does it take over an hour and a half to go such a short distance? I was even driving on the highway and the tollway for part of it. My max speed was 73 miles per hour. My average moving speed was only about 24 mph.
This is just an example of how you can use how ever many short cuts you want while driving around town, but your averages are going to equal out in the end. This happened to be a very slow day. My car tracked it as an average of 25 mph, but not far off at all. I wonder if my car stops tracking speed when I'm stopped.
I'm always trying to get places as fast as I can, but this day just shows you that no matter how fast you go, you're still going to get there slow.
Woah....I remember that from living in a big city (Houston). But now that I am back in sleepy New England, everything is reversed. Everything is super far away but you get there fast because of no traffic.
Donna, it is getting like that here in our little city also! I guess that it is progress or something!
Yes, some days are like that for me, it feels that I spend more time in my car than in my office LoL
That reminds me of when I am driving to my beau's house. I want to get there quickly. There is usually a lot of traffic to deal with. When I am trying to rush around the slow pokes, etc.. I get frustrated and usually don't end up to much further than the others. When I am driving leisurely, I am happier and get there in just about the same time.
Hey, it beats getting a ticket! You're right, even when you try and hit those short cuts- you are still going to be in the car for a long time regardless!
Best of luck finding a quicker way!
Kind regards, Nicole Weidauer
The Egerer & Weidauer Team, Keller Williams Realty North Seattle
Rebecca, That sounds good. Going farther, but getting there quicker!
Tony & Darcy, I didn't go through a single contruction zone, so it was all development that's been there.
Roberto, Exactly!
Nicole, YES! Everytime I try to change lanes and go around people, my lane stops, and the next one goes. Then I switch back, and that lane stops and the other goes... so irritating!! I've tried telling myself, "just stay in this lane no matter what" and that works for a few minutes, but not the long run.
Hi Donna... at least it sounds like your day was productive... I hate it when it feels like I go that slow and then I end up the day feeling further behind than when I started out. That's the worst! Hang in there!
Donna,
Very well said.
Sometimes I feel I am on the road to nowhere. Lucky I live 2 miles from the office and mostly just work East Dallas. When I teach in Plano or Coppell I dread getting on the freeway. Think I'm getting spoiled.
Steve, Oh, I understand completely!
Richard, There's a new office that opened up 1/4 mile from my house that I thought to join for a split second. My office is about 3 miles, but to me, that's too far! The new office I'm likely to join in Austin is over 10 miles away!!! Talk about a hike when I have to go in.
Donna - Interesting analysis of the data. I think we would displace a lot of myths in our life if we looked at real data, not how we felt, about something.
PS - What kind of gps are you using? I was looking for a feature like that on my TomTom, but couldn't find anything.
PPS - The comment about you joining an Austin office, are moving soon. I'm an inspector in Austin and it would be my pleasure to serve you and your clients.
Donna - Preston slept the whole way to Dallas! Talk about relieved! I know what you mean though, traffic & stop lights are horrible in Houston.
Michael, I got a Garmin 300. It's pretty cool. It's even fairly updated. It doesn't have all the stores and restaurants on it, but you can enter an intersection and it'll get you there. I bought it for my pending move to Austin.
Greg, That's a long nap he took. If he sleeps all the way back, he'll definitely be up till midnight with no problems. Alyssa usually sleeps anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half when we go to Austin, so no luck there... but she just talks to herself and makes faces in the mirror.