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Old 06-13-2009, 12:03 AM
 
4,246 posts, read 11,983,569 times
Reputation: 3150

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To live where you wanted to?

I'm having this debate with myself. I work a 12hr shift that's 4 on 4 off and my wife has the chance to make very good money in Ruidoso. But we live in El Paso where I work. Would you drive or know anyone that drives 2hrs to work one way?


I love Ruidoso and the green mixed with the cold winters. Love cold hate hot.

Is it crazy to drive 2hrs to work? I know google and yahoo say it's a 3hr drive but I make it in 2hrs and change.
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Old 06-13-2009, 12:09 AM
 
Location: Burque!
3,556 posts, read 10,186,135 times
Reputation: 859
No.
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Old 06-13-2009, 12:23 AM
 
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
3,011 posts, read 9,998,002 times
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Never.
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Old 06-13-2009, 01:22 AM
 
Location: Albuquerque, NM
908 posts, read 2,845,642 times
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Default Options for long distance commuters

I personally would not, but my wife had to do an hour and 45 for years out to Grants and she had some interesting ways to look at it. First, she maximized the drive time by having interesting things to listen to on her ipod. Music, audio books, presentations & coursework, etc. Second, she was in the market for a car when the job came up and went with a very efficient Honda, minimizing the gas hit. Also, her job gave her a gas stipend and mileage on the car, something you might look into if you don't have it. Eventually, she trusted a co-worker in Grants enough that she would stay over one or two evenings a shift block to minimize the number of total trips.

Once we were married her patience for the drive waned and it became a real hassle. Add toddlers and the commute was over.

Of course you have the best sense of where the balance between earning potential and quality time for you and your wife lie, but giving up four to five hours a day to the road and wheel is like a 35% tax on your day time. If I said you could have an extra four hours to yourself four days a week, could you think of something you'd like to do with them? If you add in the hours and cost of travel, does the potential pay still look as good? Sure, you can beat the yahoo/Google maps estimates, but do you want to push that hard every drive? Finally, you may not be a tree hugger but many people would blanche at the thought of choosing to commute that kind of distance each week.

Hope you find a solution you can live with!
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Old 06-13-2009, 01:26 AM
 
4,246 posts, read 11,983,569 times
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I thought about renting a cheapass apartment for when I was really tired. And I listen to sports radio all day long. So I can download 4 hrs of my local radio stations local coverage of my teams. I'm from Houston but have been in El Paso since last October but I just love Ruidoso. Before this job I drove a min. of 70 miles everyday working six 12 hr shifts and off 3 days. I figure 4 hrs a day for 4 days isn't nothing. Out of 8.7k total hrs a year I'd only work a max. (with OT) of 3k hours. I will never have kids so that helps...



Right now my wife drives to Las Cruces from El Paso. Which is an 1hr drive. She can take the same job in Ruidoso making more money and I would take the long drive while she could take the 5min drive to work. I would buy a cheap honda for the drive to make the gas fund very cheap.


I live 2 miles from work right now and it takes me 1min 30 seconds to get there. And my 2 hr and change drive is goingthe speed limit. I don't know why google or yahoo say it's 3 hrs. I drove up there a few weeks ago and it wasn't even close to 3 hrs.


With that said. Would you live in another city while your wife worked in another, only to see her on your days off and vice versa when she was off.

Last edited by piyf; 06-13-2009 at 01:37 AM..
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Old 06-13-2009, 01:32 AM
 
Location: Albuquerque, NM
908 posts, read 2,845,642 times
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Are you guys considering a move to Ruidoso, causing the commute for you back to El Paso? Any chance of you finding something in Ruidoso? I know it's not easy to consider walking from good work, especially in this economy. I gotta tell you, though: the more you love Ruidoso, the more you'll wonder what the point of moving there was if you're spending a good chunk of the work week on the road.
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Old 06-13-2009, 01:42 AM
 
4,246 posts, read 11,983,569 times
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Nothing in Ruidoso in my line of work. Unless there's something there that pays 60k a yr being green. It's funny talking about gas but I work at a pipeline which holds millions of gallons of gas and diesel. But I can't get any of it.


Maybe we can meet in between. Or we could move to Las Cruces. Or maybe I just don't like El Paso but I don't really do much but hang out at the house with the wife and dogs.
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Old 06-13-2009, 07:29 AM
 
Location: The Butte
156 posts, read 133,133 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by danieloneil01 View Post
To live where you wanted to?

I'm having this debate with myself. I work a 12hr shift that's 4 on 4 off and my wife has the chance to make very good money in Ruidoso. But we live in El Paso where I work. Would you drive or know anyone that drives 2hrs to work one way?


I love Ruidoso and the green mixed with the cold winters. Love cold hate hot.

Is it crazy to drive 2hrs to work? I know google and yahoo say it's a 3hr drive but I make it in 2hrs and change.
why not? people around the chicago metro area sometimes spend up to 4 hours commuting back and forth. and those are hard 4 hours, with every kind of driver imaginable, toll booths, bad roads, breakdowns. new mexico commutes are a cake walk.
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Old 06-13-2009, 08:30 AM
 
Location: Missouri Ozarks
7,394 posts, read 19,283,647 times
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Only if you enjoy driving and commuting.
Personally, I would get another job.
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Old 06-13-2009, 08:42 AM
 
Location: somewhere
4,264 posts, read 9,245,303 times
Reputation: 3165
Why don't you move to Alamogordo?
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