Ponderings of a Scientist

Commuting sucks and I’m getting really sick of it! Commuting makes you truly evaluate how much you like your job. I like my job and I love the company I work for, too bad I don’t live an hour closer and get paid more. Trouble is, while Southern NH is a great place to live, there is a derth of career opportunities. I can’t, however, move to Portland, as Zipy has a job in NH and one of us has to be close to home, especially given the impending baby. I don’t even want to think about adding daycare pick-ups and drop-offs to my commuting schedule. As it stands: I leave the house at 6:55 am to get to work by 8:00 am. Then I work with crazy 5th graders all day, get back in the car between 4 and 5 pm and drive an hour to get home. The morning commute isn’t bad, because I’m half a sleep, but getting up so early is a bummer. The evening commute sucks! An hour of thinking how hungry I am and how much I have to do before making dinner when I get home. Monday’s are the worst because Monday’s are meeting day and invariably some meeting leaves a bad taste in my mouth, or is otherwise depressing, (remembing that I work for a non-profit with limited cash flow, too many good ideas and not enough people) such that I get to obsess over said meeting the whole way home. This month is also hard because NPR is covering Politics, Politics, and Iraq; I can’t take one more Republican crazy tell me he is going to beat the liberals because Americans don’t want taxes and are terrorized by the Iraqi people.

On a complete different note - why do towns designate Trick or Treat nights other than on Halloween. I almost hit a few batmen, princesses, and firemen (all dress in dark colors with no lights of course, running amok in the streets) on the way home. These kids were way too old to Trick or Treat so early in the evening… do designated nights also come with designated hours? Halloween isn’t nearly as cool if you don’t get to stay up after your bedtime!