Had a meeting in Anaheim yesterday afternoon. The meeting ended too late for me to go back to the office, so I headed home.

Since I work primarily in Costa Mesa, I normally drive Hwy. 73 to Interstate 5 to Hwy 74 (Ortega Hwy) to get home. Total miles is about 55, total travel time is usually about an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half.

But, like I said, I was in Anaheim. So I decided to take the 91. Wow. What a huge mistake that was.

Normally from Anaheim to Lake Elsinore, even through the canyon and Corona, I can get home in about the same time as it takes from Costa Mesa, eventhough it’s about 10 miles shorter. But not last night.

Last night it took a hour fifteen to get through Corona. And then there was an accident on the southbound 15, so it took me another 45 minutes from Corona to get home! Mind you, this section of the journey is right at about 22 miles.

After that ordeal, I decided to do the math and see just how much time I waste in the MINI on a monthly basis, based on normal travel times. Anyone in class care to take a guess?

60 hours per month.

Yea, almost 2 full work weeks are lost driving everyone month. Ugh.

So, I went ahead and figured out what it actually costs me to work. This is going to be staggering.

40% of my normal billing is spoken for before I get it. 40%!

Those are fixed costs. Costs that I must absorb to actually get to work everyday. To communicate. To support.

That doesn’t count my household overhead (food, clothes, utilities, hookers), just what it takes for me to work. Total dollars are right about $1500 per month.

I think I need to find work in the IE (yea, a technology job in the 909, uh huh) or increase my billable rate to the point where my fixed costs are at about 25%.

Maybe the lotto ticket I got for tonight might hit. Maybe…..

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