My last 7 months...
 

I’m finishing my last week of an out-of-town assignment this Friday. I’ve been working 93 miles from home during the week and staying in an apartment very close to my work location, coming home every weekend, then heading back to the apartment every Sunday evening. I’ve been doing this for 7 months. This arrangement wasn’t too onerous during the cold weather, since not too much goes on in our home during the cold months, but activity ramps up quickly when the weather warms up. I’m moving onto another one of my company’s accounts on Monday, May 2nd and the commute is 55 miles each way in heavy traffic, but I’ll be able to come home every evening, so I will not complain.
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Being an IT security consultant means constantly moving from account to account and always being the “new guy”, which I don’t care too much for, but on the other hand, I get to work with some very cool people on a variety of challenging projects, which I really like. Our kids are 19 and 15, so they don’t need me at home as much as they did when they were younger, but I miss spending time with my wife.
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Time are tough and we all do what we have to do to provide for our families and I’m thankful that I didn’t lose my job and my wife is gainfully employed. We’re scaling back our lifestyle, rearranging our priorities and trying to reduce our expenditures, which is always a good thing, I guess…
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I took advantage of my “down time” in the evenings to obtain 3 certifications and build a website for my company’s “critical infrastructure protection” business practice, so I don’t feel like I’ve wasted this time. I try to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.
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This forum has helped me make it through the last 7 months and I really appreciate that. Thanks everyone!

Keep pushing ahead!

I "geo-bached" (geographic bachelor) almost five of the last 17 years...Sikorsky, BUPERS and a few months hear and there in the desert, 2005 - 2008.

Nothing so sweet as getting home Friday, few things more depressing than O'dark thirty on Monday morning.

Beats haze-grey my friend!

I feel the pain of long commutes. Mine is 72 miles each way.

Oh yeah, this was nothing like what I experienced in the military. This was a piece of cake in comparison as I was able to come home every weekend. It just took a little more out of me than I expected and I'm glad it's over as of Friday!

2 years ago I signed on to superintend a remodel and addition to a classic Spanish house in Westwood, L.A. It was only 35 miles from my house, but in the worst traffic in the nation, the Westside of L.A. I stayed up there in the same way Art stayed. I never would have done it any other way.

One hour up at 6am and 2 hours home at 4pm. Oh, I might have done it in the old days when you could kill a 6'er on the way home. Never had a problem. Hell, think the construction guys of the 70's on the freeway at 4 pm were trading beers for cigarettes between trucks in slow traffic.