Walldren's World

Every month my wife and I try to give each other one afternoon off. It's meant to be pure discretionary time, spent on doing whatever you want to do: take yourself to lunch, go to a movie, relax at the library, etc..The only rule is really is that each of us should get out of the house. More often than not we spend at least a portion of the time doing at least one chore. Yesterday was my day off and I kicked it off by going to the car wash. Look at that grime fly. When all was said and done, I spent the afternoon at the library planning out my week and reviewing some goals I have for 2014. This morning on my way to work I filled my gas tank. When I went to enter this week's numbers, I realized that today marks the completion of the first full year that I have been tracking mileage. Take a look at what a year it's been: 2006 Hyundai Sonata Mileage driving to/from Atlanta from Buford, GA Prior to moving to Atlanta, I used to walk to the train and walk to work...

What is my 2006 Hyundai Sonata? Well, it's my personal conveyance between home and work. I spend anywhere between 180 minutes and 240 minutes in it per day going southbound on 985 and 85. It is also a remarkable advertising opportunity for the right sponsor. Now you may very well be asking yourself as a prospective advertiser, what is the reach of my vehicle? 36.9 miles between Buford, GA and Midtown Atlanta. What's the frequency? Twice a day. What are the demographics of the target audience? Frustrated commuters who, like this driver, spend far too much time in their cars. Potential products and services I would consider soliciting are: Streaming music services (Pandora, Spotify), NPR, Public Transit, Ride Shares, Public Safety Messages and seminars for calming road rage. What sort of pricing model are we talking about? This idea is still germinating. All interested parties should contact me directly to discuss options.

When I lived in the Chicago area, I would walk a mile to a train that would drop me 1 mile from my office. Such as it was, I was getting daily exercise and a mostly relaxing ride into work each day. Missing a train wasn't such a bad thing as the longest I'd ever have to wait for a train was 1 hour, and during peak times, about 20 minutes. I enjoyed unlimited commutes for about $120 per month. When I moved to Atlanta, I knew I would be driving. But I had no idea just how much. Out of strange curiosity in mid-January, I began keeping track of my mileage. My daily commute is about 36.9 miles each way. This translates into 90 minutes in the morning and about 75 minutes in the evening. Here's a table of my 2006 Hyundai Sonata's performance to date. For those keeping score, I am paying more to drive into work. Add in what I pay for parking, and it's close to double. There is a spectacular trade-off however. Back in Chicago, what I spend on my mortgage today got...