Alan and I have tried car-pooling this week, not so much to save money but to save time. The traffic in metro Atlanta is getting worse by the day, with builders throwing up more apartments and developments every second. The lengths of our commutes are getting utterly ridiculous, not to mention stressful. Major highways in Atlanta (and I'm sure in other cities too) have a designated lane for High Occupancy Vehicles - by which they mean more than 1 person - so if you carpool you can bypass a lot of the traffic snarls. Therefore, this week we decided to try riding together in order to use the H.O.V. lane.

We have saved a lot of time and I'm enjoying not having to drive. The negative side is that I have to work longer hours. We both start at nine and because Alan works further out than I do, in Marietta, he has to drop me off a half-hour to 45 minutes before my start time. That isn't that big a deal; the evenings, however, are getting to me a little. I technically get off at 5:30 but I'm in the habit of leaving a bit before that (5:15 or so) because I almost never take my whole lunch break. However, Alan doesn't get off until 6 so I have an extra half-hour, plus the time it takes him to get from Marietta back downtown so I'm stuck waiting around here until 6:35, 6:40. Maybe I'll get used to it but so far it's making for a pretty long day.

I don't like being here late, either - practically everyone in the whole building clears out by 5:45 and then at 6:00, most of the common area lights are turned off (on a timer, so I can't leave my hallway lit up) and it's spoookeh. I'm not intellectually afraid and I don't feel unsafe - the security in this place is t-i-g-h-t!, but it gives me that creepy feeling exactly like when I was younger and had to be at school at night, like for a teacher conference or something. Even though the school was very familiar, it was still eerie without all the people and commotion and activity - like that.

I'm greatly enjoying being driven instead of having to drive, but I am not liking being here after hours or getting home so much later. It's not that much time, really, a bit more than an hour, but I like my hour or so at home alone, or having time to run an errand, empty the dishwasher or get dinner started before he gets home. I'm sure I'll get more used to the new schedule if we keep it up. I'm not sure how long we'll keep doing it. I'm driving myself Friday because I know that when this longer-than-usual week comes to an end, I am going to be ready to bolt and not want to hang out for an hour waiting on my wonderful chauffeur.