Would You Forfeit a Raise to Work From Home? 107
harryk asks: "There seems to have been a fair amount of talk about new jobs, telecommuting, and fair pay recently, so I pose this question: Would you forfeit some or all of a potential raise to work from home? My company is notoroisly bad about giving decent raises so I have been contemplating offering an alternative to receiving a raise, or a reduced raise with an expense reimbursement for telecommuting? What are your thoughts?"
Would I? (Score:5, Interesting)
I currently work about 60/40 (60% at work, 40% at home). I also live about 5 minutes away from my work. My current employer also allows me to get up and leave in a moments notice (barring anything nasty or important going on at the time).
I've been offered (by another lab) up to twice what I currently make to move out of state and I've also been offered significantly more by other local businesses -- but would require more 'face time' and more than an hour commute. (Yeah, one hour drives (or more) are LOCAL in LA).
Frankly, I'm not in it for the money. Well, that's not entirely true. I'm in it to be able to comfortably be able to take care of my family and myself. I earn enough to pay for a home, put my kids in a private school, buy myself or my wife the occational "toy" or "trinket" and save for our retirement.
Between my wife and myself, my kids have never been picked up from school by ANYONE other than us. Other than medzmama (grandmother), they've never had a baby-sitter. I CAN work crazy hours, but I also get to spend a lot of time with my children. I actually get to RAISE my kids! You can't pay me enough to lose that.
An extra benefit has been the ability to aid my sister (who recently had a stroke) in her recovery. I'm able to take a half-day off once a week and help her read her mail, fill out her bills and make what ever calls she needs to make. So, would I give up a raise for this ability? In a New York minute.
Not all telecommuting is flexible (Score:5, Insightful)
Not saying that every telecommuting situation is like this - like I said, I spend four years in a situation much like you describe. But don't assume that telecommuting implies anything relaxed about the work environment.
(BTW, if anyone needs a top-flight, alpha geek UNIX geek with programming and network skills and over 10 years UNIX and linux experience, who HAS to telecommute because he lives in the middle of nowhere, send me an email. :)
Re:Not all telecommuting is flexible (Score:3, Insightful)
While my job wouldn't differ much if I worked in an office, I have to do all of the business-running bullshit associated with being your own boss.
I deal with clients on a day-to-day basis regarding the simple fact that they have not paid me yet. This alone is enough to make one go mad, as it's something I should have to do, but yet I do. Clients are told up-front what my rates and fees are, and when they don't pay, I withhold deliver
Re:Not all telecommuting is flexible (Score:2)
Re:Not all telecommuting is flexible (Score:3, Insightful)
The working from home lifestyle *is* great. As you said, you get more sleep, you can eat when you want, and more importantly what you want (my lunch usually consists of steak and vegitables, my big meal of the day). I love the freedom to go out to a store or get to the bank during regular banking hours. I'm under the impression a lot of stores are geared towards either people with no job, or peopl
Re:Not all telecommuting is flexible (Score:2)
Oh, I forgot to add "AND allows me to
Re:Not all telecommuting is flexible (Score:2)
I'm surprised he hasn't put software on the network to observe your activity.
Re:Would I? (Score:2)
Man, I thought Louisiana was a pretty laid back state, too. I guess I won't be moving there any time soon.
(I live in Atlanta, and the "Metro area" takes more than an hour to traverse; commutes probably average about 45 minutes here)
Re:Would I? (Score:2)
Re:Would I? (Score:2)
I lived in North Dallas and worked downtown and it took 1 hour to get to work and 1 1/2 hours to get home every day (18 miles). Quickly I decided to move back to Oklahoma where I accepted a job in north Oklahoma City that was 35 miles from my house but took 35 minutes to get there. Slowly but surely I got sick
Re:Would I? (Score:1)
Yikes! How old is your sister? (Score:2)
An extra benefit has been the ability to aid my sister (who recently had a stroke) in her recovery.
Sounds from your note like you're maybe 35-ish.
I sincerely hope that you were the youngest and she was the oldest - maybe 15 or 20 years older than you [although, even then, 50-55 would still be waayyy too young to have to experience such a debilitating event].
I would forfeit my raise for the last 2 years! (Score:1, Insightful)
As Scott Adams once wrote (Score:5, Insightful)
There are jobs out there that offer decent raises along with the ability to telecommute. If you current employer doesn't see the value in keeping his employees happy, then that's his tough luck.
BTW: no one is going to give you anything. You have to negotiate it. If you don't have good negotiating skills, well, maybe that's what you need to work on.
No, not at all. (Score:5, Insightful)
Remember that you're going to have to have your books, files, and possibly more computers at home, running up the power bill, causing wear and tear and taking up space. Think hard before you do this.
Re:No, not at all. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:No, not at all. (Score:2)
I cross the entire school at least 8 times...at least it gives plenty if time to look at cute girls...except the main hallway lockers seem to house the ugly ones.
Re:No, not at all. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No, not at all. (Score:2)
When I first started a work from home job, I ended up working from the bedroom of my then apartment. It was a real drag. I moved all of my work into the dining room, and I felt tons better.
Re:No, not at all. (Score:5, Insightful)
If the managers don't see you, they don't think of you nearly as often. While this may not seem like a bad thing at times, it has one major downfall. If they don't think about you, they also don't think about your contributions to the company.
This is bad because when the time to cut people comes around, you aren't seen as being necessary (what does that guy do, anyway?). The same also applies to future raises and promotions...
There's a good solution to this. (Score:4, Insightful)
bladesjester raises a good point. As an answer, I'll point to my own current job [codesourcery.com], where I and everyone else telecommutes. Including the boss.
This raises its own unique problems of visibility and communications. (We're comfortable with our solutions, which I won't yammer about here. But these problems did need to be addressed, and they won't go away on their own; if your company tries something like this, you will need to actively tackle them.) If solved, though, telecommuting makes for a very nice visibility levelling field.
Most of work is being seen working (Score:2, Interesting)
Try to deliver selected results in person to your manager, especially big or sought after items. If possible, include your manager's manager. It doesn't have to be formal, just in person.
Otherwise, even though their brain knows otherwise, they will be getting your work "from the computer".
Also, find a way to make the managers feel that they can contact you. However, be careful to reward planning, and prevent situations where crises are rewarded.
Re:No, not at all. (Score:2)
When I started telecommuting, I decided to go all the way, and moved to a tropical country with good net connections. My expenses are so low that I could take a 50% pay cut and still be well ahead of the game.
Now I work from shady sidewalk cafes, sipping fresh-squeezed fruit juice for $1 every few hours and basking
Re:No, not at all. (Score:2)
I can understand when people don't want to give the name of the company they work for, but not saying the country?
Re:No, not at all. (Score:2)
not compensation (Score:4, Insightful)
Your creative thinking is a good start. I'm not sure that working from home equals fair compensation...but this comes down to how much it's really worth to you.
It does cut down on certain costs (commuting can really add up) and you can get your phone and broadband expensed, however, it may increment your electric bill slightly (almost a non-issue). The nice thing about it is that it usually saves your employer some money. Many municipalities offer tax breaks for companies who allow you to WaH. Furthermore, they can save on real estate costs.
Have you worked from home before? Many people I've worked with have found that it's more difficult to work from home (especially when it comes down to motivation). Furthermore, the same people generally found working at home depressing, since they're rarely able to get out of the house at all.
FWIW, other creative compensation packages that I've heard of (where an employeer doesn't have sufficient cash) involve stock options, or dividing salary into market rate and taking the remainder and putting it into extra vacation time.
Re:not compensation (Score:5, Interesting)
This is a problem that is difficult to overcome. One piece of advice that I once heard is that those who work from home ought to do this every day:
At 8:55am, step out of your home and take a quick five minute walk around the block. Arrive back home at 9am and go straight to a room (home office) that has been specifically set aside for working. At lunch, take another walk, and at 5pm, take yet another walk around the block. Once back home, do NOT go back into the "office" until 9am the next morning. It's very important to distinguish one's home from one's home office.
I realize this is impractical for many system-admins, as they're often "on call," and, while I don't work from home, I still think it's still a solid piece of advice.
Re:not compensation (Score:4, Insightful)
I think it depends on how productive and disciplined you are.
Personally, when I'm working at the office, I goof off a lot. I read slashdot. I check out stuff at wikipedia. I browse amazon and on and on. But I'm also very productive, and can work like a dog when there's something time-sensitive to work on. I did the same when I telecommuted 2 days a week from a mile away. I did the same when I telecommuted full-time from 8 time zones away. And I've never had anything but glowing praise for my productivity.
The discipline to put the work away (mentally, too!) and relax in your free time is important, too. There's a much lower barrier to work when all your work stuff is in the next room, and you can just walk over to your computer/files/whatever. Taking a look at "one little thing" or reading "a couple of emails" can quickly turn into several hours of work.
And even if you're not actually doing work, just being in the same environment all the time can lead to blurring the lines between your professional and private lives. It can lead to having your work be at the edge of thought all the time, creeping into your thoughts any time you're not actively doing something else.
-Esme
Or build a little shack out back... (Score:2)
You could easily build a nice little well-insulated work shack out in the back yard with no more than several thousand dollars worth of supplies from Home Depot or Lowes. Then just run an [buried] power line* out there and you're ready to go.
Have the wifie instruct the progeny on the cardinal rule: "Remember, no one interrupts Daddie when he is out back working in his cottage..."
*Your choice of buried CAT6 -vs- 802.11g wireless.
Re:not compensation (Score:2, Interesting)
Otherwise, there's no point to distinguish the home office. I'd prefer a life where I can't differentiate work from leisure.
Re:not compensation (Score:1)
At least I can concentrate on work when I'm at the office. It's relatively quiet too.
No way. (Score:4, Insightful)
Working from home simply means family comes first more often.
Re:No way. (Score:1, Flamebait)
My employer does.
In fact my family causes a great deal of wear and tear on their shelter (clothing too, but that's to be expected). I could've retired three years ago if I never got married. Single slashdotters, take note of that: marriage is unbelievably expensive, kids more so.
When my wife gets bitchy about my hours, I ask her if she likes to eat, sleep out of the rain, cold and other weather, and if she wa
Re:No way. (Score:1)
So don't get married if you can help it at all.. While it helps on things like medical insurance, 10-20% a year more taxes just from being married sucks balls!
Re:No way. (Score:1)
You can't legally file single, you must file "married filing separately".
Re:No way. (Score:1)
I didn't think there was such a thing as a working wife: mine drops candy wrappers, and cookie crumbs on the way from the kitchen to the media room, after feeding the kids something out of a can, or a sandwich, and complains that I wasn't around to pick up the mess she made because I was at work.
I had to rip out the carpets and replace them with hardwood floors because of all the spilled soft-drink stains. Sadly, Coca Cola(tm) appears to corrode the finish if not wiped up right away.
Re:No way. (Score:1, Offtopic)
The feminazis there have lobbied for laws that basically make any accusation a woman makes against a man taken as fact, i.e. "he beats me"; but any accusation a man makes against a woman as requiring proof beyond a resonable doubt, i.e. "she does not meet her obligations under the marriage contract."
Furthermore, a husband must support a spouse in the manner to whic
Re:No way. (Score:4, Interesting)
Spend less on nice clothes for work.
Spend less on the eating out that happens when you work.
Spend less on stress releaving measures you incure because of your commute and work environment.
Poof, there is your raise.
Re:No way. (Score:2)
In other words, you'd make savings on alchohol and light drugs.
Re:No way. (Score:2)
Spend less on nice clothes for work. Save $250.
Spend less on the eating out that happens when you work. Save $150.
Spend less on stress releaving measures you incure because of your commute and work environment. Save 1000 bucks on your monthly call girl tab.
Watching your job get shipped off to India when your boss realizes "telecommuting" workers can easily be replaced with "outsourced" workers....
Priceless.
I work from home (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I work from home (Score:3, Insightful)
One foot out the door.. why not both? (Score:3, Insightful)
If you're thinking like that, then working from home is a good test to see if you have the discipline needed to run your own business without taking much of the risk.
But be aware that not everyone is capable of running their own venture, nor working productively when they're not supervised. You may or may not be one of these types of people that can benefit from such an environment.
Personally, I think that working from home should basically be phased into sub-contracting, because that's basically the direction in which people are going, and it makes more sense. If you employ someone, you need to be able to control them and regulate their time and productivity. Telecommuting is more like sub-contracting, where people are paid for their productivity and not the amount of time they're punched in. The half-way idea of employees "telecommuting" in my opinion is a bad idea for the employer. It's better for them to just cut the person loose and subcontract with them. In these cases the employee can usually have his cake and eat it too.. make more money, be autonomous, and have more control over his time. However, it may not be as "secure", but in reality, job security is a farce anyway.
Re:One foot out the door.. why not both? (Score:2)
You have no business supervising employees with any sort of creative potential for the business because you will "control" it out of existence. Soon, the only creativity that will be able to survive is your own manipulative control-freak schemes. Also, please realise that your job as the controller and regulator of time and productivity is dependent on the role of those you would supervise relative to th
Sure thing (Score:3, Funny)
If I could NOT get another raise, AND work at home, that would be great. Someone let my boss know.
An emphatic yes (Score:2)
On top of that, when I do work from home I am much more efficient and can get a lot more done. At home I'm also more likely to work late occasionally (which I typically don't mind s
worth it to me (Score:3, Insightful)
And you need to decide if working at home is right for you. It is for me, but as some other posters have mentioned, some people have a hard time with motivation, distractions or whatever if they're not in an office environment. It can be very easy to slide back and forth between 'home' and 'work' if you're at home, but you need to need to keep the two separated. I've heard of some work at home people doing things like walking around the block to start work, and walking back around the block to interrupt work, so that there's a distinct line between the two.
All that said, keep in mind that it's probably a wash or even cheaper for your company to have you work at home. There's additional telephone and 'net costs (be sure they pay for those), but that's one less office space they need, too.
I never want to work from home! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I never want to work from home! (Score:3, Interesting)
Whatever your boss does... (Score:2)
If they aren't working from home, they will most likely consider you a "slacker" and whenever there's a problem in your division, you will be blamed for it...
Already done it. (Score:3, Interesting)
As for the reimbursement part, I would expect the company to pay for anything reasonable. That said I use the laptop they supplied, my Internet connection gets used much more for personal use than for work, and the office is in this area code (no long distance calls), so I really don't have any reasonable expenses to charge them for.
Next year my wife and I are going one step beyond working at home, we are going "mobile", buying a motorhome and traveling the country. Many RV parks have Internet access of some sort, or satelite is an option (not a great one).
We know a couple of consultant friends that do this currently, they look for contracts nationally and when they find one, "pull up stakes" and move to the next town. Work six months in a southern climate and six months in a northern climate.
Re:Already done it. (Score:2)
Re:Already done it. (Score:1, Insightful)
Wow that's dumb. Why didn't you just buy your own monitor with the raise?
Re:Already done it. (Score:2)
Re:Already done it. (Score:2)
Yeah, at least part... (Score:1)
Out of site, Out of mind (Score:3, Insightful)
No! (Score:2)
Not only would I not suggest that I not receive as much of a pay increase, I would fight telecommuting with every argument I could muster. 'Cause, after all, if they are comfortable with you working 30 miles away and only contacting you by phone/email/internet presence, why not do the same thing with someone 4000 miles away? And, oh yeah, they'd save a lot of money too.
I think it's clear that America has become a service economy--which means you need to provide a service, not a good, to your employers.
Re:No! (Score:2)
I have witnessed too many instances where layoffs where done purely based on cost savings and not based on talent or work output. Before offshoring was big, it was replacing high payed employees with low payed college grads.
Most companies, I have seen, make outsourcing deals purel
Re:No! (Score:3, Insightful)
Sure, any employee is dispensable. But my point was: why make it easy? Why write the rationale yourself? For example: in my job, I am needed on site, to rewire the LAN, screw things into the racks, unjam the printer. That's stuff that you can't do over the phone--and if they offered me a job that I could telecommute from, I don't think I'd take it.
I have also done my damnedest to build confidence in the value of having my skills onsite--maybe not enough to save my job, but it'd help if my users were
Re:No! (Score:1)
Well, should be pretty simple (Score:4, Insightful)
I personally commute round trip 90 miles per day, so the auto costs for me EVERY DAY are (in theory) on the order of $50. Now I drive an inexpensive, efficient and reliable four cylinder Honda Accord, so my costs are probably a lot less than average. For example I typically average nearly 35 miles/gallon. But it's safe to say I spend $25 every day I commute.
So right of the bat if given a choice of a $50 per week or telecommuting three days, I'd be better off telecommuting three days.
Next, consider my time. I work about eight to nine hours per day and spend two hours commuting. That means 11 hours of my day are devoted to work, nearly 20% of which are spent in the car. So looked at hourly, each day I telecommute, the cost to me (hour wise) is 20% less, which is like an hourly raise of 25%.
So again, for me with my long commute and a hypothetical three day a week arrangement, I save six hours out of 55 devoted to work, which is a 11% reduction in hour. Per hour, this is the equivalent of 12% raise, plus at least $75 per week for cost savings.
Re:Well, should be pretty simple (Score:4, Interesting)
Well said... I had much the same thoughts. Right now, I have a good job that pays well. What I find myself lacking is time. Being able to telecomute, to me, would mean not just the ability to spend an additional 5-6 hours a week with my family, but also the ability to spend those hours meaningfully - taking 15 minutes to go out and play catch with my oldest, for example, or rock my youngest when it's time for her nap.
I'm not sure I'd take a pay cut to telecommute, but forego a pay raise? Sure. Even if I wasn't missing on my commute time, the added flexibility would more than make up for a few extra dollars in each paycheck.
do the math. (Score:1)
Can I send my wife to the office? (Score:1)
Re:Can I send my wife to the office? (Score:1)
I may have overstated the case, but I lived alone for nine years before getting married. We have not yet hit the two year mark, so I am still getting used to it.
I'm sure that in ten years we will be in the same house all day and barely get a chance to talk (once we have kids running around). Then I will be very happy to spend time with her. I am just suffering from culture shock (sort of).
It is no wonder that so many marriages end in the
Higher Pay != Higher Standard of Living (Score:3, Insightful)
My current employer has no real dress code. We rarely see clients, so shorts, shirt and sandals are the dress code for the developers. Goals are more important than hours, and working from home is not an issue as long as the work gets done.
Now that the economy is picking up I am getting contacted by recruiters for jobs paying 150% to 200% of what I am making now but I am staying right where I am at. I have even received a couple of soft offers based on phone interviews, but I am not leaving.
I would say that you should not take less pay. When you tell an employer you will take a pay cut it is like telling them that you are worth less. I might make the "no raise, work from home" deal, but I don't think I would take the pay cut deal. HR managers (and many managers in general) just are not that insightful.
If you do end up getting to work from home, make sure to actual work from home. I know a guy who got fired when he started working from home. At the office he was getting work done. As soon as he went home he didn't get anything done. If you have anyone else at home I would recommend making sure you have an office (spare bedroom, etc) where you are physically seperated. Especially if you have kids at home!
Gladly! (Score:2)
Flexible hours (Score:2)
Given my commute, yes... (Score:2)
Then again, I drive a hybrid, and only spend $75/mo on gas. However, the 1.5-2+ hours spent driving each day, compared to spending it w/ my kids doesn't (or shouldn't) have a price.
However, given the hands on nature of server builds and that the data center's proximity to our office, telecommuting 5 days a week would be impractical. The rai
The Benefits of the Office (Score:2)
My home is very distracting, containing such diversions as books, music, a girlfriend, a well-stocked fridge, and three cats.
Work, on the other hand, has several things in its favor. If someone finds a bug, I can quickly walk over and look at the screen. If someone mentions something I'm involved in, I can chime in over the cubicle walls. Not to mention, the internet connection is faster.
I'm glad that I'm able to work from home on
The key is... (Score:3, Informative)
2) Leave work at work, and have a dedicated room for work. When I'm at work I stay there...just like a "regular" job. I "come home" at lunch, and again at dinner. If I want to check my email late, I do so from my couch, but I am respectful of my time with my family.
As for taking the pay cut...why? I am at least as effective as an in office worker...more so sometimes because I get distracted or dragged away less. It is easier to find an employeer that is openminded about telecommuting if A) they are a technology company, and B) they have employees spread all over the globe.
Telecommuting = less stress + big tax break (Score:3, Informative)
- Almost zero miles per day on your car, so no bills
- Ability to wear shorts and old tshirt, so no clothing gets old/worn out and needs replacing
- HUGE tax write-off. Essentially you write off the percentage of floor space you dedicate to your home office. I saved about 2,000+ per year from this.
- The ability to write off every single thing you buy that's remotely related to computing since it's for your home office....
- Don't have to buy lunch when you're too lazy to make it or just forget. You're already next to the fridge.
"Soft" factors:
- Almost no stress bc no traffic.
- Co-worker chatter consists of pets.
- If you have down-time you can play a video game instead of pretending to be busy (don't abuse this or it will end).
- You can shop for food or work out or something productive with the 2+ hours/day you're likely saving by not having to commute.
- When Friday rolls around you aren't sick of being out and just want to sit around the house. In fact you probably have cabin fever and want to go out.
- Loud thumping industrial doesn't bother your cube mates.
To get the tax break you have to be working at home for the *employer's* convenience, not yours, so get that cleared up. Overall you may take an upfront hit on pay, but it's worth a lot on the backend. Your health may improve due to quiet solitude and no commute also.
Ironic that you should say that.... (Score:2)
I'm getting ready to take on a better position that will require me and my family to move about 7 hours to the south.
So, in a manner of speaking, I'm forfiting my home for a raise.
No! (Score:2)
Finally, there would be no easy to enforce "quitting time" - I'd find myself working much too l
Re:No! (Score:2)
no, but if things were different, yes (Score:2)
If I were financially secure and didn't like going in to the office (i.e. my last job), I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Don't ask for a reduction (Score:1)
Some Tips on Telecommuting (Score:2, Informative)
Pluses:
1) I get to have my development environment exactly the way I want it. All my servers and linuxy bits just the way I want without having to get permission from some winders-usin' corporate admin.
2) I get to listen to music while I work, and no headphones! In most cube farms I've been in, we had to wear headphones to listen to music. Since there's no one home but me during the day, I can listen to what I want!
3) No time
Yes (Score:1)
I've taken a lower paying job for the option to telecommute. I HATE commuting.
But if you can keep the same rate and telecommute, you have in a way gotten a raise to your hourly rate. Take your daily salary and subtract parking, gas, tolls, vehicle wear and tear (or bus/train fare if you live in an area with public transit) then divide by your work hours plus your commute time plus the time it takes you to de-stress from your commute; you'll have a better "real" hourly rate with telecommuting.
For examp
Hard to Say... (Score:2, Informative)
I really enjoy working from home--I've learnt how to keep the work/life separation, which took some amount of learning. I'm not sure that I would accept less pay to work at ho
Diary of a Telecommuter (Score:3, Informative)
1) Telecommuting should not be a replacement for a raise, at least not in my estimation. Yes, you are receiving a benefit from the company, and that may be worth some money to you, but consider for a moment the reduction of costs that a company sees by not having to provide you with an office. Lower space requirements, less power/utility usage, etc. In some cases companies will pay you for power used by business equipment at home, you can save that as a negotiating point knowing that if they don't want to reimburse you for this, in many cases you can write this business expense off on your taxes (IANAA - check with your tax pro first!!).
2) Do not try to do this if you have problems with self-motivation. It is difficult to keep yourself motivated when the lure of all of your toys at home is pulling you to do other things! If you are not strong-willed enough, you will fsck yourself, and any other people at the company that depend on your job getting done.
3) You need to take extra steps to make sure you are not invisible to the power people at your company. Make damn sure that the important people know exactly what you bring to the company, and that your role is not overlooked. You will not have the benefit of being in close proximity to decision makers, and this can screw you up royally. Some tips: Make a regularly scheduled visit to the office (once a week?) where you get some 'face time' with the people that are important. Step up the level of email/phone communication with managers and peers to let them know that you are not on a "Telecommute Vacation".
4) You need to have a defined, out of the way workspace if you have a family or other distractions. Make sure that any family members know that a) office supplies in this are are off-limits, and b) When you are in your 'office' you are unavailable.
I hope it works out for you. Telecommuting has been a wonderful arrangement for me.
Take both (Score:3, Interesting)
Sounds promising (Score:2, Informative)
Reduction in travel costs ~ $40pw
Reduction in food costs ~ $10 pw
That's an effective rise of a couple of thousand straight off. You may also get a substantial increase in personal time saved from not travelling (approx 10 hours a week in my case) which even at minimum wage is worth thousands, and the actual value of extra free time worth a lot more than that to me.
If you do this (Score:2)
everybody wins (Score:2)
Time is money. (Score:2)
YES!! (Score:1)
Do it in an instant. (Score:2)
Move city and country. I can walk inside 15 minutes, or if it's snowing I can catch a bus or two in about the same. I don't have a car. My yearly bus ticket (actually covers the whole cou
Yes! (Score:2, Insightful)