Warning: Cute rabbit photo below – scroll at your own risk!

One of the great advantages of working from one’s home is the lack of a morning commute. I still remember those days back when we lived in Dracut, Mass., getting up at 5:45 AM to hop in the shower and head out to Dunkin’ Donuts an hour later – no matter what the weather conditions were – for some positive reinforcement knowing Tracey and I had a good 1 1/2 – 2 hours (or more) commute ahead of us working the same congested roads day after day when we worked in Waltham and Burlington. Back in those days you listened to all the traffic reports as if your life depended on it because, well, it did – after all, you had to be prepared to use any number of residential side roads and alternate routes whenever the weather or traffic conditions demanded.

When we lived in Louisville it wasn’t so bad – unlike in Massachustts we didn’t share a ride in those days because of our work locations, arrangements, and schedules, but it wasn’t nearly as bad. Oh sure the Watterson Expressway, the “Gene Snyder”, or Hurstbourne Parkway could get a little scruffy at times, but it was nothing compared to what we had been used to.

Upon our return to Massachusetts, Tracey had all of ten-minute drive to her workplace while I did the Mass Pike / Route 128 thing – given our Milford location I had no other choice. And boy, those commutes were absolute bears – metrosexuals, yuppies, suburbanites, and soccer moms in expensive cars and minivans shaving, brushing their teeth, and doing their makeup all while dodging in and out of traffic at speeds that turned me white and made me look as if I was standing still.

For Tracey, those days are still part of her working life, and while for several years I was part of her commute, I’ve had the best of every world possible the last 3-4 years – it’s been so long I can’t remember what it’s like to do a morning and evening commute. Call me “Mr. Lucky”. I know if I can avoid it at any cost I’ll never work in a regular office ever again. This home-based work thing is where it’s at, and I have no desire to change. Are there disadvantages? Why, sure: when you leave a regular office for the day you really leave work behind. At a home office work is always there – even more so when you’ve got a team of India developers starting work around the time you should be heading to bed and finishing up work for the day when you’re grabbing your first cup of java in the morning. I can’t imagine what it would be like having that arrangement and a work place you actually had to drive to and from.

Still, it’s pretty damned fine when the only congestion you witness every morning is the rabbits rushing to get their breakfast of Nibble Rings, dried pineapple, and a leaf of romaine lettuce with a handful of parsley, as Cosmo, Peanut, and Marlie are shown doing here:

Yep. I’m a lucky guy, indeed! It may not always be this way – after all, who knows what the future can bring? I just thank God and my lucky stars every day and never take it for granted.