Inspired by the Docklands thread and the discussions I've been having with my other half recently...
I have it very easy at the moment. I live 18 minutes from my job in Winchester, along a deserted back road which is great fun in all weathers unless you meet a tractor. My partner has a nightmare commute around to just outside Crawley. There is nowhere halfway that actually shortens his commute (using the A272 route takes him off the motorway but doesn't actually take any less time) - believe me we've searched Petersfield and all the villages in between!
Interested to hear how it works for others. Is one person based nearer to home than the other? How long is your commute? How long is your partner's commute? Has one of you compromised in terms of job/travelling time to enable you to shorten the other's commute?
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18 minute commute compared to your poor partner's slog? I hope you are using the difference to make damn sure that the creases you put in his shirts when you iron them are absolutely top notch.
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Believe me if we could find a home we could agree on, I would! He's currently doing his own shirts!
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Unbelievably we both commute 6 miles (10 minutes) but in different directions to different towns.
I travel a lot in work time(today around 80 miles), but because of the nature of her work she doesn't.
She has bought a bicycle at the start of the summer but has yet to use it (weather).
No compromise here, it just worked out like that, I may be relocating to a sister office (in the same town as her next year) as my work drops off prior to retirement. She could re-locate permanently or temporarily depending on dictates in work, furtherst she's travelled was a 58 mile round trip and yes she hated it.
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My commute is about 47 miles in total. I do 35 of it by car and the last 12 by train (Tube). Takes me just under an hour and a half in the mornings, and about two hours in the evening. That said, if I play my cards right in the next few months, I might wangle a relocation to a closer office which is about 25 miles and about half an hour away (all bar 2 miles of it is motorway). Costs will more than halve too.
SWMBO's commute is about 25 miles, all by car, and takes her about an hour each way.
I don't want to live any closer to London than we do now, and even if we could afford it (which we can't), wouldn't want to live in London itself. Great city to visit and work in, but not to live in.
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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I am 12 miles from my work, Mon to Fri, and it takes about half hour each way at rush hour.
SWMBO is about the same distance but does shifts (Nurse).
Total different scenario but I do not think I would consider taking a job that had upwards of 2 hours travelling each way. Would take a lesser paid job closer by. Unless of course its maybe only 4 days or whatever.
But as I said different Scenario, I am not exactly in a highly skilled job so can afford to be more fussy.
Incidentally, over the last fortnight I have cycled to work 3 times, takes me 58 mins instead of the half hour. Definitely prefer it to rush hour driving!
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2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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My commute is 18 miles, 50 miles or 85 miles each way depending upon which office I am in that day, or further if I'm working somewhere else.
SWMBO's commute is roll out of bed, ensure the kids are 'reasonably presentable' and 5 minute walk to the 'little school' and 5 minutes back. Repeat in the afternoon.
Oh, and she doesn't iron my shirts either.
Apparently time flies and she doesn't have enough ....
although I wouldn't want to be at home with the four of them and their friends for the six weeks summer holiday .....
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Somewhere south / south-west of Guildford? There are ways of getting from Guildford to Creepy Crawley avoiding the M25. Farnham would be better for you (A31 is a good road) but worse for him.
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Mrs H commutes 30 miles round trip up the A1 and then A66(M). She rarely tells me of problems. Her C3 is fitted with a speed reminder bleep which I set at 85. When I use her car, I find it almost always disabled. Make of that what you will.
If I'm working at the swimming pool, I commute the 11 miles round by bicycle almost invariably even if the weather's poor. Showering, changing and drying facilities at the pool make this a doddle. It takes me about 25 mins one way unless it's windy. And I can stop off for a pint on my way home without feeling like a criminal (or putting weight on).
If I'm working as a handyman or gardener, it's a variety of routes around Richmond (N Yorks) in the C8 with its seats folded (smelling of old grass and 2-stroke) and towing a trailer on which many of the lights work most of the time ;-)
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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My commute used to be 150 miles a day, with plenty more travelling during the day, about 50,000 a year.
Gave that up and commute dropped to three miles. Gave that up and it's nowt now.
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I used to do an approx70 mile round trip commute when i worked for toyota. I now have a 500yd round trip, i know which one i prefer.
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I work, and my wife doesn't, but she drives further... to the gym - three miles, and back, most days. I'm based on the landing, on the site of an old walk-in wardrobe.
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Up until early 2004 I was living in the west country and commuting to West London, 137 miles each way!
I would work at home perhaps one day a week and would sometimes stay in London however I did 65k miles in my current Mondeo in 18 months before buying it off the company as part of redundancy, I have done another 55k in the subsequent 42 months.
I now work from home so my commute is about 50 feet from the bed to the office.
Wife works part time, 8 miles and 15 mins each way.
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Have now finished my Uni placement which was for the majority of it, 22 miles each way. Then I was moved to another office, which was 50 miles each way but expensed.
All at 30mpg.
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Our commute is similar to local yokel - I roll out of bed and stagger to my desk in a room on one side of the house and my wife goes to her desk in a room on the other side of the house. I do get to go and visit people about every other day at the moment, it could be a lot less if I reorganised things. I choose the times of my appointments carefully to try and avoid spending too much time just sat in the car!
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Mine is from Bed to desk, all of about 30ft! If I do meetings then I generally choose quieter times & living in Chatham if it's in London it's a cab to station then train. Any further (office is Bracknell) then it's a very early start & once significantly Norff of Watford then it becomes an overnight stay.
The wife drives over all of SE London, Kent & Sussex visiting patients....
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I can pass my wife's office on the way to work - 1.5 miles away and then travel a further 5 miles. Due to me working flexi I leave before her and drop our daugher off at nursery, my wife then picks her up.
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I have a commute which is generally around 30 mins, sometimes less when the schools are out.
My wife's commute is very similar, she just sits on the other side of the car. (We both work in the same place, in case it wasn't obvious)
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The wife doesn't work, but my commute is 55 miles each way - 1hr in the morning, 1.5hrs evening trekking across Shropshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire from Cleobury Mortimer to Coventry - would I change it for a different job, closer to home? Probably not, I mainly enjoy the commute!
As someone who used to do Huddersfield to North East Leeds everyday, I could commute to the moon and back and it would be less stressful!!
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SOmetimes my commute is 30 feet from my bed to my office, 3 miles to an office, or 150 miles each way. I do 20k miles a year.
Nicole, as a specialist community nurse does about 200 miles a week.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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I spent 30 years driving just 4 miles each way. Wonderful to be able to get up at 7 and be in the office for 8. The downside was that after a stressful day the drive home was not long enough to unwind properly.
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When we got married three years ago, my wifes commute was 13 miles each way around the Edinburgh bypass, I was working in Acton. Our married postcode was EH. Guess who got the short straw...and boosted an orange and white airlines profits.
Still, it was less than when we met and I was working in Frankfurt. I think I purchased a couple of planes for BMI/Lufthansa during that time.
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mine - 17 miles, between 21 and 25 mins up the a19
swmbo's - either 1 mile or 8 miles depending on where working, 3 mins or 12 mins
thank goodness we live in the north east not down south
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Mine is either 29 miles to the office or downstairs to the settee depending whether what I am doing that day can be done from home.
My wife's is about a quarter of a mile to the local secondary school where she teaches, 5 minute walk normally or 5 minute drive if she needs to take or collect piles of marking or ingredients (she teaches food tech)
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My 65 mile commute to Woking varies between 75 and 90 minutes,although I do sometimes have to suffer journey times of over 2 hours due to motorway accidents etc.My wife commutes 18 miles in the opposite direction into Oxford.This usually only takes her 20 minutes as she starts work at 7am.If she started an hour later, her journey time would be over an hour.I would love to have a shorter commute, but we cannot afford to move.As I now work as a contractor, I get a mileage allowance which helps negate the painful fuel bills.Public transport is not an option due to an early start time and cost.
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Mine is twice a week, 240 miles round trip from Windsor to Worcester, my wife's is 10 miles Windsor to Staines, Moseley, Walton all around North Surrey. Looking to "relocate" to Boulogne-sur-Mer and organise our work for 2 busy weeks out of four in the UK and a better quality two weeks across La Manche. Might mean losing the Octavia vRS rs (a sad day when it happens) and reverting back to derv!
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"Might mean losing the Octavia vRS rs (a sad day when it happens) and reverting back to derv!"
Fear not - changing to an Octavia vRS diesel (170 bhp) or even a 140 won't be at all a sad day.
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14 miles in the morning [need to drop wife to her office] and 4 miles in evening [wife has to take bus when returning as she finishes earlier]
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Mine is a 60-mile round trip to Crawley and back. Not too bad at the moment now the schools are out and now the weather has cheered up a bit I've been able to use 2 wheels a bit more. Not that I mind riding in the wet, but it's no fun showing up for work in dripping wet kit. Firm ain't too chuffed with that, either.
Mrs goes 1.5 miles into town and back...
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Currently a mile and half from work...ten minute cycle! Drive if it's raining, takes five minutes.
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Unless I visit property to value before I reach the office, my commute is about 4 miles and 15 minutes at most.
SWMBO, works one day a week for the NHS as a Community Nutritionist and works about three miles from home. On one other day she works in Leek (Staffs) and sometimes drives from north Manchester and sometimes get the train to Stoke and a lift to Leek. I much prefer my commute!
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It's taken me 25 years to get a near home commute........so now it's about 4 miles each way, but being N London, traffic can be horrendous......fortunately knowing all the 'rat runs' it's rarely a problem.
SWMBO has about the same in a different direction, but she's now part time (school teacher).
(she does do my shirts, but somewhat reluctantly and I suspect the agreement is 'subject to change')
when i met wifey, 3 yrs or so ago.....she was in South Devon and I in N London.......so i sort of commuted/regularly visited and decided to do so on my bike to keep costs down... (more than halved petrol costs of car).
Through the winter i never realised how cold you could get on a bike..made me realise i'm a committed 'fair weather biker'.
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13 miles up M5 over the AVonmouth bridge - about 20 mins in the morning - 6:30 and about 25 - 30 mins in the evening - between 4 and 6.00
Partner works in hospitals all over the place - no fixed workplace, so anything from 10 - 50 miles, but usually unsocial hours so less traffic.
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Through the winter i never realised how cold you could get on a bike..made me realise i'm a committed 'fair weather biker'.
You need the product that Frank Muir or Denis Norden devised in explanation of the saying "Appetite comes with eating".
The advertisement was "A pair tight coms, with heating".
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Reading (Lower Earley) - Bath, ~155 miles round trip. But I work at home 2 days a week, I take the train to Bath and work on it, and get to run to/from the stations at both ends (I usually run the 4 miles direct to Reading station in the morning rather than take the connection from Earley).
True, I do have to get up at about 6 to be in the office working by 8:40, but by then I've already done an hour's work and had a couple of good runs (the bit from Bath station to the office alongside the Avon past the horseshoe weir is particularly pleasant). I'm home just after 6, trains permitting, or 10:30 if it rains like it did the other week and I get diverted via Salisbury :-) No wear and tear on the car, and the train tickets aren't too extortionate at £22.60 per day ie. £68 per (3 day) week.
For the 20 years I'd been working before starting in Bath last year I'd always walked or cycled to work, with no intention of changing. I guess I would still prefer to be able to do that in Bath, but given the property prices there (and all the other issues associated with moving a family) that's unlikely to happen. But I don't mind- I actually quite enjoy the commute.
Unlike my wife, who 'just' has to travel less than 10 miles to her work, but that involves driving across Reading, not quite in rush hour, but it's still not much fun.
John
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My commute is either 45 miles each way up the A19 or 82 miles each way depending on office location (Leeds or Newcaslte). Both take about 1 1/4 hrs, despite Newcaslte being closer because of the tyne tunnel queues. Girlfirends commute is 25 miles or about 30 minutes each way.
Quite enjoy the way home to unwind - far less stressed when getting home than I used to be when I worked 15 minutes away - would be nice to have a short trip some days though - especially friday afternoons!
Unfortunately between us we drive more than 60K a year when you take social mileage into account so the tresuary and motor trade get their fair share!
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My commute is 25 miles each way but being Surrey to NW London means at best its 45 mins, average 75 mins, but always quicker going home. I need my car for work and work mileage varies during the day, depending on how many properties I have to look at.
SWMBO has a 5m (that's m as in metre) walk from home to work - she works next door!
We have always wanted to move to the south coast but always come to the conclusion that my commute would then be intolerable.
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I live in Poland, but my biggest client is an English publisher whom I work for from my studio right next to my bedroom. I work on a Polish magazine too which involves a 7-mile 10 min commute via the kids' school.
My wife works in Ipswich every second week. That's about 1000 mile commute and starts at 4 on a monday morning when I have to drive her to the airport. She's in work by 11.
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4 miles, by tube across central London, all zone 1. 5 mins walk, 10 mins on the tube, 5 mins walk. Deo volente this will reduce shortly to 2 miles walk.
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30 minutes on the bus in inner London. Approx 2.5-3 miles.
Amazed by the distances some people cover. Some here seem to be living on one side of the country and working on the other side. Some of you must spend more time in the car than almost anything else.
I wonder if in the future such long distance commuting in one occupant private cars will be strongly dissuaded by tax/incentives. The UK compared to mainland Europe seems to specialise in people commuting very long distances in cars and even on public transport.
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I do 80 miles round trip to and from work. My Mrs works nearby so I always drop her off and pick her up!
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My commute is around 30 miles each way - A51 - A38 - A446 ending near Birmingam Airport.
Hers is 10 miles the other way up the A51.
Movinv would help me but not her, and my miles are on someone else's car!
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My commute is 30 miles each way. 35 minutes in the morning (6:20) and 45 in the evening (17:15). From near junction 20 of the M1 to Marston Green (near Birmingham Airport).
My other half has no job, but looks after our two children adn two horses. (and does my ironing)
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>>I wonder if in the future such long distance commuting in one occupant private cars will be strongly dissuaded by tax/incentives.
The main current tax factor is stamp duty which prevents people from moving house to relocate to a new job... hence mega commutes.
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18 miles in 20 minutes (on a bad day) - she's just to get to the bottom of the stairs.
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In UK its 12 miles each way to my office , also in Crawley which will take 25 minutes or so and SWMBO has 28 miles or so each way which takes around 45 minutes each way.
However my company head office is in the Middle East and I travel there every couple of months or so , 5000 miles each way , twenty minutes to airport, three hours checking in , seven hour flight.
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If in the office is 47 miles each way, normally about 45- 50 minutes (motorway and dual carriageway all the way and work in mid Devon so little traffic).
If working from home wherever the lap top is (got a kitten last weekend so now have to avoid him sitting on the thing as I work).
My wifes commute is 5 minutes to drop girls at nursery, then another 5 minutes to her office.
Although am currently look to change jobs- and will probably mean travelling to Bristol every day.
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Definitely this long distance commuting thing seems a major UK feature. Is the fact we have such high levels of home ownership say compared to the Germans mean moving is so impactical/costly/time consuming. Plus also there are now such large disparities in house prices that moves to and fro across the country as Americans do frequently is effectively impossible I'd imagine.
You do wonder if companies were audited/limited for the distances they expect/allow a person to commute whether big things would change. Perhaps car travel has become too cheap and excessive commuting has become too easy.
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In our case we did used to live close to my office, wife was on maternity as well, but absolutely hated living there, so moved back to Weston for the sake of my wifes sanity.
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Amazed by the distances some people cover. Some here seem to be living on one side of the country and working on the other side.
I'm always amazed by the volume of traffic in both directions across the M62 at peak times - why doesn't everybody just swap either houses or jobs!
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I always wonder when you go abroad eg France Germany Sweden etc that there seems much less of a rush hour that covers half the country in commuters' heavy traffic with people going 50 or miles to work. Do any of our continental dwelling chums have any light to shed on it...do they all have short commutes? Do people not switch jobs that often? Is finding somewhere to live easier nearer to your work?
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I wouldn't want to live anywhere near where I work - I enjoy the countryside when I come home and still harbor a dream to work from home, if not in this job, certainly in the next.
I recall going for an interview with Wolseley PLC (builders merchants etc.) and they have a policy that staff must live within 25miles of the office...
I don't mind the drive, in fact it lets me get my thoughts together generally. Its also good fun round some of the twisty roads. Only this morning I was tootling round, leaving the Audi A6 behind me rather too easily..... [no comments, thank you ;-)]
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Thanks all - kind of good to see we're not alone, but also very jealous of you people who can work from home so often.
I should have said, partner's car is fully expensed, so while his commute doesn't cost him anything (except tax!) it does cost him 4 hours a day and his (and my!) sanity. We've come to the conclusion that there is nowhere in between that works for both of us, as I have to live within the county or right on the border. Thankfully I can do my job in any county, so it's "just" a case of finding the right job somewhere else in the future and living in different places for now!
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Do any of our continental dwelling chums have any light to shed on it...
Interesting question - I do know my daughter went to Germany on an exchange visit and the family she stayed with lived in a smallish village. Their daughter commuted 50kms each way to school, but her parents both worked in the village.
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I commute 34 miles each way from Braintree to Harlow in Essex. It's mostly dual carriageway/motorway but unfortunately I have to get all the way across Harlow from the M11 junction to get to my office. Generally takes about 50 minutes each way, although it can increase if there's congestion getting in or out of Harlow.
My wife starts a new job in September which will take her to the other side of Braintree, maybe 4 miles each way that shouldn't take her more than 10/15 minutes.
That means that I do over 15,600 miles just getting to work (the odd day working from home is offset by the odd day spent working in another office) so my desire to replace my current diesel Skoda Octavia when the time comes with a 1 or 2 year old Subaru Legacy estate is looking like it might be an expensive one. I have hit on the idea of wife commuting in the potential Legacy and me taking on her diesel Seat Ibiza for the commute.
I used to get the train to London when we lived in Chelmsford and I do miss it sometimes, was nice to be able to sit and read the paper or a book. I suppose I am now more in control of how long it takes than being at the mercy of the railways!
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Soupytwist !
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>diesel Seat Ibiza
So you hate yourself, or you hate driving. Which is it? 70 miles a day, 2 hours a day, in a tin can?
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No wonder people complain about our roads/traffic problems. Think of the increased productivity if we all lived within 30 minutes of home, and worked the saved time!
It cannot all be house prices since it's been going on for years, and it's mainly central London that has gone so high. Most of the south east has similar prices, e.g. Watford/Woking or Reading/Redhill.
We all get attched to our routine [men especially] and I note how many "enjoy" the travel, and of course we put down roots, often from childhood and return there.
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No it's not all due to house prices, although it is for a lot of people. These days most households need two incomes coming in, so if one partner changes job they can't move - unless the other half finds a job in the same area. Jobs are no longer long term, the prospect of moving home every few years is dreadful in terms of inconvenience not to mention expense of stamp duty etc.
Also moving from one area to another is disruptive for children in schools.
I like looking out of my bedroom window and seeing countryside, living in an area where crime is virtually unheard of and the most annoying noise is the farmer's combine disturbing my lunchtime drink in the garden. People know and acknowledge each other and help out when in difficulty. I wouldn't live in the city again if you gave me a house.
For a better quality of life I shall continue to commute.
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So you hate yourself or you hate driving.
Daughter has a 1.2 3 cyl petrol Ibiza, but it's actually quite nice to drive on a run. Good seats, and handles and holds the road well. I imagine with the power/torque of diesel engine, they must be pretty effortless to drive.
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You're spot on there Mr Payer, with the 100bhp PD engine it's nippier than the Skoda and feels much more comfortable at an indicated 85 mph.
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Soupytwist !
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