Friday at Microsoft

Friday at Microsoft

As my first week of work at Microsoft comes to an end, I'm waiting for a shuttle to take me from the main campus in Redmond to my building in Issaquah (it's where my car is at). Since Issaquah is kind of "down on the farm" compared to the rest of the campus, the shuttles only run every 30 minutes. Unlike the Redmond shuttles that run every 5 to 10 minutes.

In my first week I've learned a few things about the Seattle area, Microsoft, and some of what my job will entail. My commute from Shoreline is about 28 miles. This is pretty easy in the morning as I have been leaving about 6:30 am. The traffic is heavy but keeps moving at the speed limit. The commute home is another matter. All of the traffic going to the west side is funneled onto I-90 or state highway 520. This means that no matter which way I go, I'm sitting in barely moving traffic for over an hour. I was able to take I-90 to the 405 and then take SR522 over the north end of Lake Washington and get back to Shoreline. You may have to pull up Live Maps (gotta plug the Microsoft product) to follow that last thread.

The gist of all of this driving is that it is causing me to look seriously about mass transit options. I mean if the trip uses just 2 gallons of gas, the I've spent about $8.50 going to and from work. And for most of the mass transit options, Microsoft picks up the cost.

I'm too tired to write more so come back later and I'll write about something else.