In what seems to be becoming an annual tradition, I'm "going public" with the final commuting-oriented post of the calendar year.  If this "tradition" strikes you as more of an "indulgence," please skip this post and accept my best wishes for a joyous, prosperous, and healthy 2008 (wishes also fully applicable if you keep reading). 

A note to the uninitiated: there has been a hidden feed on this blog since I started my position in the SQL CoE in June of 2006.  My office is a mile and a half from my home, so I thought it might be interesting to catalog my commuting habits given the myriad options available to me.  Possessing the ability to walk to work isn't the same thing as actually walking to work, and I wanted to be open and accountable (as we like to say at Microsoft) and see how much I'm able to exploit this particular perquisite of my position.  The DWWTWT? feed (Did Ward Walk To Work Today?) fulfills this function; I've elected to hide it so as not to dilute the precious few technical posts on the blog with almost-daily personal commentary.

So, to cut to the chase, the year ends with a non-competitive day for New Year's Eve:

Telecommuted:

34

Walked:

146

Walked to the Bus:

17

Drove:

124

Did Not Compete:

85

Here's the tally for the month of December..

Telecommuted:

2

Walked:

9

Walked to the Bus:

0

Drove:

3

Did Not Compete:

7

.. and for the calender year..

Telecommuted:

30

Walked:

69

Walked to the Bus:

5

Drove:

100

Did Not Compete:

57

This year's statistics are a bit disappointing when compared to last year's, but they're worth breaking down a little bit (well, reasonable minds might differ.. but it's my blog <g>).

  • There were 261 "working opportunities" in calendar year 2007. 
  • Of those, 57 were removed from consideration because I "did not compete" -- it was a holiday, a vacation day, a sick day, etc.
  • Without these days, there were 204 "work days" in 2007.
  • Out of those 204 days, I telecommuted, walked, or walked to the bus 104 times, or 51%.
  • This means I drove 100 times, or 49%.

Although the 51% figure for 2007 is down from the 79.5% figure for 2006, there are a couple of encouraging trends in these statistics:

  • Due to my health issues (blessedly resolved as of this writing) I only walked twice between January 2nd and April 30th (coincidentally enough, I walked January 2nd and April 30th).  If we were to start counting on May 1st (when I recommitted to the "walking lifestyle"), the statistics would look like this:

Telecommuted:

13

Walked:

67

Walked to the Bus:

4

Drove:

51

Did Not Compete:

40

Since May 1st, there have been 165 "working opportunities."  When 40 non-competitive days are subtracted, 125 "work days" remain.  84 of these (67.2%) were telecommutes or walks of some sort, while 32.8% were drives.

  • The trend is even more encouraging for the last three months of the year:

Telecommuted:

4

Walked:

37

Walked to the Bus:

1

Drove:

11

Did Not Compete:

13

Since October 1st, there have been 66 "working opportunities."  When 13 non-competitive days are subtracted, 53 "work days" remain.  42 of these (79.2%) were telecommutes or walks of some sort, while 20.8% were drives.

So, the stats for the year show a very slight advantage (51%-49%) to self-propelled commuting.  If we cut me a break on my health issues and start counting on May 1st, the advantage goes to 67.2% to 32.8%.  And if we count only the last three months of the year (which there's no earthly reason to do, except that I'm doing so much better in that interval), I've actually approached last year's percentages (79.2% this year, 79.5% last year).

Thanks to the dedicated cadre of folks who read these posts even when they're hard to find.  I hear from you only occasionally, but I see you in the traffic numbers, and your interest is what keeps the posts coming.

Happy New Year to all!  There might even be some SQL content in my next post..

     -wp