I posted how much I would love self driving cars and thought about how I pass the time when I'm in the car. FOCUS: What do you do now to pass the time while driving or as a passenger in the car. Driving: I have about a 25 minute commute to work every day, lately I've been getting audio books from the library to listen to for the ride. It actually makes me look forward to my commute. Passenger: I have a hard time sleeping in cars and like to be decked out with my laptop that has multiple video games and movies, my iPod touch and text books if I feel like studying. I'll even do this for very short (around 20 minute) rides, I like options. ALT FOCUS: What did you do to pass the time when you were younger? I lived in Vermont for a while and my entire extended family lives in Mass so my mom and I would do road trips there a lot, we would play the "guess what color I'm thinking of" game. I also use to see how many different state license plates I could find. ALT ALT FOCUS: Passenger or driver, which do you prefer? I don't know what it is, but I HATE driving. I'm good at it, never been in an accident, but for some reason I just don't like doing it, I'd much rather be in the passenger seat playing video games or watching movies and not be concerned with the road. Unfortunately my girlfriend feels the same way.
Re: What color am I thinking of? I dunno. Audiobooks. Music. Karaoke rehearsal. Whatever. I moved two minutes from work so I didn't have to worry about this shit. FRYLOCK EDIT: More sensical thread title bitches.
Focus: I have a 50 minute drive to and from class every day (so over an hour and a half in the car every day), along with a lot of down time between classes. This is why I love my iPhone and all the Podcasts I listen to. The Adam Carolla Podcast and most of Kevin Smith's Smodcast network (Smodcast, Jay and Silent Bob Get Old, Plus One, Hollywood Babble-on, and Tell 'Em Steve Dave) get me through my commutes. Given how much time I spend in my car right now, I can usually listen to most of those on a given week. I've even gotten my wife into listening to a few of them on our longer drives (like when we drive to Detroit to visit some of her family up there, or when we drive to Indy to see friends). Even as a passenger, I'll either listen to what the driver wants, or if that annoys me, I'll throw my headphones on and listen to a podcast or two. Alt. Focus: I memorized the lines to songs from the oldies station, and grew to appreciate the Beatles, as that was mostly what my parents listened too. Eventually I got a portable CD player and started listening to my own music (Sublime, Foo Fighters, and Green Day are three bands that immediately come to mind). Alt. Alt. Focus: I hate driving, because my wife is a complete control freak, and how I drive makes her insane. She'll grab for the "Oh Shit" handles (which neither of our cars have, but her old car had) any time I stop, because I'm not "slowing down fast enough." When I do slow down more quickly, she bitches that I am being a passive aggressive asshole and doing it just to make her angry. She'll scream at me to change lanes or claim I missed an exit when I haven't, and god forbid I don't go between the speed limit and 5 over (if its more than 5 over, its too fast and I'm going to kill us; if it is less than the speed limit, I drive like an old lady). Basically, she is a god awful side-seat driver. This is honestly the single most annoying trait about my wife, and has led to more of our arguments than anything else in our marriage. Looking back, I think we've had one major argument in 11 years that didn't originate in a driving argument. She gets this trait from her mom, who drives me nuts when we're in the car with them. Her dad acts like a beaten man and doesn't say anything. Fuck that, I'm going down swinging. As a result, I've told her that I don't want to drive anymore when we're together. I finally got pissed enough and told her point blank either she drives, or she gives up all right to bitch about my driving. My thinking is that she can't make me do something because she doesn't want to, and then complain that I'm not doing it her way. Of course she fought that (she hates driving, though I'm not sure why), but it got to the point where I'd simply walk up to the car and get in the passenger seat without giving her the option. Slowly, over the last month or so, she has started driving more and more, and we argue less and less on car rides. Sure, just getting in the passenger seat is a passive-aggressive dick move, but our arguments are down and she is starting to accept that she has to be the driver. Eventually, I want her to be the driver any time we go anywhere that isn't a long (more than an hour) drive.
Podcasts. For 2 years I had about a 1:15 commute, each way. Adam Carolla, among other podcasts, got me through that, and I genuinely enjoyed my commute. Well, maybe "enjoy" is a bit much... let's say I didn't eat a gun thanks to the podcasts. Now that my commute is a 50' walk from bedroom, to espresso machine, to office, I find that I miss the podcasts. I'm about a month behind, and am increasingly finding excuses to listen to them. I'm working in the garage more and more, cleaning things in the kitchen that don't need it, and on and on. As to driver vs passenger, driver. No question. I'm a control freak (what a surprise, eh?), and have an inherent distrust in other people's driving. There are 3 people that are an exception to that rule, and all 3 are professional racers. One of them does professional stunt driving for film and TV. By far, though, the most uncomfortable time for me in a car is when I'm with a new driver, and am instructing them on how to do high performance driving. It's the newer drivers, who just bought a $180k street legal race car, that have problems shifting it, that freak the shit out of me. They all seem to have a chip on their shoulders that forces them to prove to me that they really are a good driver. Invariably, they end up going too far. It fucking sucks. I was much more comfortable instructing people to fly, for some reason.
I ride a motorcycle as my 20-minute daily commute so I help pass the time by being hyper-aware of my surroundings. That probably sounds strange but what I mean is I exaggerate the basic awareness needed to drive safely (which is already increased for motorcyclists, as any biker knows) by trying to anticipate what cars 3-4 ahead of me are going to do, getting a feel of which lanes are likeliest to create unexpected stops, etc. Basically I just turn it into a game to try and anticipate what every car within sight might do at any given moment, my commute is in a city so this gives me constant stimuli. Otherwise, when I'm using public transportation, I'll carry Arabic flashcards or sometimes a book of poetry. I actually kind of like this because it allowed me to learn like 50+ new Arabic words a week, or like half a book a week. When I was in Morocco, I got used to 12 hour bus rides with no entertainment other than the scenery and my thoughts, so now even a 6 hour bus ride is cake. I don't mind sitting with my own thoughts (no music) and just chilling out for a few hours. Admittedly, I've been unable to do this for most of my life and I think it's an acquired skill. It gave me a much greater appreciation for this quote: Spoiler "All of man's troubles come from not knowing how to sit still, alone in a room." —Blaise Pascal
Focus: My 30-35 minute drive to work I'll hit up a podcast or NPR. ALT Focus: As a kid, I would always have a book in the car. Either some Calvin and Hobbies or Peanuts. For the 3+ hour drives Up North, we had this huge TV/VCR (google it kids) combo that had a car adapter. I only had 2 great films to choose from; City Slickers and The Simpson's Christmas Special Season 1. Or I would fucking dominate the Quiet Game and the Sleep Game.
I drive to Ottawa (5 hours) every other weekend, and once you leave Toronto the radio drops off. I have a few audiobooks but as much as I love Steven Fry there's only so many times I can listen to any given Harry Potter book or Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I think I'm going to start checking out some podcasts, I remember there was a thread earlier about good ones that I might take advantage of - I've seen Adam Corolla get mentioned a lot so that's probably a place to start. I'm also slowly teaching myself French with the Pimsleur tapes. Thanks bittorrent! As for actually driving to work, my commute is just under 20 minutes and its all in-city so I need to be focused on not dying due to shitty Mississauga drivers. I can't remember being a passenger for more than 20 minutes in the last year or so since I bought my car. None of my friends have vehicles and I'm not trusting them driving my car, so I don't know how I feel about being a passenger any more.
When I was doing contract work for small businesses, I spent a lot of time in the car going from site to site. I never got into audio books but podcasts are a delivery directly from the hand of God. I used to listen to NPR a fair amount (I know, NERRRRD), but it was a constant process of going somewhere, getting out, getting back into the car after the job was complete... Podcasts let me pause and resume, so I found myself paying a lot more attention to the content because I knew I could listen to all of it. TED talks were also great. Now that my commute is a half mile walk, I do miss my podcasts. I keep up with a couple but I never feel like I can make time to sit and listen for a couple hours.
I both loathe driving and am lulled to nap in cars so I try to make my wife drive as much as possible. Then I grab a pillow, tilt my seat back, and nod off. When not sleeping in a car I am, driver or passenger, likely listening to a podcast or audiobook. Mostly podcasts of late since they're free. I just ordered a Kindle so I may get back into the habit of reading when a passenger, but that's nausea dependant. Podcasts include: This Week in Tech, Stuff you Should Know, Freakonomics, Adam Corolla, Jay and Silent Bob Get Old, Savage Love, and The History of Rome.
I actually really like being in the driver seat on long road trips. We took yearly trips and I always loved keeping track of cool land marks on I-75 South to Florida. The big ones I remember are the big peach and the first palm trees off the side of the highway a little while later. Nowadays I seem to have a great sense of accomplishment as I count down the miles to signs to the next big city. Usually if I am alone I just listen to full music or comedy albums and podcast/talk radio. On a few trips Ive played the name a movie that starts with the last letter of the proceeding movie, which is fun and a good time waster with four or five people. Full comedy albums help with groups too so I usually keep a lot of good ones on my Ipod. For people that change up commutes and miss(?) podcast. Do you not have dogs? A good 45-an hour and a half walk can help blow through those while getting some exercise for you and the dogs...
ALT ALT FOCUS: Passenger or driver, which do you prefer? Driver. My peers drive like fucking maniacs who pay little attention to the road and have NO FORESIGHT! They are just surprised by everything that happens out there. I am seriously clueless as to how they manage to avoid collisions every single time they operate a vehicle. I usually drive myself everywhere I go but I made an exception on the way to a super bowl party and let my buddy pick me up. He cut off an ambulance with its lights and sirens on. It was coming in the opposite direction and all traffic had stopped in anticipation. He sees the ambulance and decides that this is a perfect opportunity to make a left turn through an otherwise busy intersection. The ambulance had to break and swerve a bit to avoid us. Oh, and parallel parking? Yea. He hit both the car in front and behind him despite me telling him that he was about to hit them. But what am I saying? HE CUT OFF AN EMERGENCY VEHICLE TO GET TO A SHITTY SB PARTY FASTER! FOCUS: What do you do now to pass the time while driving or as a passenger in the car. I don't have ADD so I'm fine just listening to pandora. If I'm a passenger, then there are people to talk to.
Yes. The radio in my mom's car wasn't working this weekend (visited the rents in FL) and I was freaking the fuck out on my 15 minute ride to the liquor store.
I have a need for constant stimuli so putting me behind the wheel is generally bad news. While I've never gotten into any serious accidents (honestly I have no idea how) I always lose focus on driving and fiddle around with the radio, or whatever else is at arms length repeatedly. Either that or my mind will wander. Regardless, I am never paying attention to the road. Being a passenger is way easier, just grab a book and I'm good to go.
I've made the details of my commute pretty well-known around here. From home to office, it's roughly 25 miles (highway--30+ miles if I take backroads). However, I'm in rush hour traffic both ways, so the trip usually lasts over an hour. As a result, any car I own as long as I have this commute will have satellite radio and an input for an iPod, phone, etc. so I can play my music. With that setup, I'm never without some kind of entertainment. The car has also become like the shower for me, in that I have my best thoughts while I'm driving (I even created a blog about the shit I think about while driving). When I was younger, I had a Sega Gamegear. I loved the shit out of that thing, had tons of games, and it went with me on any road trip longer than 30 minutes. Before that, my mom, sister and I would play games like "I spy" to pass the time. I never could read, though. I got motion sick. I am hardly ever the passenger and I actually avoid being the passenger if I can. Call it control issues or whatever, but I like to drive. I chose my car because it has everything that I like in a vehicle, so if I'm going somewhere, I want to take my car. My girlfriend hates driving, so even when/if we take her car somewhere, she hands me the keys. She's perfectly happy reading her magazine while I drive.
Focus:I will sing anything, it doesn't even have to make sense, I've once found myself singing "Boobs" for every word or I'll just be singing gibberish. Whenever I'm stopped by another car my volume gets very quiet, as I can get very into it and look crazy (and incredibly dorky). I don't do this with other people in the car. I find listening to music can annoy me after a long while of driving, even songs I like. At a certain point I just can't listen to it anymore and prefer silence. If however I'm with someone else and they find this awkward or if they still prefer to have music in the background (if they are driving it's their call) I will start a conversation because I have to drown it out. (As opposed to just wanting to talk, there are situations where I have to discuss something in order to stop listening to the music and getting annoyed.) Podcasts have become a favourite recently.
I have a 35-40 minute commute. I have a Bluetooth speaker for my cellphone in the truck and talk to my AA sponsees during the morning commute. If I'm not listening to my iPod, its NPR or the NPR music station. When I was a kid, we would play the license plate game where you took the 3 letters and constructed a 3-word phrase, like BLH-034: "Ballsack likes hairbrushes." I don't like being the passenger. Jeff Gordon could be behind the wheel and I'd still find something wrong with his driving.
I drive a 1970 Chevy C20. The radio is effectively broken. So, I don't listen to anything anywhere I go. I look at shit and drive. But, I don't need a radio or feel like I am missing out without one.
While driving, music is playing, always. I can't drive without hearing my favourite tunes. If a passenger in a car, my time is spent palms sweating, me twitching involuntarily and "fake braking" both my feet into the floor every thirty seconds. I suffer from PTSD due to a past accident and therefore I make for a TERRIBLE passenger. I only trust myself behind the wheel, and that's the way it will stay. I fucking hate being a passenger in a car.
I hate driving since my accident. Next to financial shit I think it's one of the most stressful things in life. Just last week I was the third uninvolved car back in a bad accident on the freeway. The car was munched front and back. They had to shut the freeway down that direction and it remained that way for hours. There was a total of four cars involved but one got by far the worst of it. I searched for info on it the next day and saw pics of that car. They'd cut the entire top off to get the driver out. Scary shit. Anyway, since buying my current Mustang the radio, although it's some big souped up fancy thing with two exterior amps mounted behind the backseats, I still haven't been able to get the radio to work and it sucks*. I am an avid listener of Mark&Brian. Now it's CD's. Currently it's Primus because they rock your face off. *I've had the car for almost a year now. Ahem. What? I'm a techno-boob.