I used to commute from Santa Maria to Santa Barbara, which is a beautiful 70 minute drive but it quickly wore me down. I called up the county car pool number a

I used to commute from Santa Maria to Santa Barbara, which is a beautiful 70 minute drive but it quickly wore me down. I called up the county car pool number and got set up with three other people to start a car pool and I can't say enough good things about that experience: it's very therapeutic, like having your daily support group. It also forces you to be efficient with your time because you always leave at a fixed time. Most employers and coworkers won't give you a hard time because you're doing the "right" thing. On days I couldn't car pool (rare) I listened to books on tape. My favorite was "Tale of two cities." I'm glad those days are over, though, now I have a 20 min bike ride along the Willamette.