Wisconsin Man Commutes Over 1,000 Miles To Keep A Job.

[pk]

A job, but there's a catch: a 1,000-mile commute

In the early dawn, after another week building cars, Michael Hanley leaves his job in Kansas. He quickly zips into Missouri, then heads up a ribbon of highway past grain silos and grazing deer, across the frozen fields of Iowa, over the Mississippi River and into the rolling hills of Wisconsin. Finally, he pulls into his driveway — 530 miles later.

FULL STORY HERE:
A job, but there's a catch: a 1,000-mile commute - Yahoo! News

[dgridley]

Just goes to show, you have to go where the money (jobs are) is these days..

[Blue Baboon]

I sure couldn't do that. I wonder why he doesn't move closer?

Getting to retire at 50. What's that going to be like? At the rate we are going my husband and I will be lucky if we can retire at 70. We aren't even big spenders.

[dgridley]

I'm with you.. just got something from Social Security today.. if I continue working til age 65, I'll get a little over $600 a month.. I think I can do better if I just keep working and forget about retiring..

[pk]

I sure couldn't do that. I wonder why he doesn't move closer?

I wondered the same thing. If they don't want to move then think of other alternatives. Driving back and forth and crazy. The cost of gas and the miles he is putting on his car, one would think a cheap motel for the work week and come home on Weekends would have to be cheaper. Summer, look into a campground, geez.

[dgridley]

Aren't travel expenses related to business tax deductable? Wonder if that's his reasoning?

Anyway, you'd think it'd be cheaper to fly.

[Blue Baboon]

I keep thinking of all the time wasted driving that he would spend with his family. I know it says he only has to do it for another 18 months than he can retire at 50. I just want to know why they get to retire so early. Doesn't seem fair since a lot of us work hard too.

[pk]

Now, he says, there's a grueling Monday to Friday work schedule, heading home at 2:40, arriving around 10 p.m., often too wired to sleep. On Saturdays, it's reconnect-with-the-family time. And that can mean more driving: His 15-year-old son's recent choral competition put him on the road five more hours one Saturday.

On Sundays, he heads back at about 1 p.m. — 39 hours after arriving.

I have no idea what I was thinking when I said he should just get a motel for the week.... then I started to do the math, (yeah, I hate math) lol and realized he must be doing something like that. How else could he drive a 1,000 miles and have enough time to work! lol OK, sometimes I read to fast and not think faster like I should.

Anyways, it looks like he does stay away for a week and comes home on weekends. One point he mentions he could skip a weekend but guess he can't do that....Still that is alot of hours on weekends spent in driving. You think a train could get him there a bit faster at least. A train would give him time to relax and sleep some.

Who knows. Everyone has a different lifestyle and hey if it's what has to be to work for them, well good luck I guess.

[dgridley]

Wonder if this guy is still working or is dead from all the miles he puts in?

[pk]

UPDATE:




Would you move 1000 miles for your job?


FULL STORY HERE:
Would you move 1000 miles for your job? – amFIX - CNN.com Blogs

[dgridley]

Thanks for the update..

Would I move 1000 miles for MY job? If it's worth traveling for, it's worth moving for..

[pk]

Thanks for reminding me of this story Dave, I love looking for updates. So many times you read something and never read anything more about it. Glad I could find something about this one.

[dgridley]

One thing I detest about the news.. rarely do they followup.. thanks again!

[Blue Baboon]

Did you read any of the comments to the story? Seems that most people that commented didn't think his story was that unique. There were others that did the same thing and for longer. What about those that travel for their jobs are gone a lot? People brought that up. Then there are those that have a spouse in the military that get separated for months at a time.

The guy in the story shouldn't complain. Most companies don't even offer you another job anywhere. These days they just dump employees left and right like they are disposable.

[pk]

I did read some of the comments too and it does show what changes many people have been forced to do to live and pay their bills. I think even though the story isn't one of a kind, it still was a way to open this up for people to take notice that may not have to worry about job security, or maybe they should realize what it's like for many people trying to make a living in a tough time.

You mentioned the military, this is a very good example of people being gone 12-18 months at a time without seeing their family members. At least this guy had a chance to see them on weekends or when he could drive home.

Truck drivers doing long distance travel can be gone for quite sometime, sales jobs, lots of different stories.

[Blue Baboon]

I realize the story is written as an example of one person and he's not the only one doing it. It was interesting to see some of the comments of what people go through or different lifestyles.

I remember reading a story about a man during the depression that walked 900 miles just to find a job back then. He stopped at many places along the way to find work. Not like he had anything else to do back then, but keep trying to find work.

Same goes for those so called bums that rode the trains back then. They weren't really bums, but just poor people traveling from place to place to find work or do odd jobs for food or a little money. People do what they can to survive.

[dgridley]

I lived with a family in NY.. the dad was home on average one weekend a month working as a construction supervisor. Maybe that's why their marriage survived 20 - some years..