I had no idea how great a short work commute would be

Until the outbreak of COVID in March 2020, I maintained a daily schedule much like that of millions of other Americans. Five mornings a week, I would get in the car and drive to my workplace. For a full decade of my professional life, that drive was a considerable one – at least by Northeast Ohio standards – of 30+ miles each way.

For more than a year, I drove a few days a week down to Akron, a distance of more than 40 miles.

There are some advantages to a longer commute, as I enumerated in a blog post  in 2015, but for the most part, it was a big hassle. It gets tedious, you're constantly having to fill your car with gas, oil changes become more frequent, there's always construction, accidents and other traffic snarls, and on and on.

Then, in June 2022, I accepted an offer to join Materion Corporation, a global company based in the nearby city of Mayfield Heights. Let's set aside the fact that, professionally speaking, it couldn't have worked out better. I love the team members with whom I get to collaborate, and the work itself is interesting and challenging.

From a purely logistical point of view, this change has been a godsend. My commute to work, which I make three days a week, is rarely longer than about 15 minutes and involves no highway driving at all. On light traffic days when the stoplights cooperate, I can get there in 13 minutes.

The days I broke 45 minutes to Akron always felt like a win. And 40 minutes was pretty much the norm for the 1,000 or so times I drove to the Vitamix corporate headquarters on Cleveland's southwest side over my eight-year tenure there.

Being so close to home makes it much, much easier for me to get to my various sports PA announcing engagements. It means far fewer times when I need to bring a change of clothes to work and run out of the office at 5:30 to drive straight to a field or gym.

On the other end of the day, not having to leave the house until 7:30am is...well, I know it's an overused word, but I can confidently say it's amazing. Life-changing, even.

An extra half-hour may not sound like much, but it allows me to do everything I've wanted to do in the mornings for many years but couldn't squeeze in without having to wake up every day at 4:30am.

Again, I'm not saying long commutes are all bad. I don't get to listen to the same number of podcasts that I used to, and it's harder for me to feed my classical music habit unless I'm very deliberate about carving out dedicated time for it.

But on balance, for me, short commutes win hands down. I had no clue what I was missing.

Holy cow, people drive fast on my commute to work

(NOTE: When I first drafted this post, I didn't put a comma in the headline between "Holy cow" and "people." Then I realized that, without the comma, it seemed to imply that a random group of religious, bovine-like folks were driving fast on the way to work. Which is not at all what I meant. Thus the comma. Please carry on.)

I have a 44-mile drive each way to the office. I don't really mind it that much, though, particularly this time of year when the weather is nice (ask me again in six months after I've done it through snow). It only takes me a few minutes longer to get to Goodyear in Akron than it did to get to Vitamix in Olmsted Township.

My drive goes almost due south down Interstate 271 and Ohio Route 8 before a very short eastward leg on Interstate 76. These highways won't mean anything to you if you don't live near me, but you can probably think of similar stretches near you.

The speed limit on most of I-271 is 60mph before ramping up to 65mph for a few miles ahead of the Route 8 exit. Similarly, it's 65 on Route 8 until you get to what I refer to as the Land of Eternal Construction, where it goes down to 55mph for a long period.

As far as I can tell, these speed limits are merely suggestions to the veteran drivers of 271 and 8, some of whom own cars apparently equipped with warp technology. People absolutely fly on these roads, let me tell you.

If you set your cruise control to 70 through the 60mph stretches, you had better stay as far as possible to the right, which I do. There are farm tractors that will pass you when you do anything less than 75.

Similarly, when the speed limit jumps to 65, oh boy. Don't even think about entering the left lane if you're not traveling well into the 80s through there.

Again, though, you will not see anyone passing me on the right. I never considered myself to be a slow driver, but I give these people plenty of leeway to jet by me on the left.

Once I get onto the 271 express lanes, I get it up to about 72, turn on the cruise, settle into the right lane, and watch as car after car zooms past at speeds I sometimes can't even guess.

I've seen maybe one police cruiser running radar in this area, so it's basically the Wild Wild West.

I have become a grandpa driver at the age of 51. Much like that black Porsche that had to have been doing 100mph this morning, I never saw it coming.

The start of a new adventure: It's a good year (get it?)

A couple of months ago, I told you my time at Vitamix had come to an end and I was seeking a new opportunity.

Consider the new opportunity found.

On July 12, I will join the team at Goodyear as Communications Manager, Global Technology. It's a chance to tell the company's story beyond its legacy rubber tires, specifically the work Goodyear is doing to shape the future of mobility.

I'll get to communicate both internally to Goodyear associates and externally to a variety of stakeholder audiences. It's the best of both worlds, and I couldn't be more excited about it.

The team I'm joining is brimming with talent and experience, so there's the added blessing of upping my own game and learning from some truly accomplished corporate communications pros.

And speaking of blessings, I couldn't have expected to find such a great position so relatively early in the job search process. By the time I walk into the corporate offices in Akron for the first time, it will only have been 2 1/2 months since my last day at Vitamix.

I received a lot of support and encouragement over these last several weeks, and it came from a list of people too numerous to mention here individually. Suffice it to say I'm indebted to all of them.

The only question now is whether I'll have space in my new office to house my collection of 20 or so sports bobbleheads. They're a great conversation starter when you're the new guy.

Vacation planning as rocket science

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Before we start, just a quick shoutout to the Wickliffe High School Class of 2012 and in particular class member Scott Britton, whom I had the privilege of seeing yesterday at Senior Awards Night. Scott is going to Cleveland State University in the fall and is a huge friend of the blog. Oh, and Elissa came away with an additional few thousand dollars in scholarships, which is a very, very good thing. Anyway, let's get on with it...)

We're trying to plan a family "mini-vacation" for the end of June. And by "mini-vacation," I'm talking about a quick three-day getaway before all heck breaks loose and everyone goes their separate ways in a myriad of school and sports activities.

On the surface, this doesn't sound like an overly difficult thing to do. Just pick a destination, make a few reservations, hop in the minivan, and there you go.

But the reality is much more complicated than you might think. As you veteran family vacation planners know, putting together even a 72-hour junket is only slightly less complex than building a scale model of the space shuttle.

Here are just a few of the issues we're facing:

• Five kids ranging in age from 6 to 18. As you would imagine, each one has a unique vision of what constitutes "fun" and "exciting."
• The fact that there are seven of us and a relatively tight budget. This limits our choice of hotels, meals, etc.
• Finding some place to go that isn't too far away so that we don't spend half of our three-day vacation driving on an interstate.

Fortunately, I have Terry on my side here. Terry is undaunted in the face of these sorts of challenges. And I haven't even mentioned the fact that she's trying to plan a graduation party for Elissa just a day or two before our little getaway.

It's going to be a busy month for my poor wife.

First, of course, we need to pick a place to go. Possibilities include Washington DC, someplace in Southern Michigan (we haven't been very specific there), yet another Tennant Family Pennsylvania trip, and even the wonderful city of Akron.

Akron may seem like a surprise choice, given that it's only about 45 minutes from our house. But that's the genius of it, you see. It's not a long drive, there are actually some fun things to do, and best of all from Terry's point of view, she doesn't have to cook. Depending on what kind of itinerary we can put together, I wouldn't mind an Akron trip at all.

We've been wanting to take a Michigan trip for awhile, since most of our family vacations have been to Pennsylvania. I feel like we've exhausted the fair Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a vacation spot, having skipped only Pittsburgh and the parts of the state even the locals don't really like. But I'm sure we've missed something worthwhile there.

As for Washington, I realize we're stretching our self-imposed limits. It's a minimum 6-hour drive, and it's not exactly the most cost-effective destination in the world. But the kids haven't been there and I think they would enjoy it, or at least enjoy it as much as a three- or possibly four-day trip will allow.

Anyway, once we pick a place to visit, we also need to select a hotel. Given our numbers, we prefer those extended-stay places like Residence Inn or Staybridge Suites. Not only do you get multiple bedrooms and a living room, there's also a kitchen where we can prepare meals on the cheap and literally save hundreds of dollars.

Fortunately, those types of places are everywhere and usually aren't too difficult to find. They also generally have free breakfasts that are filling and fast, two qualities we like in a vacation meal.

Once we actually hit the road, wherever we're going, I turn into Stereotypical Vacation Dad. My job, as minivan pilot, is to get us to our destination as quickly as possible. No unnecessary stops. Just go, go, GO, GO, GO! "What do you mean you have to pee? You just peed eight hours ago! Just hold it for another 100 miles."

I am, by my own admission, relentless. Vacations for me are about speed and survival. I should probably try to include "fun" in there somewhere, too.

In any event, I'll have to let you know once we pick a vacation spot, just in case you guys have any tips/hints/suggestions on things to do, places to visit, etc. People are never shy about offering up this sort of advice, which is fine with me. It saves me the trouble of going to the library and checking out the Fodor's guide to whichever city we're visiting.

I'll also have to let you know whether Terry actually survives this whole process. It will truly be a miracle if she does.