I worked in our headquarters in Decatur for 14 years. Then I worked out of a plant in Conyers for 3 years. The plant was closed, and I moved back to headquarters last year. For most of the plant workers, it meant their drive was going to be much longer (20 minutes instead of 5 minutes). For me it went from 30 minutes to 40 minutes. For a few people the drive ended up being shorter.

All of us were given a one-time “commuter bonus” to help compensate for the move and to encourage us not to quit. I thought it was ridiculous that management (or people who got a shorter drive) be included and even said so. I did not apply for the commuter bonus. I got it anyway, as did everyone in management.

I do have a longer commute, and I’ve considered getting XM Radio (satellite radio) to make for a more pleasant drive. A new iPod-ish portable radio, XM MyFi, is all the buzz at work. I have not purchased an iPod (people seem surprised by that) because I can listen to music at a computer when I want, and I don’t see myself wearing headphones to the store, driving to work, to the kid’s sporting events, or to church. These are the only time I leave the house. I’m not going to wear headphones in the yard. The chain-saw could cut the wires.

I have always known I would end up getting an XM Radio kind of service because I like the idea of letting someone else randomly serve up a variety of music, and I hate commercials.

I doubt I’ll get the portable, but I may look at getting the semi-portable version that can play in your car or at your desk. You may have seen it in the commercial where the guy is driving a little car into the building, up the elevator and to his desk, listening to XM all the way.

At the moment I am listening to XM Radio on the iMac. You can sign up for 36 hours to try it out. Currently playing Cedar Walton’s “I’m Old Fashioned” on the Jazz station. It’s great. I’m going to do this a lot whether I get XM or not. With Bloglines, you can create a disposable e-mail address to receive the access code! The disposable e-mail addresses are a way to receive newsletters, which I do with Clark Howard, Apple, and Motely Fool newsletters. I assume XM won’t send an access code to the same e-mail address twice, but with Bloglines, you can create as many temporary e-mail addresses as you need.