Regarding the commute... I am lucky enough to be able to vary office hours (8 minimum) between 6AM-9AM and 3PM-6PM so I can generally leave and return during the slower times of rush hour. It's still about an hr each way though, under the best of conditions. Anyhow, most days I try to just slide over into the right-lane and go with the flow, leaving a little room in front of me so I don't have the "oh shit, brakes, BRAKES!" moments too frequently. Decent music/radio/books on tape/whatever can actually make it reasonable "down-time", I think. I hate the waste of time it is in general, but I think it can be used to allow for some sort of recovery, especially if you have a physical job.