I feel like I’ve retired! I have almost no stress, I have more time for my family, and I even have time for myself. What do I do with all this extra free time? Well, I fill it with incredibly mundane things! As it turns out, I have a penchant for the mundane.

For example, I iron my shirt every morning before I go to work. My new office mates are snappy dressers, so I try to fit in—at least a little bit. As it turns out, when you aren’t in a rush for anything, picking out something interesting to wear and taking the time to press it is actually a pretty relaxing way to start the day.

I get plenty of sleep. It’s not uncommon for me to be in bed by 8:30. I do read for a little while, but I’m pretty sure I’m always asleep by 9:30 or 10 at the latest.

Also (like many New Yorkers and San Franciscans!), I rarely leave town. Very rarely. Everything I need is here: my job, my family, most of my friends ... in fact, Kristyn and I found ourselves leaving town so infrequently that we decided to sell my truck. Our one remaining car is primarily used for those times when we need to leave town, or haul a load too large for the cargo bike—which we purchased and totally decked out from the proceeds from selling the truck.

On the less mundane front, biking has come back around as a my favorite mode of transportation. I have always preferred it to driving, but it admittedly never got to the point where I would even look forward to doing it in the rain. As it turns out, fewer things are as peaceful as riding your bike in the rain.

Speaking of biking, now would be a good time to go over my commute stats for the year. Looking back to my previous commute, the differences here could not be more stark. I live exactly 2.09 km from my office, which translates to a 6 minute bike ride depending on wether or not I make the light at Main and Cleveland. I also ride home for lunch every day. After compiling my data from Cyclemeter, my hours worked, and averaging California gas prices against the mileage of my old truck, these are the data I came up with for my work commute for the year:

• Total distance: 2,174 km (1,351 miles)
• Calories burned: 74,880
• Gas saved: 213 liters (56 gallons)
• Money saved: $226.80 (source)

This is simply a series of 6 minute bike rides every weekday. This doesn’t include trips to the hardware store, pub or restaurants. Biking commuting is so vastly superior to driving, I would do it even if I still worked outside of town.

Another one of my favorite pastimes I have a lot more time for is drinks with Kristyn! We bought a propane heater for the back yard so we could enjoy patio lifestyle year round. Drinking beer, listening to music, and bitching about the human race consumes most of our free time.

My freelance business is all but shut down. With the exception of a few low maintenance projects, I pretty much never work after work, but I do still play.

Two of my after school projects this year were an International Space Station tracker, and a Woodland Police Dispatch scanner—both mobile web apps hosted on my server. It’s fun making lightweight tools to solve interesting problems for people, but it’s even more fun making them for yourself! If I ever start crossing the city line on a more regular basis, I may expand these apps to be less specific to Woodland.

Another thing not working all night long frees you up for is astronomy! I found myself falling in love with space a few years ago, and ended up buying a 10" reflector telescope. It is definitely one of the highlights of the year. It’s huge and a little cumbersome to lug around (like my bass), but the only thing I regret is not going bigger.

A big telescope and Instagram is a pretty fun combination. 

Some other highlights of the year:

Over all, 2012 was a really great year. When you find the perfect job and achieve the perfect work/life balance, your work falls in place among the other positive parts of your life. I’m very happy that things turned out the way they did.