Roody

Nighttime cycling is not so bad. The lower traffic volumes and blinking traffic signals actually make it quite nice. It's a little harder for drivers to see you, but you can see them a lot better.

Get a decent LED headlight and a good blinky rear light. It might take a few times to get used to it, but you might end up preferring the dark hours.

I worked second shift for years. Every commute home was in the dark. Now I work 12 hour midnight shifts. In another couple weeks, both commutes will be totally dark. But for much of the year, both are in the daylight.

Roody

The one thing I like about 12 hour shifts is the three day work week. Or more precisely, I like the four days a week off. I like my job, but I love my time off!

But I'm not sure the long shifts good for employee's health. And in the hospital, they might be bad for patient safety since chronically tired workers are arguably more prone to make errors.

gregf83 

I've got lights and I do it but it's just preferable to ride in the warm sunshine.

With the shorter days come the wet roads more bike maintenance etc.

Roody

Personally, I was a bit scared the first few times I rode in darkness, but I grew to love it. I think mental attitude is very important when it comes to achieving a carfree lifestyle. It's sometimes difficult to change your attitude, but it can be done. I hope you get to like nighttime riding!

gregf83 

You're a bigger optimist than me. I've done it for a few years and will continue but if I have the choice I'll wait for sunlight!

TheLibrarian

You can work as much or as little as you like. Of course any employer will pay you accordingly and likely have demands of their own for many jobs. Best bet is convincing them it is in their interests as a business with examples of increased productivity etc. Many jobs are not measured nec by productivity as we simply need to be here for when we do have to do something. Thus free to waste time on social media as if we left after 6 hours somebody else would have to sit at the reception desk or the cash register. It never stops and how much you get done depends on how many customers come in. Every job ready to maximize potential has busy work for these people. Doctors, lawyers, firemen, self employed there are so many variables to any job that its hard to say. Add to that soldiers and police who are paid to retain their loyalty. Working for someone else much less the corporations has its own set of difficulties but not being part of a larger organization has difficulties as well. Go homestead in Alaska hunting Marmet furs and you'll likely be working 16 hour days for food and water.

Optimum is to write for four hours per day as a novelist according to Tom Robbins. No one gives you permission to do this. You just hope thats enough to pay the bills and have a little extra. Don't even have to leave the house and can be done on top of a normal 8 hr day job for now.

Robert C

I am actually working in Kansas, my wife, and my house, are in Salt Lake. I keep looking at going back; the trouble is that the schools require teachers to sign the next years contract in may. Then the schools post openings. As such, the openings are not posted until the teachers are already under contract. It makes sense; however, it makes it hard to switch back to SLC.

I am in Kansas because when I came back from China they were willing to have a signed contract before I arrived in the US. It was important to me to come back to a job. Otherwise I knew I would have wound up back in China.

As far as my hours, if you look around you would think that I'm a total slacker. I share a house with a teacher with more years of experience than I have, and he is putting in more hours. When I show up on Saturday there are already teachers here working.

Roody

well, I respect you for keeping at it. I hope the long dark winter isn't too bad for you!

I-Like-To-Bike

Swedish women both fictional and real are OK too; as well as Swedish crime novelists.

Walter S

In that case EVERYTHING is about car free living. Even the things that have a completely nuetral effect on car free living at least deserve a thread where that can be debated.

wolfchild

I work 9 hour days Mon-Thurs and then on Fridays it's a 6 hour workday. I do loose 3 hours of pay on Fridays, it's been like that for many years. I don't mind getting home earlier on Fridays.

wolfchild

Where will Sweden get their energy to sustain their economy if they eliminate the use of fossil fuels ??...

RPK79

They're only going to run the power grid 6 hours a day.

tandempower

This article says 2/3 of grid power is already produced by hydroelectric and nuclear. Wind, solar, insulation, and sustainability reforms are supposed to be good for the other 1/3. I would guess nuclear can also be eliminated in the long term but there's really no rush as long as no new reactors are initiated, which isn't mentioned in the article but I'm just hoping since I don't see the nuclear materials handling industry as sustainable, nor do I think it's good for the long term longevity of the planet to mine and burn it.
Sweden sets its sights on becoming the world's first fossil fuel-free nation - ScienceAlert

Maybe that will be possible with better insulation, renewables, and independent battery systems in buildings.

I-Like-To-Bike

In that way, the politically (and only) correct stance on every issue allegedly required to support living car free, LCF-style, can be spelled out for everyone.

tandempower

The implication here is that posters have to be free to post negativity regarding LCF or else they're being forced into politically correctness. However, if we accept anti-LCF negativity as free speech and respond to it with debate, it turns into a two-way negativity discussion provoked by anti-LCF negativity. So the question becomes how to have positive, constructive discussions without having to deal with provocative, anti-LCF negativity. Is it asking too much to want to keep discussions positive and constructive? Do we have to create private venues in order to have constructive discussions instead of ego-bickering?

RPK79

It can't be done. The LCF community on the forums is of the belief that society needs to change in order for them to be LCF and that others need to be forced or coerced into being LCF as well.

tandempower

I don't think society needs to change in order to live car free but part of LCF is developing it further as a culture. The same way that GM looked for ways to replace streetcars with buses to expand its industrial culture and economy, so too can we as LCF people look for ways to make LCF a better and more effective option. If GM wasn't content to leave the streetcars alone, why would you expect LCF people to leave the automotivistic human geography, infrastructure, culture, etc. alone?

The words "forced" and "coerced" are too strong. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that I have no interest in forcing or coercing anyone to give up driving. What I do have an interest in is for people to grasp the fact that motor-congestion is either already forcing/coercing people out of driving, or it will at some future point. So making LCF a better option is just an accommodation to prevent automotivism from reaching its limits and/or spilling over into ever-expanding lanes and highways.

Roody

I don't think that at all and I challenge you to provide any evidence for this false assertion that LCF posters require society to be changed and want to force others to change the way they live. (Again, this is why using the quote function is so important in internet forums. It prevents posts like this that twist or distort the meanings of other people.)

Yes, I would LIKE society to change in the sense of becoming less dependent on cars. Specifically, I would like to see more bike facilities and less urban sprawl. Maybe you judge that as a change in society, but I don't think it's quite that radical. To me, it's just a change in design and planning in order to accommodate more people into the transportation mix.

I will use my free speech rights to argue for such changes. But I don't NEED for society to change in order for me to be carfree. I've set up my life to support carfree living. I'm willing to share how I've done that here on this forum, if anybody seems interested. I have no NEED to coerce others to accept my opinions, and it's a big fat lie to imply that I do. You've twisted the words of other posters and put your own words into our mouths. I don't think this is a fair or productive use of our time or interest. If you can demonstrate otherwise with actual quotes, i will stand corrected.

RPK79

It may or may not be what LCF posters are looking for, but as an outsider who browses here occasionally, I can tell you it is the overall position that is taken away from that reading.

Roody

I think this is a pre-formed impression that causes you to read into the posts some impressions that are not intended or even implied by the posters. Since you're evidently unable to find any quotable evidence for Your "overall position", I guess I'll just dismiss it as prejudice.

RPK79

No, I had not bias when I first came to this sub-forum. I thought it would be interesting to read about car free living, but it turned out to be a festering pile of political idealism. ...and I didn't look for quotes. I honestly don't care. I just thought I would let you know how others view your little online world. I'll leave now and let you get back to your echo-chamber.

Roody

Sorry you didn't feel comfortable expressing your own opinions in a positive manner, instead of rudely making unsubstantiated claims based on pre-formed impressions.

And if there's one thing this forum is NOT, it's an echo-chamber. We agree on absolutely nothing!

Mobile 155

Oops RPK, now you have done it. What were your reading comprehension scores is school?

Roody

Funny, I have never noticed you echoing me, or me echoing you. Besides, how do you know he wasn't talking about you, since he didn't mention anybody by name?