There are far too many saints on this post. I think it is time for a sinner to step forward.

I live 25 miles from my place of employment, in a suburban wasteland virtually devoid of meaningful public transportation. The trains don't come this far. And the busses that do are not going my way. I'm a single Dad with 2 teenage kids (shared custody), and I do 90% of the driving. I perform in community theater productions that can be from 20 to 100 miles away. And I have not had a girlfriend in the past 5 years that was closer than 25 miles away. (Lotsa hot babes in Philly and Delaware).

As a result, my Dodge Caravan hit 50,000 miles on its 2nd birthday, and is on track to pass 75,000 when it turns 3 in March. Do the math; 25,000 miles a year is roughly 500 a week.

So, options:

1) Telecommute. I can do this now and again. But it is more a priviledge than a part of my job description, and must be used with discretion. Also, I usually have to drive most of the way to work to pick up and/or drop off the kids.
2) Get my ex to do half of the kid transport. Trust me - not worth the aggravation. Besides, that's not reducing mileage, just shifting it to another car.
3) Stop doing Community Theater, or at least stick closer to home. Definitely plan to do that, more because I want my nights and weekends back, at least for a while. And the 100-mile-away one was a fluke. I'll stick with the 3 in my area.
4) Find a girlfriend within a 20-mile radius. Workin' on that one. Actually giving the whole relationship thing a rest for a while. Of course, when you stop looking is usually when you find someone. And love knows no zip code. ;-)
5) Get a smaller car. The caravan is mighty useful, especially as I am remodeling my home and need to transport lumber, sheetrock, appliances and such. But I do miss my Neon. I could invest in a small, used car for everyday commuting,and save the Caravan for bigger jobs. The problem there is $$$.

That's all I got. Any other thoughts??

Ludo