Cover the Nationals - Fredericksburg, VA

Tell Adam he owes me around $50 from my home game losses.

 

I know the commute may seem longer than 105 miles (distance between Richmond and Washington) but I know a couple of people who do it. When the weather is bad or they don't feel like driving, they complain, but overall, it's not a bad run.
However now that Va has new outrageous speeding fines, I think they might be thinking about moving closer to the district.

 

this will be an awesome gig for the person that lands it.

I read the free lance-star on occasion, and IMHO, it's a mid-sized paper that doesn't know it's mid-sized. What i mean by that is, in design, in writing for the most part, and in the range of things they attempt to cover, it reads like a much bigger paper. A person who came through the area and just picked up the paper without any knowledge of the region or the paper's circulation could easily be tricked into thinking it was a much larger paper than it is.

The only downside, as i think we've touched on pretty well is the balance of cost of living/commute. to live anywhere cheap, you'll have to drive forever each day, and to live close to the ballpark, you'll pay prices out your nose.

Still, if the timing was a little better, I'd be charging full-steam ahead after this one.

 

Just so we're clear.

I live in Richmond. I have a job with a home office in Northern Virginia -- way up around the Beltway and roughly the equivalent distance in miles to RFK.

My job allows me to commute very infrequently and at virtually any time I please.

That doesn't make those 109 miles any easier.

That corridor of I-95 might be the worst stretch of highway in the country, and this comes from someone who spent four years on the freeways of Southern California. I can count at least three times in the past month alone when parts of 95 between DC and Richmond were shut down completely, in both directions, for 18-wheeler chemical fires, overturned SUVs, etc. There often is no rhyme or reason to traffic; the only thing you can count on is the death march begins somewhere around 6 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Mon-Fri and lasts about 3-4 hours. There are many days when traffic can be worse late at night.

The aforementioned Route 1 is not much of a relief, particularly if you're heading south. Once, I left the office at about 8 p.m. and hit a 4-mile backup on the Beltway lanes merging into 95. All lanes were blocked on 95 because of an overturned tractor trailer, and everyone was pouring onto 1. I got back to the Capital City well after midnight.

If you're interested in this job and are considering a relocation for it, I wouldn't live anywhere south of mile marker 140 -- and even that is probably too far. The NoVa/DC commute is not for the faint of heart.

 

Commuting is never easy. I've done it a lot over the years. Your mind and vehicle have to be ready for it.

 

I would encourage anyone getting this job to live in Woodbridge. It's as affordable as you'll find and it's midway between Fredericksburg and DC. Any further south and the commute is really really bad. I can't imagine doing the commute daily from Richmond, or even Fredericksburg. I don't really think that would be an everyday option, but that's just me.

Hustle, feel free to email me.

 

You guys aren't lying about the traffic on 95 coming out of NOVA. The year before last, I was driving home the day before Thanksgiving and it took me 7 hours to get home (Tidewater area). THE DRIVE NORMALLY TAKES ABOUT 3 HOURS.

 

And I would imagine US1 gets backed up in a hurry, too.

 

US1 got backed up on March 12, 1984. And it hasn't cleared since.

 

Yeah. I covered the LPGA at Kingsmill in May and after the tournament drove to my mom's house in Lorton, on the far southern end of Fairfax County. Drive usually takes a shade less than 2 hours. Took four plus this time. Traffic was backed up from Ashland all the way past Stafford. And Route 1? Come on. It was worse. Commuting from Richmond won't work, unless you ride the train. I don't give a shit what boots says about it.

 

No one asked you to give a shit about what I said. It's a fucking commute dickhead. You know it's 105 miles. You know what you have to deal with. You either do or don't. People make it every day and don't complain. That was my point. You just wanted to make a worthless point that anyone who has lived in Megalopolis knows.
Now as for the gig, it's a good one. Go for it and good luck.

 

Well done.