I love cars.. so I went where the money was in order to afford my taste in cars. You win some, you lose some.. :)

Wow, were you part of a consulting firm? did they find you the placements?

Waze does distribute redirected traffic if there are other alternatives. I've seen it first hand on the 401 in Toronto; an accident occurred, I was routed one way to clear it and the person beside me had Waze went another way.. 20km later.. we are both back on the 401! Same car, same person, both using Waze.

That's one of the difficulties of commuting the I5 corridor. We're stuck between a huge body of water and a mountain range - there really aren't that many alternatives - and the ones that do exist are already heavily trafficked.

no offset for the triangle, not too bad

I left my previous employer for a 6 month contract at ~50% increase in salary for the contracted period. If it was a 3 month contract, I would have declined.

I agree.. especially if the candidate is just looking for an "upgrade". Personally I left a very stable telco job for a 6 month contract with high chance of renewal or offered FT. The thing that made me say yes was the contract rate was ~50% more compensation than my previous job and I had contacts there. If it was anything less, I wouldn't have left.

If you don't mind me asking, how do you deal with the sweat? Do you shower on arrival?

I would love to bike, but no showers at my current workplace :/

Keep your effort below the sweat threshold on the way there. Think walking-effort, not running-effort.

Bikes are about 4x more efficient, so for short and moderate distances, even walking-effort will get you there in reasonable time.

If you sweat at a walking-effort, try dressing lighter or as others have suggested, use wet wipes and spare clothes at work.

You can also consider an e-bike to avoid sweating on the way to work. On the commute home, use less assist if you want more exercise.

Shower beforehand, keep an easy pace and when you arrive, do a quick clean with wet wipes if necessary. Depending on the distance and temperatures where you live, you might want to keep a change of clothes at work. Use panniers instead if you have a backpack to keep the back from sweating up.

I found a gym near my work. You can always cycle slowly from the gym to work.

You can also get an electric bicycle and use less effort so that you don't sweat.

My office has showers. I wouldn't bike to work otherwise. I'm in Austin, so for a few months of the year, just standing outside is enough to start sweating.

Shower beforehand, fresh clothes every day, sport underwear to cool efficiently (it is not visible under typical office clothes), selected clothes to ventilate _gently_ whole body, but to look like normal casual clothes, buff at face in case of cold weather, etc.

Pretend you are walking; move your feet at walking pace and have that be enough to move the pedals without too much force.

You'll still go 3-4x faster than walking, but it'll be the same amount of effort.

I wear a T-shirt (under my jacket in winter) and bring a shirt to change into in my backpack. My T-shirt is usually pretty sweaty but once I change into a fresh shirt it’s fine.

I did this for 2 years, 10 miles in and 10 miles back. There was a shower directly above my office. Everything was super convenient, lost 20 pounds and felt great and rode fast.

Back to driving now, so fed up of the weather here in Seattle to do this during the winter, put the weight back on.

But yes, find someplace to shower. Or, bus in and ride home so you can shower when you get home.

Everything others already said, AND: don't wear a backpack.

Get a cargo rack + Wald folding pannier baskets, and put your cargo there. Ride with a messenger bag, if needed.

Then you'd sweat no more than you would while walking (if cycling at an appropriate pace).

Yep.. my Bose QC35's are amazing!

for these rates, how long would the contract be?

You mean in Prague? I don't have experience (by choice) with projects that span more than a year. I prefer to do several short term projects (~3-6 months) at a time.

wow that's awesome. In Canada, I haven't seen the rates that high for Canadian companies.. I guess I am not looking hard enough!

To be honest, I have never seen rates so high in Prague either. Very good offer for me would be 42 USD/hour for longer term project, 35 being more standard (yet still good). I currently live outside of Prague (regional city) and salary of employed developer (I know, not fair comparison) here are less than 14 USD/hour. Actually when I claimed I would not work for that much, I was told everyone wished for that kind of salary.

I should really look into what is to be known to get 100 USD/hour for medium term projects in Prague. I would be able to live from 2 to 3 month project for full year.

Employment is a whole different world because of various compulsory benefits, compensations for time not worked, much higher taxation etc.

You have to transform yourself into a consultant, being a contractor locks you into the rates you mentioned (the ceiling is around $50 to $70; big agencies are able to sell contractors to enterprises for around $80). It's not for everyone though, the rate is higher for a reason, you have to do a lot more things yourself and many devs don't enjoy doing them. Narrowing you specialization helps very much; it's also helpful to choose only a few (around 2) verticals (e.g. logistics, material production, ...) that you work in and mention that to everyone.

Tried this a few months back.. didn't work :(