Commuter Spotlight
Kim Mundrane
I have been a NY Waterway rider for a whole 6 months! I always wanted to work in NYC since I was in college, but it just never worked out. I knew that commuting to the city by train though, would be an ordeal. I live in Keyport , NJ and knew that there were 5-7 year waiting lists just to get a parking space at most of the local rail stations. The North Jersey Coast line also kept adding more stops, so what used to take an hour or less to get into Penn Station now takes about 70 mins. I still knew though that one day I would work there.
For the last few years I worked in software consulting so there was a lot of travel every month and very late work hours. I started to realize the commute into the city might actually give me more free time than I had at my current job , so I joined Guardian Life in January as a Software QA Manager. It was a great move. Although I still work later after I get home, at least I’m home early enough to go to the gym or work with the Keyport Garden Club.
I am so happy that I moved. My office is only 2 blocks from Pier 11 and I love the cobblestone streets of Stone and Pearl, the plethora of restaurants and the free time I get on the boat ride. My friends now call the NY Waterway ferry my ‘cruise ship’. They ask at the end of the day “Kim, when does your cruise leave?” Maybe one day I’ll get over it, but I just love seeing the Downtown buildings when I get off the boat.
What I like about the ferry is that I can relax or work, catch up on Facebook, or…OK, have a beer, when I get on. I’m not driving, so I can do whatever I want. Sometimes I almost think the ride is too short! ?
At home, I have a 16 year old son in high school and a 20 year old son who attends East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania.
