Carolyn Zahnow, 51, of Youngsville, works for a downtown Raleigh nonprofit. It takes her 45 minutes to drive her 2004 Toyota Solara 21 miles to work.

A commuter's diversions: "I find things to entertain myself for those 45 minutes each way. My biggest diversion is listening to audio books (the longer, the better!). I try to rent books that are: 1) on CDs, 2) unabridged thus longer, and 3) at least 6 discs long since I have a 6-cd changer in my car. I listen to non-fiction ('Freakonomics' was interesting) as well as mindless fiction romance books. I discovered audio books while I was commuting the same distance living in Texas. Since traffic lights take up so much of my time, I carry floss in the car so my teeth can get some attention! I found SweeTarts to be addictive so try not to have them in the car but sometimes I slip (I'm a previous smoker so anything is fair game!)."

Favorite part of her daily drive: "I have to take several small two-lane country roads to get to 401 South. But it's worth it this time of year when you see the ancient daffodils blooming by the roadside. And the beautiful decade-old trees that are screaming 'spring is here' are quite a sight to behold."

Coping mechanisms: "I rarely drive straight home from work because the traffic is horrendous in the afternoon. I stop off at the grocery store or Michaels or the post office. This breaks up the trip and lets some traffic get past me."

Pet peeve: "People driving down a highway going slow in the left lane -- hey, move over folks!"

Occasional co-pilot: Sheila the dog. "Sheila likes sniffing air out the sun roof and putting her paws on the middle console (between the two front seats) to help 'drive.' ... The driver gets lots of doggie kisses on the way."