Absolutely. The commutes are the worst part about living in the valley.
Of course, if you leave before that, it's almost twice as long.
I lived on the Menlo Park/EPA border and commuted to SLAC and it took me about 30-35 before 10am, and about 25 minutes otherwise (unless it's the middle of the night, then only about 20). The inner city traffic in all of those cities is abysmal, especially if you have to cross the tracks for Caltrain.
Moving to SF, I can commute to SLAC on the 280 from Noe Valley and get there in 35 minutes, as long as I leave after 9:15, same thing leaving after 6:30. My commute is almost the same amount of time and I'm traveling 27 more miles. It's nuts.
So, I think 30-35 minutes is reasonable, sometimes it creeps up to 40 or 45 if there's a wreck, but I don't mind the commute, especially because the 280 is beautiful.
I used to do a similar commute from SF to Cupertino, before I moved to NYC. I felt an awful numbness of mind and spirit every time I got into my car to commute to work.
Now, my commute takes 15 minutes door-to-door; I use the brief time on the train to read a book. I actually look forward to it.
Driving is, for me, one of my favorite things to do. You're right, it's not productive, but I don't want to be 100% productive 100% of the time, I want to take some down time each day as well. What kind of car do you drive? Perhaps you could upgrade, and/or take a more scenic route.
I do enjoy driving for fun, but no more than I enjoy other activities. What I don't enjoy is the incredible commitment and mental involvement required to own, park, insure, fuel, and maintain a car -- so I don't just own one.
Also, I know I couldn't handle the drive to Cupertino from SF, and I've had an imposed limit of 45 minutes for a commute, which is why I even moved to Menlo Park when I first moved to the bay. But, I get off at Sand Hill Road, and honestly, living in Menlo Park is much more soul sucking than an extra 20 minutes of commuting each day. It was too far to walk anywhere from my house when I was home, and that's a huge dealbreaker for me.