The Colossus Of Roads
by Steve West on October 9, 2009
I am getting so sick of commuter traffic. Forbes magazine has Washington, DC listed as #3 on the Texas Transportation Institute's Worst Cities for Traffic list and I can't disagree. The bulk of that rating comes from the deteriorating infrastructure within the city which doesn't affect me much. But the part that does affect me is the traffic in the surrounding streets like the Beltway and major arteries that are clogged with the traffic unable to penetrate the DC Star Wars traffic defense system. My commute which could previously be measured in small fractions of hours (45 minutes on a really bad day) is now routinely that, and on bad days now is well over an hour.
How much construction is required on the same two mile stretch of road? Why is lane widening and expansion happening on the outbound roads instead of inbound? Why is that pothole with the car sticking out of it ignored for so long? I'm exaggerating a little, of course. But not by much. A recent commute truly took me two hours and we're talking a distance of only 13 miles. Scott's CD of the 500 greatest songs in rock history has saved my sanity on more than one occasion. I'm actually starting to like Dylan. Go figure. Telecommuting is sure looking more and more attractive after breathing exhaust fumes for an hour, daily. That must be why I voted for Bush. I was loopy on carbon monoxide.
Two Replies to The Colossus Of Roads
Jackie Mason | October 11, 2009
[hidden by author request]
Web Junkie
Steve West scours the Web searching for interest or absurdity and then shakes his head ruefully when he finds it. Read more »
Double Talk with a Forked Tongue
I've decided that from now on, I'm going to answer every question like a presidential candidate. Friend (voter): "Steve, what are you gonna do this weekend?" Me (blahblahblah): "That's a great question and an important one. Go »Slip Slidin' Away
Why do adults get on children's slides? Compilation film of various acidents, big, small, young, and old. The fifth clip in of the guy going down the water slide head first sans kid almost gave me a brain hemorrhage from laughing. Go »Who Edits Wikipedia?
Without trying to seem overly paranoid, I've always been just a little suspicious of Wikipedia entries since they can be easily manipulated. A student has created a program that tracks just who is making changes to Wikipedia; adding exaggerated claims or deleting sections with negative connotations. Go »Free Rice
Site appears legitimate. Help feed the world by using your knowledge of vocabulary and donate rice to feed the hungry. Visit the home page of this website for the details and other interesting data (link from the game page) or just play the game. Go »Christmas Post #9: Black Friday And Other Spending Matters
The day after Thanksgiving is nationally known as Black Friday for its capitalistic excess associated with open season Christmas shopping. This site is devoted to giving shoppers advance notice of various stores' Black Friday bargains. A lot of these "bargains" are available online , sometimes exclusively. Go »
Steve West | October 9, 2009
In re-reading this post, I can see how this can be interpreted as a desire to compare traffic horror stories. That wasn't the intent. We all have traffic issues in some capacity. This was a need of mine to vent on my peccadillo of the day. Friggin' traffic.