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 »
What Are We Gonna Do? Road Trip.
A brand new drug has come onto the market that is touted as being a treatment for autism. It's a homeopathic drug called Respen-A. It affects the malfunctioning areas of the brain typically associated with autistic children. Go »ML8 ML8
Saw this bumper sticker on a white Rabbit. Took me a couple miles to get it. All of these buildings are impressive in their own way but that Chicago drill bit seems to be screaming, "Screw you, Chicago!" Go »Halloween 2015
A pretty fun time again this year. My brother and his wife hosted a costume party and because Cheryl is a breast cancer survivor, she requested that each costume contain a touch of pink. I carried around a baguette and sang I Want to Rock 'n' Roll All Night in French (Je veux du rock 'n roll tour le soir, et jeter tour la jour). Go »Bad Jobs
I've had a few jobs that were pretty bad or at least aspects of them. We've probably all had crappy jobs like working in a kitchen or stuff that's just unpleasant or had difficult co-workers. The worst thing I was required to do was when I was working at the Department of Agriculture. Go »Christmas Post #10: SNL Parody Inspires Product
I don't know if the SNL commercial parody for a product called "Ass Don't Smell" inspired the inventors of this product but the connection in my mind cracks me up. Meeting all of your body odor needs. I couldn't find the original sketch but here's a parody of the parody, I think. 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.