Driving outside of DC
I've been reading tips on how to keep the brain working and avoid early onset of Alzheimers, and one of the suggestions was to take a different route to work or back from work.
I work in DC, so obviously there are numerous routes I could take from one point to another. Heck, I even have several options of bridges to cross if I really want to get adventurous.
But honestly, I don't think I need to, because every single time I've taken 295 south and crossed the Wilson Bridge, I've been re-routed by orange cones/flashing signs/accidents/concrete barriers/new paint on the road/and police officers to a new unrecognized totally fresh detour home.
I am willing to bet that the rate of Alzheimers in Northern Virginia will be tremendously reduced in the next 30-40 years as a result of the Wilson Bridge construction site. Of course that's if anyone remains alive after this project has taken so many years off our lives with the stress of driving over it.
You wake up in the morning and you just never know which lane you'll end on, and where it will take you. And even if you took one route in the morning, once you get off work, you better be prepared for the commute from hell back home because some bozo contractor decided that Halloween is the perfect day to mess up on the job and screw everyone's commute home.
If you're about to take a drive to Virginia, and you haven't lived here this past week, I caution you - have your GPS ready because even the landmarks are different now. Oh, and ignore the GPS warning as you drive on the Wilson Bridge and it shouts at you: "Find the nearest road!"
And by the way, don't try to get clever on me and decide you'll just catch a taxi, 'cause the b@stards will be on strike when you need them.
I am reminded of my favourite poem of all times, the first poem that I learned in English, written by Robert Frost:
Or in my own words:
I work in DC, so obviously there are numerous routes I could take from one point to another. Heck, I even have several options of bridges to cross if I really want to get adventurous.
But honestly, I don't think I need to, because every single time I've taken 295 south and crossed the Wilson Bridge, I've been re-routed by orange cones/flashing signs/accidents/concrete barriers/new paint on the road/and police officers to a new unrecognized totally fresh detour home.
I am willing to bet that the rate of Alzheimers in Northern Virginia will be tremendously reduced in the next 30-40 years as a result of the Wilson Bridge construction site. Of course that's if anyone remains alive after this project has taken so many years off our lives with the stress of driving over it.
You wake up in the morning and you just never know which lane you'll end on, and where it will take you. And even if you took one route in the morning, once you get off work, you better be prepared for the commute from hell back home because some bozo contractor decided that Halloween is the perfect day to mess up on the job and screw everyone's commute home.
If you're about to take a drive to Virginia, and you haven't lived here this past week, I caution you - have your GPS ready because even the landmarks are different now. Oh, and ignore the GPS warning as you drive on the Wilson Bridge and it shouts at you: "Find the nearest road!"
And by the way, don't try to get clever on me and decide you'll just catch a taxi, 'cause the b@stards will be on strike when you need them.
I am reminded of my favourite poem of all times, the first poem that I learned in English, written by Robert Frost:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Or in my own words:
Someone made me take the road less travelled, and I'll be darned if it didn't make a difference. Indeed, a half hour longer commute worth of a difference.
Labels: Rants
posted at
11/07/2007 04:55:00 PM
6 Comments:
Two detours diverged on 295,
and I took the one less traveled by,
and that has ended me up in Richmond...
By
Forrest Proper, at 4:26 PM, November 08, 2007
My commute is from my bed to the coffee pot and then to my chair. Some days my wife leaves laundry baskets out to block my path and it takes me an extra few seconds to get to my chair. Some days if the obstructions are too numerous, I take a detour to the couch.
By
Mike, at 9:48 PM, November 08, 2007
Just looking at the photo of the roads makes me cringe. I am so glad that I don't have to navigate anything like that!
By
Chickie, at 11:30 PM, November 08, 2007
You see those three brick buildings right up against the bridge on the VA side? I used to live in one of those . As soon as they started on the new bridge, and raising rents and cutting down all the trees around the complex I was outta there. You have all my sympathy - commuting into DC is no fun no matter how you do it.
By
here today, gone tomorrow, at 6:38 AM, November 09, 2007
When are they going to invent the transporter?? I just want to get on the pad and say, beam me to work, Scotty! I feel for you, Mybrid, I really do.
By
Sara Sue, at 8:32 AM, November 10, 2007
Colonel, yes, you understand my problem all too well.
Mike, well seems like you're well on the way to fighting Alzheimers.
Chickie, would you believe I'm actually glad I don't have it worse than this?
HTGT, I've always wondered who'd want to live in those buildings...
Sara Sue, I'm eagerly awaiting the invention of the transporter.
By
Mybrid, at 8:36 PM, November 11, 2007
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