.. but there's an airport in the way!

Does anybody know how big O'Hare International Airport is?  Some people say 7610 acres, others say 7700, so it's very likely somewhere around 12 square miles. That's pretty big.  And when something that size stands between you and your job every day, it becomes an adversary you want to conquer.  Other things can be gone over, but no roads can go over an airport.  The only option is to go around.

When you live where I and a bunch of other people behind the blue line live in relation to my job - you have a choice.

Which way do I want to go around the airport?  But one thing is clear, there are no straight lines here.

My favorite quote about trying to get to work has been - 'you can't get there from here'.

Lately, my usual choice of routes has involved construction at a particularly funnel like intersection that includes a set of railroad tracks, a viaduct, and is heavily traveled by 18 wheelers.  Aint we got fun?  So I decided to go onto Mapquest and see what it recommended for alternate routes.  The message I got - proved my point.

I really CAN'T get there from here!

Don't you just love it ..

.. when your GPS puts you in the middle of an apparent field - and then spins your (virtual) car because it's confused about where you are?  It might have scared me if I hadn't actually known where I was all on my own!

I depend on this technology way too much!

I thought I was gonna die!

The snow was coming down!  It was blizzard conditions and cars were moving slowly as the snow worsened.  A commute that normally takes 30 minutes took 3 times that long!  Visions of being trapped in my car for days ran through my head.  Running out of gas from idling too long, having to melt snow for something to drink before help could arrive .. slowly starving ...

Wait!

Heh.

There's always a bag of trail mix in my car.  :)  Yes there IS something in there besides chips!

Anyway, here is a tiny slice of my commute tonight when I was on one 5 mile stretch of road for a good 45 minutes.  And don't start with me about using my phone while driving.  When I was moving I was going about TWO MPH.  I don't call that driving!  Oh, and somebody needs to tell me that when I shoot video with my phone I really oughta turn the dang thing sideways.  Sheesh!

Lady B - you sure you'd like more snow in London?  

Unseen dangers and bad judgment.

My new job has hazards I never really gave any thought to before.  See this nice intersection here?  See that red light there?  Right after this photo was snapped, a green arrow appeared there, and a car pulled into that right lane and turned the corner on the arrow.

Unfortunately, by the time I followed that other car and zipped around that corner myself (quickly, I might add) the arrow had disappeared.  Ahem.  Quite clearly.  Heh.

A hundred bucks a pop for these kinds of tickets, not to mention endangering the general public.

DOH!  My bad.

**actually it looks like I've got the pictures out of order which means that arrow was even longer gone than I thought when I went through it.  YIKES!

.

Adventures in driving

.
Not working at a desk in the same spot every day is quite a change.  And being out there driving every day is totally new to me.  One day last week driving in bumper to bumper traffic through a construction zone, I was stopped at a light.  And stopped .. and stopped .. and stopped .. Heh.  To my left was a turn off and there was a van parked there and there was a nicely dressed woman outside the van reaching in through the drivers side.  My first thought was that she pulled off because her kids were giving her trouble but my next thought was - looks like she's being pretty rough.  When she pulled back to wind up for a closed fist punch I saw a man sitting in the driver's seat and realized she was whaling on him!  He didn't raise a hand, looked like he was holding onto the steering wheel while she pulled his sweater and punched and slapped .. and then the light changed and traffic actually moved.  I drove away fully aware that if that had been a woman getting the crap beat out of her someone would have jumped out of their car to help her.  But because it was a man .. it became that weird double standard kind of thing .. and no one moved to do anything.  It was disconcerting to be faced with that and to realize I was one who did nothing.  Still .. a police car came whizzing by a few minutes later so obviously someone did something, even if it wasn't actually physically restraining anyone.

I have to admit to being somewhat dumbstruck by the whole thing.  The last thing I expected at that moment was to see a woman  beating the crap out of a guy who wasn't fighting back at all.  Didn't expect to see anyone assaulting someone I guess.  What is so bad that you have to stop your car to beat up the person with you?  Weird.

.

Here's a thought

.
When new cars are rolling off the assembly lines, those pesky turn signals might as well be left off.  I mean really, HOW MANY PEOPLE USE THEM ANYWAY???  Ahem.  I know I do road frustration posts periodically,  but this is something I think every single day I drive.  "Oh, slip in that little space in front of me at high speed without so much as a tiny blink to give me a heads up?  THANKS!"  "I guess I didn't need to know you were going to turn and I sat and waited when I probably could have gone.  But I thought you were GOING TO GO STRAIGHT because well .. NO SIGNAL!!"  


So if you are one of those people who thinks their decisions on the road are nobody else's business so choose not to signal, I am the one SWEARING AT YOU from my car.  Just sayin'.


.

I know what you're thinking ..

Oh man she's posting pictures of flowers from her wonderful boyfriend again. *yawn* Um, no. I'm not. These are not my flowers.


My daughter is in down-state Illinois tonight, insistent as she was to drive down there even though the Mississippi River is flooding and levees are breaking, she had to go. Oh - and even though her Mom was worried. But - Dani assures me there is no danger where she is going, calling me when she got there to tell me "Mom I didn't even see a drop of water all the way down here. There isn't any flooding where I am."

So these flowers are not mine, they are hers. These were sent to Dani from Dan, a couple (few?) days ago. He is the reason she is in down-state Illinois right now, she is with him. She drove over 5 hours to get there, they are going to a wedding down there.


Dan sent these flowers to my daughter, it's seems fairly certain he cares for her a great deal. And it is doubly certain that I am counting on him to take good care of her down there, even though she would say she doesn't need taking care of.


The flooding isn't over and I won't be convinced she is safe until it is. And I don't really care if she doesn't want me to put the onus on Dan to watch over her while she is there but let's face it. He is the reason she is there so it is his responsibility to make sure she gets home safely to me. Because I said so. That's all the reason I need.


Beautiful flowers, by the way. Beautiful girl.

Just another day in paradise

Hey - guy who was in the silver SUV in front of me; why was your foot on the brake for 2 miles when you were driving faster than I was?!?

Mr. taxi-driver; why was it okay to hold up 2 lanes of left turn traffic and one lane of through traffic because YOU GOT IN THE WRONG LANE????

And lady in the little red car in front of me, in front of ALL of us; that wasn’t a very long green arrow and that was a long line behind you. Don’t you think you could have actually GONE when the light turned green?!?!

I haven’t actually had a bad day or anything, but every single day – usually on my way home from work – there is someone who drives like a moron and of course we all know it is never me! I’d like to have some kind of transmitter that allows me to come through the car radios of some of these people just so I can give them a small piece of my mind. I mean, I can’t spare much.

Like – hey – would it hurt you to raise your hand in the universal gesture of thanks (not the other universal hand gesture) when I let you in ahead of me because you were in too much of a hurry to get in the correct lane in time for your turn???

There is no courtesy in driving anymore. It’s all me, me, me. Me first, my spot, my lane and my speed.

Oh and you there in that pretty black Infinity? Yeah, I’m talking to you. I’m terribly sorry traffic was not moving fast enough for you and I could not find a way to go any faster than I was seeing as there were cars in front of me and to the side of me. And I apologize if I slowed WAY-Y-Y down sort of quickly for no apparent reason (to you) causing you to suddenly have to apply your brakes. Yeah, it wasn’t on purpose or anything because I enjoy a stranger being close enough (read: crawling up my butt) to see if they've got enlarged pores by looking in my rear view mirror!!!! Heh.

I haven’t posted a pretty picture for a while – so after whining at my fellow travelers, I think I’ll end on a nicer note. Enjoy!