DW&F: Trousers and Traffic

Hello everyone!

Well, we didn't get a chance to leave today because Cathy had to work later than we were hoping. Originally, we had planned on heading up to Portland this afternoon/evening and then going on to Sandpoint tomorrow. Well, apparently Portland is still closed, as is I-84, so we're going to try to cross Santiam Pass toward Bend and head up US 97. But chains are required to cross the pass, and since I didn't feel like chaining up on the side of the road in the dark, we just decided we'd head out tomorrow. I have a feeling we won't make the whole trip in one day, so we might end up spending the night in Tri-Cities, Washington, which is one of my least favorite places in the Pacific Northwest. If you've never been there, think of it as an anti-oasis, in that it's a concentration of suck surrounded by cool places an hour or two in practically any direction. But we have a friend who lives there, so I guess it's not all that bad.

Daily Win and FAIL!

Win: New jeans

I bought myself a new pair of jeans today, and they are very comfortable. Let's just say my appreciation of Oregon microbrews has helped make some of my old pants fit a bit more snugly these days, so I had forgotten how nice it is to be wearing pants that fit properly. Win!

Look, I realize that new pants isn't the most epic of all wins, but that's all I've got right now, so it will just have to do! Besides, it's a good excuse to post the photo above, which most definitely is a win!

FAIL: Traffic

I hate traffic. It really brings out the worst in people. Today I ended up dodging last-minute shoppers as I was running some errands before we leave town, and half of Eugene was making the loop between Valley River, Delta Oaks, Costco, Gateway, and Oakway. I went to G.I. Joe's and got stuck dealing with the 15,000 or so idiots trying to leave the parking lot after buying crap at the Wal-Mart next door (not that Joe's is much better). I tried to go around and leave at the other exit--the one without the light--but soon realized that there was no way I'd be able to turn left onto Green Acres, so I figured I'd turn right and take Crescent to Coburg, and then catch the Beltline from there. Wrong! It literally took over 20 minutes to go from Delta Oaks to Coburg Rd.

Once I finally made it to Coburg, the traffic was so heavy that I couldn't get over two lanes to make the turn onto the Beltline without having to cut someone off because my lane was moving at a crawl, and the left lane was loaded with traffic whizzing past. "No big deal," I thought. "I'll just take Coburg straight through and get home in no time." Wrong again! It was fine for a few blocks after Beltline until about Willakenzie or so. But then traffic slowed a crawl, apparently because I was getting close to Harlow and the millions of zombies coming and going to Gateway.

Eventually I passed Harlow, but things still didn't get any better because Oakway was next. It was about this time that the old lady with the "PEACE IS PATRIOTIC" bumper sticker cut me off and almost ran over the idiot who thought it was a good idea to jaywalk between Albertsons and the gas station next to Starbucks at Oakway, even though perhaps 30 yards away there was a crosswalk with a FREAKIN' TRAFFIC SIGNAL!

All of a sudden after passing I-105, most of the traffic magically disappeared, and I was able to take out my frustrations by driving several miles per hour over the speed limit across the Ferry Street Bridge. All told, it took me about an hour to make it home, which according to Google maps is only a distance of 7.2 miles. Seriously, the CD I was listening to cycled through all its songs and began to repeat itself before I made it home, and I wasn't even listening to an EP! FAIL!


Rob