Cars, cars everywhere

Traffic is the bane of my existence. If I could change one thing in my life, I would banish traffic jams. Granted I don't live in LA or India, but you would be amazed at the traffic I have to deal with in my small Midwest city.

I work 30 miles from where I live. I have to go on three highways and various side streets to get there. So does everyone else in a three-state area apparently.

Now if I actually left my house at 7:00 every morning, I would probably miss the bulk of the traffic, and still be 15 minutes early. That would definitely be nice. But it hardly ever happens. Little things like children, pets, and breakfast get in the way.

So, I inevitably am flying out the door at 7:20, tossing my bag into the passenger seat, and careening down the road. Only to run into a wall of traffic as soon as I hit the highway. It is endlessly frustrating as I watch the minutes tick up on my GPS and gnaw on my fingernails. I hate the lack of control. You are just stuck there, and there is nothing you can do. I do pound my steering wheel and say, "Come on!!" but surprisingly, it doesn't help.

Almost every day I see flashing lights in my rear-view mirror, not pulling me over of course, because I am creeping along at two miles an hour, but trying to squeeze through the rows of traffic to access the latest fender bender. Every day there seems to be an accident on the Beltline, as we call this horrible highway. Traffic is backed up for three miles because someone has a dent in their bumper. I hate these people. Why must they get in these annoying accidents and slow me down even more?

I am often in the car an hour before and after my nine-hour day. It is frustrating. I want to live closer. We are exploring our options to see if there is any way we can move to a decent place in between where T and I work. Of course this is complicated by the fact that we still own a home in another state.

So there is no immediate and easy solution. I can't plow my way through all the stopped cars. I can't drive over the top of them like a monster truck as much as I'd like to. I guess I am stuck with getting out of the house earlier. Sigh.

--MM