I've driven highways through each of the 48 contiguous states.
Arizona is the worst for highway rock strikes.
I've driven gravel roads in Iowa and Illinois where my car got hit by fewer rocks than it does on a daily basis during my commute.
Of course, the drivers on the gravel roads weren't going 70 miles per hour.
My 17-year-old car has numerous dings in the paint. My windshield is held together by repair resin. Why should I replace it when the very next day it will probably get cracked?
Yesterday, I was driving home, enjoying the music on the radio and the lovely weather. I had the driver's side window down about halfway.
Which is odd, because I usually have it down all the way.
I hear a loud ping by my left ear, and turn my head just as a rock ricochets off the edge of the window and glances off my cheek.
No damage done, other than startling me.
But I wonder how hard that rock would have hit me, and where, if I had the window open all the way?
Showing posts with label Arizona commute. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arizona commute. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Why I go into work at 6:30 AM
I have the luxury of a flexible work schedule. Since I, and my dogs, are early birds, I get into work before 6:30 so I can leave by 3 or 3:30 (depending on lunch).
Any time I think about sleeping in, I remember that traffic gets worse and worse as the morning progresses. And I haul my butt out of bed.
Now, grant you, I don't live in LA, or Chicago, or New York City. So what I consider a horrible commute might be considered an easy day for someone else.
Still, I work 32 miles from home. I leave home at 5:45 am and I pull into the parking lot at 6:20. Not bad. I'd like a job closer to home, but not a horrible commute.
But if I don't leave for home at 3:30 pm or earlier, the trek home gets frustrating. For the past 3 nights I've been running late and have been on the freeway at the 5 pm witching hour.
The stopping in the middle of the highway would be understandable if there was a police car, an accident, a dog on the freeway, a dead body. But no, there is nothing discernible causing the slowdown except large numbers of cars. And drivers who can't drive.
The section of freeway that took me 10 minutes in the morning, took 22 minutes last evening. Yeah, I know not catastrophic. But frustrating, nonetheless.
The transition from one highway to the next was a one mile long ramp. It took 10 minutes to traverse.
Only a couple miles later, the cars had all spaced themselves out and we were traveling 70 mph.
I just don't get it.
But I do my best to avoid it.
Any time I think about sleeping in, I remember that traffic gets worse and worse as the morning progresses. And I haul my butt out of bed.
Now, grant you, I don't live in LA, or Chicago, or New York City. So what I consider a horrible commute might be considered an easy day for someone else.
Still, I work 32 miles from home. I leave home at 5:45 am and I pull into the parking lot at 6:20. Not bad. I'd like a job closer to home, but not a horrible commute.
But if I don't leave for home at 3:30 pm or earlier, the trek home gets frustrating. For the past 3 nights I've been running late and have been on the freeway at the 5 pm witching hour.
The stopping in the middle of the highway would be understandable if there was a police car, an accident, a dog on the freeway, a dead body. But no, there is nothing discernible causing the slowdown except large numbers of cars. And drivers who can't drive.
The section of freeway that took me 10 minutes in the morning, took 22 minutes last evening. Yeah, I know not catastrophic. But frustrating, nonetheless.
The transition from one highway to the next was a one mile long ramp. It took 10 minutes to traverse.
Only a couple miles later, the cars had all spaced themselves out and we were traveling 70 mph.
I just don't get it.
But I do my best to avoid it.
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