I got stuck in a traffic jam on a back road in Salem, NH tonight. There was a flock of wild turkeys crossing the street… single file… yeah, we were stopped there for a long time. There were at least 20 of them, but I couldn’t count them because they kept hiding behind the other stopped cars.
The irony of getting stopped by turkeys on the day after Thanksgiving is… dare I say it… delicious?
Three days in a row this week I have worked in the office. Tomorrow will be the fourth day. I don’t think I’ve done four days in the office in one week since before Covid came along and fudged up everything. It’s only a half day tomorrow thanks to a doctors appointment. It’s still a day in the office though, and the office isn’t my usual office, it’s the one that’s way further away from home. Crud.
The traffic coming home tonight was insane. At one point I looked down at Google Maps running on my phone and it told me to get off route 128. I did. The traffic was only slightly better than stopped so I exited. Maps then told me to get back on the highway in the opposite direction. I think we all can wrap our heads around the GPS telling you to drive the wrong way is a bad sign.
Eventually I got onto route 3. I had a moment… I drove past the assisted living place my parents lived at before they passed away. I haven’t been there since we finished cleaning out Dad’s apartment. It made me sad. Then the route took me past the exist in Tewksbury that I would take to go to the house I grew up in. For the first time since it was sold I felt sad driving past. Yeah… today’s evening commute sucked in multiple ways.
It’s 9:47pm now. I am going to post this masterpiece and go try to get a little songwriting work in before I go to bed. I have to get up early tomorrow to make the most difficult of my four consecutive morning commutes. It’s like the pandemic never happened. Crud.
I’m in the office today. Can you sense the excitement? Neither can I.
Traffic sucked. Lots of cars broken down on the highway for some reason. I am glad it was not contagious. I got into the car at 7:15, turned on Google Maps, and was told my 40 mile drive was going to take an hour and 27 minutes. That was before I noticed the gas tank was low. Crap. I made it on time though. Barely.
It is likely going to be a long and stressful work day today. At least it’s my last in-the-office day for this week. Looking on that bright side, folks.
Today is the day that used to be known as columbus day, before those of us who actually care about other people decided that chris columbus was a dick and giving him a holiday was in bad taste. Now it’s Indigenous Peoples Day and I much prefer the sound of that.
Unfortunately, it’s not a holiday for me. I have to work. Worse, I have to work in the office. Worse than worse, I have a 9:00 meeting. I left home super early out of fear that traffic would make me late for the meeting. I completely forgot that most of Massachusetts is off work today and there was so little traffic that I was in the parking lot over an hour early.
Oops. At least I won’t be late for the 9:00am meeting, right?
Happy Indigenous Peoples day to all who celebrate. Also, chris columbus was a dick who “discovered America” through nothing more than incompetence. Let’s not give him any more holidays.
Yesterday was my first day back to work after a week’s vacation. It was not the usual first day back as I walked right into some big process changes that needed to be handled and communicated to my staff. It was an odd day all around.
Today is more like the usual first day back. I left the house at 7:30am and got to the office 10 minutes late.
Yeah… welcome back, Robert.
I did manage to get my exercise in for the day and to take a stupid photo-a-day-challenge picture. Nothing special.
Here’s hoping the rest of the day/week/career is less frustrating.
I left the driveway for work at 7:40 or so. I drove until about 8:10 and then something came up at home and I had to turn around and head back. It took less than 10 minutes to get home.
And now you understand how Boston traffic works once Labor Day is over.
At least I took today’s photo a day pic. 3/365.
Why is Lowell, Massachusetts so adamant about keeping me out? Gridlock traffic on Saturday morning?
Last night was the opposite. The city wouldn’t let me leave. Gridlock traffic at 8:00pm on a Friday night?
What the hell, Lowell? I’ve always liked you. Why are you kicking my ass now? Jerk!
Don’t you hate it when you read someone’s blog (or any social media) post where they talk cryptically about something but don’t give any specifics on what they are talking about and go out of their way to not share any details at all?
It was a long day. I left the house at a little past 11:00am and went to the hospital to stay with my father. I left at 7:00pm. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. There may be a family discussion tomorrow and if there is it may be rough. That’s all the detail you’re getting.
I am home with the love of my life now. My bride and our two psychotic cats. I am where I belong, even if I feel the need to spend time just sitting with my father during his time of trouble.
To quote the band Traffic from a song from their brilliant self titled second album, “who knows what tomorrow may bring?”
On my way to visit my father in the hospital today I came across the dumbest human I’ve ever had contact with.
She was driving the wrong way on the highway. To borrow an old South Park catchphrase, she was literally COMING RIGHT FOR US! She slammed on her breaks and did a three point turn in the middle of the VFW highway in Lowell.
Ready for the irony? I passed her, swearing at her vehemently, as she well deserved, and a couple miles later she pulled into the hospital parking garage with me. Let’s hope she checked herself in for whatever problem resulted in her driving on the wrong side of a divided highway.
Un-freakin’-believable.
That moment when you’re running a little late getting through your morning routine and you remember you don’t have enough gas in the car to get you to the office.
Ugh.
Fortunately the traffic was awful but normal levels of awful (unlike yesterday which was awful times two) and I got to my desk with a few minutes to spare.
I have a story from the road too. Want to hear it?
You know that old saying, there’s never a cop around when you need one?
I was stuck in a 1.5 mile long line of gridlocked traffic trying to exit route 93 South and merge onto route 128/95 South. Some jerk off in a pickup with Pennsylvania plates decided to drive up to the exit ramp in the breakdown lane. Prick. Schmuck. There’s never a state trooper around when you need one, I thought. At that very instant, an unmarked state trooper pulled into the breakdown lane behind him, put on his flashers, and pulled said prick/schmuck over.
Finally! I’ve been driving for 37 years and that is the first time I can ever remember seeing karma kick some jack ass in the teeth like that. It was glorious.
Inside the Red Head's Head 