i can't give you any pictures because i didn't stop and take any but i can show you a couple comics i read while waiting on the traffic signals.

my carpoolmate texted at 6:47 that she wouldn't be joining me. the HOV lane starts at 7, so if i'm solo i like to get on the road by 6:30. 6:47 occurs after 6:30. pluswise, i was aiming at being ready to leave mi casa at 7, so i simply wasn't ready at 6:47. in conclusion, no HOV for me today.

so i was faced with the choice of hitting the freeway and scrabbling with the rabble into the city. blech. some days i am feeling the nascar and some days i just don't feel like bringing out that part of me. not to say that freeway driving is competitive because that's wacked out. it's just that all those wankers are so freaking determined to get in my way.


there is inevitably someone doing 45, someone changing lanes without using their blinker, someone putting on her makeup, talking on his phone, lecturing the kid in the backseat. gah! drivers should have to take a TEST before getting behind the wheel!

right.

so.

i decided to take the back roads, the long way. should have done that last week when it was spring break, i was solo all week and school was out so the backroads traffic would have been less, but then see, i was solo and knew it, prepared for it, and on the road by 6:30. didn't need the optional route.

i wasn't sure how it was going to go because i don't know where the school zones are so i was pleasantly surprised to only have one SZ between me and the office. it's true that the average mph wasn't over 45, but backroads are not the freeway, are they now? no, they are not. there's not an expectation of going over 45. takes a bit of the pressure off.


the scenery was magnificent. trees in bloom. green, green grassy lawns. grey mossy stone walls, white wooden fences, imposing brick & iron gates. there were some beautiful houses back in there, but too far from the road for me to get a good look at them. i basically know what all's back there - been this way before - didn't need to see it today to know the estates are luxurious, the homes are ginormous, and the residents are pompous.

okay, i don't know the residents, maybe they're not pompous, but what are the chances for humility in neighborhoods like that. pluswise, i was going with the symmetry of the -ous suffix words.

although i arrived before the starting bell would have been ringing, i got to work a bit later than usual and was concerned my parking spot would have been being taken. but, it was not! a relaxing ride in, lovely scenery, no fuss no muss, and even my parking spot waiting on me.

what a great way to start the week - the world revolving around ol' ace.