Wednesday, December 5, 2007

If You Worked Here, You'd Be Home By Now

I've been leaving work late a lot recently, for some reason, and this allows me to take the shorter way home. Ordinarily the shorter route is slower, though, because it's so popular. When I leave late, however, it becomes the shorter and much quicker route home, because the traffic has dried up and it's got nice, wide, slick pavement and no traffic lights.

Once, during the college years, my roommate and I had driven down to Long Island from our upstate campus, and were preparing to head back up. We didn't know the best route, and asked my father and brother. Before doing so, my roommate had said "I can't stand it when people tell you how to get someplace based on the time of day." I knew what he meant: "Well, you'll want to take the Cross Island to the--hold on, what is it, three o'clock? Oh, screw that. What you do is you go up the Meadowbrook, THEN cut west on the Northern. It'll be, what, three thirty-five, three-forty when you get up there, I guess. So...that should be okay. Tell you what, you get to exit 21 and it's still before four, just take the damn thing." So we asked, and it was like that.

My point is this. If I leave at PRECISELY the right time, I will arrive home before I leave work. New goal!


8 comments:

wcs said...

It's just a jump to the left...

Magpie said...

And never, ever take the Long Island Expressway.

Anonymous said...

I was out drinking the night we moved the clocks back last month. I left Ralph's (yes, THAT Ralph's, in Albany) at 1:35 a.m., walked to the hotel I was staying at, and fell asleep at 1:05 a.m. -- before I left the bar. Who says time travel isn't possible?

TeeJay said...

I think that the parties who maintain the roads should post signs saying things such as "This road is not recommended during [such and such a day and time]." It would make life so much easier..

Bill Braine said...

On the bridges that I cross, they waste their time posting these.

Amy Plum said...

Holy cow- the suicide sign is creepy. Is there a high jump rate on the tappan zee?

Bill Braine said...

Under ten a year, but enough. Same on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, and I think there's one on the Bear Mountain. Frankly, I don't see how you could jump off the Bear Mountain Bridge, because just getting there would make you realize that earth is a lovely place.

Heather B. said...

My personal favorite is when people try to tell me to take the Taconic back upstate in the middle of winter. Because it might be 'faster'. Yeah, I also might 'die'.

This being my first winter living back upstate, it should be really, really fun driving.