Beltway baby

For someone who grew up inside the Beltway, even I was impressed by the level of traffic bullshit in Chicago.

I had to be at my teaching gig on the Southside early. And the weather was crappy, cold and rainy, very not conducive to public transit. So I decided to drive. Mistake number 1. Because I thought it would be more time and cost-effective. Mistake 2. And I took Mapquest's advice to take the Dan Ryan Expressway. (Big) Mistake 3.

Mapquest said it would take 20 minutes. I allowed an hour. Which is funny, since it took me 90. Severely uncool. By comparison, catching a series of buses and trains (which are on different payment systems) takes about 70 minutes. I mean, I have gotten used to the fact that getting from point A to B, unless it involves walking less than .5 mile, ideally not involving major intersections takes longer than it should and is a huge pain in the ass. Why do you think I live within blocks of where I work?!

Because of the midwestern concept of Express (by which I mean the local lanes were travelling faster than us on the Express), I was 30 minutes late for my class. I felt like an ass. I also probably took 2 years off my life yelling at all the stupid around me (buses that seem to think my bumper is negotiable, construction in random places, dumb bitches on cell phones, people who don't understand stop signs, pokey pedestrians, the list goes on.) But I do make the most interesting noises when they don't completely form expletives and general curses. Completely draining in both directions.

Lesson learned. Take public transit and hate it.

But at least my Wonderfalls DVDs arrived today!

And for a random gem, courtesy of Tim Gunn:
"Aside from looking as though she's just been dragged out from under a truck that tried to run her over, she always looks like she's in need of personal hygiene," Gunn blasts to Us. "The whole package to me is just repugnant. Ugh!"

Ah.

on iTunes: Foo Fighters - "The One"