Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Good news and bad news

(in bulleted and numbered list form, just the way Malia likes it)


The bad news:

  • The construction-related road closure I was so worried about a month ago has finally begun. (I was wrong about the dates initially. The construction began weeks ago, as I reported, but the "thou-shalt-not-pass" road closure took effect today.)


The good news:

  • The appointed detour actually isn't much more time-consuming than my usual route is! I thought I was going to have to get up two snooze presses earlier every day for months on end (the horror! Oh, the horror!)... thought I'd finally have to learn how to put podcasts on my iFraud just to get through my suddenly 50-minute commute (not a bad thing for me to learn, of course; I just don't like a longer commute being my impetus for doing so). As it turns out, all leaving earlier this morning did was get me to work fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. (Whoo!) Also,

  • This less-inconvenient-than-I-thought road closure will last only until fall, not until next spring, as I originally heard. Yes, five months of detouring is a long time, but in comparison to ten months, it's a whole lot easier to endure.


So. What have I learned from this? Several things, actually.

  1. The universe does not, in fact, hate me (or, the MN Department of Transportation doesn't, anyway).

  2. I really should check my sources better before I get all worked up and fraught with angst over what could be just minor hiccups in my routine.

  3. I should probably smile and wave as I drive past the traffic cameras on the detour stretch, as the traffic engineer I had two dates with last summer said he'll be watching intently to see how the displaced drivers fare during the reroute.


I'm going to assume it was that last item that made me dream about this road construction project last night. I know I was dreading the road closure, but not so much that it should have actually consumed my in-sleep thoughts. (I mean really. Does my subconscious have nothing more interesting to dwell upon than that??) I got an email from the traffic engineer just before I went to bed, however, and I think that message (in combination with my paranoia that my tired and groggy self wouldn't remember in the morning that I couldn't press snooze as many times today) was what made me actually dream about my commute. Because seriously, I know that's not the best my brain can cook up while I sleep. After all, just last week, I dreamt that Rory Gilmore was my sister and I was in New York helping her pick out an apartment for next year. I'm not saying I'm proud of how often TV people invade my dreams, but it's better than dreaming about traffic, is it not?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

We dream about some amazing things. A few nights ago I dreamed that one of my coworkers insisted that I purchase a recording of a particular opera, and then yelled at me for buying the wrong edition.

I think my least favorite dreams are the ones that could have happened in real life. I hate waking up confused!ht

Courtney said...

It would be so cool to have Rory Gilmore as a sister! Then Lorelai would be your mom and you could have all sorts of wacky Stars Hollow adventures together.
Down side: Emily would be your grandmother. Gah.

lizgwiz said...

YOU'RE not proud of your TV people dreams? I dreamed I was married to Morville Bedenracher, remember? ;) I had a dream a few nights ago that featured the entire cast of Scrubs, minus Zach Braff. Which leads me to think I WAS Zach Braff in the dream.

Two whole snooze taps early? That's brutal. I hope the detour continues to be kind to you.

steve said...

Do not let your guard down - MN DoT *does* hate you, they just failed at this particular attempt at aggravating you. There will be many more attempts, and they WILL get to you if you do not remain vigilant.

Is it bad that I don't even know who Rory Gilmore is? I would assume a character on Gilmore Girls, but that's just my amazing powers of deductive reasoning kickin' in.

L Sass said...

You and Rory were in NYC and didn't tell me??? Damn you!

Posts like this are the reason I thank the good lord that I don't have a car... until the subway is delayed for hours for no particular reason.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Rory, I cried my eyes out when Lorelei wound up singing to Luke at karaoke night. Sigh.

Also, I'm glad that the traffic gods weren't working against you in this one instance! Sheesh.

Stefanie said...

Abbersnail--Nitpickery in dreams. That's maybe even more frustrating than nitpickery in real life. Gah.

Courtney--Yeah, but considering Lorelei is only about five years older than I am, her being my mom would be pretty strange. How cool would it be to borrow her wardrobe, though? :-)

Liz--I almost forgot about Morville Bedenracher dream. Too funny. Also, I love that you are dreaming you are Zach Braff. I'm not sure what to do with that, but it amuses me nonetheless.

Steve--Yes, but you see NOW I have a traffic engineer on my side! He actually told me I should have let him know that a light in the construction zone (where there was no open cross street) was still turning red and making me stop. He said he could have fixed it. Connections! Yay! As for not knowing who Rory Gilmore is... I'm sorry; did you just get here? HOW long have you been reading my blog?? ;-)

L Sass--If Rory and I actually ever ARE in New York together, rest assured I will let you know.

Nabbalicious--I know. It's been a long, long while since Gilmore Girls got me choked up in any way, but damn; I was weepy too.