Stupid Traffic

Getting on and off the island for the past few weeks has turned into a big ordeal. For some reason, traffic gets backed up for miles going onto the island in the morning and off in the evening. I have a few theories. At first I thought it was caused by the construction on and around the new causeway. But that is finished for the most part. At least at this point we have all lanes of traffic back to normal. Maybe since all the traffic lights are still blinking red after Ike, traffic is not moving on and off the island very smoothly? Maybe since so many people lost their homes (temporarily or permanently) and were forced to live off the island that their commute back for work is clogging the roads? Whatever it is, it's giving me a daily headache. Travis and I have always lived relatively close to our work so we would never have to deal with a large commute. Now we have this.

Last night was weird. When I got off of work I was actually excited that I wouldn't have to deal with the rush hour traffic that adds half an hour to my commute. My dad does this thing for us every Thanksgiving were he gives each of us $50 and sets us loose in Target. We are allowed to spend $40 on ourselves and $10 on whoever's name we pull out of the hat. Several years ago he got tired of hearing, "I don't know" when we were asked what we would like for Christmas. He uses this mini shopping spree as a way to get our gears turning about what we would like to buy ourselves. And I'm not complaining!

This year, Ariel was in Illinois with our dad and brother, so I went to the Target here in Texas with Travis and Robert. It is always fun to see what everyone chooses for themselves because you have to be a smart shopper when you're working with $40. Ariel, Alex and I all went the distance and spread out our purchases using sales. My dad, Travis and Robert all went for less, but more significant items.

The only downfall for our shopping trip was that Travis and Robert both worked late and then Robert got a flat tire, so our adventure didn't actually start until almost 8pm. We were all happy with our finds and the $10 gifts from our "secret Santa", but I was tired and hungry and ready to go home. We would have stopped for a fast food dinner in Galveston, but nothing was open nearby. We decided to stop at the KFC by our house instead.

And what do we encounter before getting off the island? A frickin car accident blocking all lanes of traffic leaving the island! I guess while the construction group was working yesterday evening, they somehow managed to knock a power line down with a crane across the ENTIRE bridge. Northbound and southbound, all six lanes! Travis was stopped right behind me, so after about 15 minutes he turned off his truck and came to sit with me. I think that may be the most time we have had to catch up in a long time.

The downed power line hit a motorcycle cop who should be okay because he was wearing his helmet. There was an ambulance stuck in the traffic that was heading to one of the far away hospitals that couldn't wait any longer and had to be Life Flighted out. Before Ike, he would have been trasnported to UTMB. But since most of the departments have been downsized or entirely removed, he had to go somewhere north. My guess is Houston. It took almost an hour for him to be rescued, the power line to be removed and traffic to start moving again. What a fiasco.

I was STARVING by the time I got home at 10pm. I DON'T eat dinner at 10. I eat dinner at 6pm. I was a miserable, tired wreck. AND I'm still tired today. SO ANNOYING.

Oh ya, and did I mention that when I was waiting in my car for Travis and Robert to get off of work last night, my car died? I didn't even have the thing on! Not even the radio! So before we were able to leave Target, Travis had to give me a jump. The reason we bought a car that is only a two years old is so I wouldn't have to routinely get it repaired. Ya, that's not how it's been going. Two drive belts need to be replaced, it needs an injection tune up and the freon needs to be replaced. Is this normal for such a young vehicle?!?!