First Things First, Commuting

There is no way to avoid driving in LA.  I spend about seven to nine hours a week in my car, and I only work three days a week! It's just the way it is. This being the case, I can't help but rant about it a bit...

First of all, I've noticed that there is a general lack of Subarus on the road here, in exchange for an abundance of BMW's and Mercedes. Oh and Range Rovers...lots of those too. It's like they are just your average run of the mill cars. And I'm not just talkin' about Beverly Hills here either...everywhere! There is nothing wrong with that, it's just something I have noticed.

Next let's talk about gas prices, shall we? Ridiculous. I paid 60 bucks to fill up my tank the other day, and this was at ARCO.  Can you imagine if I would have sprung for Chevron like I always used to? Remember back in the day when a 20 dollar bill did the trick? I distinctly remember a few times in high school when I only had $10 to spend and that would at least get me half a tank to last a few days. Here and now, that would get me a few miles. So if that was six years ago and the price has nearly tripled, does that mean I'll being paying $180 when I'm 30? Scary.

Now for the freeways. The 2, the 10, the 101, the 110, the 210 , the 134, the 405, and of course THE FIVE. I swore I would never call it the 5. I always thought it was ridiculous when people from California would call I-5, the 5. It made no sense to me. Everyone in Seattle calls it I-5 and everyone in LA calls it the 5. I get it now! Maybe it's because there are a million other freeways going every other which way, do ya think? It would be ridiculous to call them all by the full title. On an average day to get to work I take the 210, the 134, the 5, and the 2. That's just how it is. The part that really threw me for a loop was the time when I was lost in Hollywood and my GPS told me to get on the 101 East, but the sign said this way to 101 North and South. Excuse me, what?!

Everyone knows that Californians have their own way of driving, and it's true. I have to say that it didn't take long for me to catch on either. There's none of the passive-aggressive "Oh I'm afraid to merge so I'll let you go first" stuff. Everyone has somewhere to be and they just want to get there. If you don't want to go 75 mph, you might as well just get back in bed.

I can't finish this post without warning those of you who are fellow LA drivers, don't use your phone while you're driving. No joke! I got a ticket on April 1st for using my phone on speaker. If only it would have been an April Fool's joke. The officer informed me, "The way you are using your phone is not legal ma'am." He went on to say that during the month of April they are doing a Hands Free campaign and that there would be absolutely no tolerance. I even fibbed and said that my blue tooth had just broken (it was broken but it hadn't "just" broken). But no. I even played dumb and pulled out my ear phones from the glove box and said I didn't think you were allowed to wear head phones while you were driving. Apparently you are but only in one ear. Typical that I got caught on the first day of the campaign. Believe the reader boards! I guess I'll have to invest in a new blue tooth if I'm going to survive my commute...I miss talking to my mom! Oh sorry Mom, didn't tell you about my ticket. Love you!

OK, that's enough :)