Zoooooooom!

Man.

The Civic this guy was driving seemed to barely hold all three of us let alone go up to 80 mph! It sounded like the wheels were gonna fall right on off. White knuckles and all.

Our driver actually was ducking when he sped up to 80mph, and he did it for no apparent reason; no one was around us. He just decided to speed up and tuck. This ranks under #2 for scary ride aside from our Kenny Bania drunk lookalike.

LIVE BLOGGING!

I'm in a honda civic and this guy crouches down when he goes faster than 70. super jerky turns. it feels like the wheels are gonna fall off this thing. pray for me.

Wow

The lot at Potomac Mills was half empty today. Do people slug less in the spring?

When it rains, it does pour

Literally and figuratively.

I woke up late this morning because 1) I wasn't feeling that great and 2) it was gloomy out, so the sun didn't shine on my face to wake me up, as my backup alarm clock.

People have not been slugging as much as of late. The parking lot this morning was 80% full at like 8am. Maybe they overslept a little like me.

Anyways I jump into the car and this old guy is wearing Chanel sunglasses, in the rain, with a trench coat on. I'm thinking this guy looks familiar...



The weird thing was that it was raining, and dark. And his wipers were on intermittent and he didn't have Rain-ex on his windshield. And top it all off, the radio was OFF. And it was just weird.

I've also noticed that he was driving a blue/greyish car with black interior. I don't know too many guys that have blue cars. They are either black, silver, red, etc. If it was blue, they had a wife that influenced them, which means they weren't going to drive it that much. But what kind of personality type buys a blue car with black interior (Toyota), with $300-$500 pair of Chanel sunglasses (and drives them when it's dark out)? He's rich enough to buy expensive sunglasses but not a luxury car. But he's also wearing sunglasses when it's dark out because maybe he spent so much money on them he wants to get his money's worth?

Nice guy but the whole thing was odd. Especially when the wipers were on intermittent and it was raining cats and dogs so I don't know how he could see at at all.

Maybe he had laser beam eyes. Either way, traffic was super bad today so I was glad that I didn't attempt to drive in. And if I did I wouldn't have had the old guy from Family Guy drive me to the metro station for work. Thank you Chanel Sunglasses, you saved this blog.







I get out at Ballston and look at all the lemmings on the other side. To the brim. Happy Monday.

Long Line Thursdays

Wow no one wants to drive on Thursdays eh? The lines were outlandish today... I drove in so it was easy for me to get two slugs. The 14th street line was at least 40 people long, while the Rosslyn/Crystal City line was about 12-15 people deep.

Crazy.

I'm sure I'm driving the slugs nuts with my music selection. Maybe they're writing about me somewhere. Which got me thinking? Should I make a mix for myself, or a slug-friendly one? Hmmm.

Between the weird brainwashing self-help cds, gospel music, I think I provide decent music selection... Who knows.

I got the lady that refused a ride in a Mercedes

because she wanted a personal ride down to Ballston, which is two exits down from Rosslyn. The Mercedes driver (and I've seen him twice this week already but I wasn't going to Rosslyn) just wasn't going to Ballston.

I drove today and that same lady got into my car. I recognized her instantly somehow even though I barely got a glimpse her that one morning last month.

She got in the car and didn't ask. I was like wow, she must be content with just going to the metro. Then five seconds pass and as I'm pulling out of the parking lot she asks. I just told her it was her lucky day since I'm driving towards Ballston. She sat like she wanted to have a conversation, leaning towards the driver side. Most people slouch or just sit straight.

I invoked my right to slug etiquette and looked ahead and didn't say anything. People that think having an etiquette is weird; be thankful it's there. If I had wanted to talk I'm sure I could have had a full conversation. But I chose not to, and turned up the Ipod on the stereo.

As we hit traffic about four exits from my exit; I started thinking about HOT Lanes. How the hell are HOT lanes supposed to work if you have a hybrid car, and you have three people? I would say that 99.5% of the people that utilize the HOV lanes are carpoolers or hybrid owners.

So the congestion to get onto the HOT lanes would be ridiculous, since it has to be done manually. So would you pay extra money to skip those lines? It's already an express lane. So you'd need an express lane for the express lane, right?

And do you get a refund if it's congested? So if you go slower than 55mph for more than two minutes do you get a partial or full refund. People won't be happy if they pay $20 to go 20 miles, only to wait in line because it's all congested where people are exiting.

And who gets the money when a cop gives you a ticket for enforcing HOV? Basically contractors are hired to collect the money for building it since they paid the state for the rights to. But the weird thing also is that the police would also enforce it as well right? The HOT Lanes company doesn't OWN the highway they control and maintain the access to the lanes right? Who is going to regulate the dynamic fees based on traffic? Who would question if it costs $2/mile to ride HOV b/c it's "congested" and it's subjective whether there is a lot of traffic or not.

This is stupid. All I know is I'm moving out of here if the HOT Lanes every do take place on 95.

Jaguar xType 3.0 = Hatchback sized car with no leg space

Big seats (leather rear seats, fabric front seats?) but no room at all for our legs.


Only Kate Moss could sit behind the driver.


It's a Jag, but it sucks.

I've never sat still without shifting around like that in a car. I felt like I had restraints on. I literally had no room to move. I had a choice when I came into the car. Get in the backseat and sleep with no space or sit in the front and have less privacy to sleep. I choose the backseat reluctantly.

Don't get me wrong when I saw the Jag I was stoked, I've never been in one. When I opened the door to the backseat, all of that went out the window when I saw how much legroom I had. I studied the inside of the car and it looked like a Toyota interior with bigger front seats. And maybe slightly finer materials to make up the dashboard but that was about it.

My back hurts so I shift around a bunch to alleviate the discomfort and not doing so made me feel claustrophic. When you think Jaguar, you think luxury. There was nothing luxurious about this car at all. And the guy drove the speed limit so it was even more excruciating that it took an additional 5-10 minutes to get back to the commuter lot.

Ahhh Mondays I shake my fist at you.

41 degrees and the top is down?

When you have a convertible... and you have the top down... Please do us a favor and roll down your windows as well, and not have your heat cranked up, as you drive on a major interstate. Yes sir, it was 41 degrees this morning, and you drove with the top down.

Douchebag.

I noticed this guy driving in the non-HOV lanes. Seriously. 41 degrees, windows up, top down.

BOBBLEHEAD FRIDAY

I rode in a Bravada today. My head was bobbing the whole way. From start to finish; she drooooooooove soooooo slow. A lady with a walker passed us. I think that was by far the most uncomfortable ride ever, I tried to fall asleep; not so much.

With Easter on Sunday, there was NO traffic on 95. Half of the commuter lot was empty. Or half full, however you perceive it. I wonder if I can find a ride home, that's the big dilemma, with everyone skipping out on work today.

SPRING BREAK = LESS SLUGS

Wow, 7:30 and more than 100 spots left at Horner Road? Who woulda thunk? The last two days have been super boring. Maybe there is a discrepancy between the levels of how eclectic people are based on where they work? Maybe more from the Rosslyn area than Crystal City or Pentagon drop offs?

I think there is. I've been in Crystal City this whole week and it's been smooth sailing but then again, the number of riders and drivers seem to be a bit down too.

It's already interesting enough to get people slugging that work for the Government. Then add on top of that they live in Woodbridge. Have you ever been in the Wal Mart near Potomac Mills Mall? It's like walking into a Star Wars bar. I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

I'm just mad that I haven't had any crazy drivers yet this whole week. Spring break should happen more often. I get a place to park in the better lot, and there are less weird drivers.

Pimped out Mercedes

Today I sat in a pretty nice Mercedes.

I've sat in a really nice car, or a really dirty one. It's either one or the other.

DIRTAY THURSDAY

A cupcake wrapper, gum packaging, amongst the yuck.

I swear. It comes in waves. I got in two dirty ass cars yesterday. The drivers were super nice, but geez louise.


This was my passenger to my right. Oops. I meant my other right.

The second car back to my commuter lot had all sorts of stains and crumbs on the backseat. I cringed getting in.

Friday, I got into a nicer car that didn't smell of air freshener, but incense. Quite odd.

And when I got stuck in the front seat; I felt rude to put on my headphones. So I got stuck listening to the radio. The lady in the backseat was mixing some concoction into her water bottle, who knows. I was gone on Monday (travel), and Tuesday/Wednesday I drove in (one day, picking up slugs, the second day, none - because I was late).

It's been pretty mild as late. But I'm sure if I missed the first car this morning, I would have had plenty of stories in the old white hoopty behind it.