Are we there yet?

I work in the Washington, DC area and I commute to work from Northern VA every day. The commute is generally not bad as I have a nice routine. I get on the bus and take out my pocket PC. Pull up my Bible and do my daily Bible reading for the day. If there is any time left between the time I finish my Bible reading and the time we leave the last commuter parking lot for the highway trip north, I pull out whatever book I happen to be reading and read until I read a chapter or until I begin falling asleep—- the sleep usually comes first. Not to be one to prevent my body for getting the nap it is accustomed to, I then pack my trash and nap until we reach the Pentagon. —No I don’t work there, so you can continue reading this and I don’t have to kill you when you’re done. 🙂

The big issue this past Tuesday ( 3 days ago) had nothing to do with the trip in, but had EVERYTHING to do with the trip home. My home routine is much shorter. I get on the bus, get the current book out, read a chapter, talk to Carl (a federal Gov’t employee who works in my building on floor under me) and then we both stop talking once we get to Pentagon (there goes that mysterious shroud again— you may keep on reading without worrying about any threat on your life) because we both cherish that nap on the way home.

This day was different. Not long after I got on the bus, there was a broadcast message to all drivers to let them know that I-395 south was being shut down in the main lines. (Time now 3:35 PM) Well that was no problem for me. I felt sorry for the poor guys in the main line lanes, but, hey, what could I do about it. Before we got to the highway there was another broadcast message to all drivers. Yes, you guessed it, this one effected me. The were closing down I-395 south HOV lanes as well. The problem was that the weather forecasters had misjudged an ice storm (imagine that) an it hit us quicker and with more force that was expected. The “feeder ramps” at the Springfield Interchange that merge I-495 and I-395 into I-95 traffic were freezing over at an alarmingly fast rate. The roads had not been treated (because they weren’t expecting the ice) accidents were happening left and right and the situation was very dangerous. Although they knew that problems that it would cause with the traffic backup the decision was to close the road to a) deal with the accidents and b) get the roads and ramps treated for safety. (Time now 3:50 PM)

The buses were instructed to get off at the Edsall Road exit and take the back roads until we got past the Springfield Interchange. Problem: The traffic was already backed u so badly that we could not get anywhere near the Edsall Road exit and if we could, there was no way we were going to be able to get into the now already congested main line traffic lanes to get off! So….. we sat! (Time now 4:00).

I figured this would all be over with soon, so I did what I normally did. I packed my trash, sat back and tried to take nap. Because the bus was not moving, sleep did not come easy, but I finally did get to sleep after about fifteen minutes. Unfortunately it only lasted for about 15 minutes. Time to think of something else. (Time now: 4:30 PM)

I still figured this could not last too long (WRONG!) so I opted not to call my wife just yet. I took out my book and started reading. Wouldn’t you know it. I only had seven pages left to read and I didn’t have the next book with me! Bummer! So plan A didn’t work, I went with Plan B. I took out my new MP3 player (which just recently arrived from Hong Kong —and E-Bay special that I got brand new for a very low price tag!) and started listening to music. The first CD the I was listening to had completed, the bus had not moved one inch. I looked at my watch (Time now: 5:07 PM) and decided, I better give my wife a call.

Good thing I called! My wife had not heard about any of what was going on. She immediately got on the Computer (She’s such a techie!) to see what she could see. What did she see? Traffic cameras that showed now moving traffic. Well, I could confirm that (You can read her version of this on her blog)! We waited and we sat. There wasn’t much else to do. All around us people had turned off their cars and opened their windows. Another commuter bus has pulled up next to us and the driver got off so that she could smoke a cigarette. Seeing the driver was a lady, one of the lady passengers on my bus got up an asked the driver to let her off! She had to go to the bathroom. She had been on the bus for 2 hours and it wasn’t going to wait! She went over to the other commuter bus (the driver had re-boarded by this time) and began knocking on the door. The driver opened the door, they had a brief exchange, and the driver let her board! (Time now 5:30)

When she returned and reported her success and very obvious comfort level, another female passenger decided she would capitalize on the opportunity. She too gained access to the bus. But when she returned, she reached into her bag and pulled out a bag of cookies, returned to the other commuter bus and gave them to the bus driver. She then re-boarded our bus. One more happy commuter. But as I am fond of reading the Cat in the Hat (a Dr. Seuss Book) “That is not all! Oh no, that is not all.”

Jason, one of our daily riders, who also happens to be wheelchair bound (see Hold the Traffic) decided her would take out his portable DVD player and start playing movies. At any other time people would have been bothered by the disturbance. At this point we had people flocking to Jason so that they could see the tiny screen. I had no desire to see whatever may have been playing and set the MP3 player to start playing a sermon series from when evangelist Mike Pellitier was at my church for a four day (6 sermon) session. (Time now: 5:56 PM)

I have to admit, we could not have had a better crowd on the bus. The people were not complaining all that much and were very good natured. “The Urge” hit one more time on our bus and the driver had to let one more lady off. She too gained access. The difference this time is that traffic started moving! I wondered how this one was going to play out. Well, it was very short lived. Although we had moved farther than we had at any other point in the last 2.5 hours, the distance was only about 30 feet. Then we were stopped dead again. Our, now relieved, passenger made it back to our bus and her belongings safely, but indicated she didn’t care about he stuff or where the other bus was going as much as she cared about going to the bathroom!

To break the monotony, more than anything else, because we were going nowhere fast, one of the passengers on my bus suddenly yelled out: “Are we there yet!” Everybody on the bus busted out in laughter. What else could we do. (Time now: 6:30 PM).

Between the sermons and the all of the other activity on the bus (yes, on my normally quiet and sedate bus EVERYBODY was having a conversation with somebody else by this time) time began to pass at a much quicker rate. I couldn’t believe it when I looked at my watch. The time now was 7:30! Where did that last hour go. We still sat. Still going nowhere.

(Time now 8:00 ) we began moving intermittently for longer distances. Praise the Lord, something was happening. I had now been on the bus for 4.5 hours. About 8:30 traffic began to flow freely! Woo Hoo! My driver saw an opening and was able to get over to the main line traffic, which was moving faster, and we were cruising. When we got to the commuter parking lot, IT WAS STILL FULL OF CARS!!! All of those drivers were still out there either on commuter buses or slugging with other drivers/carpools.

(Time now 9:00 PM) Finally I got to my bus stop and I was able to get off the bus. My back was killing me, my shoulders were stiff. I was walking slower than I do when I get home at 5PM! I had just three thoughts: 1) Give my wife a hug, 2) Eat, 3) Get a message and got to sleep.

(Time now 9:29 PM) I sent my sister a text message to let her know I was home and she replied: Cool! Throughout the whole trip I had been on my cell phone on and off with my wife (as was everyone else —-Not with my wife, but with their own contacts! 🙂 ) and sending text messages back and forth with my sister.

(Time: 9:30!) HOME! I walked in the door. Shed my coat, dropped my bag and went upstairs with my wife who made sure I was well fed! I couldn’t eat all that she put on my plate because of how late it was, but I ate most of it. Then we went to bed. The night was gone and it was time to got sleep so that I could get up and do it all over again. Normally I’m a night person and stay up and do my writing (you can find excerpts here) or work on websites or every now and then play a game or watch a movie. Not tonight. I brushed my teeth, shed the clothes and climbed into bed. (Time now: around 10:00 or shortly after).

So, all in all, I was on the bus for 5.5 hours and got to my house after a total of 6 hours! God’s in control and I’m sure everything went according to his plan. And I can’t complain too much because I’ve been hearing about people who did not get home until after 11:00 PM! I just wished I had some forewarning so that I could have either a) Stayed at the office and worked later b) planned a different route out and bypassed the traffic area or c) brought my laptop. Six hours of undisturbed writing would have been great….. well by batteries would have only lasted for 4, but still!

Well just thought I’d let you know about my ride. 🙂