Ugh. I did it again this morning!
It takes me 30 minutes to get to work–from my house to the parking garage–each morning. Much of that drive is spent on a back road, a country lane if you will. One lane in each direction. Lots of tight S curves. No traffic most days. It is the perfect commute through the rural area between home and work. And it basically represents a straight shot from driveway to parking space.
But for the past month or so they have been doing construction and the road is closed in the mornings. According to the sign it is closed from 8:00 to 4:30 Monday through Friday. I rarely leave work before 6:00, so by the time I head home at night, it is open again. However, for the morning drive, this–my favorite road–has been closed for at least 3 weeks.
And yet, every morning, I (choose one):
- happily
- drowsily
- grumpily
- absently
drive along (choose another one):
- singing to the radio
- talking to myself
- chatting on the phone
- plotting my escape from the daily grind
And every morning, I get to the turn off to my favorite road and find the same barricade and the same sign and the same guy standing in the middle of the road wearing his hard hat and smoking his cigarette.
And every morning, I am surprised. What the? Oh, right. They are repaving the road.
Then I have to go out of my way to go past the construction and basically drive in a giant square to get back on track, which adds at least 12 extra minutes to my drive, making my stop at Starbucks impossible (so there is that–I’m saving money!) and usually making me late for my first meeting of the day. Because let’s face it, I’ve already put in a full day’s worth of effort before I even get out of the house in the morning. I’m usually creeping up the back stairwell and sneaking into my office at 9:00 hoping no one has started looking for me yet.
If I just remembered to leave my house and go out the other side of the neighborhood, I could avoid the frustration and the detour altogether. I could get my Dirty Chai on the way into work. I could check email before the chaos of the day descended.
But the things is…I don’t remember.
What is the definition of insanity? Isn’t it something about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?
I don’t know if it is a sign I’m losing it or not. I’m pretty sure it is a strong indication of Stress Induced Senility. Either way I have high hopes that tomorrow is a new day. And one in which I will actually remember to take the road less traveled. I hear that can make all the difference.
