DC = DisCombobulatted

Last night I drove Levi up to Washington D.C. to move into his "apartment" and begin his internship. The drive was overcast and intermittedly rainy (still feeling the far reach of Ernesto) but still driving north through the mountains is beautiful. The scenic views were made especially calm by the thick, low lying, cloud cover from the storm. We stopped in both Staunton and Mannassas for supplies and to stock up on the basics (this seemed easier than buying in D.C. where the prices are as much as 20% higher). We arrive in D.C. with only one snaffoo (and I blame that on my navigator, who of course blames my directions). Once we get into the city everything went to hell.

The interesting thing about Washington D.C. is that every street has four versions, southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest. They are not always connected or even near eachother. Beyond that intersections are shaped like * . There are sets of lights with only 15 feet between them and "blocks" (and I use the term loosely) are often triangular in shape. D.C. as one of the older cities in the U.S. grew organically, adding streets and traffic paraphanalia based on growth, traffic, and need - rather than logic. Because of this, the 5 mile drive from highway to home took 1 hour and 20 minutes ... but we got there.

As Levi jumped into a meeting already underway, I began to unload the car. After the meeting unloading went quickly with Levi and his roomates help. The apartment is small, but for D.C. housing its suite. There is one main room of the apartment that serves as a double bedroom, living room, office, and dining room. If I had to guess at a measurement I would say 12X18 ft and then there is a small kitchenette and bathroom. It's tight quarters but well worth it for the experience of working in D.C.

Once we unpacked all of Levi's things, and it dawned on him the rest of his stuff that he had forgotten, I wanted to leave. I wanted to be on the road and out of D.C. before dark - but noooooo. Levi wanted to run to the grocery store for lightbulbs, extension cord, and a few other last minute things. The store was only 1.6 miles away so I gave in and drove him. Getting to the store went fine, no problems - getting home nearly got us killed. Because of the parasitic amount of one way streets and the confusion of tiny printing on street signs we couldn't leave the way we came. Without delving more into rage and insanity, the drive home took nearly an hour, I almost got run off the road by some whack-job (thats the technical term) and I nearly hit a cab in the rear end because I was paying more attention to the street signs and my frustration than the red light and stopped traffic in front of me. But we made it.

After goodbyes I left at dusk and made it out of the city in less than 5 minutes. I didn't look at a single street sign, I just followed the road the way I felt like going and ended up right where I wanted to be. Shame I hadn't learned that trick earlier.

It will take wild horses to get me to drive in D.C. again!

As an afterthought - on the drive home the rain had subsided but the clouds remained low to the ground and thick. Because of this and the reflective nature of cumulonimbus ("puffy") clouds as the moon shined down onto the road it was as if the moon was a bulb restricted in a lamp shade and coned toward the ground.