Commuting Nightmare...

Do you remember my post from a week or so ago where my roommates and I had to dig ourselves out of our driveway because we got about a foot of snow and the drifts were 3 feet high? Do you remember the question I asked at the end of that post? If not, let me refresh your memory.

"Why does this never happen on a work day?"

Yes, that is what I asked and today I got my answer. This DOES happen on work days and the reason why we usually hope it doesn't is because it's an absolute nightmare getting anywhere!

Take last night and this morning for instance. Yesterday it started to snow around 2:00pm. The wind was blowing pretty hard, but it didn't look that bad. I jumped on the train and headed home at the usual hour. I arrived to my car at the usual hour. But I did NOT arrive home at the usual hour. I arrived home an hour late. It took me almost 1 1/2 hours to drive 7 miles. I went 20 mph the entire way. The roads were covered in snow and traffic was completely backed up. But, I never lost my cool. I always say it is better to be extremely cautious than to end up dead in a ditch. And I figured that they'd have everything all cleared for the morning commute.

Boy, did I figure wrong.

Do you remember in my last post how I posted a picture of my roommate's car nearly covered by snow drifts? If not, let me just refresh your memory:


Well, that's what my car looked like when I woke up this morning. Did you ever think I would get out? Not me. I was outside at 6:15am shoveling and digging, shoveling and digging. Finally around 7:00am, I jumped in my car and slowly made my way to the train station. I drove those same 7 miles in about 40 minutes today, which was definitely better than last night. I got to the train station at 7:40 and a train finally showed up around 7:55am. Obviously, that's the time I am supposed to be to work. But the trains all seemed to be malfunctioning for some reason and so I didn't get to my stop until 8:55.

Oh, but at least I made it by 9am, right? WRONG! That would be too easy. I still had to catch a shuttle to my building. I waited for 10 minutes in the blowing snow, by this time looking like a wet mutt, and when the shuttle never showed, I just decided to walk. Normally the walk is about 10-15 minutes. But today, see, none of the sidewalks were shoveled and the walk is entirely uphill. So in my attempt to not slide back down the hill or go crashing to the ground, it took an extra 10 minutes to make the trek.

But never fear! I made it to work. I walked in the door with my nose running, eyes watering, chest burning, hair wet and ragged, face bright red and pants completely soaked up to my knees, at 9:30am.

It's days like this I am so glad I can shut the door to my office so nobody has to see me. And never again will I hope this happens on a work day.