Traffic Jams

Sometimes I can’t remember, as I’m writing, if I’ve written everything I’m about to write already or if it was just one of those things where I composed an entire post (or paragraph or chapter) in my head and it comes out later and I only think I wrote it before. Usually when this happens, I’m too lazy to go back through the stuff I’ve written to see if I already wrote it for reals or just in my head.

This post could very well be one of those times.

I love my job. Let’s just be clear about that. Even when it’s so crazy that I can’t take a full lunch (yes, that’s why there was no lunchtime bloggy goodness today), I still love it. I love it so much that I traded a job that was 6 miles from my house to one that has a 20mile commute (depending on the day this is either a 25 or 45 minute trip).

And to be honest, I still look forward to going to work every day. Even two and a half years later.  Even when it’s nutty and we’re getting ready to open a new store.

But there are days where that fucking commute drives me nuts.  It’s Ohio…so of course there is always construction. Always. Since I’ve been driving (roughly 1989..I was a late bloomer (and I had friends with cars))…I can not remember a time when I didn’t see the tell tale orange barrels of progress in this great state.  And around construction people drive stupidly.  People also drive like idiots when it rains…or heaven forbid- snows.  I have a theory. It’s the Inverse-Precipitaion Principle and it goes like this.

As precipitation (rain…snow…plague of locusts) increases, the common sense and skill of the average commuter decreases in direct inverse proportion.

Now, as I am not an average commuter, I am immune to the principle. But I am not immune to its victims.

So…interesting and seemingly unrelated side note.   T-Mobile (my current cellular provider–don’t worry, I’ll bitch about cellphones in the near future) recently launched a plan where many of the major streaming music services are excluded from data charges. Meaning I can stream Pandora all damn day over 4G or LTE and it won’t count against my data for a single byte.  Which is cool.

Because (ok…it wasn’t unrelated at all)….thanks to the streaming, I figured out a way to actually make the frustrations of the commute vanish.

Pandora. Yup. Oh, yeah, I mentioned that. So…yeah…music…no commercials.

I have several go to Pandora stations for various moods that strike my fancy.

80’s Alternative. This one is all Smiths-Cure-Depeche Mode…and the like. Very much like a lot of the music I listened to (and much more that I wanted to listen to in the 80’s).

90’s Alternative. STP, Bush, Smashmouth, Everlast…all that shite.

Now…the 80’s alternative is good for the commute home. Or for driving places where there’s no real time I need to be there. That synth-poppy 80’s excess oozes from my speakers and basically dares me to go find the Coca-Cola rugby shirts. There’s a tone of mopiness, but it’s covered by the fact that you can flat out tell that the people want you to think they’re sad an miserable as they were making money hand over fist. OR something like that.

90’s Alternative has more of an edgy angst. The problem is there is an undercurrent of being pissed off but having absolutely no idea why. It wasn’t enough to rally against the 80’s excess, they had to pretty much cover it in flannel and bury it at sea.

Which is fine, but they made money hand over fist. But I digress.

I kick on the 90’s when it’s been slow to get out of Westerville and get on to the freeway. Or if I’ve encountered 3 or more stupid people before I get to the on-ramp.

And then there is the ultimate commute/drive time radio Pandora station of all time.

If you have Pandora….you can follow along at home.
Create a new station. Pick ‘Newcleus’ as the artist. Pick ‘Jam On It’ as the song.  The station that it builds is fraught with old school hip hop and funk. And then, based on the old school rappers you like, it works more in. Dre, Snoop Dogg, MC Shan, Spoony G, KRS-1, Run DMC, EPMD, Eric B and Rakim.

In short it’s my sophomore through senior years of high school.  And it’s awesome.  It’s damn near perfect. There have been a few times where I’ve had to hit ‘next’ because I wasn’t quite ready for what they had playing.

But seriously…Newcleus Radio. It’s pretty much assuaged all of the road extreme dislike (rage seems a bit strong).

Alright….I’ll leave you with that little nugget to ponder.  Heading off to …well…maybe bed…maybe dialing in for work. We’ll see.

In any event–sweet dreams!!

-A.T.