They say that time flies when you are having fun. That may be true, but after last week, I know this: time moves at warp speed when you are really, really, busy.
Last week we had four straight, wet, morning rush hours, capped off by a fifth that was littered with black ice. To me, last week was an absolute blur. Things were so bad on the roads and so busy in the traffic center, it seemed that all five days went by in the blink of an eye.
Now you, dear commuters, who were stuck in the bumper-to-bumper wet pavement jams, might disagree, but in the traffic reporting world, the busier things get the faster time flies. The longer you are stuck on the freeway, the quicker my day goes.
I’m reminded of college days when I was a waiter at an Italian restaurant. If the restaurant was slow, my shift seemed to take forever. If we were busy, the whole night seemed to fly by.
Which brings us to last week. The first couple of weeks of 2013 were somewhat benign in Atlanta traffic. Sure we had our normal rough rush hours, but nothing out of the ordinary. Then, of course, last week, the heavens opened up and Captain Herb Emory was seen leading animals two-by-two to the Skycopter Lounge.
It has been quite some time since the metro area experienced four consecutive, wet, morning rush hours. The region, in the midst of a three year draught, rarely offers up two straight wet days. Last week was an outlier. A very soggy, very slow, very aggravating, outlier.
Just in case last week was a harbinger of things to come in Atlanta (insert climate change joke here), I looked west to find some advice for Georgia drivers to deal with driving in rainy weather.
Jeff Dubois has been a morning reporter for nine years at KIRO-TV in Seattle. Nine, wet years.
“Even in Seattle where it rains a lot and we are used to driving in it, it still causes huge backups,” Dubois said. “One fender-bender can cause huge havoc.”
I guess that’s somewhat comforting to Atlanta drivers. Even in Seattle, where Dubois estimates has wet rush hours “about 15 times a month,” drivers haven’t yet mastered the task of commuting in the rain.
Dubois does offer some suggestions for southerners the next time we are faced with a week-long deluge.
“Fresh wiper blades,” Dubois said. “When you have a driving rain, you really need to keep your windshield clean.”
Extra attention is also mandatory when driving in the rain said Dubois.
“Watch the people around you. Nothing is more unnerving than going 60 on the freeway and suddenly having no visibility. Make sure you leave enough space between you and other vehicles.”
And of course, hope that it starts raining after the rush hour.
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