andrea's spare time

i know the construction is still not complete in a few areas.. but there's a major stretch of i-10 inbound between hwy 6 and the loop that have 5 or 6 lanes open. i drive that stretch every morning at 3:15am. not much traffic then... but if you drive that part during rush hour, is it any better??

i also want to know how the new i-10 tollway is supposed to work. we still will have a FREE hov lane to use when we have passengers right? (the answer better be yes, or i'll be steamed.) i've tried to figure out how the tollway/hov lanes work, but whizzing by at 65 mph it's been pretty difficult to do.

ok how much trouble would it be for metro to put a sign 1 mile, or 1/2 mile, or i'd settle for a 1/4 mile in advance of splits in the hov lanes (ie off to one side to stay on the highway, off to the other to exit or go to the park and ride) ?

when the  split comes you have to make a "split" decision which way to go. the only sign designating where the lanes go is right there at the divide. now how hard would it be to give people some advance notice?

i'm talking about the i-10 hov lane because that's really the only one i'm familiar with, and i wonder if all the hov lanes are poorly marked like this. but on i-10 with all the construction, the splits have changed up a couple times... and i tend to forget and... well i darn near freak out (panic) hoping i'm going to make the right choice. i haven't always picked the right way, and that doesn't make me a happy camper.

so is it just me? does anyone else feel the signs are lacking?

i think traffic in the grocery store lanes counts as traffic too! so here goes:

you might think i want to complain about people who use these immense stretch limo sized shopping carts, but i actually want to apologize for using them.

i can't stand how hard the are to maneuver, and how much extra space they take up in the aisle. if you were at h.e.b. yesterday and couldn't get to the carrots until i moved... i'm sorry. and to the person just trying to get a gallon of milk, thank you for being patient when i was blocking the refridgerator door. apologies too to the woman i thought i could get by without her having to move... and CRASH... i clip the front edge of her cart because i couldn't make the turn.  and the kids get so crazy, sometimes i'm not even aware i'm in someone's way.

i just think the grocery stores ought to take them away and not bring them back, because if they're there, my kids are always going to beg for one. i actually say no most of the time, but we had tiime to burn, waiting for a prescription to be filled. i was hoping happy  kids would more easily tolerate the 1 hour wait. (it was only marginally successful.)

so i will say to any mom using the sports car carts, i will give you extra (but not unlimited)patience. and i will say a huge thank you to all the nice people who smiled at me when they saw how much trouble i was having with the cart yesterday. i guess you used to have young kids too.

 

greetings once again! i haven't posted in a while because i've been on vacation... a family road trip with our camper to a florida state park. great trip! great beach!

 

but let me tell you. i appreciate texas highways much more than i did a week ago. my brain is still rattled by the terrible, bumpy highway on i-10 through louisiana. OMG! we're talking regular rythmic bumps where the seams are falling apart compounded by POTHOLES on a 65 mph road! now i know louisiana has a lot of problems right now... but it's clear the state is letting it's highways go.

 

 thank god for the states on either side. texas, mississippi, alabama and florida (especially florida)  take much better care of their roads. so you road trippers out there beware! i-10 in louisiana is bad for your brain and probably your car too!