So how was your commute home Friday afternoon?
There are not a lot of positives about the hours I work. I accept it as part of the job.
One bright spot is that when winter weather arrives, I usually have the roads pretty much to myself.
I drive to work long before dark, when very few other cars are sharing the road.
At night, I usually do not depart the office until the rush hour is just about over. In bad weather, I sometimes even wait a little longer just to make sure the crush is done.
But among the many ways technology has changed this job, one of the biggest is the fact that we really do not need to be in the office to put out the paper.
That used to be one of the biggest nightmares of winter snow storms. First you actually had to get to the office. Then you had to hope other people did as well so you could cover what is always a big story.
That's no longer the case. So long as you have Internet access, you can pretty much put this paper out from anywhere.
That's what I was thinking Friday afternoon when I made what might be the single worst decision I've made in my 35 years here at the Daily Times.
With snow falling steadily and thinks looking like they were starting to get coated, I figured I would beat the afternoon rush and finish up the Saturday paper at home.
I left the office a little after 2:30.
Any guess what time I got home?
That would be 6 o'clock.
Yep, that little 40-minute commute turned into a three and a half-hour slog in the car.
In short, it was an absolute nightmare.
And I'm still not sure why. We didn't really get that much snow. In most places the roads were just wet or slushy.
But everyone must have had the same idea I had, because we were all sitting in traffic for hours.
Every road I traveled was creeping.
I was never really in danger of getting stuck - although Rose Valley Road was a little hairy - but traffic was just not moving.
It took me about an hour and a half to go from Granite Run Mall on Route 352 to West Chester Pike. From there it was nearly another hour to get to Route 202.
In terms of the snowfall, it was not the Perfect Storm. But in terms of traffic, it was the perfect combination to create complete gridlock. Snow started falling at mid-day. It was Friday and the end of the week. Everyone must have poured out of their office shortly after 2 p.m. to get a jump start on the weekend and try to beat the traffic.
The only thing I wish I had was an audio of my rants in the car.
I don't deal with traffic well. It comes from a lifetime of driving during off hours.
That was not the case Friday afternoon.
And I have the white knuckles to prove it.
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