September 28, 2006
Dear Everyone:
I was in “Hobby” last week. Have I mentioned how much I don’t like driving in “Hobby”? (I’ve yet to meet anyone who has said, “I love driving in “Hobby”.”)
For anyone not familiar with “Hobby”, there are numerous state and Interstate highways. Interstate 45 runs northwest to southeast. State 59 runs northeast to southwest. Interstate 10 runs east to west. There are many others, usually referred to by strange names, but things are confused enough as it is. You’d think that that would pretty much cover things, wouldn’t you?
Well, you’d be wrong. “Hobby” is so big and sprawling that being able to go north, south, east or west doesn’t cut it. So there’s another Interstate, 610. Although it is an “Interstate” highway, it doesn’t actually connect with any other state. It just goes around central “Hobby” in a big circle. So you can be on North 610 and it will suddenly become East 610. A little later it becomes South 610, then West 610 and then you’re back on North 610 again.
Even this isn’t enough. They also built a toll way (as in you pay a toll to use it) all the way around the city further out. This is called Toll Way 8.
“Hobby” is the ultimate “you can’t get there from here” town.
Before flying to “Hobby”, I downloaded multiple instructions on how to get from the airport to my hotel, as well as how to get from the hotel to the office and from the office back to the hotel. The car rental agency also provided instructions to get to the hotel: Take 8 west, 45 south, 610 south.
Somehow, I missed all the signs that told me when to get off 8 west and onto 45 south. I’m not saying they weren’t there. I just never saw them. I’ve been to “Hobby” before. When I’d been on 8 west long enough to reach 10, I knew I was in trouble. I got off the highway, found a small parking lot, stopped the car and called the woman I was meeting the next day at her office.
Luckily she was there. Even more luckily, there was a guy in the office next to her who knew the area. Hard as it is to believe, I was actually quite close to their office building. I got back on the highway, followed his directions (more or less) and ultimately found their building. Since this was where I would be coming the next morning, I was sort of ahead of the game at this point.
Where I got into trouble next was following the downloaded instructions to get me from the office to my hotel. The instructions said, take yet another toll way west, 59 south and 610 north. It should have been take the toll way east, 59 north, 610 south.
Speaking of all those toll ways, the rental car agency had a sign that said all their cars had an “E-Z tag” built into the license plate. So every time I went through a toll gate, the tag was recorded and the toll would be charged to my credit card (with a small service fee, I’ve no doubt). I’m still waiting to see what those charges will look like.
Another thing about Interstate 610 is, if you’re traveling north, you exit north. If you actually need to be going south, you use the “loop”. A frontage road runs parallel to the highway with special u-turns built in on the left. You just drive up to the next loop and turn around under the highway. Enterprising organizations have built numerous establishments, office building and hotels, along this loop. The entrance to the hotel can only be reached as you exit the highway. If you miss it, you can’t just “go around the corner” to get back to it. You typically have to get back on the highway, go up, get off, turn around, get back on the highway, take the exit again and hope for better luck next time.
Did I mention I hate driving in “Hobby”?
Speaking of which, I’m going to be in “Hobby” next week on yet another business trip. But this time, someone else will be doing the driving, so I can relax. However, I may be too tired to write a Letter at the end of the day on Thursday (the day I fly back from “Hobby”.) To make matters worse, I may be going back to “Hobby” the following Wednesday. So there could be a bit of a dry spell before the next Letter arrives.
Not only that, this is playing havoc with my garbage pickup.
Love, as always,
Pete
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