Construction Woes

In this part of the country we have two seasons: winter and construction! Right now we are smack dab in the middle of construction season. Usually I don't mind the construction very much--it doesn't affect me unless we are doing a road trip. This all has changed this year. And the story goes like this:

We live on a dead-end street. The city decided that the sewer, water, and storm sewer pipes had to be upgraded on the main street we turn onto when we need to get ANYWHERE. Now, I agree this is something that needs to be done--in other parts of town they discovered WOOD "pipes" when they upgraded! (Not the case in this section, but the pipes are still OLD.) For someone not living on a dead-end, this would prove to be an inconvenience--for me, it is being trapped with no way out. It has to be understood, the intersection at the top of the street has not been completely closed off except for short periods of time, but that does me no good. Example: The other day I had an appointment and (thankfully) K. was on night shift, so he was home and offered to drive me. As we were told, the road WAS passable, just not by me! As we were turning the corner, we had, barely, the width of the Jimmy to drive on. On the right there was a huge mound of sand, a huge mound of gravel, and a HUGE mound of the dug-up road--so, that had to be maneuvered around. FINE, but on the left side, there was a hole dug--a 20 foot deep hole that had to be avoided! I am not the world's best, or most confident, driver--not that I'm a BAD driver, just not as confident as some--so there was no way I would ever be able to drive around that corner. The only way I would have attempted that turn was if I had been driving a Hummer, and I don't have one--yet! (I KNOW Hummers are gas hogs, but there ARE some advantages to owning one.) Of course, turning the corner wasn't the last of it. We had to wait for trucks and people to move out of the way and drive on a barely drivable road, JUST to get to the detour, which takes you blocks out of your way. All-in-all, a normally 5 minute drive took 15 minutes. Such fun.

So, beyond the holes to be avoided, we have to NOT: run over any workers (DUH!), get stuck in soft sand, hit any vehicles, or get crushed by heavy equipment. And this will not be completed until some time in October. (I can't WAIT till the university begins fall classes--it will be SO much fun, as the street is a main throughway.) I have figure out one good thing about all of this--NO UNEXPECTED COMPANY DROPPING IN! Hope your summer is not inconvenienced. (Thanks for "listening" to my rant.)