Washington, DC

I have never been fond of Washington, DC.  The roads are confusing, and the traffic is normally horrible.  Well today I got even 'less fond' of Washington, DC.  The story starts back in early October when I was traveling with two of my grandchildren to Boston.  As we approached DC my grandson and I were working on math and spelling.  I was paying very close attention to the road, but not the road signs and I missed the turn to the 495 beltway.  This mistake took us on 395 which goes very close to the center of DC.  We laughed and said it was an educational detour since we got to see the Pentagon, the Washington Monument and a distant view of the White House.  I pulled over and got out the GPS, which I was not using since I have made this drive 2-5 times a year for the past 11 years.  I used the GPS to guide us through DC and back to the 495 beltway and we did not even lose much time.  I was on the SE Freeway for part of this ride, it was not heavy traffic and I was moving with the flow of traffic at 55 mph.  I try to never speed, especially when the children are with me.

So today I go to my mailbox and among my mail is a legal size white envelope with bulk first class mail and the word POLICE in the upper left corner.  Normally I just run this type of mail through the shredder, but for some reason I decided to open this envelope, and it was probably a very good thing that I did!!

Inside this envelope was a speeding ticket for going 55 in a 40 mph zone.  There was a picture of my truck following about 10-12 car lengths behind another car in the left hand lane of this freeway.  There was a second picture of my license plate.  I swear I never saw a 40 mph sign on that freeway, it was Saturday morning and there was no construction being done either.  So I officially 'really dislike' DC! 

So $50 of my Christmas money will now go to our Nations Capital....ARGH!  I am not a happy camper. 

The next envelope I open is my annual health benefits enrollment.  Well, that just made my day!  My benefits have again gone up and this year it was not $15 or $30 dollars it was a whopping $53 bucks a month.  In 2005 my retiree benefits were $126 a month, they are now $270.  If I am not mistaken that is more than a 100% increase in 5 years. 

Well that is my tale of woe for today.  Hope the moon moves to another spot, I am tired of bad news!