Traffic seemed really light on the ride to work. Not that it’s particularly heavy through downtown Seattle, but the number of vehicles was noticeably down. Today’s Cinco de Mayo… maybe people are making a 3-day weekend out of it?
You know that Cinco de Mayo marks Mexico’s victory in the Battle of Puebla, right? (Mexico ultimately lost the war to France) And that it’s not Mexico’s independence day? (that would be September 16) And especially, it’s a much bigger deal in the U.S. than it is in Mexico, no doubt due to the efforts of the people who import Corona beer and Jose Cuervo tequila?
In spite of what Steely Dan said, I don’t think the Cuervo Gold will make tonight a wonderful thing, at least not if you’re riding a scooter on a public road. That’s why I’m hoping to get work done early, and get the PX and me safely in the garage.
But the weather is wonderful. We can dare hope for spring, though it may not arrive until summer.
At a red light a short distance from work, a guy in a really nice early-’80s Porsche 911SC Targa pulls alongside. “What kind of gas mileage do you get?” he asks. “Seventy-two miles per gallon,” I reply. He closes his eyes and does something like hoo-whee. “Wanna trade?” I ask. He declines. Dang. Did I mention this Porsche was really nice? It was white, and it looked brand new. I’d love to have an early-’80s 911.
As luck would have it, I was able to get all my work done and be out the door before 3:00 pm. Heading home, I find traffic lighter still. People must be making a 3-day weekend out of it.
Heading north on 1st Avenue, I see volume is light on the viaduct, so I figure, why not?
Up the ramp, into traffic. These days, people seem to be driving more slowly. No duh, considering the price of gas at the moment. I’m doing a bit over 40 mph, and seem to be matching the pace of the cars ahead and behind. I once again ponder the lunacy of tearing the thing down and putting the traffic on the surface street. Has anyone thought about the clueless tourists wandering around down there?
My contemplation is interrupted by an Isuzu box van, which is doing the speed limit (50 mph), if not a bit more. His aero wake makes the PX waver, but it’s not so bad. Then another truck goes by. The wake is worse, though not so bad I can’t take a deep breath and ride it out.
But my mirrors show a fast-approaching big box van, one the size U-Haul tells you to get so you can be sure to move all your stuff in one trip. He’s bookin’
I’m approaching the Seneca Street exit. I’m glad someone had the foresight to not only design an extra lane into the exit, but extend that extra lane to an “oops” lane for those who fail to grasp the concept of “Exit Only.”
I pull into the oops lane as the big box van zooms by, safely out of the vortex but not so far away that the speedo is now showing 55 mph. That’s 47 in real mph.
I think I’ll hop off at Western Avenue…
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