I HATE CONSTRUCTION

Minnesota has horrible roads. HORRIBLE. Case in point, the 35W bridge that collapsed last year. On my route to work everyday, I have to deal with super cramped lanes, no shoulders and abrupt turns in the middle of a dirt filled landfill, littered with bulldozers and cranes. Here’s a picture of what I’m talking about:

I personally don’t understand MNDOT (Minnesota’s Department of Transportation). They’re poor planners and don’t understand simple logic. This weekend, like every weekend for the past several months, MNDOT shut down Crosstown and 35W, both of which are vital arteries for Minneapolis drivers. That’s fine if you’re fixing the roads, but when I have to take a detour, I expect that detour to be functional.

Of course, this was not the case. J and I tried to see the new Bond movie on Saturday afternoon. We were planning on having friends over for dinner around 6:30 p.m., so we figured a 1:00 movie would be perfect. What should have been a 10 minute drive to the theater, turned into a 25+ drive. I say “+” because we didn’t actually make it to the theater. The detour we took was---surprise---also under construction. Keep in mind this detour was specifically flagged by MNDOT. So what I don’t get is why was the “suggested detour” under construction? It doesn’t make sense to me.

I was annoyed so we turned around and decided to try to catch the 1:30 @ the Mall of America (MOA). Bad decision. I usually refuse to go to the MOA on the weekends during November and December. For lack of a better term, it’s a complete cluster *. Tourists flock to the MOA like it holds the fountain of youth of something. I love to shop, but I hate that place.

So J and I finally got to the MOA, but all parking ramps were closed (because they were “full”) and traffic was being re-routed to other lots nearby. If you’ve ever driven with me, you know I have a low tolerance for this type of situation. We finally decided to cut our losses and head back to my house. Hopefully we’ll see Bond next weekend.