Getting to work today

So first there was some alarm clock trouble, and then some 'I am incapable of ingesting a liquid without spilling all over everything' trouble. I finally got out of the house already late.

The side street I normally take, which cuts through the fairly low-traffic plaza area, was closed. Aargh. So, I turn right instead, am unable to get into the left-turn lane, so I wait it out and do the crosswalk thing. I proceed to get caught behind one of those street-sweepers.

My normal speed while commuting is, I think, about 15 miles an hour. Apparently street-sweepers go at about 13 miles an hour, which takes up so much of the lane and is so wobbly I need to actually get into the left lane to get around him, and I can't find a big enough break that will allow me to. So I hang back to avoid the noxious fumes and dirty spray and wait and wait and wait and wait and finally the light way back behind us changes, so I can sprint past the street sweeper, and while I'm there turn left to get over the block I need to be to get to work.

Then there's a garbage truck! Which I can't get around because it's in the middle of the narrow street! And also there's two cars behind it, and also the little robo-arm that grabs the garbage bins appears to be freaking out; it just keeps raising and slamming back down as the truck sits stationary in the middle of the street.

So instead of my normal ~8 minutes it took me about 15 minutes to get to work, and I was grumpy.