Living In Washington DC IV

This is another in my series on living in the Washington DC area.

With regard to traveling around DC itself one will discover:
a) That though the directions may get you from point A to B, it is a mistake to assume that you only need to reverse your route to get from B to A.
b) If you continue in what may seem like the same direction on the same street you are likely to discover that you are now on an entirely different street.
c) There are no straight streets to take you from one side of the city to another.
d) There are more circles, overpasses and underpasses which could take you where you do want to go.
e) You cannot assume that the street directly opposite you on the circle is the same street.
f) Any street can be closed at anytime without warning or a way to detour.
g) You can be struck in traffic for hours for no apparent reason.
h) There are times you can measure your progress at the rate of 20 or 30, not miles per hour, but light polls per hour.
i) That the expressways are anything but express. They would be better named the crawlways.
j) You will get a traffic ticket or two a year since there are hundreds of traffic cameras to catch every violation and to ensure one of the city’s strongest revenue streams remains robust.
k) The speed limit across the city is 25 mph.
l) Though you may be going 25 mph, you must watch the traffic signs as there will be one saying that a particular block through which you are driving is 15 mph. Be warned, there is a traffic camera behind the sign to extract a tax from you.
m) One can be following a DC police car and still get pulled over for speeding or some other driving offense by the mass transit police who can issue driving offense tickets anywhere in the City.


Other things about Washington DC area:
a) The business you visited the week before may no longer be there with no note or way to find where they moved.
b) Washington DC politics makes what takes place upon Capital Hill look like the Mickey Mouse Club.
c) You will not get the same directions to get somewhere from the same person.
d) People will give you directions to somewhere even though they have no idea how to get there themselves.
e) Those drivers with license plates issues by the State Department are amongst the best and the worst drivers in the area.
f) You never know what police department you may find yourself dealing with on a matter. You may find three to six different police departments involved in a matter as there are over 15 in the area (DC, Arlington, Alexandria, Virginia State troopers, Fairfax police, Montgomery police, Prince Georges, Maryland State Troopers, Secret Service, Capitol Hill Police, US Parks Police, State Department Police, the Army’s Military Police, the Air Force’s Military Police, the Navy Marine’s Shore Patrol, Metro Police and often The Guardian Angels)