April 26, 2005  Throbbing headache. Working all day then tossing yourself into rush hour traffic where throngs of idiot drivers yaking on cell phones swerve through traffic like steroidal gerbils on speed will do that to you.

It was the typical Tuesday night. Ross had to be downtown at PSU by 6pm for the class he teaches, which meant that he came stampeding into the apartment at 5:35 to frantically get his things and herd me out to the car, dressed or not, to drive him to class. Off into rush hour traffic we sped, with Ross constantly checking his watch and stressing about time and me mowing over pedestrians, taking corners on two wheels, and screaming profanities at the other drivers and, occasionally, at Ross.

We do this every Tuesday. Ross is always late getting home, I am never ready to go, traffic is always worse than expected, my driving always comes this close to making Ross the poster boy for oops, I crapped my pants, and I always have high blood pressure and a headache by the time I get home. But the important thing is that Professor Ross gets to class on time, thanks to the fact that I'm not afraid to drive on the sidewalk.

So it was a typical Tuesday of speeding, screaming and swearing, all for the sake of higher education. It's a pain in the arse, but it also makes me chuckle that this is how a college instructor actually gets to class, being chauffeured through traffic at mach 5 by their insane wife whose hanging out the car window incessantly screaming, "fuck you, get out of the way!" So much for the dignified college professor mystique.

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