THE ROAD SIGNS THEY NEED A-CHANGING

In the United Kingdom, any driver not in possession of a full and complete "driving" license must have affixed to his/her vehicle, a square placard with a large red "L" on a white background. This sign must be placed on the outside of the vehicle, in such a way that other motorists can quickly identify the driver as being a "learner"or novice. While I don't agree with some things British (excessive speed cameras, Congestion Charges and Prime Minister Gordon Brown for example), this is a frankly excellent idea and needs to be adopted into law for motorists in the United States, and as quickly as possible, in my opinion.

In Huggins' World however, this system would involve several different levels of driver labeling. "L" for learner is a great start, but why stop there? I suggest anyone with say, more than one speeding ticket be required to display a tag emblazoned with with an "S" until such a time as any such tickets are wiped from the drivers record. Similarly, there could also be "R" for "reckless", and "U" for "unsafe vehicle". Such immediate visual identifiers would give the rest of us a somewhat fighting chance against irresponsible motorists on the roadways.

The apex of automobile labeling, if I had my way, would be a door panel-sized placard emblazoned with a flashing, fluorescent letter, but I haven't decided if it should be "M" for "moron", or "C" for "cretin"; I'm leaning toward "M" though because I suspect there's many a driver on the road who doesn't know the meaning of the word "cretin". This would be a special prize for all drivers who don't understand road courtesy, basic car control, or forgot everything the ever learned in in preparation for a drivers license examination.

This great idea came to me this morning, while making a quick drive to the local supermarket, I came upon a malfunctioning traffic light at a somewhat busy intersection. In other heavily congested places I've driven, this would not be a problem. In certain parts of Los Angeles, four-way stop signs are the norm, and London's many roundabouts mean that the common practice of yielding right-of-way to the driver on your right is as natural as operating your turn signal. Here, and in other places most probably, it means proceed at all deliberate speed and hope you don't get hit/hit anyone else on the way. Therefore, the driver of late model Mazda RX-7 who did not stop and nearly T-boned me and another driver approaching from the opposite direction this morning will be awarded the inaugural "M" placard for driving stupidity.

The placarding possibilities are endless; "T" for talks/texts, "DWD" for "dines while driving", "A" for "angry/aggressive", "AM" for "applies makeup", "TBTTPA" for "too busy talking to pay attention"; they're all valid. It's impossible for anyone to expect the police to regulate driver's follies but car labeling as I've suggested would, at least, give the rest of us on the road a better shot at getting to our destination safely. In fairness, if we fail to take heed of these obvious warnings, that automatically qualifies us for a Great, Big "M".

SNOW, SNOW, HORRIBLE SNOW

As I write this, it's the wee hours of a Saturday morning. I'm in wind-down mode after working a wonderful performance of Handel's Messiah at The John F. Kennedy Center Concert Hall, enjoying a cold beer, watching the warm glow of the Christmas tree lights reflected in the glass and mirrors in the room, and gazing through the window at the snow that started falling shortly before I made the drive home roughly two hours ago. However, if you're reading this and thinking what a delightfully tranquil mood I must be in, you're quite wrong and the reason is, the snow.

As a rule I enjoy a bit of snow, especially this time of year. Who wouldn't like to hear Bing Crosby sing White Christmas while actually seeing it in person for a change? The problem is, this particular snowfall is an official Winter Storm Warning with an approximate accumulation expected of 12 inches, and perhaps more, and I think it's going to be bad. The first warning sign was the trip home. Normally, the trip from the Kennedy Center takes about 10-15 minutes but tonight's trip took thirty minutes, and I passed no less than three auto accidents en route and the snow had barely begun to fall. If this is any indication of what the next 24 hours of expected snowfall means to the Nations Capital, I am in a state of absolute dread.

If you live in one of the more snow-hardened areas of the world you may be wondering what all the fuss is about, but the simple truth is that Washington DC and snow simply do not mix. There isn't the amount of equipment and manpower in place to keep the area moving if there is more than a snowfall of say, five inches or more, and even that small amount can bring the city to it's knees. Add to that the constant minute-by-minute coverage from the television finger-to-the-wind boys warning us of all the hazards of driving in snowy conditions, and you have a sense of city-wide panic probably not felt since that of Grover's Mill, New Jersey when they thought the War of the Worlds radio broadcast was real....

It is now twelve hours later, and I'm gazing through the same window, watching what should be the lovely sight of gently blanketing snow, but I can't, because I'm watching the local 24-hour news channel feed me live coverage of cars getting stuck on the major highways, walk-by citizens being interviewed on camera saying how unsafe it is to be out at all (so why are you, then?), and updates on how much more snow is expected to accumulate before we can all breathe a sigh of relief and sort out how to dig ourselves out of this mess. Again, if you're not from this area, you haven't experienced the pain of watching "cowboy" snowplows making a quick buck piling six feet of snow behind your car or worse for people living in DC proper, waiting four or more days for City services to come plow the side streets...

It's now Sunday evening and I'm happy to say that, with the help of two very nice gentlemen who took pity on me, I was able to dig my car out from under the expected six feet of snow piled behind my car by the "cowboy" snowplow, but since the men only showed up at the end of the two and a half-hour chore, I'm still taking credit for all the major shoveling. So, at least I know I'm mobile again but the next worry is how to deal with the Monday morning commute surrounded by people who have absolutely no conception of how to drive when there is a bit of hardened moisture on the road. It's not terribly difficult; maintain a steady speed, keep a safe distance, put your cell phone down, wait until you get to the office to apply your make-up, and just drive the car.

All this snow should be a pleasant experience, but unlike the Hollywood depictions of snowfall in films such as in White Christmas it simply isn't, at least not in this region. The one crumb of satisfaction I have is courtesy of Chicago-based, snow veteran President Obama; last year DC schools were closed because of a four inch accumulation of snow, and he stated on record he couldn't understand why. I remember having a chuckle and thinking, "don't worry, you will".

I think he may understand now.

WASHINGTON DC, LAND OF THE LOST

A few months back I mentioned in a column that I think SatNav is a useless toy in a car, but I'm beginning to doubt that now. If anyone needs SatNav, it's anyone living in Washington DC and its environs.

For a start, there's the traffic. Washington DC is, according to which survey you read, either the fourth or fifth most congested city in the United States, although anyone sitting in DC traffic will argue that it's undoubtedly the first. Interstate 495, also known as the Capitol Beltway, the major ring road feeding traffic in and out of the city is a daily commuting nightmare. Even in the best weather conditions and no accident delays, the sheer volume of cars attempting to navigate the roads ensures a lengthly stress-filled journey . That's a good argument for SatNav right there as it's wise to have a minimum three alternate traffic avoidance routes to get to your destination.

But the real joy, and where SatNav is almost a necessity, is when you finally arrive in Washington DC proper, as proved once again the other evening when I got lost on a seemingly easy journey. I truly believe the city layout was designed under the geometric principle that the shortest distance between Point A and Point B is a cube.

Now, I have to say I have a very good sense of direction. In the years I lived in Los Angeles, London and Philadelphia, I never got lost. Never. I did once get lost in Cincinnati, but probably because I was hoping to permanently find a way out. However, in Washington, unless I know the exact route I need to take, I can almost guarantee I'll guess wrong and end up on a dead end street, or the Anacostia Freeway, which in my opinion is the same thing.

At this point I was going to give you my own description of Washington's street layout but after the fifth draft I was totally befuddled and longing for Cincinnati. So I'm borrowing the following abridged, but very accurate description from Wikipedia. Brace yourselves readers, this is the simplest description I could find:

"At the center of the design is the U.S. Capitol, from which four quadrants radiate along the four compass directions, Northwest, Southwest, Northeast and Southeast. The four quadrants are separated by North Capitol Street, South Capitol Street and East Capitol Street, with a line travelling due west serving as the fourth demarcation line. Streets that are oriented north/south are designated by numbers and count upwards from east to west in the
Northwest and Southwest quadrants of the city, starting at the Capitol; these streets repeat in the Northast and Southeast quadrants, counting upwards from west to east going away from the Capitol."

Confused yet? Wait. It gets better.

"Streets that are oriented east/west use a single letter of the alphabet, thus, east-to-west
streets "count" upwards from south to north in NW and NE and likewise repeat in the opposite direction from SW to SE. Street numbers count upwards travelling outward from the dividing lines of the quadrants. "A" Street, as named, is only found in NE and SE. in NW and SW,
the roads that would have been known as "A" Street are known as Madison Drive NW, and Jefferson Drive SW."

And, for sheer folly it seems, the city planners did this:

"There is no "J" Street in any quadrant. North of the Mall, the road that once was "B" Street NE and NW is now named Constitution Avenue; south of the mall the corresponding street is named Independence Avenue. There is also no "X", "Y" or "Z" Streets. "I" Street, "Q" Street and "U" Streets are alternately called "Eye", "Que" and "You" Streets to avoid confusion with other lettered streets."

After reading that I imagine some are thinking, "How can she be confused by that? There's nothing to it.". To which I reply, come to Washington DC without SatNav or a navigator (read: wife or girlfriend), anytime between 0700 and 2000 hours, or whenever there is inclement weather, a parade, a demonstration, a free concert on the Capitol lawn or a marathon. I'll wave to you as you drive by the third time trying to sort out where you need to go and how best to get there.

As an interesting sidenote, while looking over the internet I've found there are some very committed citizens who believe the city's quirky configuration is the result of architect and Freemason Pierre Charles L'Enfant's efforts to hide certain occultic and Luciferic symbols within the layout of the city. Whether this is true or not is the subject for a possibly heated Masonic debate, but anyone trying to navigate Washington DC without knowing precisely where they are going will probably agree that the confusing streets may well be the work of the Devil.