"Carmegeddon" is Over

And we beat it.

At least that's what all the radio spots I hear and television commercials I see before we started watching another one of the Great Film Salvage of Citrus Heights movies, this time George Clooney's directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, are telling me.

Apparently, Angelinos, as we (shudder) folks who live in the LA area are known, are perfectly able to heed warnings and stay home, stay out of our cars, and not get involved in a (supposed) chaotic mess.

Let me tell you, as someone who didn't stay home (I worked both days) and didn't stay off the freeways (405 is my lifeline to work), we should close the freeway more often.

On NPR the talk was about how the closure had turned into a national story, with LA being the butt of jokes, and the image of Angelinos confused and too vacuous to know how to live without their (our) cars was the dominant theme of the collective understanding of what people are like down here.

While they may be correct generally about people in LA, I'd like to think that we (wow, shuddering again) did the unexpected thing (to everyone not living here) and acted reasonably.

Has it really come to that? Acting reasonably is a surprising thing? Saying it like that I'd have to say, Who's not been paying attention?

It was interesting listening to a segment on NPR that featured the Commute Doctor, an apparent LA roadway expert who'd answer questions from callers about having to get from here to there, and how to do that considering the closure of those crucial fourteen miles of 405. His ability to instantly rattle off directions reminded me of my early days delivering pizza off Fulton in Sac and the commanding knowledge that pizza dudes wield. While my overall knowledge of the roads here is dwarfed by Corrie's (she's been driving to random places for work), I do feel like I've been getting a better feel for the myriad communities that dot LA county. One caller, though, asked the Commute Doctor how to get from one spot to another, both of which I had no idea where they'd go on a blank map of the LA area (that's how I gauge my internal understanding...could I get myself there by directional feeling alone). The caller wanted to get from Echo Park to Zuma Beach.

I felt at least proud to be able to place the general area from the Doctor's recommendations, which is a start.

On a side note from earlier in this post, I'll watch Sam Rockwell in anything. I might just have to go and buy Moon (2009).