Am I first? Now I will go and read today's post!

I'd vote for you! :)

I know how you feel about the potholes, sista. It's that way in lovely Massachusetts, too. My sweetie often says that he thinks the state should have to pay for people to have their shocks and struts replaced.

Happy Friday!!!!!

I'd vote for you! :)

But you could use the road crew obsession as a positive thing - no doubt every single employee of the DOT would vote for ya.

CAP for mayor! You could let the cats be the city council... oh, maybe not. I'm remembering the fangage.

I must thank Zach for pointing to your Web site because now I have yet another place to haunt on a daily basis. :) I would be obsessed with traffic... but I don't drive here in LA and traffic is rather nonexistent in my hometown (Fayetteville, Arkansas).

Soba would be a fabulous Chief Of Police... she condones using force ....

If you get the word out about molesting the road crews, you will have crews fighting each other to get to the potholes on your street, whether or not they have a work order.

What kills me here is that River Oaks, the poshest and richest part of the city has the worst pot holes. I of course, do not live there.
I am a suburbanite....ooh!

Move to Michigan so I can vote for you, even if you molest the road crew! Billy spun it, so can you!

Down with potholes! Vote for wine!

I'd vote for you too. Perhaps you should consider e-mailing this post to the mayor's office too. Maybe by chance it might make it to his secretary's office before it gets tossed in the out bin.
Maybe try sic-ing the kitty posse on his hinney.

For all the messed-up street issues in Boston (non-existent street signs, one-way streets up the wazoo, and streets that change their name when they cross Washington St) there is actually a phone line to call to report potholes, and you can send in claims for damages (or injuries) incurred due to damaged potholes, sidewalks, and collisions with city vehicles. So as you drive in Boston, you may not know what street you're on but at least you can get $ for that tire you blew out.

There, there, poor Angeleno. The solution to your problem would be to move to Portland, Oregon, where life is perfect, traffic is minimal, rent is cheap, and it rains for a really, really long time.

Oh, and we have a gazillion excellent yarn shops. And lots of cats.

You're totally going to get a knock on the door from the secret service what with The Google and all...

Purl,

Have you used the city website to report the problem? I have a friend who lives in the valley who does this all the time and swears that the potholes get filled.

http://www.lacity.org/BOSS/request.htm

:)

oh the bus part sounds like Istanbul. too many people too little bus.

Oh, honey, you're DOOMED! I am so sorry. I remember when Antonio was up here in Sacramento. Not a good time... at all. o.0

Lord women... when you are done with the road crew, could you send them my way. I have a deathtrap..er..sidewalk in disary that runs down my street to the school I work at. It has holes so big the kids won't even ride their bikes on it.. and when the water melts in the winter, those babys fill up and let me tell you.. when your butt hits frozen concrete.. it's not pretty. Not pretty at all.

I almost got swallowed by a pothole on Wall Street this week... I thought when I sold my car I wouldn't have to worry about them anymore, but it's just not so...

I love reading your posts because you make me miss my brother! He lives off the Woodman Avenue exit on the 101. Every time I visit him I'm overwhelmed by the amount of traffic you have ... and I'm from DC! Guess how tired I am of politics.

Antonio is hot.

And, I actually think Bratton is crazy hot, but that might be b/c he resembles my dad (unaddressed electra issues anyone?)

But even cruising through brentwood, beverly hills and bel air, I am struck by the crappy condition of our streets.

We don't even have the weather (snow, rain, hail, etc.) to blame. Must be the incessant sunshine and rainbows coming out our collective arse.

I believe fervently that every elected official should have to live for one month each term in a "median" neighborhood on a "median" income.

Things would change rather quickly, don't you think?

I also vote for more left turn arrows. What does LA have against left turn arrows?

You need to get yourself one of those hefty Mag lights. It solves the lack-of-street-lights problem, and in a pinch you could knock a thief or rapist silly with it (God said let there be light... and weaponry.).

You rock! what a great blog! us cheeseheads have awful potholes here in Wisconsin too, they spend most of summer filling/fixing - then winter just creates new & bigger ones with the ice. LOVE YA. keep writing, you made my friday girl! : )

Here in Atlanta, we have the Pot Hole Posse created by Mayor Shirley Franklin (she of flower pins she wears on her lapel every single day that are bigger than her head). If you call (404) POT-HOLE they will come out and fix any pot hole you report to them. This alone may be why Shirley got elected to a second term.

What is this obsession people have with being first on your blog...i`m happy if i`m in the top 40...if you want to see potholes, come to Canada...our winters do a real job on the roads...love your blog...you give me a smile...

See Laurie, this is why I love you. You were very pleasant and funny as usual. Thank you for keeping your blog non-polical.
By the way - you know how they handle pot holes in St. Louis? They put a cone in front, or a saw horse over them. I guess at least we do get a warning. sigh.

Street Repair Request
This form notifies the City of a pothole or other street failure. A street failure includes anything that impairs the normal flow of traffic, such as loose manhole covers, debris in the street or flooding.

Please submit a separate form for each request. Provide as much information as possible about the location of the pothole or street failure. Avoid vague descriptions like "One mile west of Carlisle" or "3 lights south of Lomas". When listing cross streets, please be exact (ie: if the street failure is in a residential area, list residential streets as the cross streets, not the closest major intersection).

If you have difficulties with the form, please call the Streets (Pothole) Hotline at 768-4653.

This is in NM so it might not help!

I call just so I can SEE MEN WORKING, which is a rare sight.

UHM I do know ZACH, in person. This cracks me up to no end. Every sixths months or so someone randomly mentions zach and freaks out that I know the kid. Ah, swoon, Zach.

Be with me and move to Singapore! I have never in my life seen fewer potholes and better timed lights in my life. Sure, it's sort of a dictatorship, but at least the trains run on time...

I was in New York City one time, and they showed a picture of half of a good-sized truck on the news.

You could only see half because the other half was submerged in a pot hole. The entire cab and about 1/3 of the the rest was completely below ground level!

Now, THAT's a pot hole!

I think you should print this up as a letter to city council about the traffic lights and paving issues. It's written in such a way as someone is sure to find it interesting and pass it along and maybe they'll actually do something about it. Especially the part about the mayor having his wife or daughter ride the subway at night to find it safe. Do it, dooooo it!

Ummm. It's wrong to have had a crush on Al Gore? My roommate, at the time of the Democratic convention when he first ran for VP, and I always thought that he had a kind of Clark Kent thing going on.

i get on that same onramp on mornings when i stop at the 7/11 on White Oak

go down a few blocks and use the Balboa Blvd onramp - it does not have the weird, extra streetlight that jams up White Oak and it moves much more smoothly

Woman I love you!

I've been a lurker for while, and I must say that I love reading your blog. I'm going through a divorce, and am being worked into the ground by my new job, and I HATE So Cal traffic. I find a lot of inspiration here, and I just want to thank you.

And I'm with you on those potholes...I was almost thrown from my Harley the other day when I ran into a huge one while turning left onto my street. That'll definitely wake you up! ;-)

We had a real bone-shaker of a pothole that suddenly appeared in the middle of the traffic lane on my street. After killing myself on it every day for a week--you'd think I'd remember where it was, and avoid it, oh no that takes brains--the city finally filled it up. Yay for the Great City of Temple City. Of course we do have a councilperson living on this street... This same street was the site of the demise of a poor defenseless skunk earlier tonight, and the entire neighborhood smells like skunk.

You could live here in my neck of St. Louis, where they had so much fun repairing the street last January, they decided to do it again this fall/winter. Never mind that concrete tends to cure badly when it's wet and freezing, like it usually is around here in the WINTER.

Of course, this is after the Summer of Resurfacing, where every major highway and several major streets were periodically shut down during the day to get shaved and relaid. Getting home each day was like living in Vegas -- do you put your money on 370, 270, 70, or take the side streets today?

When I was in Costa Rica, we were driving through a small town and got stuck in horrible traffic. Turns out, the city was refusing to fix some major potholes on the main (only) road through the town even after two men were killed when their motorcycle hit one.

So the townspeople parked a couple of cars sideways on a bridge and refused to move until they had a written contract from the government saying the potholes would be fixed. The government listened, and we made it to the airport.

It's worth a shot :)

Funny, I used to have a huge crush on Al Gore too. :)

Ok .. I have spent some time today reading your BLOG.. good god girl you are a riot.. I read your whole about you page.. you sound fun.. and full of life.. way to go after a divorce.. I should know I am in that formerly divorced category.. however I did end up remarried ( baggage, scars and all ) way to go in general.. I have to admit first and foremost I dont know how to Knit.. but my grandma did ( does that count) does it count that she was super awesome, and I adored her.. just never picked up on that whole knitting crafty type thing.. However I do take loads of Pictures of everything.. bore people to death with them.. I saw that you mentioned you liked to peek into peoples lives.. well stop on by .. you will be bored stupid.. ( but some of the pictures are really good of my boring life ) but on the plus side I live where it is cold many months out of the year.. and I do get to wear sweaters regularly. Anyway.. dont know what to tell you about the pot holes where we live.. they put oil and tar and some kind of rock concoction on the road that they say helps keep them in good shape..which is fine unless you drive to fast and skid out of control.. sorry I have gone on long enough.. Hopefully you will read this even though its way at the bottom and stop on by.

E

Joney, you should come down to New Orleans, which is one giant pothole full of ... potholes. It was bad before Katrina but it is horrioble now due to post-flood subsidence, there are potholes and sinkhols the size of bedroom, and smaller ones that are deep enoug to cause you to need bodywork or alignment work on your car if you don't drive carfeully. I feel your pain.

Hilarious post as usual!! (I'm finally de-lurking.)

Have a great weekend.
Cassie

Hilarious post as usual!! (I'm finally de-lurking.)

Have a great weekend.
Cassie

Great post! You should be a columnist in a newspaper - I moved to the rural part of Arizona to get away from traffic - now I complain when I'm driving home from work and I see too many red tail lights in front of me,even though they're not slowing me down.

Fabulous post! Thank you for reminding me of the hideousness that is LA traffic...

Riding in the bus down the boulevard
And the place was pretty packed
Couldn't find a seat so I had to stand
With the perverts in the back
It was smelling like a locker room
There was junk all over the floor
We're already packed in like sardines
But we're stopping to pick up more!

"Weird Al" Yankovic, Another One Rides the Bus

Oh. I forgot to say, in case you don't know the song, that it's to the tune of Queen's Another One Bites the Dust. It's much funnier if you know that.

Amen. We had 3 candidates for mayor in my town, and I voted for the one whose only campaign promise was to sync the lights on the major streets. (Seriously, as soon as our light turns green, the next light turns orange. Repeated until you are picking your brains and hair out of the a/c vents.)

I've noticed the only people who ask about/bring up politics are the ones who want to get angry and weirdly confrontational. Politics & religion, baby.

What is it with the potholes? Over here, local government spend so much time and money (OUR money) fancying up the road surfaces that it's more likely to be the traffic calming measures that get the locals up in arms. The exact angle of the speed-bump and will it scrape your undercarriage? Speed-bump slalom is a bit of a national pastime; can you get by the bumps without injury to your vehicle and without lowering your speed? I suspect, however, that we pay a lot more in local government taxation. That, and repairs to the exhaust pipes of our vehicles.

"shaved and relaid", "like living in Vegas", life in St Louis sounds pretty exciting. Oh wait, you mean the ROADS...

ugh. spammers.

I know - lets fill the pot holes with the spammers.

When George W came to Norfolk VA last year (Bless his heart), the first thing he said in his speech was "Mayor Fraim, fix the potholes!"
Guess what? They are repaving all the main roads in downtown Norfolk and fixing the potholes.

Ah, George W: making potholes in Iraq so we don't have to fight them here at home.

Ahem. OK, so potholes we have with us always, no matter who's in power. Sorry about yours. Here in MA we have not only potholes but what the signs (if any) like to refer to as raised structures, meaning that they have shaved the road and left the manhole covers sticking up, ready and willing to do whatever damage the potholes failed to accomplish. An actual road worker once explained to me that they stay that way for months at a time because the shaved pavement has to sit that way for a week or so to prepare for its new coating, at which point the needed paving equipment is inevitably at the other end of the state, or wherever some mucky-muck last visited.

P.S. Memo to Alice and Marlene: we make you deal. You fix the potholes and time the lights, we'll buy drugs we don't need.