i am some poor policeman's stupid driver story of the week...

[ktron]

yesterday, i finally declared myself sufficiently settled in and rested to go to the local branch of my old temp agency to get my files transferred up. after an hour and a half of fooling with them, router and internet are up and working, so i printed off driving directions from yahoo maps. i can more or less find my way around west knoxville these days, but the university and further east is a mystery. downtown, where i was headed, is just scary.

i head out around 3 p.m., it's about 15 miles so that should be plenty before closing, right? oh no, the interstate exit doesn't let off on the street yahoo claims it does. with my infamous sense of direction, i proceed to get lost for about an hour and a half. halfway back to my place on middlebrook before i find a suitable turn-around, the all over the old city, somewhat out of the old city, back in, finally into what's formally considered downtown... leading to a grand climax of seeing the street i was looking for. and turning onto it. followed directly by a cop. and slowly, slowly, in slow-motion, the knowledge seeps in. it's a one-way street. the cars on both sides are parked the same direction. the opposite direction from that in which my car is travelling. and there are pretty blue lights in my rearview. oops.

and that, my friends, is how i got my first-ever traffic citation. i was able to point to just where the hell i thought i was going, right there a block in front of me. and to add further incompetence and idiocy, i managed to hand the cop two different insurance cards: one for 2002, the other for 2003. as long as i show up to traffic court with a valid one, they'll probably dismiss it as a warning and keep my record clean.

by this time it was 4:30... and despite being within a block of manpower, flustration (yes, i know i'm making up a word, but i like it) led to total defeat and retreat back home.

the happy ending: today, it only took ten minutes to find the place. and when i finally got there, despite looking very not-busy, they told me to come back monday. by the end of next week, i should be an expert.

Comments

[moghedianne.livejournal.com]

Do not fear Kaitrin. This kind of thing happens to everyone at some point or other. If you think Knoxville is tricky, try Chattanooga. The roads here are a perpetual mess and some major highways split in the middle and stagger on down the road a ways.

I stay lost most of the time.

ack!

[noritha.livejournal.com]

This part of town is tricky. Damnit. I'm dap6000's wife and since we live in the fort (beside campus and downtown) if you're ever headed this way email me and I'll give you some directions, or at least look at yahoo maps and tell you which roads are closed.

sorry you got lost. :(

Re: ack!

[ktron.livejournal.com]

thanks a bunch, i may have to call on you guys if i can't find the courthouse before my summons date :) actually, have you tried the knoxville bus system? i'm seriously considering giving it a go next time i have to go that direction... i'm far more comfortable with public transportation, i like having the leisure to look at a map or read or sleep as i get from place to place. we don't live on a bus route, but the kroger about two miles away is a stop. i'm sure it'd be overall slower and more expensive to go into town by bus, but the lower stress level's almost worth it.

Re: ack!

[noritha.livejournal.com]

The buses are suppose to be great, I don't use them, I just walk everywhere. And the prices are suppose to be ok. You'd be amazed where all they'll pick up people. I think I looked them up once to figure out a route to a job I wanted, but then passed on the job. Seems there's a way to determine route online.

Goggle away I suppose.

Depending on the time of day, things on the bus are about the same. Traffic is traffic you know? Knoxville traffic just sucks.

[outside572.livejournal.com]

Where on Middlebrook, because I drill right off of Weisgarber.