driving down the jersey tnpk

The Jersey Turnpike is, for a lack of better words, everything that you expect it to be and not to be, all at the same time.

I have had the pleasure (ergo, sarcasm) of taking this route to drive down south and back for the last few months on numerous occasions. The smell is constant, the speeding drivers never seem to slow down, and me driving in the slow lane at exactly 65 MPH is less than a threat to society.

Driving to DC and back on a regular weekend takes about 8-10 hours round trip. I always feel like the way back up is easier than the way down. I keep my car parked in Hempstead so that I will not have to deal with the daily parking craziness that exists all over the city. Close enough to where I have easy access to it. Me and BL decided last minute to meet half way in Cap City at, like, 7PM Friday and ended up linking around 3 in the morning and not getting to bed until 6 the next morning. The bags in my eyes from 2016 are slowly but surely making a comeback.

BL and Larry´s weekend getaway, if you will. A trip to the river and biking/blading through the city was nice, topping it off with our fancy wine ($8 bottle of Vinho Verde) to end the night. Waking up next to her never gets old, and saying goodbye typically never gets easier.

Well, what´s new? My job is a job. No complaints, or anything overly exciting to share. Being one of the youngest people at the workplace is definitely different. The typical office jargon revolves around topics that I have no interest in, and I am perfectly fine with that. Even better, I am essentially invisible at work at the moment. We´re so swamped with backlogged work that me and the other like 4 people who have started at the same time as me are just sitting in the training room, simply existing. Ain´t no complaints (shoutout Metro Boomin).

I´ve been in the city for almost a month now and I am starting to get the swings, and by that I mean I am finally starting to walk a little bit faster than usual. I can get on the train to work without using my phone for directions, found the local park, and got a bike to cruise around when I have not-shit else to do.

I´m going alright, very alright.