No normal commute

Now I know what's it's like to be stuck in a traffic jam like those reported on the radio during drive-time nearly every day. Route 33 was closed at Brickyard-Fairfield roads in Howell when I arrived there about 8:30 a.m. because, I learned much later, of a car/tractor-trailer accident three hours earlier.

As a result, my normal 23-minute commute became a one-hour and 10-minute exercise in trying to find some road that wasn't blocked. I went south to get to Route 524 and downtown Farmingdale only to run into a traffic blockage on Fairfield and then on Merrick Road. So I turned around, returned to the original Route 33 blockade and went north on Five Points Road to Route 537 in Colts Neck. I turned the wrong way to get onto Route 18, reversed field and finally had smooth sailing on 18. But since I wasn't sure where the Route 33 closure ended, I bypassed the Route 34 exit and went all the way around to Route 66 and then west to the Press. I was exhausted before I even started my work day.

All this time I didn't see any police officers directing traffic. That can't be right. So without human help, for the first time I wished I had one of those GPS gizmos to direct me. But with my luck this morning, it probably would've directed me into the next traffic backup. No thanks.