Timing

I have this game I play when I walk to work in the mornings from bus 11Y. Don't ask me why, but it doesn't seem to work well going back to the bus in the afternoon. Google map says it's a 1.2 mile trek across many blocks (well Google didn't tell me the many blocks part - I knew that). At each intersection there is a traffic light. DC being a big city and all. My goal in life now is to make it from my bus drop off point (Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street) to work (50 F Street NW) without stopping for a single red light. Without cheating (as in slowing down to make sure I hit a light when it's green instead of red). Crossing against the red is allowed but would be insane and deadly at most intersections. DC drivers don't like jaywalkers and will take them out without a second thought.

Admittedly, this won't be easy. But great accomplishments never are. Going to the moon. Climbing Mount Everest. Human flight. Burning clean coal. That kind of stuff. It will take sacrifice. It will take persistence. But I think I can do it.

The hard part is the first leg of the trip where the north-south streets tend to get the longer green lights and my way (east-west) tends to get shorter greens. It seems the farther east I get toward work, the longer green lights I get. I thought the other day I might have cracked through that first barrier. I started on the south side of E Street, traveling east, and when I hit a red light going east I was able to cross the intersection in a northwardly direction just in time to go east again on the other side with the green light. My big mistake was that that is the one north-south running street with very low traffic flow and I could have crossed against the red light and saved my much-needed north-south green light crossing for later. I didn't. And I later paid the price.

Some day. I'll do this. I just know it. Then there will be the book. And the movie rights. And I'll get Joss Whedon to direct it. And Alan Tudyk will play my part in the movie. And I'll be rich. That's just the way these great accomplishments always end up.