Getting there is half the fun

I realized after unpacking how much storage space I had lost by moving into an apartment without built in shelves. Someone (Miss Jenny) said, "Check out Ikea. Do you have one?"

Ikea? I had heard of this place called Ikea, but I had never been there. When I think bookshelves or CD shelves, I think Target. Coincidentally, an Ikea catalogue came in the mail, and I began flipping through it. Wow! It was entire catalogue of furniture that I could mostly afford!! I decided to investigate this Ikea place in person. It would be worth driving into downtown Atlanta.

I chose an excessive number of CDs, and hopped into my car. Since I've hardly driven it in two weeks, and my car is black, it was like hopping into the pit of hell. Especially since I was out of cigarrettes.

I began navigating my MapQuest route, stopping for smokes before it became complicated, as I was not about to attempt to get lost without cigarettes. And it was a lucky thing, because I quickly got lost.

The thing with Atlanta is that no road has just one name. Each road changes names at least three times, from what I can tell. It's the same road, going the same direction, FOR THE MOST PART, but the name changes--for example, in Richmond, Cary St. becomes Huguenot Rd. becomes Courthouse Rd. But these name changes occur within blocks of each other in Atlanta, as opposed to 15 or 20 miles.

Now, as I said, it's the same road, FOR THE MOST PART. In order to clarify matters, the GA Dept. of Transportation has also apparently decided that some roads are the same that go in a different direction, and that labelling these changes would be cheating. For example, I'm driving down Buford Highway, and I see two signs: Exit left for 85 S, Exit right for Sidney Marcus Blvd. Since I want to do neither of these things, I stay in my lane, the right lane, since I'm trying to turn right eventually. Suddenly, I'm on Sidney Marcus Blvd. THAT WAS THE EXIT. Staying on the road was the exit. After some backtracking, I discovered that what I needed to do was follow the sign that said "Exit left for 85 S," which obviously indicates that I will remain on Buford Hwy should I choose that path.

I should also mention that every other street has Peachtree in the name somewhere. So feasibly Peachtree Ln will become Arcadia Ave, which will become Peachtree Center St, which you can only stay on by talking at left at a sign that says "Exit for 75 N.

This is all very confusing, and I am glad to see that the GA Dept. of Transportation took the same action I would have in the city. They gave up. They just stopped labelling intersections and roads all together. I drove through several intersections that had NO signs posted anywhere--just these sad hanging traffic lights that seemed to say "Well, you can go if you want to, but good luck getting anywhere."

I can only draw one conclusion--that in all probability, the GA Dept. of Transportation doesn't know what road it is either, or where they're going, and that they are just as lost as I am. And really, in a way, that makes me feel better.