On my (non-triumphant) return to the internet and HOV lanes - in that order

So, been a while since I wrote in this thing. There is a reason for that. I don't want to turn this into one of those "I deal with my psychological / medical / social problem by blogging about it" things or some kind of assignment from my therapist but I do have a condition that makes it difficult for me to work a one thing for an extended period. The technical term is laziness. I know it looks made up but it's a real thing - you can Google it.

I decided to start writing here again because 1) my Facebook status updates were getting way too long and 2) someone requested I do it. If you are thinking 2) is weird and not very believable you are right - although in this case it happens to be true. And it wasn't my therapist. He told me to up the dose on my meds and stop complaining.

So there's that.

I live in Toronto. A few years ago some people here thought it would be fun for this city to host the Pan Am Games. If you don't know what those are you are not alone. What I know about them is this: they fuck up traffic. The city had three years to prepare a plan to deal with the anticipated increase of several thousand additional drivers on the highways during July and August. The plan they came up with was to ask commuters for a "voluntary 10% decrease in the number of cars on the road". No shit. I commute. That's one care. Or, using the math of the Games Organizers, 1.0 cars. I have tried to figure a way to get to work and back in 0.9 cars but it won't work.

I would like to know which cars belong to the 10% of people who are out on the highways at rush hour voluntarily. That is a fucked up hobby.

Anyway, the Organizers knew this wasn't a plan so much as a complete lack of a plan and so they added a couple hundred kilometers of HOV lanes. Three lanes going each way and one is reserved all day for vehicles with three or more occupants, taxis, and official games vehicles. Parenthetically, I have yet to see an official games vehicle - unless they are all driving modded Honda Accords. I've seen plenty of those with one person in them in the HOV lane.

The most annoying thing about this (and it is the top of a very long list) is the media have all agreed not to shit on the games because Go Canada! The traffic report now takes 50 minutes of every hour but the other ten are callers who love the HOV lanes because they are car-pooling. Fuckers.

It's not okay to gloat about car-pooling. It's like bragging about how much you recycle. Not cool. On the plus side, it has helped me understand why some Americans are so dead-set against socialized health care. It's obviously better than a private system but you just know some asshole is going to wreck it by gloating about not dying.