I had a terrible, horrible, very bad, no-good morning yesterday, as I got to the Exton train station just in time to see the Amtrak train pulling out — I’d missed my train for the first time in two years! So I decided to drive in, but forgot that you have to carpool into the Holland Tunnel before 10:00 AM, so I had to talk to the cops at the tunnel entrance, who bounced me out of the tube and gave me instructions through Secaucus to the Lincoln tunnel. Blah blah blah, I got lost, late for my meeting, et cetera.

I did, however, drive past what I thought was the audition line for the new season of American Idol, except all the women were in their twenties and thirties and looked fairly nondescript. (Working as a studio teacher, I learned that open calls for national TV are always packed with teenaged Jersey girls in plastic pants.) This line was on 28th street, between 10th and 7th Avenues. It was entirely women, and looked way too long to be a theater call.

So I’m not sure what the line was for, except that it might have been the end of the world. Evidence of this as I drove past the Ricky’s store on 23rd street: what the hell is that? That’s just wrong. Open call for brides of the Antichrist?

Also, I need help. Currently, I’ve been waiting until 7:00 PM to leave the offices here in Herndon, so that I can avoid the horrific Beltway traffic. Last week, it took two hours just to get as far as Silver Spring — ugh! Here’s the route I usually take — 267 to 495, 495 to 95, 95 home — but the 495 part is brutal.

What if I left at 5:30 and took White’s ferry to 70, 70 east to Baltimore, 95 home? It’s a longer trip, but would it be worth skipping the beltway traffic? I’d love some advice. Right now, I’m just a coupla miles from Dulles airport.