My evening adventure

On a dark, pouring rain, Friday evening in Abbotsford I left the house to return a couple DVD's to a local video store. As our driveway leads onto a busy road I waited for some vehicles to pass before continuing on my way. I turned onto what is normally a quiet side street, only to see flashing lights in the not too far distance. I was unsure of the source of the lights until I got a little further up, only to find myself facing the West Coast nemesis of the next few years: construction. I thought, perhaps, that I could make it by without issue, but as I approached the site, out came that pesky red and white octagon, also known as a stop sign. There were no other vehicles in site, yet these hard working individuals did not have a care to let me pass before they continued. So I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally that blessed yellow sign appeared: SLOW. I went on my way, turning down an actual quiet street, then onto an even busier street than the one I live on. About 5 feet from the driveway of the video store, traffic was backed up from the red light. I turned onto the alley to go in through the back of the video store. Unfortunately, someone had decided to park in the entryway, blocking access to the video store. I got my car turned around, then parked behind another car on the side of the alley. I jumped over the barrier, ran to the video store (finding a nice puddle on the way), and returned my DVD's. I ran back to my car, only to find that a van had backed up right behind my car. It was so close that it would not surprise me if it had hit my car first before pulling only a little ahead. Thankfully I did not park too close to the car ahead of me, and was able to maneuver my way out of the alley. After making it through the busy streets, I turned onto a different quiet side street, only to find myself behind an obviously lost driver. Slowly we drove as they seemed to be checking addresses, paying no attention to the line of cars growing behind them. Eventually they found what they were looking for and pulled into the driveway. I continued on my way and finally arrived safe at home.