520 Toll Bridge

So, I haven't made a new post in approximately a million years.  This post will make up for it with information, entertainment (at my expense), and a photo.  You're welcome!

I got a new job in Bellevue, and I anticipated the commute would be horrible.  However!  People do it every day, and I knew the opportunity would compensate for this fact.

What I did not know was that the commute doesn't have to be that bad!  Ever since 520 became a Toll Bridge, taking it or not has been the subject of a lot of conversations.  A lot of painfully uninformed conversations.  I've been saying for months I will never take 520, because I am not paying money to cross a bridge.  Like ever.  My GPS is constantly telling me to get on 520, and I have spitefully disregarded her instructions.  And I know I'm not the only one with this particular misunderstanding, because I have never been corrected.  Never ever.  

But guess what?  520 is a Toll Bridge, not a Toll Highway!  You can get on 520, and exit before the bridge from either direction, and it is for free!!!  I had no idea.  Lucky for me, many of my coworkers live up here, and are vastly more knowledgeable about almost everything.  And, lucky for me, our IT guy is infinitely patient.  When I am instructed to take a certain route, something in my brain makes me do it wrong.  Especially if that route involves not turning or exiting.  I am compelled to turn and/or exit, and probably both.  I literally can not just drive straight.  I have no idea why.  So, our IT guy checked in with me more than weekly to see how the commute was going.  All I had to do was get on 520, and not get off.  But I kept exiting in Redmond!  And then would get stuck in Redmond for half an hour, undoing all the time savings from skipping 405.  But he never gave up, and one month later when I finally followed directions, and I got from Bellevue to Monroe in rush hour, in a downpour that was more like a monsoon, in 40 minutes, my life changed.  Literally life changing.

So, above is my commute when I was taking 522 to 405, and it could take an hour and a half.  Now, my big complaint is I'm not stopped long enough to blow up my friend's phones texting while not driving.  Not too shabby.  Next, I'm going to figure out how to tell my phone to text by talking, and get back to annoying the heck out of my friends.