Small Town Living in the Big City

Don't ask why I'm making a double post today (in fact, I literally just made the announcement on social media).  And for the record, I almost never actually go to facebook anymore.  I rely on the emails that get sent that 'so-and-so commented on your recent post' or ;you have a new message from so-and-so'.  These lame 'you have notification messages waiting for you' emails just don't do it for me.

Anyways, Atlanta is obviously a large city.  It has a population of about 484,000 people.  And then there is Druid Hills, Decatur (and North Decatur), and Scottdale, all within the Perimeter (the beltway to those from DC).  In fact, Atlanta Metro is about the same population as the DC Metro area.

However, it doesn't feel like we live in a large city.  In fact, it feels very similar to Central PA.  If you ignore the sounds of the police sirens and the traffic on I-20 (about 1/4 of a mile south of our house).  In fact, our neighborhood (Edgewood) has a population of only 5,000 people, so it's about the size of Bellefonte.  However, Edgewood is about 3/4 of a mile both North/South and East/West, ranging from I-20 to the MARTA line, and from Moreland Ave to our street...which seems a very strange and arbitrary boundary.

Like all major cities, Atlanta has interesting road quirks.  The most annoying one for finding your way through Downtown and Midtown is the enigma that is 'Peachtree St'.  There are 71 roads in Atlanta that use some variation of it.  In fact, There is a place where Peachtree Ave intersects E Peachtree St, which is two blocks off of Peachtree st.  Then there's the arbitrary road name changes.  When I drive to Decatur (which has been happening a lot in my job hunt, I take Howard Ave to College Ave.  There is no distinction, there's just a forced turn where Howard would have otherwise ran into the railroad tracks and MARTA line. At that same point, the road running parallel on the other side of the tracks becomes Howard Ave.  Not at an intersection, mind you.

When we were looking at houses, we looked at one on Boulevard SE.  That was the entire road name.  It was actually on a side-ramp, but that's not the point.  It was the best fit for what we wanted, other than the fact we couldn't quite figure out how we were supposed to get there, and there was a single-wide driveway to share with 2 other units.

Where Hosea L Williams Dr intersects Moreland Dr, it becomes Boulevard Dr.  Even though Boulevard Dr ends one block later.  When we first moved here, we figured that Hosea had to be a fairy major road (this was well before any exploration had been done).  Our rationale was that Atlanta is divided into quadrants, and we live in Southeast.  Houses on our road on the other side of Hosea are in NE.  Considering that Atlanta is already effectively divided into quadrants by I-20 and I-75/85, the interstates would make a more obvious selection, as would Memorial Dr, which is one block south of us, and runs the whole way through the city.

Interstate driving in the city is...interesting.  I've spent plenty of time driving in cities - I took my road test on I-66 and the Beltway.  During rush hour. I nearly killed us all, but I still got my license.  The Downtown Connector (where I-85 and I-75 combine) ranges from 8 to 12 lanes during the duration.  The official speed limits in some areas area as low as 40 mph.  The actual speed limits (regardless of time of day it seems):

• Right Most Lane: 0mph - this is a fun lane that is exit only, but reappears as the onramp.  It never moves because people are trying to get on or off the highway.
• 2nd Right Lane: 25mph
• 3rd Right Lane: 35 mph
• Middle Lane: 40 mph
• 2nd Left Lane: 75 mph
• Left Lane: 95+mph
• HOV Lane: 35mph - This is the most amusing to me.  There are no HOV exits, and you can only enter and exit the lane at certain points.  At which time, you have to book it across several lanes of traffic to make the exit 1/4 mile away.

However, the most interesting experience I've had on the roadway was not even on the interstate, but it was an expressway.  I saw a few sets of flashing lights ahead, so both I and the pickup in front of me began to slow down.  Then sirens came on behind me, and I relized I was about to be rear-ended by another cop.  Two more police cars sped down the left and right most lanes (I was going 75, so they must have been going over 90.  Then I noticed 3 cars going roughly the same speed into traffic in the right most lane.  Then I passed it.  And nearly wet my pants.

The cop speeding down the left lane veered sharply in front of the pickup in front of me, causing him to almost run off the road, with me close behind.  As we both managed to get around the car, I noticed the reason for the disruption.  A single car was surrounded by cops, guns drawn, two right up against the front windshield.  I have no idea what it was, but I think I'll be letting off the accelerator more often.  Just in case.

It Takes All Types

I'd apologize for not posting in forever, but that's nothing new.  Since moving to Atlanta, I've been hit with several waves of depression.  I'm still unemployed, despite the number of resumes and applications I've distributed.  I've even started applying to restaurants and retail positions, but with two college degrees, I'm so vastly overqualified that they're not interested.  And most restaurants in the area are looking for people with 3-5 years experience as a waiter.

It's not that gloomy, as I did just get hired as a tutor, but it'll probably only be for about 5 hours a week.

So I've spent the last three months cross-stitching, surfing the web, and watching Netflix.  Things have been going well for Hubby, but without any income on my end to offset the increase in the cost of living, our living situation can best be described as 'stressed'.  Largely because we can't afford to go out, and there are few excuses for either of us to ever leave the house.

Which actually segues quite nicely (for once) into today's topic.  Typically, I go out and do the grocery shopping, but a few times Hubby has taken the lead.  And every time, he comes home with the same comment: "I saw sooo many gay people at the store".  Which always surprises me.  Not because there aren't gay people.  We live about 2 miles east of downtown Atlanta, and about 2 miles west of Decatur.  Decatur is the 6th gayest city in the country based on census data, Druid Hills (about 2 miles north of us) is the 14th, Scottdale (about 4 miles east) is 21st, North Decatur is 24th, and Atlanta itself is 31st.  By comparison, Miami Beach, a veritable gay mecca, is 33rd.  The compilation I was using ignored any city less than 5,000 people, so Provincetown, Massachusetts - probably the gayest city in America - is not counted.

It's not that he says it that surprises me, but the way.  I keep trying to tell him that they can't make him gay, but he just brushes it off.  (I should stipulate that Hubby doesn't have a problem with gay people, just to make that clear, although the fact that he's married to a man might also make the same point).

I was thinking about that today, as I was approached by a bum outside of a gas station.  So far, I've only encountered two types of bums: the nice kind and the annoying kind.

The nice kind come up to you and just engage in light conversation.  They don't ask for money, although they might ask for a cigarette or for you to pour some soda in their drink container.  They'll mention that they haven't eaten in x number of days, but then move right along.  I actually enjoy the 2 minute conversations, and have even given a few a dollar or so.

Then you get the other kind.  At least around us, they don't ask for money explicitly.  In fact, they typically want you to go in to a store and buy something for me.  One asked me to go across the street and buy diapers for her baby because she didn't have the money to take the bus to the mall.  I didn't see the connection, nor did I buy her diapers.  She was hanging out in front of a gas station in 102° weather, so I did buy her a Gatorade.  Really it was just to get her to shut up and find someone else.

Overall, we are loving the diversity and opportunities that living in a major city provides us, just wish that we could take advantage of these opportunities.  However, Gay Pride is coming up in a few weeks, and Piedmont Park will be even more overrun with those of the homosexual persuasion than usual.  I'm looking forward to it.  And it's free.