jjquantz
Full time employment: Posting here.
As many have observed, one of the great luxuries of retirement is being able to run errands when others are at w*rk. However, it takes some time to learn the local behaviors. I've noticed a few things about Northern Virginia that strike me as odd after spending the first 47 years of my life in the Midwest.
1. In the Midwest, prime grocery shopping time is Friday afternoon/evening. The weekends are busy, but nothing like 5:00 PM Friday. After several years of avoiding that time slot out here, we discovered that the grocery stores are all but empty at that time of the day/week. Saturday mornings aren't really too bad either, especially before about 10 AM. (See #2)
2. People out here don't get out of bed in the morning. Diners in the Midwest open at 5:00 AM (or earlier). Out here, many breakfast places don't open on weekdays until 7:00 AM and on weekends not until 8:00.
3. The only truly dead days for traffic in NoVA are Tuesday - Thursday. On Mondays, rush hour seems to stretch an extra hour later in the morning and the overall level of traffic is definitely higher than midweek. By lunchtime on Fridays, traffic is worse than on the weekends. I blame this on the proliferation of telecommuting and flexible work schedules.
Anyway, have any of you have noticed local quirks in traffic patterns, shopping habits, etc. that you didn't expect?
1. In the Midwest, prime grocery shopping time is Friday afternoon/evening. The weekends are busy, but nothing like 5:00 PM Friday. After several years of avoiding that time slot out here, we discovered that the grocery stores are all but empty at that time of the day/week. Saturday mornings aren't really too bad either, especially before about 10 AM. (See #2)
2. People out here don't get out of bed in the morning. Diners in the Midwest open at 5:00 AM (or earlier). Out here, many breakfast places don't open on weekdays until 7:00 AM and on weekends not until 8:00.
3. The only truly dead days for traffic in NoVA are Tuesday - Thursday. On Mondays, rush hour seems to stretch an extra hour later in the morning and the overall level of traffic is definitely higher than midweek. By lunchtime on Fridays, traffic is worse than on the weekends. I blame this on the proliferation of telecommuting and flexible work schedules.
Anyway, have any of you have noticed local quirks in traffic patterns, shopping habits, etc. that you didn't expect?