I love this city.

For those of you who aren't from around these parts, I'll let you in on a little secret: DC is always under construction. Road maps are essentially worthless, and MapQuest directions are tricky at best. Not only are the majority of the streets one-way, but many are also discontinuous (i.e., you're driving in a straight line down one street and it changes names four times in the course of a few miles). Assuming you manage to navigate through the labyrinth, you will inevitably hit some sort of course-altering, never-ending construction project (case in point: the recent road work in Dupont Circle).

Even walkers, such as yours truly, aren't immune to the construction congestion. Just the other day, I was walking home from the Columbia Heights Metro station when I encountered an interesting debacle. The sidewalk in front of me bore a sign that read, "Sidewalk Closed. Please Use Other Side." So I crossed the street, only to encounter the exact same sign. Where the hell did they expect me to cross the freakin' street?

And people wonder why nothing ever gets done in this town.