Ypsilanti

Ypsilanti....It's a strange place. It is very cold right now and very white. Snow everywhere. It is pretty ghetto here too which isn't very different from Daingerfield; it's just more populated here so it is easier to see, I think. I just normally keep a running talley in my head of all the strange things I notice while I am out and about, so I will share that with you and I think that will give you the best picture of my new home.

The roads here are terrible. I guess it's because of all the salt on the roads, but they suck really bad. Pot holes that would take you to China in the MIDDLE OF THE MAIN STREET!!!! And pot holes that were terribly patched up. I cannot describe how awful the roads are. Just imagine the ranch road and then put asphalt on top of it without smoothing it out or anything and that's about right.

The streets make no sense. North Congress is parallel to West Congress, but Congress St is no where near them. Southlawn, Eastlawn, and Northlawn all are perpendicular to Dexter Ave. North Huron and Huron Parkway are on opposite sides of town, but Geddes Avenue and Geddes Street are RIGHT next to each other and go very different places. At main intersections in town NO ROADS ARE LABELED! There are no street signs anywhere unless you are in more residential part of town. But if you are trying to find a business on a MAIN street, there is no street sign.

There are no street lights along the main streets if you aren't at a stop light, and even then, they aren't always guaranteed. So David and I seldom drive after dark simply because you cannot see anything!

There is no post office. Oh, I know if you enter 'US Post Office Ypsilanti MI 48197' into Google, it will give you several addresses, but none of them exist or are possible to get to or are really post offices. One of them is in Meijer!

Also, Meijer. Because up here we don't believe in Wal-Mart. Corporate scumbags, or something, so instead we have Meijer. What is Meijer? you may ask. It's a Wal-Mart.

There is no DMV or County Clerk or anything like that. Instead there is the Secretary of State. No, it's not a person. It is a place. Ours here in Ypsi is just a regular SOS office, but in other places there are SOS Super! Centers. With the exclamation point and everything. I couldn't even make that up.

And, weirdly enough, the people at the Social Security office are really, really nice and helpful! What kind of place is this?!