My morning commute

I could see the smoke from two miles away. As I neared my freeway exit, I realized that the source of the smoke was on the exit ramp. I assumed I would have to get off at the following exit, and loop around and come back, but then I noticed the car ahead of me take that exit successfully. Just as I got on the ramp, I saw that the smoke was coming from a blazing car in the left-hand lane. I needed to turn right, but I was very skittish about driving past that car. I could picture the gas tank exploding as I pulled alongside, but I had no choice at that point but to keep going.

A state trooper waved me past, stopping oncoming traffic so I could turn. I was very thankful for that, as I could feel the intense heat through my closed window, and was getting more nervous every second.

By the time I got on my bus, the fire trucks had arrived, and they were no longer letting people through. Unfortunately, that ramp is the only way for the bus to leave, so we had to sit there and wait while the fire department finished putting out the fire. That resulted in me being about half an hour late to work, but I can't complain too much. At least my car wasn't on fire. Now, the owner of that car - he or she was having a very bad start to the day.

Nothing like a bit of excitement to start the morning.