OK,  does anyone have the secret formula for estimating how much time it will take to get from your house to, let’s say anywhere in the City of Syracuse or beyond?

Time is a human concept. You don’t see cats, dogs or ferrets with watches and they seem OK with this. Our cats seem to know when it’s time to eat, time to sleep, etc. None of them have timepieces.

Humans developed the idea that it would be good to measure the passage of the sun by intervals, and voila, we have time. This allows us to meet people at a specific time and place, making planning for things like a dinner party, an MRI or a bank robbery much easier. At least that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Others, inventive sorts, right after the concept of time was discovered, discovered traffic and road work. Today the same prehistoric person who first conceived of time would probably have the same problem that I have figuring out when to leave the house to get to an appointment on time.

So, when do I leave?  In the winter I have to consider the effect of weather, the condition of the roads and streets and the number of accidents that might be holding up traffic.

All these things are mutable, so I add up to a half hour to what would be a realistic time based on the best of circumstances, like what is supposed to be the case during good weather. Then the good weather comes and so does the DOT. It’s always a challenge to guess which roads and streets will be under the aegis of said Department of Perpetual Detours.

Some byways like Fayette Street in Syracuse seem to be constantly under renovation. Take this morning. I left the house at 8 a.m. to keep an appointment at 9 a.m.at the corner of Fayette and South Crouse. I should have arrived with time to spare. When I got to the city, I found myself in a line of cars waiting to travel down a narrowed one way lane on Fayette that rivaled the lines for parking at the State Fair. Deftly pulling off on to a side street, I travelled half way across the city to circle around the mess only to run into another detour sign.  I finally arrived at my destination with barely five minutes to spare.

I am not at my best in a car stuck in traffic because of road work. Words that I shouldn’t know race to the front of my mind and I can hear the fires of hell licking at my heels. It’s flaw of which I am not proud, I welcome any and all suggestions about how to calculate how much time I should allocate for car travel to get from here to just about anywhere. Perhaps I should consult a physicist.

I watched a special on Nova a while ago that promoted the idea the all time exists now. The day I was born, the day I lost my first tooth, graduated from high school, found two year old peanut butter sandwiches in my son’s trumpet case … all of these happenings existed, exist and will exist forever simultaneously. At least I think that’s what the guy meant. But, truthfully I really don’t know, and that in no way this theory provides me with the formula that I seek.

I guess the half hour added to expected travel time will have to do. Maybe I can learn Italian or try to learn what I’ve forgotten in physics while I wait?