Hearts of L.A. / How the Quake Rocked Our Spirits and Changed Our Lives : COPING WITH CHAOS : ‘Basically, I’ve been trying to find a route.’

Sometimes I go north on La Brea, sometimes I go south. The first time I took the Santa Monica Freeway going home from work, I got off on La Brea and got onto Olympic, but there was a building coming down on Olympic, so it was backed up for miles and that was awful. The other day, I went south on La Brea and I went up toward Baldwin Hills and I got a little lost.

Basically, I’ve been playing around trying to find a route. Normally the morning drive would be 45 minutes at the most, the longest, and I would leave the house by 7:30. Now I leave at 5. Before when I left at 5, I could zip on the freeway and literally get to my destination in 20 minutes. Now it takes at least 40 minutes.

I’m thinking about public transportation. I’m waiting to see what’s happening. I’m hoping that things are going to calm down, but they probably won’t.