I went to bed around 10:00 PM and woke up nine hours later. So much for my morning person persona returning. I guess I'm going to have to set an alarm clock to reset my habit to earlier. Maybe it wasn't the time zone changes after all. Maybe it was just the crappy beds. At least I got right to work when I did get up. (I hadn't washed my travel pillow case the whole trip and I don't remember when I washed the bed sheets before I left. They are washed now.)
If only the rest of the day had been as industrious as the first couple hours. Out of necessity, I did go grocery shopping. I did read the Toastmaster's manual on my next speech. (It doesn't fit what I've been asked to speak about, except the part where I'm to do it from memory without notes.)
Finally I gave up and rented a movie, "Burn Before Reading." I guess it was worth the rental fee but I wouldn't want to see it again or impose it on anyone else.
Even though today didn't work out to be the start of my next stage of Life after Layoff, I remain optimistic. Well, I remain hopeful. Well, I remain.
I am definitely going to bed early again tonight but 7:00 PM is a little too early. Well, maybe not. It is 10:00 PM EST. This would definitely either get me a lot of rest of get me up early. Morning person here I come.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Day One-hundred-and-ninety-five: Early mornings and long days
I guess I've become a morning person again by virtue of still getting up on east coast time even though I'm in the west coast time zone. It didn't have anything to do with the cooing of morning doves, pigeons. They were a nice serenade when they weren't being drowned out with the trucks. Even though some of the furniture in the room had cigarette burn marks, I didn't notice any cigarette smell like I did in the previous hotel. Of course, that might have had more to do with my hour and a half in the casino.
However, the best part of the room was the full window neon night light. I don't think it kept me from sleeping. That may have been done by the flannel sheets. At least I hope they were flannel.
At least the room was clean. The bathroom had several signs, some humorous, that the shower had a tendency to switch between hot and cold without warning. I was watching for this when I took my shower this morning but I never got it to switch to hot. At best it was a lukewarm, which made the shower only slightly brisker than the room. When I got in last night, I noticed the perfect sleeping temperature, unlike the previous two nights, and didn't even bother adjusting the heater. The perfect sleeping temperature is definitely not the perfect getting up temperature.
I think I'm going to like being a morning person again in this Life after Layoff. I was always more productive but that productivity was always for the companies I worked for. Now it can be for myself. Here it isn't even 5:30 AM and I'm showered, dressed, and have half an entry in my blog.
I was able to get out of town around 6:50 AM. In the direction I was going, there was only one gas station and it was closed.
After about 50 miles on the road, the water pressure was getting so bad that I was contemplating visiting a tree, if there had been any trees. Every time I got close to making a treeless stop, there would be a vehicle. Plus now I was getting low on gas. Well not so low but certainly not enough to make it to Reno. Fortunately, Eureka had a gas station open and I filled up for $2.249 a gallon. My relief at finding gas made me forget to clean my windows of the salt and road dirt that had been on them since Colorado.
About 31.7 miles outside of Eureka, I picked up a convoy. It did cause me to slow down below the speed limit but that was just so the person following me could keep up. I was flagged down by a person driving a truck the next size larger than the largest pickup. He was on his way to Las Vegas using the back roads of Nevada. (However, I know from my Reno to Las Vegas all day trip on my way east that back roads are the only roads that go to Las Vegas, at least in Nevada.) I was able to whip out my atlas and discover he had missed his turn 24 miles earlier. Since he didn't speak English very well, he got the gist but missed the details in my non-translation. Anyway, he basically asked me to show him his turn. It was on my way and I became the leader of a two vehicle convoy.
For such a desolate area, there were a lot of animals, beyond the domesticated kind. I saw what had to be the largest herd of deer I had ever seen early this morning. This reminded me of the three wild horses I saw the previous day but forgot to report. I've also seen lots of crows, a couple buzzards (maybe vultures), and at least one raptor eating road kill.
For breakfast I had a truly huge bowl of oatmeal, unfortunately accompanied with hot tea. I'm sure the latter contributed to the water pressure already mentioned. (I didn't complete that story line because I feel it would be considered too much information.)
I kept checking my cell phone for a signal. Finally I got one on the other side of Fallon. This made the rest of the trip pass more quickly as I was able to use my unlimited weekend minutes to reach out and touch people, keeping them away from their productive work while they kept me entertained.
But my plans to overnight in Reno fell apart when I got there too early. I didn't have enough money to last all those hours if I didn't hit a major winning streak. So I pressed on. At least being this early meant that I would be in front of the returning skiers all the way to the Bay Area.
Around Roseville I finally made contact with my daughter. She and her husband were behind me on I-80. They had gone for a short hike in the Auburn area and were on their way to REI. As I couldn't stay long at their place and still stay ahead of the returning skiers, I just dropped some of the stuff off at their house and went on my way. Yes it was my intent to drop it all off but the overly large sleeping bag carrier right in front of my eyes didn't register. I did leave it in the car.
After 44 days and about three hours, I was once again home. On this trip I put about 6,922 miles on my Prius. I saw miles and miles of fourteen states, some more than once. While it is good to be home in some ways, I enjoyed every minute of the trip, even the illnesses. And I want to do it again, the next time on my motorcycle.
However, the best part of the room was the full window neon night light. I don't think it kept me from sleeping. That may have been done by the flannel sheets. At least I hope they were flannel.
At least the room was clean. The bathroom had several signs, some humorous, that the shower had a tendency to switch between hot and cold without warning. I was watching for this when I took my shower this morning but I never got it to switch to hot. At best it was a lukewarm, which made the shower only slightly brisker than the room. When I got in last night, I noticed the perfect sleeping temperature, unlike the previous two nights, and didn't even bother adjusting the heater. The perfect sleeping temperature is definitely not the perfect getting up temperature.
I think I'm going to like being a morning person again in this Life after Layoff. I was always more productive but that productivity was always for the companies I worked for. Now it can be for myself. Here it isn't even 5:30 AM and I'm showered, dressed, and have half an entry in my blog.
I was able to get out of town around 6:50 AM. In the direction I was going, there was only one gas station and it was closed.
After about 50 miles on the road, the water pressure was getting so bad that I was contemplating visiting a tree, if there had been any trees. Every time I got close to making a treeless stop, there would be a vehicle. Plus now I was getting low on gas. Well not so low but certainly not enough to make it to Reno. Fortunately, Eureka had a gas station open and I filled up for $2.249 a gallon. My relief at finding gas made me forget to clean my windows of the salt and road dirt that had been on them since Colorado.
About 31.7 miles outside of Eureka, I picked up a convoy. It did cause me to slow down below the speed limit but that was just so the person following me could keep up. I was flagged down by a person driving a truck the next size larger than the largest pickup. He was on his way to Las Vegas using the back roads of Nevada. (However, I know from my Reno to Las Vegas all day trip on my way east that back roads are the only roads that go to Las Vegas, at least in Nevada.) I was able to whip out my atlas and discover he had missed his turn 24 miles earlier. Since he didn't speak English very well, he got the gist but missed the details in my non-translation. Anyway, he basically asked me to show him his turn. It was on my way and I became the leader of a two vehicle convoy.
For such a desolate area, there were a lot of animals, beyond the domesticated kind. I saw what had to be the largest herd of deer I had ever seen early this morning. This reminded me of the three wild horses I saw the previous day but forgot to report. I've also seen lots of crows, a couple buzzards (maybe vultures), and at least one raptor eating road kill.
For breakfast I had a truly huge bowl of oatmeal, unfortunately accompanied with hot tea. I'm sure the latter contributed to the water pressure already mentioned. (I didn't complete that story line because I feel it would be considered too much information.)
I kept checking my cell phone for a signal. Finally I got one on the other side of Fallon. This made the rest of the trip pass more quickly as I was able to use my unlimited weekend minutes to reach out and touch people, keeping them away from their productive work while they kept me entertained.
But my plans to overnight in Reno fell apart when I got there too early. I didn't have enough money to last all those hours if I didn't hit a major winning streak. So I pressed on. At least being this early meant that I would be in front of the returning skiers all the way to the Bay Area.
Around Roseville I finally made contact with my daughter. She and her husband were behind me on I-80. They had gone for a short hike in the Auburn area and were on their way to REI. As I couldn't stay long at their place and still stay ahead of the returning skiers, I just dropped some of the stuff off at their house and went on my way. Yes it was my intent to drop it all off but the overly large sleeping bag carrier right in front of my eyes didn't register. I did leave it in the car.
After 44 days and about three hours, I was once again home. On this trip I put about 6,922 miles on my Prius. I saw miles and miles of fourteen states, some more than once. While it is good to be home in some ways, I enjoyed every minute of the trip, even the illnesses. And I want to do it again, the next time on my motorcycle.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Day One-hundred-and-ninety-four: Skipping Utah
While I was talking with my father before I was out of Colorado, I happened to mention that my destination for the day was Salt Lake City. He recommended that I take US 50 as I-70 went 47 miles south to meet up with I-15 and further, US 50 would be a more direct route to Reno. Since I'm a visual person, when I next stopped for gas I checked his route out and liked it.
So, now it is 9:30 PM PST and I'm in Ely, Nevada. What's more I almost made it here before darkness. With the moon so big and bright, you could say I did. Really though, twilight disappeared with me just 35 minutes out of Ely. This was due to the 65 mph speed limit on US 50 in Utah, which I thought was real good. A more direct route and allowable speeds close to the expressway. I was even more impressed when I got to Nevada. The speed limit was 70 mph and that was really what clued me into the fact that I had entered Nevada. I expected to slow down for towns but they really were non-existent. They did reduce the speed limit on the curvy passes over the couple of ancient ranges US 50 crosses. (This is a really good metaphor for my Life after Layoff: Surprisingly high speed limits allowing me to go as far as I want.)
On the road to Ely, even once in Utah, I saw a couple signs advertising the Hotel Nevada and its free Wi-Fi. So, I bypassed the Best Western, which looked a lot like the Topeka motel I stayed in, and checked into the Hotel Nevada. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi is not detectable in my room. So, right now I'm in the hall updating my blog. (By the way, the Hotel Nevada also has a casino. If they didn't the room would have been even cheaper than the hotel in Topeka. As it is, it is the most expensive place I've stayed so far.)
On the plus side, they did have real coin quarter slot machines. I slowed down my money donation by "collecting" state quarters. In the mix I found four double dates, bicentennial quarters.
The scenery on the way here was truly spectacular. Since I had so far to go and did not want to drive too far in the dark on potentially icy roads, I didn't take any pictures as I would have had to stop to give the camera an even chance to take something not blurred by salt encrusted windows. I have made a couple mental notes about it though. One, I'm going to have to make another trip when I can stop and enjoy the sights and take pictures to be able to point to and say the pictures just don't do it justice. Two, there is a reason there isn't a hiking trail the length of Utah, or for that matter Nevada. It could only be used by mountain climbing enthusiasts and even they wouldn't be enthused by the highest elevation I was on, 7,720 feet.
I ate dinner in the hotel's restaurant even though it characterized itself as "Burger Heaven." I had one serving of all you can eat spaghetti with meatballs and a marinara sauce, without the meatballs. I forgot to ask them to hold the cheese and was relieved when the cheese was served separately in a little shaker.
I also took the ice bucket down to the registration desk to be told that there is an ice machine on every floor but four, my floor. So I stopped off on three on my way back up. It had an ice machine but it didn't have ice. Then I tried the fifth floor. Its ice machine was full up.
I've debated pushing on for home in a long day tomorrow but I've now ruled that out. At best I would be caught in the returning from skiing traffic. At worst I would be fully behind it and driving in the dark. This gives me a chance to lose some more money in Reno, where I'm sure all the quarter slots are now quarterless.
Oh, I purchased a couple Power Ball tickets for tonight's drawing in Purchase, Colorado.
So, now it is 9:30 PM PST and I'm in Ely, Nevada. What's more I almost made it here before darkness. With the moon so big and bright, you could say I did. Really though, twilight disappeared with me just 35 minutes out of Ely. This was due to the 65 mph speed limit on US 50 in Utah, which I thought was real good. A more direct route and allowable speeds close to the expressway. I was even more impressed when I got to Nevada. The speed limit was 70 mph and that was really what clued me into the fact that I had entered Nevada. I expected to slow down for towns but they really were non-existent. They did reduce the speed limit on the curvy passes over the couple of ancient ranges US 50 crosses. (This is a really good metaphor for my Life after Layoff: Surprisingly high speed limits allowing me to go as far as I want.)
On the road to Ely, even once in Utah, I saw a couple signs advertising the Hotel Nevada and its free Wi-Fi. So, I bypassed the Best Western, which looked a lot like the Topeka motel I stayed in, and checked into the Hotel Nevada. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi is not detectable in my room. So, right now I'm in the hall updating my blog. (By the way, the Hotel Nevada also has a casino. If they didn't the room would have been even cheaper than the hotel in Topeka. As it is, it is the most expensive place I've stayed so far.)
On the plus side, they did have real coin quarter slot machines. I slowed down my money donation by "collecting" state quarters. In the mix I found four double dates, bicentennial quarters.
The scenery on the way here was truly spectacular. Since I had so far to go and did not want to drive too far in the dark on potentially icy roads, I didn't take any pictures as I would have had to stop to give the camera an even chance to take something not blurred by salt encrusted windows. I have made a couple mental notes about it though. One, I'm going to have to make another trip when I can stop and enjoy the sights and take pictures to be able to point to and say the pictures just don't do it justice. Two, there is a reason there isn't a hiking trail the length of Utah, or for that matter Nevada. It could only be used by mountain climbing enthusiasts and even they wouldn't be enthused by the highest elevation I was on, 7,720 feet.
I ate dinner in the hotel's restaurant even though it characterized itself as "Burger Heaven." I had one serving of all you can eat spaghetti with meatballs and a marinara sauce, without the meatballs. I forgot to ask them to hold the cheese and was relieved when the cheese was served separately in a little shaker.
I also took the ice bucket down to the registration desk to be told that there is an ice machine on every floor but four, my floor. So I stopped off on three on my way back up. It had an ice machine but it didn't have ice. Then I tried the fifth floor. Its ice machine was full up.
I've debated pushing on for home in a long day tomorrow but I've now ruled that out. At best I would be caught in the returning from skiing traffic. At worst I would be fully behind it and driving in the dark. This gives me a chance to lose some more money in Reno, where I'm sure all the quarter slots are now quarterless.
Oh, I purchased a couple Power Ball tickets for tonight's drawing in Purchase, Colorado.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Day One-hundred-and-ninety-three: Snow day
It's amazing how the last ten or so miles having snow makes the previous 580 miles of clear road insignificant. I was really glad when the hotel I finally got to had a room, although from the long line I stood in to register had me on pins and needles. La Quinta is even cheaper than the Hampton Inn was in Indianapolis.
In all, I drove about 40 miles out of my way on my cross-country run today. I first tried to drop off a flyer at a Whole Foods in Denver. Then I thought to go by some casinos that Marilyn and I had driven by in 2004. The ones the Prius led me to were not the same ones so I didn't even stop.
The rest of this entry comes from notes, mostly complete sentences, I made while I was driving. They are in order and unedited, except for grammar.
I'm impressed with Western Kansas, particularly as the growing light reveals the mostly gold rolling hills.
Yes, I left before dawn with a destination set to post my last flyer in Denver. I should have driven an hour further last night. The hotel selection right off the freeway looks to be much better. Still, living and learning is a "good thing" in my Life after Layoff.
I don't know when I first noticed the similarities of names across the U.S., but I started thinking seriously on it after I saw a Humboldt sign today in Kansas. I saw a Humboldt Park sign in Illinois and, of course, there is Humboldt county in California. Other than the obvious source of things named Washington and Columbus, I wonder whether these other named things have a single person as their source or is it several people who are related or just happen to have the same surname. I suppose if I were really interested I could look it up on the Internet.
The sourdough starter that appears active will require a real test of baking with it before it is pronounced "alive." The natural sugar I used gave it a real interesting color. Until diluted with refined sugar, it will need to be used in darker breads.
It is now fully light and just after 8:00 AM. This is remarkable only because I'm just now catching up with the first truck I've noticed. I realized how nice it was driving without them. Now I will probably be going off and on cruise control and wasting even more gas accelerating up to my traveling speed.
As I approach Salina and find myself hungry for breakfast, I wonder what a vegan will find to eat in cattle country. Kansas, home of several meat barbeque sauces. Kansas, where according to one sign, one farmer feeds 128 additional people, including me. I just passed the "breakfast" exit. With the truck right beside me blocking my access to the ramp, I didn't have much of a chance. Oh well, as I passed the actual road, I didn't see any place serving anything I would want to eat. Dry Honey Nut Cheerios it is.
I am passing a huge field of huge wind turbines. I didn't see any turning. Oops, the field turned out to be much larger than I thought. Here on its western end a few are turning.
A first for me: an oil well junk yard. I wonder if they have any shoppers. "I only need a small tank that has no more than one leak..."
I keep passing beautiful raptors. [One made a prey dive right while I was watching.] I wish I knew more about them to be able to name the birds but not enough to make it a study. At least I recognize them as raptors.
There are a lot of exits in Kansas with nothing at the exit. I can't begin to guess how far away the nearest town may be.
I slowed down when a state trooper pulled up beside me even though he didn't seem all that excited by my 72 mph. My attempt to reset the cruise control at 70 resulted in a speed of 71. I was about to bump it back up that one mph when I passed a trooper who had stopped the car that was in front of me when I slowed down.
At 10:00 AM I stopped for a double dose of gas: fuel for the car and an early lunch for me. When I got back on the road the wind really picked up. It has become an effort to keep the car straight. On the bright side, it is really easy and quick to cut over to the passing lane. Unfortunately it is almost as quick to head off the road whenever something temporarily blocks the wind. I hate to think what this is doing to the wear of my tires. I know what it is doing to my mileage.
To break out of the depression I was getting myself into thinking of the last time I was in Denver, with Marilyn, I called my parents. I must have talked with them an hour. It worked. My father was giving me weather reports for the country, including Colorado. He suggested that I listen to a Denver radio station. The first good channel was Glen Beck. The second was Rush Limbaugh. I'm now on a Country and Western station that I'm not sure is a Denver station. It's amazing how many of the songs I recognize from the last time I listened to a CW station, over 20 years ago.
In all, I drove about 40 miles out of my way on my cross-country run today. I first tried to drop off a flyer at a Whole Foods in Denver. Then I thought to go by some casinos that Marilyn and I had driven by in 2004. The ones the Prius led me to were not the same ones so I didn't even stop.
The rest of this entry comes from notes, mostly complete sentences, I made while I was driving. They are in order and unedited, except for grammar.
I'm impressed with Western Kansas, particularly as the growing light reveals the mostly gold rolling hills.
Yes, I left before dawn with a destination set to post my last flyer in Denver. I should have driven an hour further last night. The hotel selection right off the freeway looks to be much better. Still, living and learning is a "good thing" in my Life after Layoff.
I don't know when I first noticed the similarities of names across the U.S., but I started thinking seriously on it after I saw a Humboldt sign today in Kansas. I saw a Humboldt Park sign in Illinois and, of course, there is Humboldt county in California. Other than the obvious source of things named Washington and Columbus, I wonder whether these other named things have a single person as their source or is it several people who are related or just happen to have the same surname. I suppose if I were really interested I could look it up on the Internet.
The sourdough starter that appears active will require a real test of baking with it before it is pronounced "alive." The natural sugar I used gave it a real interesting color. Until diluted with refined sugar, it will need to be used in darker breads.
It is now fully light and just after 8:00 AM. This is remarkable only because I'm just now catching up with the first truck I've noticed. I realized how nice it was driving without them. Now I will probably be going off and on cruise control and wasting even more gas accelerating up to my traveling speed.
As I approach Salina and find myself hungry for breakfast, I wonder what a vegan will find to eat in cattle country. Kansas, home of several meat barbeque sauces. Kansas, where according to one sign, one farmer feeds 128 additional people, including me. I just passed the "breakfast" exit. With the truck right beside me blocking my access to the ramp, I didn't have much of a chance. Oh well, as I passed the actual road, I didn't see any place serving anything I would want to eat. Dry Honey Nut Cheerios it is.
I am passing a huge field of huge wind turbines. I didn't see any turning. Oops, the field turned out to be much larger than I thought. Here on its western end a few are turning.
A first for me: an oil well junk yard. I wonder if they have any shoppers. "I only need a small tank that has no more than one leak..."
I keep passing beautiful raptors. [One made a prey dive right while I was watching.] I wish I knew more about them to be able to name the birds but not enough to make it a study. At least I recognize them as raptors.
There are a lot of exits in Kansas with nothing at the exit. I can't begin to guess how far away the nearest town may be.
I slowed down when a state trooper pulled up beside me even though he didn't seem all that excited by my 72 mph. My attempt to reset the cruise control at 70 resulted in a speed of 71. I was about to bump it back up that one mph when I passed a trooper who had stopped the car that was in front of me when I slowed down.
At 10:00 AM I stopped for a double dose of gas: fuel for the car and an early lunch for me. When I got back on the road the wind really picked up. It has become an effort to keep the car straight. On the bright side, it is really easy and quick to cut over to the passing lane. Unfortunately it is almost as quick to head off the road whenever something temporarily blocks the wind. I hate to think what this is doing to the wear of my tires. I know what it is doing to my mileage.
To break out of the depression I was getting myself into thinking of the last time I was in Denver, with Marilyn, I called my parents. I must have talked with them an hour. It worked. My father was giving me weather reports for the country, including Colorado. He suggested that I listen to a Denver radio station. The first good channel was Glen Beck. The second was Rush Limbaugh. I'm now on a Country and Western station that I'm not sure is a Denver station. It's amazing how many of the songs I recognize from the last time I listened to a CW station, over 20 years ago.
Day One-hundred-and-ninety-two: Flea bag motels
In keeping with my New Year's resolution, I'm going to bake the most of my arrival at a flea bag motel in Topeka. It's cheap. It has a TV with not only a picture that works but a remote that told me my room number. Further, the TV has multiple channels upon which I've found one with the National Championship Football game and another with a Roger Moore as Bond movie, "For Your Eyes Only." Then, to top it off the commercials on the two weren't completely synchronized. It also has a mini-fridge, which I'm not using after my use of my previous hotel's mini-fridge resulted in frozen soy milk and sourdough starter.
After leaving the somewhat frozen starter out of the cooler and just in the car and then leaving it out for just an hour or so in the room, I fed it. It had a yeasty smell and bubbled so maybe it is still okay. Finding the grocery store for the stuff to feed it was an ordeal. I finally saw one off the expressway before the exit to get to it and stopped. I drove around one exit in St. Louis following the Prius's Navigation System's instructions. I did find a Schnucks' Distribution Center but the closest Schnuck's grocery store no longer existed. (I really do have to get the data updated.)
Overall, the day was a good road day. I didn't pay attention to the actual distance but I was just this side of Indianapolis this morning and am now in Topeka, a four-state day.
The last time I was in Topeka was when I was on a consulting trip while I was a System Engineer with Amdahl 29 years ago. I believe my lack of memory of the details from that time has more to do with how unremarkable the experience was not a senior moment. Either way, this visit should join the previous one soon. I would never have thought that looking forward to a loss of memory would be something I would be doing in my Life after Layoff. At least it will make all my other stops seem better by comparison.
After leaving the somewhat frozen starter out of the cooler and just in the car and then leaving it out for just an hour or so in the room, I fed it. It had a yeasty smell and bubbled so maybe it is still okay. Finding the grocery store for the stuff to feed it was an ordeal. I finally saw one off the expressway before the exit to get to it and stopped. I drove around one exit in St. Louis following the Prius's Navigation System's instructions. I did find a Schnucks' Distribution Center but the closest Schnuck's grocery store no longer existed. (I really do have to get the data updated.)
Overall, the day was a good road day. I didn't pay attention to the actual distance but I was just this side of Indianapolis this morning and am now in Topeka, a four-state day.
The last time I was in Topeka was when I was on a consulting trip while I was a System Engineer with Amdahl 29 years ago. I believe my lack of memory of the details from that time has more to do with how unremarkable the experience was not a senior moment. Either way, this visit should join the previous one soon. I would never have thought that looking forward to a loss of memory would be something I would be doing in my Life after Layoff. At least it will make all my other stops seem better by comparison.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Day One-hundred-and-ninety-one: One thing worse
There is one thing worse than driving into the wind with snow spitting, road salt spraying, and lines of trucks, some of which cut over into my lane right in front of me going ten miles slower, and that would be being a truck driver. I'm going to have to get my window washer fluid topped off after today and I was only driving about four hours. Thank goodness winter travel is not a metaphor for my Life after Layoff. As bad as the road is, it will make the arrival that much better.
I had a great lunch time visit with my cousins. We talked about a lot of things, including some of the writing that he is doing. It's great that these memories are going to be available for others. He also talked about how he and my parents met, at a common aunt's funeral. It's even better when friendship with formerly unknown relatives can form out of what would otherwise been a sad event.
Even though I drove with my lights on all day because it was so gray, and my frequent windshield wiper running, I did stop before it became truly dark. The hotel clocks are on EST even though I am sure that Indiana is in Central time. It's so cold, I decided to bring in my gallons of water. The room has a refrigerator so I put the sourdough starter, the soy milk, and the cold pack in it.
So far, I've left something at every place I've stayed. The latest was the Metamucil at my sister and brother in law's. I took the jar out into the kitchen to have some and took the glass back into the bedroom to take my vitamins. After I took the vitamins I took the glass back to the kitchen and didn't take the Metamucil back, so it missed the packing I later did. Except for the Metamucil, I was quite orderly. I methodically checked everything and before I loaded the car, I moved the whole mess into the living room. My brother in law helped me move stuff out to the car. After the first trip out, he put on his coat.
Rather than go back and edit in my youngest daughter's and her husband's first White Castle experience into the day it happened or my rather uneventful last two entries, I will include it here. And to think, she actually ate two sliders. This is the person that wouldn't go with me to In and Out Burger, the premier fast food chain on the West Coast. The other stars in the video are one of my nieces, daughter of my brother in law, and my brother in law.
With the large lunch, the snacking on the road, and I definitely don't want to brave the cold to travel to a restaurant, so it's a good thing I'm not hungry. Unfortunately, I left some Clementines in the car. If I don't go get them, they will definitely be frozen by tomorrow.
I had a great lunch time visit with my cousins. We talked about a lot of things, including some of the writing that he is doing. It's great that these memories are going to be available for others. He also talked about how he and my parents met, at a common aunt's funeral. It's even better when friendship with formerly unknown relatives can form out of what would otherwise been a sad event.
Even though I drove with my lights on all day because it was so gray, and my frequent windshield wiper running, I did stop before it became truly dark. The hotel clocks are on EST even though I am sure that Indiana is in Central time. It's so cold, I decided to bring in my gallons of water. The room has a refrigerator so I put the sourdough starter, the soy milk, and the cold pack in it.
So far, I've left something at every place I've stayed. The latest was the Metamucil at my sister and brother in law's. I took the jar out into the kitchen to have some and took the glass back into the bedroom to take my vitamins. After I took the vitamins I took the glass back to the kitchen and didn't take the Metamucil back, so it missed the packing I later did. Except for the Metamucil, I was quite orderly. I methodically checked everything and before I loaded the car, I moved the whole mess into the living room. My brother in law helped me move stuff out to the car. After the first trip out, he put on his coat.
Rather than go back and edit in my youngest daughter's and her husband's first White Castle experience into the day it happened or my rather uneventful last two entries, I will include it here. And to think, she actually ate two sliders. This is the person that wouldn't go with me to In and Out Burger, the premier fast food chain on the West Coast. The other stars in the video are one of my nieces, daughter of my brother in law, and my brother in law.
With the large lunch, the snacking on the road, and I definitely don't want to brave the cold to travel to a restaurant, so it's a good thing I'm not hungry. Unfortunately, I left some Clementines in the car. If I don't go get them, they will definitely be frozen by tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Day One-hundred-and-ninety: Ready for the road
Today I tried my non-drowsy decongestant and was able to function so I will start on my road trip back tomorrow. Other than popping pills, drinking hot liquids, and eating spicy foods, nothing much happened today. I did take a nap in the afternoon, which leads me to think that maybe I shouldn't make it such a long day tomorrow but I'm sure I can make it through Indiana.
Since I had so little to report, I was going to share my documentation of my youngest daughter and her husband eating their first White Castle sliders. From her face, it might be her last. I know my son didn't want a repeat after I took him to White Castle in 2004. They are definitely something to eat right away before the grease gets cold. In moments like this I'm glad I became a vegan.
When I say that I am ready for the road, I am really saying that I'm mentally ready. I have a lot of packing and loading to do. Hopefully I can do that after my hosts leave for work so I am the least disruptive and still make it to Springfield for lunch. Until my Life after Layoff, I didn't think of "ready" in stages. It used to be binary, I either wasn't or I was.
Since I had so little to report, I was going to share my documentation of my youngest daughter and her husband eating their first White Castle sliders. From her face, it might be her last. I know my son didn't want a repeat after I took him to White Castle in 2004. They are definitely something to eat right away before the grease gets cold. In moments like this I'm glad I became a vegan.
When I say that I am ready for the road, I am really saying that I'm mentally ready. I have a lot of packing and loading to do. Hopefully I can do that after my hosts leave for work so I am the least disruptive and still make it to Springfield for lunch. Until my Life after Layoff, I didn't think of "ready" in stages. It used to be binary, I either wasn't or I was.
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