Sometimes, especially now when I'm sick and run-down and not feeling my usual self, I experience good old-fashioned FEAR about moving across country. It's not so much the move itself--after all, I've been ready to leave this burg for about four years!--but the fact that I'm moving into The Great Unknown.
No job yet, no idea how I'll pay my bills -- these are legitimate fears. My usual tendency is to just say "things will work out." That's kinda my mantra for my whole life; I may spend some time worrying over things, but usually I just figure that things will work out.
No problem is so big that it can't be worked out or changed or whatever; at least, that's what I've found. Many times in my life, I thought that things just couldn't get worse; I was overdrawn at the bank, or I didn't have a job, or I had a job and money and stuff but I was in a bad relationship or breaking up or whatever. Things looked pretty low, and I spent a good deal of time worrying. But in the end, I always knew that things would work out--time would heal whatever physical or emotional wounds I might have suffered, and the money situations or job problems would be fixed by waiting for my next paycheck or selling a guitar or whatever I needed to do to get money. This philosophy has gotten me through some pretty rough times over my 44-plus years, so I figure it must be right.
Still--there's fear involved in moving someplace you've never been. Sometimes the fear rises up and whispers to me that I should just move back to Texas and live with my parents or my sister, where I know I would be taken care of if anything bad happened. Yes, I would have a certain security (although I doubt my parents would allow me to just loaf while they paid all my bills, dammit!). Yes, I would know where things were, how to get to the grocery store and stuff.
But I would also know other things: When I lived in Texas, I always had trouble finding a decent job. I also never really found anyone there who was right for me -- the longest relationship I had was less than three years until I was with Kat (who wasn't from Texas). If I were to go back, it would be like going backwards in my life. I don't want that.
And so I just keep hoping--hoping I'll get a job, hoping I'll find some nice people to hang out with, hoping that things will work out for the best. They always have.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Planning ahead
The way Matty tells it, I’m already going to have a girlfriend when we move to California: Iron Chef contestant Jamie Lauren of Absynthe in San Fransisco! He and Christine have eaten there a couple of times and both times got to talk with Jamie and mentioned me, and Matty told me this past weekend that Christine ate there and once again mentioned little old me!
It’s good to know these things in advance, you know?
It’s good to know these things in advance, you know?
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
The road ahead: I-80
This will be my first post about my researching into just what attractions are there along Interstate 80, our proposed route to California. I’m guessing I’ll just divide up the posts by state, although I probably won’t do one for Utah, as I’m scared shitless to even drive through that crazy state. Why, you ask? Read this book. You’ll understand.
So I googled “guide to Interstate 80 attractions” and got this site. “Stellar,” eh? I’ll be the judge of that, Mr. Chicago Sun-Times.
First warning sign: the article starts out, “it is unlikely to be mistaken for a scenic route.” Oh dear. Well, let’s see… WAIT – it costs money to see this guide!? Now hold on – I am NOT going to pay any money, much less $7.95, to read something that is written like this: “Uncle Otto ('auto,' get it?) is the fictional tour guide for this westward journey - and the apparent alter ego of Parks, who heads Travel Guide Publications, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.” NO. WAY.
Next google link: an entire web site dedicated to interstates! Ike would be so proud.
So it starts off with a cool graphic:
The first low point of my research (besides Uncle Otto): the total distance to San Francisco is about 2800 miles, give or take a few due the fact that we’re not going to SF but instead to Rohnert Park. Oy. The longest road trip I’ve ever taken was State College PA to Fort Worth TX, all done in about 35 hours. That was about 1400 miles. This trip will be TWICE that. Wow.
On the bright side, I’ll have Niblet, Matty, and our interesting friend Matt Rupert with me. So there's that.
Okay. So... Ohio. First, the link at the interstate-guide site doesn’t work, so I’m switching to this one. “Mile by mile” – man, doesn’t that already make the trip seem even longer?
Holy crap, this site is so anal-retentive that it actually DOES go mile by mile, exit by exit, with summaries like this for Exit 2:
Junction State Route #49, Access to U.S. Highway #20, Windwood Hollow Golf Course, Community of Berlin, Ohio. South access via State Route #49 to communities of Edon, Ohio - Blakeslee, Ohio - Edgerton, Ohio - Hicksville, Ohio. North to Columbia, Ohio - Nettle Lake, Ohio.
Wow, that’s some excitement there. Okay—I won’t bore you with all that. Let me just skim the list here and see if there’s ANYTHING that stands out….
...campground features showers, flush toilets, a dump station... – oh dear.
...Fort Imagination at Woodlands Park... – something tells me that this place just isn’t as imaginative (or fun) as it sounds.
Exit 110: State Highway #4, Portland Road, Harris Road, Parker Town, Ohio. North to City of Sandusky, Ohio-Port Clinton, Ohio - North access to Erie Sand Barrens S.N.P. South access to communities of Reedtown, Ohio - Attica, Ohio - South to Historic Lyme Village - Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum. – hmmm. Might be some birding opportunities at Erie Sand Barrens SNP! Will have to check this out.
Exit 135: North access to Amherst, Ohio - Vermilion, Ohio - Lorain, Ohio. – Lorain, OH: birthplace of Toni Morrison, the greatest living American writer. Wow. But it’s kinda out of the way. We'll see. It might be worth it to take a photo with a sign like "Welcome to Lorain, birthplace of the greatest living American writer Toni Morrison!" because I'm sure they have such a sign. Why wouldn't they?
Exit 228A: North access to Mosquito Lake State Park Campground. Who would go to a “mosquito” lake?
So I’m guessing that tourism will not be a big player in Ohio. Still, we could stop for the night there, perhaps in a hotel near this Erie Sand Barrens place. Mileage from State College to Erie Sand Barrens SNP: about 300; that means it’s only about five hours’ drive time from here, which doesn’t really make much of a full day of driving. And a google search of this Erie Sand Barrens SNP turns up a whole lotta nothing. Let me hear from ya, Ohio: is Erie Sand Barrens SNP a dump? A cool place? Worth a stop? Full of birds?
If there’s nothing in Ohio, we may need just need to keep going and consider stopping in Indiana for our first night. Which leads me to sing at the top of my hoarse little voice:
Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana
Let me say it once again!
Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana,
That’s the town that knew me when!
God, I love The Music Man.
Okay—Indiana. Back to the mile by mile site: (look alive, people!)
Exit 1: United States Highway #41, Calumet Shopping Center, Community of Munster, Indiana, Community of Maynard, Indiana, Riverside Park, Market Square, Munster Community Park.
Exit 3: Kennedy Avenue, Dowling Park, Homestead Park, Optimist Park, Community of Highland, Indiana. Franklin Avenue, Highland Chamber of Commerce, Highland Library, Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve. -- OOOH Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve! That’s got prairie chickens written all over it, and I really want to see some prairie chickens! Will need to do more research on this as well.
Exit 10B: … Community of Gary, Indiana. If you’d like to have a logical explanation
How I came upon this elegant syncopation,
I can say without a moment of hesitation,
There is just one place that can light my face!
GARY INDIANA...
I love that bit!
Exit 15B: United States Highway #6, State Highway #51, Calumet Prairie Nature Preserve, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Interstate Highway #90, Mock Park. WHOA More prairies and lakeshores! This just might be the place to stop.
Okay—mileage from State College to Gary Indiana, the town that knew me when: 554 miles, an estimated 8 hours and 50 minutes of driving. Holy hand grenade.
Well, if we drove about nine hours, we could stop in Gary (too exhausted to sing at this point) and do the prairie birding stuff in the morning. Because yeah—after driving nine hours, what I REALLY want to do is WAKE UP EARLY.
Don’t look now, but there might be a flaw in this plan. Comments?
So I googled “guide to Interstate 80 attractions” and got this site. “Stellar,” eh? I’ll be the judge of that, Mr. Chicago Sun-Times.
First warning sign: the article starts out, “it is unlikely to be mistaken for a scenic route.” Oh dear. Well, let’s see… WAIT – it costs money to see this guide!? Now hold on – I am NOT going to pay any money, much less $7.95, to read something that is written like this: “Uncle Otto ('auto,' get it?) is the fictional tour guide for this westward journey - and the apparent alter ego of Parks, who heads Travel Guide Publications, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.” NO. WAY.
Next google link: an entire web site dedicated to interstates! Ike would be so proud.
So it starts off with a cool graphic:
Right off the bat I can tell this site isn’t gonna stoop to “Uncle Otto (‘auto,’ get it?)” bullshit, thankfully. Nope, the prose is going to be very dry and information-packed: “Interstate 80 is a major transcontinental corridor connecting California and New York City. From the city of San Francisco to a few miles west of the Hudson River in northern New Jersey, Interstate 80 traverses various terrain and states. Its highest point is located at Sherman Hill Summit in Wyoming between Laramie and Cheyenne at an elevation of 8640 feet. The highest point of Interstate 80 east of the Mississippi is near Milepost 111 in Pennsylvania.”
zzzzzzzzzz*snort* huh?
What? . . . Okay. I’m awake.
I’ve actually passed this sign:
The first low point of my research (besides Uncle Otto): the total distance to San Francisco is about 2800 miles, give or take a few due the fact that we’re not going to SF but instead to Rohnert Park. Oy. The longest road trip I’ve ever taken was State College PA to Fort Worth TX, all done in about 35 hours. That was about 1400 miles. This trip will be TWICE that. Wow.
On the bright side, I’ll have Niblet, Matty, and our interesting friend Matt Rupert with me. So there's that.
Okay. So... Ohio. First, the link at the interstate-guide site doesn’t work, so I’m switching to this one. “Mile by mile” – man, doesn’t that already make the trip seem even longer?
Holy crap, this site is so anal-retentive that it actually DOES go mile by mile, exit by exit, with summaries like this for Exit 2:
Junction State Route #49, Access to U.S. Highway #20, Windwood Hollow Golf Course, Community of Berlin, Ohio. South access via State Route #49 to communities of Edon, Ohio - Blakeslee, Ohio - Edgerton, Ohio - Hicksville, Ohio. North to Columbia, Ohio - Nettle Lake, Ohio.
Wow, that’s some excitement there. Okay—I won’t bore you with all that. Let me just skim the list here and see if there’s ANYTHING that stands out….
...campground features showers, flush toilets, a dump station... – oh dear.
...Fort Imagination at Woodlands Park... – something tells me that this place just isn’t as imaginative (or fun) as it sounds.
Exit 110: State Highway #4, Portland Road, Harris Road, Parker Town, Ohio. North to City of Sandusky, Ohio-Port Clinton, Ohio - North access to Erie Sand Barrens S.N.P. South access to communities of Reedtown, Ohio - Attica, Ohio - South to Historic Lyme Village - Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum. – hmmm. Might be some birding opportunities at Erie Sand Barrens SNP! Will have to check this out.
Exit 135: North access to Amherst, Ohio - Vermilion, Ohio - Lorain, Ohio. – Lorain, OH: birthplace of Toni Morrison, the greatest living American writer. Wow. But it’s kinda out of the way. We'll see. It might be worth it to take a photo with a sign like "Welcome to Lorain, birthplace of the greatest living American writer Toni Morrison!" because I'm sure they have such a sign. Why wouldn't they?
Exit 228A: North access to Mosquito Lake State Park Campground. Who would go to a “mosquito” lake?
So I’m guessing that tourism will not be a big player in Ohio. Still, we could stop for the night there, perhaps in a hotel near this Erie Sand Barrens place. Mileage from State College to Erie Sand Barrens SNP: about 300; that means it’s only about five hours’ drive time from here, which doesn’t really make much of a full day of driving. And a google search of this Erie Sand Barrens SNP turns up a whole lotta nothing. Let me hear from ya, Ohio: is Erie Sand Barrens SNP a dump? A cool place? Worth a stop? Full of birds?
If there’s nothing in Ohio, we may need just need to keep going and consider stopping in Indiana for our first night. Which leads me to sing at the top of my hoarse little voice:
Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana
Let me say it once again!
Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana,
That’s the town that knew me when!
God, I love The Music Man.
Okay—Indiana. Back to the mile by mile site: (look alive, people!)
Exit 1: United States Highway #41, Calumet Shopping Center, Community of Munster, Indiana, Community of Maynard, Indiana, Riverside Park, Market Square, Munster Community Park.
Exit 3: Kennedy Avenue, Dowling Park, Homestead Park, Optimist Park, Community of Highland, Indiana. Franklin Avenue, Highland Chamber of Commerce, Highland Library, Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve. -- OOOH Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve! That’s got prairie chickens written all over it, and I really want to see some prairie chickens! Will need to do more research on this as well.
Exit 10B: … Community of Gary, Indiana. If you’d like to have a logical explanation
How I came upon this elegant syncopation,
I can say without a moment of hesitation,
There is just one place that can light my face!
GARY INDIANA...
I love that bit!
Exit 15B: United States Highway #6, State Highway #51, Calumet Prairie Nature Preserve, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Interstate Highway #90, Mock Park. WHOA More prairies and lakeshores! This just might be the place to stop.
Okay—mileage from State College to Gary Indiana, the town that knew me when: 554 miles, an estimated 8 hours and 50 minutes of driving. Holy hand grenade.
Well, if we drove about nine hours, we could stop in Gary (too exhausted to sing at this point) and do the prairie birding stuff in the morning. Because yeah—after driving nine hours, what I REALLY want to do is WAKE UP EARLY.
Don’t look now, but there might be a flaw in this plan. Comments?
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