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You know I never discuss female thermodynamics - Lou; Rescue Me

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The WORD of the Week

Matthew 3:7-10

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Stupid Fact of the Week

There was only one civilian casualty during the three-day Battle of Gettysburg

06 May, 2007

Travel Journal: Day Three (the final)

Gallup, NM to Pasadena, CA

Having travelled over 1800 miles in two days, leaving a mere 639 for the final leg, I allowed myself to sleep in until 7:30 local time.

I took a nice, long, hot bath. It was nice... and long... and hot.

I cleaned myself up as much as is possible, and readied myself for the drive.

I moved my overnight bag, my laptop case, and my travel food over to the door so they would not be forgotten. You'll notice I didn't say "my cool, comfy, little, husk(or some such thing but I can't remember exactly what, so I say husk)-filled pillow," as I would discover upon unpacking (a few minutes ago) that this was indeed forgotten at the wonderful Red Roof Inn on Route 66 in (West) Gallup, NM.

I, seeking to be energy efficient, turned off all of the (fluorescent) lights in the room, saving for last, of course, the furthest from the door.

It was pitch black in the room now, as I had not, at any point that (this) morning, opened the blinds.

I should have opened the blinds, I said to myself as I stumbled toward the door.

Yes, I should have.

I made it to the door and opened it. It was snowing.

Snowing. In May. In New Mexico. In May.

And there I was, in the doorway observing this amazing event, dumbstruck, wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals.

At any rate (and the room was about 45 bucks thanks to AAA), I got on the road and an hour later the snow had changed to drizzle with random flurries, and 30 minutes after that it stopped all together.

---

Arizona had a 75 minute speed limit, which was nice, except for when there was a "construction zone" and you had to slow down to... anyone? anyone?.... yes, you in the back. Yes, that's correct. 35mph.

And I use quotation marks because of the following data:
- number of "Construction Zones" seen/driven thru during trip: 1.6 gazillion (slight exaggeration)
- number of construction workers working/pieces of construction equipment functioning within these "Construction Zones": ZERO (no exaggeration)

Oftentimes the only thing Construction-y about the zone would be orange cones ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD or IN THE MEDIAN... yes... thereby... NOT BLOCKING ANY TRAVEL LANES.

As for Cali...

Woof.

For the first two or three hundred miles there was more nothing than Texas, NM, and 'Zona put together...

There wouldn't be anything - no cows, no power lines, no trees, no nothing, no chainsaw-wielding madmen - for about 50-60 miles, and then you'd get one exit with one gas station, charging how much for regular unleaded?... anyone? anyone?

3.75/gal

Plus, I-40 turned into a parking lot 20 miles or so outside of Barstow, which made me feel even better about getting a late, snowy start to the day. But then a medical chopper took off not too far down the road, and minutes later we were moving again, and after passing the scene of a not-to-pleasant accident, parking the car for a while on the interstate didn't seem like too much of a downer.

Musically:
The "O's" finished out rather quickly, and Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto no. 3" played loudly as the precipitation subsided.
The "T's" kept me company while I was parked on I-40.
However, I failed to make it through the entire alphabet as "Wish You Were Here" was the last song to play before I turned off of the 210 into Pasadena.

p.s. - I am still getting accustomed to this whole time zone thing, so as I look to close out this days entry at 8:23, I am only now realizing it is almost midnight on the east coast. But it isn't midnight yet, so I still got it in. Sleep tight.

posted by Rockel @ 7:42 PM

2 Comments:

At 7/5/07 6:21 PM, Anonymous said…

Hey bro, glad to hear the update... glad you made it there safe and ticket free... keep it rollin' and remember, especially in cali...
If it sounds to good to be true it probably is... unless it is!
At 8/5/07 1:47 PM, Anonymous said…

Did you call the hotel and ask them if they found your pillow? They should be able to send it to you if they found it.
:)

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Lyrics of the Week

ON THE NICKEL
by Tom Waits

("I'd like to do a new song here. This is eh, it's about downtown Los Angeles on 5th Street. And eh all the winos affectionately refer to it as The Nickel. So this is kind of a hobo's lullaby.")

sticks and stones will break my bones,
but i always will be true, and when
your mama is dead and gone,
i'll sing this lullabye just for you,
and what becomes of all the little boys,
who never comb their hair,
well they're lined up all around the block,
on the nickel over there.

so you better bring a bucket,
there is a hole in the pail,
and if you don't get my letter,
then you'll know that i'm in jail,
and what becomes of all the little boys,
who never say their prayers,
well they're sleepin' like a baby,
on the nickel over there.

and if you chew tobacco, and wish upon a star,
well you'll find out where the scarecrows sit,
just like punchlines between the cars,
and i know a place where a royal flush,
can never beat a pair, and even thomas jefferson,
is on the nickel over there.

so ring around the rosie, you're sleepin' in the rain,
and you're always late for supper,
and man you let me down again,
i thought i heard a mockingbird, roosevelt knows where,
you can skip the light, with grady tuck,
on the nickel over there.

so what becomes of all the little boys,
who run away from home,
well the world just keeps gettin' bigger,
once you get out on your own,
so here's to all the little boys,
the sandman takes you where,
you'll be sleepin' with a pillowman,
on the nickel over there.

so let's climb up through that button hole,
and we'll fall right up the stairs,
and i'll show you where the short dogs grow,
on the nickel over there.