which is worse - messing with Texas or the Sasquatch?

Current Mood:  frankly, a bit confused

With the caveat that I haven't really gone off the main roads (from the northwest corner to Dallas/Ft. Worth, Austin, then San Antonio), here are some thoughts about Texas so far:

-In my experience, everything isn't bigger in Texas.  I've seen smart cars, green fueling stations, and eco-houses.  Buildings are normal sizes, portion sizes are the same, and the roads are large in big cities, just like anywhere else.
-The state, however, is enormous.  Things are far apart in Texas, because you could fit most of the Midwest in here.
-After Hispanic, I think the most populous minority I've seen here is Czechoslovakian.  Did not see that one coming.  Props to the Czechs out there with billboards like "Check in at the Czech Inn" and "Czech and Loan".
-I wonder how the Dallas Zoo stacks up to, say, a world class zoo like Cincy's.
-Warm.  Hot, actually, to me, but I've been told by reputable sources that I ain't seen nothin' yet (dun dunnn, b-b-baby I ain't seen nothin' yet).  Probably less humid than Indiana, but it's no Colorado.  Also the weather has been messing with my sinuses something fierce.  I've been told I'll get used to it, but I forsee an uphill battle with that one.  I'm allowed to wear shorts to work, thank god.
-I saw a billboard advertising a show by Clint Black.  Couldn't tell you what he sounds like, but I know he was in Maverick.
-I cannot get used to an area that lives in perpetual summer.  Some of the rest stops here are open air bathrooms, like at a campground.  The roads - oh, the roads - there's stuff on all of them, little raised bumps and reflectors and knobs that would get destroyed by a snowplow, plus the drainage slopes and runoff drains are way different [I took a road design course at school, okay?  cut me some slack]. 
-This Dallas building ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infomart ) was based on this building ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Palace ).  They may look the same, but boy does the original sound a whole lot classier.
-I saw a hotel proudly advertising an "indoor heated swimming pool".  WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE??
-Thankfully, my fears that everybody would be speaking with a deep southern accent and I wouldn't be able to understand them have not come true.
-Texarkana is both a region AND a city, much to my chagrin.
-Colorado has King Soopers, Texas has Tom Thumb.  Strange, strange world.
-I returned my car to DFW airport and got seriously lost.  Not a pleasant experience, and it may take some time before I'm comfortable driving there again.
-Texas roads have these tiny little exit ramps on the left side of the road.  Normally, this would not be a problem, as we have left side exits in Ohio sometimes.  It becomes a problem when I don't know where I'm going, so I drive a normal speed like 70 mph, and to avoid upsetting people going 90, I drive in the right hand lane.  Then my GPS says "keep left", which I always assumed to mean "ahead, there will be a choice, and you want to take the one that is not on the right" but apparently is code for "go left right now, seriously, do it".  Now I'm forced to either ignore my directions and get lost, or force my way into a much faster and aggressive stream of traffic just to immediately dive off the road and screech to a halt, because the tiny exit is completely full of cars.
-Very glad I did not try to drive down here in a car without A/C.

-New burgers! 
Jack in the Box: okay, a little too big
In and Out Burger:  delicious, would eat again
Whataburger:  TBD

I remember as a kid driving to Florida on a family vacation.  When we reached the state line, I was extremely disappointed to learn that it looked a lot like the highways of Alabama, that is to say a divided freeway with a grass median and deciduous trees on either side.  I was expecting a literal line of sand, palm trees, perhaps a hammock with a crab wearing sunglasses and holding a Corona.  Or maybe orange juice.

Apparently my notions of US geography and climate are entirely founded on a very simple puzzle I worked ad nauseum at my grandmother's house.  Y'know the one, where Idaho's entire identity is a giant potato, and Maine is a lobster, and I'm pretty sure both Dakotas are Mt. Rushmore.

Another example - when I went to Seattle, and it didn't rain, I was pissed.  That's like... the Seattle thing.  It didn't feel right until we got soaked.

What the hell does this all have to do with Texas?  Well, when we got to the state line of Texas I expected sprawling ranches of cowboys driving longhorn steer around.  I expected giant cities full of gleaming neon signs of boots with spurs.  I expected every gal to have giant blonde hair and say "y'all" (I actually have met a few of them, actually, but not enough to fit my world view) and every man to look like Clint Eastwood.  I expected everything to be a brown desert, with cacti and tumbleweeds and saloons.

I know it's not football season, but I would have thought that after a week here, I would've seen more than ONE Cowboys jersey (thank you, mail room guy).

Am I missing something?  Do I need to go to like, Amarillo?  Lubbock?  Odessa?  A movie set?  I am craving the Texas experience, and so far, this place looks like Dayton, OH.*

So far, Texas, I am disappoint.





*not really a compliment

A Limited Window

Current Mood: I remember it!

We'd finally gotten to San Antonio, where Airman Bradley had been enlisted in the Air Force since early February.  I narrowly missed seeing his graduation from Basic Training due to my class schedule and the expense of flying (I contemplated driving, what an awful idea that would have been).  Then he started Tech School there, and we found out afterward he'd be leaving to go to Germany for his job!  My visit to Texas for my internship happened to provide the perfect opportunity for me to see him for possibly the only time before he left!

I was so happy to see him when we finally arrived - in part because it was the end of the trip, but also because doggone it I missed him pretty bad!  For a day and a half we enjoyed San Antonio - stayed in a hotel to get him off base.  We ate barbeque, we swam in the hotel pool, we had some drinks, and he told us hours of stories about military life and Basic shenanigans.  I really loved hearing his stories - he's got a little different demeanor after enlisting, but especially hearing him tell jokes about the little screwups and victories, it really felt like he was still my brother.  He did awesome at Basic, if you're wondering - I'm super proud of him.

We toured his base - got to see the areas I'd seen in pictures where he did PT, took test, trained with his rifle, things like that.  Saw the parade grounds, Airman's Run area, even some static planes on display (although when you've seen WPAFB...nothing compares!).  Brad insisted that seeing his dorm buildings was no big deal, but our family has always had a thing about seeing where people live and work- I know it helps me picture that person living there and being happy.  We also got go to a cool Base Exchange (BX) store and check out some military gear.  The whole time Bradley shared some little bits of military lingo... I couldn't always remember it all, but I think it's super neat.

We explored San Antonio a little bit.  We saw the outside of The Alamo (apparently it closes at like, 4?) and I saw enough of the plaques outside to move on.  Kinda...underwhelming?  Didn't help that it was sandwiched between giant skyscrapers - I felt like that detracted from the historical aspect.  Anyway, we went down to the Riverwalk.  I got another bent penny for my collection, and then we waited a bit to take a boat tour.  The tour was great!  A good mix of things to learn, like how I had completely forgotten that Miss Congeniality takes place there.

Nabbed a sweet riverside table at a mexican restaurant in part because the waiter liked Brad's Reds hat!  His favorite player was Joe Morgan of the Big Red Machine.  We had dinner and people watched for a bit, and we waited hours for the christmas lights strung ALL over to light up...nothing! 

The end of the visit was bittersweet.  Bradley and I were pretty businesslike, but mom cried a lot (as moms are both wont and allowed to do). I don't know when I'll see him next, but I bet he'll be a little more grown up and a lot more worldly!

The next day I dropped mom off at the San Antonio airport (she had an awful trip home, with delays and hours and hours of flights/airport waits - thanks for going with me, mom!) and drove 4 hours back to Dallas.  After being surrounded by family for about 3 straight days, it was a lonely drive.  SICK of being in the car. 

My apartment check in was surprisingly smooth.  I picked it completely sight unseen, working with an unknown roommate (Nick, also an intern with me) - so I'm glad it played out okay.  Probably my only complaint was that I couldn't show proof of income [my internship was still 3 days from starting at this point], so the company insists on holding a massive extra deposit while I'm here.  I will make enough money to cover it just fine...over the course of the 3 months I'm working!  Cash flow priorities, for sure.

Moved my stuff in - place is nice, probably somewhere between my current place and our last one.  Big, and especially with my meager offerings, feels very empty.  Still, it's in a nice area, has central air [does any place in this heat scorched landscape not have central air?], a pool in the complex, isn't too far from work, and is close to food and groceries and stuff.

Picked up roommate from the airport on Monday with my rental car.  We went to some stores and bought some essentials, but as my "you stupid idiot, how could you forget _____" list indicates, there remains some items to be had.  For the most part, I've tried to lay low, beat the heat, not spend a lot of money by going out, and get ready for my internship!

Highway Companion

Current Mood: as if there were few, if any, limitations on my current situation

A week ago today I left to drive down to Texas for my internship.  I'll write more about that soon, but first I wanted to share some thoughts about my big trip to the Lone Star State.

I had originally planned to leave Wednesday morning.  When I went to pick up my rental car Tuesday afternoon with my friend Taylor, the rental car company gave me all sorts of hassle - wanted a credit card not a debit card (noted), didn't like my insurance, and balked at the idea that somebody would rent a car for 91 days.  Yes, guy at the counter, I need it to get there, to work, to the store, to place and people and things, and then to come home.  He said if I wasn't being backed by a corporate insurer, the required insurance would almost double the price, placing the already probably out of my price range into "and monkeys might fly out of my butt" range.  So...lovely.

We settled on a one week rental, enough time for me to get where I was going and then get set up, before I had to return it.  Once we worked out the details and I explained my plight, the rental company actually cut me a deal, so I managed to get my car early Thursday.  Taylor was once again my driver, and I had packed out what I felt was a balance between the absolute bare minimum (basically living out of a suitcase) and backups and extra things for every contingency (what if there's a chilly evening?  flannel lined pants!).  Had to leave room for other passengers, though.

Got a really nice silver Toyota Corolla, with about 2400 miles on it - practically a preemie for that brand.  Also, air conditioning!  (something Jenny and my car does not currently have).  So I took off from Indy to Cincy.  Stopped for some Gold Star before trailing mom to the Louisville airport, where she would later fly home to.  Everything was goin' smooth, weather was great, I was good to go.

Then mom takes over the driving, and we drove to Nashville, then to Memphis.  Hit some bad stretches of traffic (including one freaky stop where the other side of the highway was completely empty and a single police cruiser started driving against the flow on our side...combined with the setting sun and the scenery, was very The Walking Dead).  Stopped for dinner at the Crack B, then made it all the way to just outside of Little Rock.  Stopped at an okay hotel, then zonked out.

Back up again early.  Continental breakfast, then we were on the road by 7:30am.  Got to Texas (finally) around 10:00am.  Ate Jack in the Box for the first time.  By this point mom and I had basically run out of things to talk about, and we were rockin' out pretty hard to Warrant, Firehouse, Cinderella, stuff like that.  Also, it wasn't boredom that got to me, it was the soreness in my back.  We finally got to Dallas...and then continued on to San Antonio to see Bradley.

Austin traffic was awful.  The whole drive, though, mom and I planned our stops very well - she drove fast enough that the GPS time saved "paid" for our stops, and we combined food, stretches, and gas at each break.  We hit more traffic in San Antonio and I was about ready to claw my way out of the car.  We finally, FINALLY got to Bradley's Air Force Base at about 5:40pm, not long after he'd gotten out of class for the day.  Despite the delay at the rental car station, mom and I managed to cover 1,400 miles in about 25 driving hours (about 34 real time hours).  Not bad!  Not something I'm looking forward to doing again in August at the end of my internship, for sure.  At least I have a few months to worry about that - plus I'd need to find another car, and maybe another driving partner.

some kind of Purdue rodeo

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: "I'm Free" by The Who

It's dead week (week before finals), so I either will blog a lot or next to none in the immediate future.

Walking home from class today, I passed through the parking garage and at a glance saw a PT Cruiser with the designation "Touring Edition", whatever the fuck that means.*

However, my initial thought was that I'd read "Turing Edition", and the implications of such a car continue to boggle my mind. A GMUTM? Perhaps a talking car capable of convincing us we're speaking with a human?












*Moments after typing that sentence, curiosity got the best of me. Touring? What, exactly, are you touring? It just sounds like a pretentious name the dealer slaps on the vehicle so you feel smug and he charges more money. Anyway, after scouring the web (thank you Google and Wikipedia, and to a lesser extent, the Chrysler website) I've come up with these key differences between PTs:

Default PT: 15 inch wheel diameter

Touring Edition: 16 inch wheel diameter

Price difference: $16,250 - $13,905 = $2,345

Seriously. That's the only difference here. Same dimensions, mileage, weights, towing capacity, and so on.

See for yourself
[gray left column, select "Specs & Options", then "PT Cruiser" and "Touring" in the drop down boxes]