Wednesday, December 31, 2008
It's Always Longer Coming Back
Fortunately, we had no incidents with the local constables on the way home. What we did experiences, though, was more about how seedy Louisiana is and how freaking long a trip this is.
We left NJ at 3 PM on Monday, knowing we wouldn't have a real long day of travel. We made it to Roanoke, VA by about 10:30 PM and decided that was a good place to stop for the night. It also meant we had a hell of a lot left to go -- when you look at a map, NJ to Roanoke looks like you've barely left.
I set the alarm for 6 AM and hoped to hit the road by 7, which is 6 central time. I did this because by the time I went to sleep I had it in my head that we could get home in one more day, rather than having to stop a second time.
Well, we awoke at 7:20. Whoops.
In the end, we were on the road about 8:30, Eastern Time. And we plowed ahead. The rest of Virginia, then into Tennessee, touching the corner of Georgia and then on into Alabama.
Alabama's a big state. And so is Mississippi.
I drove until about 3 PM and finally needed to be relieved and so my darling wife took over. I tried to rest my eyes but didn't sleep much. Truthfully, though, even being awake but riding shotgun is better for you because you're not using your brain as much as when you're driving and making however-many decisions-per-second.
Lovely Wife finally ran out of steam after about 350 miles, in which she drove us through most of out Alabama portion and all of Mississippi. After seeing the "Bienvenue a Louisiana!" sign, we found a seedy place to stop (there's no other kind in Louisiana, it turns out) and switched. Maya got to take a walk in a dark, murky field next to the gas station that had bottles and old car engine parts strewn about it. Lovely. And every person who walked past the car my wife was waiting in looked sketchier than the last. Time to go.
So at this point we had about 400 miles left. Seems reasonable when you're on a 1700 mile journey (or, 3700 miles, if you count the miles driven since we'd left Houston). I was ready to roll. We got some dinner and I had my first energy drink ever. Full Throttle, I think it was called. I had no idea if it was going to have some effect, no effect or make me go clinically insane.
I felt okay for a while and we talked to friends on the phone for more than 100 miles. But those last 200 or so were brutal.
The good news is we got home to our beds (at about 1:30 AM Central) and were able to sleep at our own house and wake up on New Year's Eve at home without more travel ahead of us, and I think that was worth the 18 hour day in the car.
In total, we left Houston the morning of 12/20 and:
-Used ten tanks of fuel
-Drove 3700 miles
-Got one speeding ticket (thanks, Virginia)
-Celebrated Christmas
-Introduced Maya to snow (she's not a fan; clearly a Texas dog)
-Brought Maya to seven new homes she'd never peed in
-Set up my parents' home computer network (they're amazed by wireless Internet and video chatting blew their minds)
We also saw more than thirty different state/province/gov't license plates on our trip, but I don't care to list them here.
Home sweet home.
We left NJ at 3 PM on Monday, knowing we wouldn't have a real long day of travel. We made it to Roanoke, VA by about 10:30 PM and decided that was a good place to stop for the night. It also meant we had a hell of a lot left to go -- when you look at a map, NJ to Roanoke looks like you've barely left.
I set the alarm for 6 AM and hoped to hit the road by 7, which is 6 central time. I did this because by the time I went to sleep I had it in my head that we could get home in one more day, rather than having to stop a second time.
Well, we awoke at 7:20. Whoops.
In the end, we were on the road about 8:30, Eastern Time. And we plowed ahead. The rest of Virginia, then into Tennessee, touching the corner of Georgia and then on into Alabama.
Alabama's a big state. And so is Mississippi.
I drove until about 3 PM and finally needed to be relieved and so my darling wife took over. I tried to rest my eyes but didn't sleep much. Truthfully, though, even being awake but riding shotgun is better for you because you're not using your brain as much as when you're driving and making however-many decisions-per-second.
Lovely Wife finally ran out of steam after about 350 miles, in which she drove us through most of out Alabama portion and all of Mississippi. After seeing the "Bienvenue a Louisiana!" sign, we found a seedy place to stop (there's no other kind in Louisiana, it turns out) and switched. Maya got to take a walk in a dark, murky field next to the gas station that had bottles and old car engine parts strewn about it. Lovely. And every person who walked past the car my wife was waiting in looked sketchier than the last. Time to go.
So at this point we had about 400 miles left. Seems reasonable when you're on a 1700 mile journey (or, 3700 miles, if you count the miles driven since we'd left Houston). I was ready to roll. We got some dinner and I had my first energy drink ever. Full Throttle, I think it was called. I had no idea if it was going to have some effect, no effect or make me go clinically insane.
I felt okay for a while and we talked to friends on the phone for more than 100 miles. But those last 200 or so were brutal.
The good news is we got home to our beds (at about 1:30 AM Central) and were able to sleep at our own house and wake up on New Year's Eve at home without more travel ahead of us, and I think that was worth the 18 hour day in the car.
In total, we left Houston the morning of 12/20 and:
-Used ten tanks of fuel
-Drove 3700 miles
-Got one speeding ticket (thanks, Virginia)
-Celebrated Christmas
-Introduced Maya to snow (she's not a fan; clearly a Texas dog)
-Brought Maya to seven new homes she'd never peed in
-Set up my parents' home computer network (they're amazed by wireless Internet and video chatting blew their minds)
We also saw more than thirty different state/province/gov't license plates on our trip, but I don't care to list them here.
Home sweet home.
Labels: driving to Tejas, Houston, Merry Christmas, on the road again
Monday, December 22, 2008
Nearly Unscathed
We completed the bulk of our journey to the Northeast last night, pulling into Virginia at about 6:30 PM, Eastern.
Over 1400 miles to get here, and throughout the Southern states, the nice thing was the posted 70 MPH limit and the lack of traffic. The roads were largely empty as we cruised through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. In Virginia, things got a little more hairy as the traffic thickened, but was still moving.
At about mile 1450 of 1457, I was on our last stretch of Interstate highway, I-66 approaching Washington, DC, where radar detectors are illegal. Of course, they're illegal in all of Virginia, which means when we entered the state from the Southwest corner, the trusty detector was taken down and put away. No need to chance a fine for using one.
Anyway, as we were approximately five miles from the exit into the neighborhood we needed to wind up at, I evidently blew right past a Virginia state trooper who was sitting in the darkness of the median. He came out, chased me down and, as he approached, I said to my wife, "Gosh, I hope he's not coming for me."
He was.
I looked down as he approached and I was doing about 70 MPH. I really wasn't sure of the limit, though I-66 is a four or five lane wide highway and most of the highway time in Virginia had been at a 65 limit. So maybe I was going a little fast, but at least it wasn't super-high.
He came up and was very polite and seemed pretty relaxed. I gave him my info and he asked if I knew what the limit was.
"Ummm, 65?"
"No, sir, it's 60 here."
Well, shit.
"Did you have any idea of your speed at all?"
He made it sound like I was doing 120 MPH.
"Well, I just said to my wife that as you approached, I looked down and I was doing 70 MPH."
"No," he replied, "You were doing 79 MPH.... all by yourself."
All by myself? As opposed to what? Drafting off of someone else?
"Any particular reason you're going that fast?"
Um, the fact that all the traffic is? The fact that 79 MPH on a wide highway isn't very fast? Because my car can do it? Because I wasn't doing 89? Any of these are legit in my opinion. But I went with: "Well, we're about 1400 miles into a 1450 mile trip." (It was actually closer to the end than that, but I was thinking as quick as I could.)
He then asked me if my record in Texas was clean and I said it definitely was. He had me wait that long time where you know he's doing more than just checking your record. When he came back to the window, he had a ticket for the full 79 in a 60 and a lecture, wherein he reiterated no less than 3 or 4 times that I was one MPH away from it being 20 over, which is automatically reckless driving in Virginia. And, to top that off, would have meant I would be required to come back to Virginia to go to court. Yeah, like hell, Smokey.
Like I said, he kept telling me that.... to the point where you almost want to say, "Yes, but it wasn't one more MPH, so give it a rest."
I also wanted to ask him why he asked me if my record was clean in Texas -- if you're going to write me for the full ticket anyway, with no break at all, then just go do it. I resisted asking that because it would probably do me no good, but I couldn't resist essentially making him admit it was a speed trap.
"Hey," I asked, "Is it 60 MPH all along I-66 here?"
"No, it was 65 back a mile or two and then it dropped to 60 and now it'll drop even more up ahead."
"Oh, okay."
Yes, so you basically sit right there where it drops to 60 MPH, an oddball limit, and pick people off who might be doing 80 leftover from the 65 and 70 zones further south.... and when they're doing 80, you get to not only give them a hefty ticket, but you get to tag them with an asinine "reckless driving" summons. Great work, Virginia.
Over 1400 miles to get here, and throughout the Southern states, the nice thing was the posted 70 MPH limit and the lack of traffic. The roads were largely empty as we cruised through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. In Virginia, things got a little more hairy as the traffic thickened, but was still moving.
At about mile 1450 of 1457, I was on our last stretch of Interstate highway, I-66 approaching Washington, DC, where radar detectors are illegal. Of course, they're illegal in all of Virginia, which means when we entered the state from the Southwest corner, the trusty detector was taken down and put away. No need to chance a fine for using one.
Anyway, as we were approximately five miles from the exit into the neighborhood we needed to wind up at, I evidently blew right past a Virginia state trooper who was sitting in the darkness of the median. He came out, chased me down and, as he approached, I said to my wife, "Gosh, I hope he's not coming for me."
He was.
I looked down as he approached and I was doing about 70 MPH. I really wasn't sure of the limit, though I-66 is a four or five lane wide highway and most of the highway time in Virginia had been at a 65 limit. So maybe I was going a little fast, but at least it wasn't super-high.
He came up and was very polite and seemed pretty relaxed. I gave him my info and he asked if I knew what the limit was.
"Ummm, 65?"
"No, sir, it's 60 here."
Well, shit.
"Did you have any idea of your speed at all?"
He made it sound like I was doing 120 MPH.
"Well, I just said to my wife that as you approached, I looked down and I was doing 70 MPH."
"No," he replied, "You were doing 79 MPH.... all by yourself."
All by myself? As opposed to what? Drafting off of someone else?
"Any particular reason you're going that fast?"
Um, the fact that all the traffic is? The fact that 79 MPH on a wide highway isn't very fast? Because my car can do it? Because I wasn't doing 89? Any of these are legit in my opinion. But I went with: "Well, we're about 1400 miles into a 1450 mile trip." (It was actually closer to the end than that, but I was thinking as quick as I could.)
He then asked me if my record in Texas was clean and I said it definitely was. He had me wait that long time where you know he's doing more than just checking your record. When he came back to the window, he had a ticket for the full 79 in a 60 and a lecture, wherein he reiterated no less than 3 or 4 times that I was one MPH away from it being 20 over, which is automatically reckless driving in Virginia. And, to top that off, would have meant I would be required to come back to Virginia to go to court. Yeah, like hell, Smokey.
Like I said, he kept telling me that.... to the point where you almost want to say, "Yes, but it wasn't one more MPH, so give it a rest."
I also wanted to ask him why he asked me if my record was clean in Texas -- if you're going to write me for the full ticket anyway, with no break at all, then just go do it. I resisted asking that because it would probably do me no good, but I couldn't resist essentially making him admit it was a speed trap.
"Hey," I asked, "Is it 60 MPH all along I-66 here?"
"No, it was 65 back a mile or two and then it dropped to 60 and now it'll drop even more up ahead."
"Oh, okay."
Yes, so you basically sit right there where it drops to 60 MPH, an oddball limit, and pick people off who might be doing 80 leftover from the 65 and 70 zones further south.... and when they're doing 80, you get to not only give them a hefty ticket, but you get to tag them with an asinine "reckless driving" summons. Great work, Virginia.
Labels: on the road again, speeding, traveling
Friday, December 19, 2008
Take Your Time
This week I decided to bring the Acura in for a once-over at the Carmax service department (I have a warranty through them so why not check them out?). I've had the car since January and have put 18,000 miles on it but have done nothing but change the oil. No tire rotations, no tune-ups, etc.
So I brought it in and asked for those two things, plus a check of my brakes. I never like to ask for this because I always think they think "ch-ching" when you talk about brakes. So I said I felt a "slight" pulsing when braking hard. In actuality, the car was like the one Fletch drives in Fletch Lives -- "If you want to stop, you have to plan ahead."
I dropped it off Monday night with the help of my lovely wife and they had me scheduled for an 8:30 am appt, meaning they'd get to work on it right away so I could pick it up that night.
The Carmax guy, whose name I'll magnanimously withhold (let's just say it rhymes with "Freg") calls me up early because he needs my address. Are you shipping me the car?
"I bought this car from you guys," I tell him.
"Yeah, but departments don't talk to each other," he tells me."
Great, so I give him my address and he proceeds to tell me HOW they're going to test the brakes. Terrific, pal, I don't care.
He calls me back a little while later to say that yes, indeed, I do need new front pads and rotors, of course. But the rears are fine. The price is actually reasonable so I say fine, go for it.
He calls me back in the early afternoon to tell me that while working on the car, they discovered a valve was leaking. How they discovered this when working on brakes and tire rotations, I don't know.
He proceeds to tell me that the good news is it's covered under my warranty and do I want to fix it. I asked him if anyone's ever said, "No, don't bother fixing it even though it's covered. I'll take my chances." We have a laugh and we're buddies.
Day goes by and I never get another call. My friend from work takes me down to the Carmax, we walk it at about 5:45 (they close service dept at 6) and I ask for my car. His response?
"Are you gonna need this car tonight?"
No, I was just here to see how you were doing, Freg.
"Uh, yeah, that's why I'm here."
"Well, the part for the valve won't be in until the morning," he tells me.
"Didn't you get like ten calls today describing every single step?" my now-irritated friend asks.
Freg then offers to let me take the car and bring it back once the part is in. Which is in the morning. Why would I do that?
He then says there's another option.
"I take your car home?" I ask.
Instead, he offers me the option to rent a car, which I initially scoff at. Then he tells me it would be covered under my warranty. So I perk up. Then he tells me that I can't get the rental car at Carmax and so I'd have to get a ride to the rental car place and then, of course, have help from someone to drop it off. So I scoff again.
He helpfully tells me it will be done in the morning. How early, I ask, thinking my wife can drive me there in the AM and I can get it.
"Oh... maybe 10:30."
Not convenient.
"The guy who is working on it gets in around 9...."
I don't care.
And as my friend then said to me, "He won't begin working at 9 -- he's got to eat his bagel and have his coffee first!"
So I leave and basically have now disrupted my day, my friend's day and my wife's day (normally I take her to work) all for nothing.
The good news is the car was actually done the next day and was immaculate. I mean, my hiney was sliding off the leather seats they were so clean and shiny. Of course, we'll now trash it over the next two weeks, but it sure was nice to get into a car so clean it looked like it was out of the showroom.
So I brought it in and asked for those two things, plus a check of my brakes. I never like to ask for this because I always think they think "ch-ching" when you talk about brakes. So I said I felt a "slight" pulsing when braking hard. In actuality, the car was like the one Fletch drives in Fletch Lives -- "If you want to stop, you have to plan ahead."
I dropped it off Monday night with the help of my lovely wife and they had me scheduled for an 8:30 am appt, meaning they'd get to work on it right away so I could pick it up that night.
The Carmax guy, whose name I'll magnanimously withhold (let's just say it rhymes with "Freg") calls me up early because he needs my address. Are you shipping me the car?
"I bought this car from you guys," I tell him.
"Yeah, but departments don't talk to each other," he tells me."
Great, so I give him my address and he proceeds to tell me HOW they're going to test the brakes. Terrific, pal, I don't care.
He calls me back a little while later to say that yes, indeed, I do need new front pads and rotors, of course. But the rears are fine. The price is actually reasonable so I say fine, go for it.
He calls me back in the early afternoon to tell me that while working on the car, they discovered a valve was leaking. How they discovered this when working on brakes and tire rotations, I don't know.
He proceeds to tell me that the good news is it's covered under my warranty and do I want to fix it. I asked him if anyone's ever said, "No, don't bother fixing it even though it's covered. I'll take my chances." We have a laugh and we're buddies.
Day goes by and I never get another call. My friend from work takes me down to the Carmax, we walk it at about 5:45 (they close service dept at 6) and I ask for my car. His response?
"Are you gonna need this car tonight?"
No, I was just here to see how you were doing, Freg.
"Uh, yeah, that's why I'm here."
"Well, the part for the valve won't be in until the morning," he tells me.
"Didn't you get like ten calls today describing every single step?" my now-irritated friend asks.
Freg then offers to let me take the car and bring it back once the part is in. Which is in the morning. Why would I do that?
He then says there's another option.
"I take your car home?" I ask.
Instead, he offers me the option to rent a car, which I initially scoff at. Then he tells me it would be covered under my warranty. So I perk up. Then he tells me that I can't get the rental car at Carmax and so I'd have to get a ride to the rental car place and then, of course, have help from someone to drop it off. So I scoff again.
He helpfully tells me it will be done in the morning. How early, I ask, thinking my wife can drive me there in the AM and I can get it.
"Oh... maybe 10:30."
Not convenient.
"The guy who is working on it gets in around 9...."
I don't care.
And as my friend then said to me, "He won't begin working at 9 -- he's got to eat his bagel and have his coffee first!"
So I leave and basically have now disrupted my day, my friend's day and my wife's day (normally I take her to work) all for nothing.
The good news is the car was actually done the next day and was immaculate. I mean, my hiney was sliding off the leather seats they were so clean and shiny. Of course, we'll now trash it over the next two weeks, but it sure was nice to get into a car so clean it looked like it was out of the showroom.
Labels: Carmax, Houston, stupidity, things move slower here
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Has NTR Flatlined?
Experts everywhere are asking themselves this question... has NotTheRock finally run its course?
Sure, back when it started in January 2003, it was a good outlet for me. And it was a way that my friends (those who knew about it) could hear my inane ramblings and be mildly entertained by it all.
But since then I've started the sports site Boiled Sports with a couple of friends and it's done really well. Sure, we're not millionaires yet, but I have a good feeling about 2009.
Plus I use Facebook now which, like anything else, will also fade from popularity and I'll abandon it, just like I abandoned the juvenile MySpace (which I only joined when a friend who is OLDER than me pushed me to do it).
Of course, Facebook has my real name on it and so when I bash things or people, I have to deal with the repurcussions. And who wants to be responsible when they slander others? Not me.
And so NTR remains valuable to me in that I can write things here that are about my life and yet are somewhat separated from who I specifically am -- thus, I am really writing to write and not just arrogantly posting updates about my life, as though anyone cares (see my rant about Facebook a couple posts down).
The thing is, I used to post a number of times a week, at least. Going a week without writing was unheard of. Now I go a month at a time. This is simply unacceptable, and I admit it. Those few of you who DID come here regularly did so because you expected at least something to feed your desire to read drivel on a daily (or near-daily) basis. So again, I'm sorry I'm failing you in this way. I have ideas to figure things out and improve the situation but they'll have to wait until after the new year. Until then, you're stuck with my scattershot, poorly distributed approach.
So what has been going on?
Well, our dog is still cute.
We went to Mexico for Thanksgiving. That was rather awesome.
We're driving back to the Northeast for the holiday this year.
Back when we were making our plans for the end of the year, we made the official decision to drive home. When we went up to NJ in July, we probably spent $1200 just on travel. I think our plane tickets were close to $500 each, plus the dog was another $200, plus we had to rent a car to get to the 'rents beach house. I didn't want to spend like this again and travel through two of the busiest airports in the country during Christmas week. With a dog. A dog that really doesn't fit into her travel case anymore. Have you ever tried to put an unwilling dog into a small duffel bag? (A live one.) It's not easy when they don't want to go either a result of fear or obstinance.
So we just said, hey, a road trip will be fun. Note we don't have kids yet. Not that air travel once we have children will be any more appealling. I think that that point, we'll just host all Christmases until our kids are 21 and then we might consider going elsewhere again.
Anyway, we decided to drive home. And then just last week I looked at plane tickets for the dates we're traveling.
I shouldn't have done that.
$258 per person, round trip. Come on.
But at least gas is a hell of a lot cheaper now, too. Even with the cheaper flights, I think gas will only cost about $270 for the whole round trip. Plus we'll have our own car with us for jaunts around the tri-state area.
My Acura has never made this journey before, to my knowledge. If it snows and the traction control has to function, I imagine the car will have another light come on that says, "Are you serious? I'm a Houston car."
So anyway, we're off this Saturday morning. I would love for us to hit the road super-early so that we get a long day of driving in and have a shorter day on Sunday. Sunday our destiation is my sister-in-law's place in Virginia. Then on 12/24 we'll journey up to NJ to spend a few days at my parents' place. Some other visiting in NJ and NY will follow and then we'll hit the road again and head back around the 29th or 30th.
We'll travel east out of Texas into Louisiana and then catch I-59 North, which runs Northeast (how fortuitous!) up diagonally through Alabama and into Tennessee. I hope to get to Tennessee after day one. That would leave us just 500-ish miles to our destination in Virginia. We shall see.
So that's enough rambling for today. See you next month!
Just kidding. Sort of.
Maybe.
Sure, back when it started in January 2003, it was a good outlet for me. And it was a way that my friends (those who knew about it) could hear my inane ramblings and be mildly entertained by it all.
But since then I've started the sports site Boiled Sports with a couple of friends and it's done really well. Sure, we're not millionaires yet, but I have a good feeling about 2009.
Plus I use Facebook now which, like anything else, will also fade from popularity and I'll abandon it, just like I abandoned the juvenile MySpace (which I only joined when a friend who is OLDER than me pushed me to do it).
Of course, Facebook has my real name on it and so when I bash things or people, I have to deal with the repurcussions. And who wants to be responsible when they slander others? Not me.
And so NTR remains valuable to me in that I can write things here that are about my life and yet are somewhat separated from who I specifically am -- thus, I am really writing to write and not just arrogantly posting updates about my life, as though anyone cares (see my rant about Facebook a couple posts down).
The thing is, I used to post a number of times a week, at least. Going a week without writing was unheard of. Now I go a month at a time. This is simply unacceptable, and I admit it. Those few of you who DID come here regularly did so because you expected at least something to feed your desire to read drivel on a daily (or near-daily) basis. So again, I'm sorry I'm failing you in this way. I have ideas to figure things out and improve the situation but they'll have to wait until after the new year. Until then, you're stuck with my scattershot, poorly distributed approach.
So what has been going on?
Well, our dog is still cute.
We went to Mexico for Thanksgiving. That was rather awesome.
We're driving back to the Northeast for the holiday this year.
Back when we were making our plans for the end of the year, we made the official decision to drive home. When we went up to NJ in July, we probably spent $1200 just on travel. I think our plane tickets were close to $500 each, plus the dog was another $200, plus we had to rent a car to get to the 'rents beach house. I didn't want to spend like this again and travel through two of the busiest airports in the country during Christmas week. With a dog. A dog that really doesn't fit into her travel case anymore. Have you ever tried to put an unwilling dog into a small duffel bag? (A live one.) It's not easy when they don't want to go either a result of fear or obstinance.
So we just said, hey, a road trip will be fun. Note we don't have kids yet. Not that air travel once we have children will be any more appealling. I think that that point, we'll just host all Christmases until our kids are 21 and then we might consider going elsewhere again.
Anyway, we decided to drive home. And then just last week I looked at plane tickets for the dates we're traveling.
I shouldn't have done that.
$258 per person, round trip. Come on.
But at least gas is a hell of a lot cheaper now, too. Even with the cheaper flights, I think gas will only cost about $270 for the whole round trip. Plus we'll have our own car with us for jaunts around the tri-state area.
My Acura has never made this journey before, to my knowledge. If it snows and the traction control has to function, I imagine the car will have another light come on that says, "Are you serious? I'm a Houston car."
So anyway, we're off this Saturday morning. I would love for us to hit the road super-early so that we get a long day of driving in and have a shorter day on Sunday. Sunday our destiation is my sister-in-law's place in Virginia. Then on 12/24 we'll journey up to NJ to spend a few days at my parents' place. Some other visiting in NJ and NY will follow and then we'll hit the road again and head back around the 29th or 30th.
We'll travel east out of Texas into Louisiana and then catch I-59 North, which runs Northeast (how fortuitous!) up diagonally through Alabama and into Tennessee. I hope to get to Tennessee after day one. That would leave us just 500-ish miles to our destination in Virginia. We shall see.
So that's enough rambling for today. See you next month!
Just kidding. Sort of.
Maybe.
Labels: holidays, in-laws, married life, Maya, Merry Christmas, on the road again, road trips, traveling
