Priceless

Britney, I can relate

I'm still up in Maryland. I've decided to stay the weekend and make a trip out to D.C. since I'm like 30 mintues away. I'm off tomorrow and will stay there tomorrow night. It's supposed to get down to 19 degrees here tonight. That is freakin cold.

I was talking to some of my class mates today and they mentioned this seafood hole in the wall restaurant that has some really good crab. Apparently, the Baltimore area is known for crabs. Haha, I said CRABS.

Okay, enough of the childish thoughts... CRABS!!!

So, I went searching for this place for dinner tonight. After circling around (damn area has no feeder roads). Once you get on the highway, your on it. Ain't no getting off. I had to travel like eight miles to U-turn around becuase I missed the restaurant the first time. An hour later, I finally arrive at the place. No shit, it was this local hole in the wall. It was also a big hang out for local drunks. They didn't have any room in the non-smoking area and the bar area looked like a really bad night of "Cheers". I kept looking for Shelly Long or Woody, but didn't see either of them.

So, I order the crab cake meal. This thing was no cake. It was more like a crab softball. It was huge. It came with cole slaw and fries. Hhmmm, so far so good. I tried the cole slaw first. My god, that's some good ass cole slaw. Seriously, like the best cole slaw I've ever had in my life. I wanted to bottle it up and take it home with me; it was that good.

The fries were next. Hhmm... they're okay. You really could only do so much with fries. Now on to the Sebastian softball.

Good Lord this can't be food. The heavenly bliss that touched my tongue was like nothing I have ever tasted in my life. I swear I must have left a wet spot in that chair because it was orgasmic. Everyone in the place must have been staring at the "crazy" guy.

I just sat there. I would take a bite and let out this big ass smile. I would mumble something to myself. I honestly don't remember what I was saying or thinking at that moment. My only thought was "Must have more of it in my mouth now". They must have laced it with crack or heroin. It was addictive.

If you're ever in the Baltimore area, you must eat at Gunnie's Seafood. Damn it, I could go for some more of that damn crab right now. It just ain't right, I tell ya.

Damn it, I have this need to shave my head and check into rehab over this damn crab.

Back in my day...

I have no ride out here, but I have found a way to get by. There are restuarants about a mile away and I have walked to them at night for dinner. You know its sad when you get excited to find a shortcut. The only problem is that its covered in snow and ice. That and the big ass twenty foot hill down to the area. Going down was not that bad. Hell, I figure the worst case is fall on my ass and slide down the hill.

Going up, that was a bitch. Now I can finally tell Ashley of my hard life walking up hill in the snow whenever she complains about something. But it cut my trip down to 1/4 of a mile. Not a bad walk at all.

I have to say, the cold weather is quite refreshing. Damn, it's late for me here. Time to get some sleep.

Movies mimicking real life

Don't you hate it when you are taking a class and there is that ONE person that slows the whole class down? This time it's this DBA that must ask some arcane technical question that has nothing to do with the class. Every thirty minutes, it's another damn question. And the mumbling, good lord make it stop. He sounds just like Milton in Office Space. I want to give him a damn red swingline stapler to get him to shut the hell up.

My instructor is funny as hell. I think he's from Chicago (based on his comments), but he looks like leisure suit larry. I was trying to figure out why he sounded so familiar. Then it hit me. He sounded just like Dan Akroyd in The Blues Brothers. I have to pinch myself to keep from laughing at times. That damn song keeps playing in my head when I hear him talk.

Duh nuh na naah na nuh na, duh nuh na naah nah na nuh.

Let it snow, let it snow

Sitting here looking at the snow out my window. The only sucky thing about this trip is the lack of car. I have to taxi everywhere or walk. I'm going to bundle up and head out right now. I need to get something to eat. Surprise, that big ass two inch sandwich just didn't fill me on the plane. I swear the airline food is getting smaller and more pathetic. They don't even give you the whole can of drink anymore. Just the cupful.

"Please mam, can I have another handful of drink?"

Toast to you my dear friends

They say that for each year you get older, you get a year wiser.

Well if that's the case, then I can drink enough to kill off those brain cells. Just about evens everything out.

R.I.P. dear braincells, for you shall be missed.

Boom Chica Boom

I have the loudest upstairs neighbors EVARRR.

They walk and walk, and walk, and walk at all hours of the night. Well, maybe not walk, more like stomp. Don't get me wrong, they are cool as shit. They are just heavy set people with big feet. What do you say to someone like that?

"Yeah, I was watching TV and noticed the ceiling plaster falling on me. I hear tip toeing is in style now."

Here one minute, gone the ...

I'm so dizzy from all this massive amount of chaos in my life right now. I just got back from my trip last week and work was hectic as hell this week. Now, I have to scramble to prepare for another trip. I'm heading to Maryland this weekend for a week. Yeah... perhaps more snow. And real snow this time, not that puny three feet of snow.

I'm still trying to organize my photos from the last trip and setup my flickr account. Damn these non-super human powers of mine. This must be how Clark Kent felt when he gave up his Superman powers.

Are you ready to rumble...

Sing it Lionel Richie

Just got home from work. We had our e-mail server crash at 7:00 AM yesterday morning and we just got it back up.

Oh, "A", you have your work cut out for you...

I am debating on trying to get some sleep or just pushing through the day and doing an all nighter. I'm not even close to tired because we were thinking so hard that my mind is all stimulated.

"Hey baby, can I stimulate you with my mind?"

Oh yeah, I'm still cheesy even with no sleep.

Hello

Daniel's mind is not in right now... If we can ever find that damn thing, we will have it return your call as soon as possible. Please leave a message after the beep.


BEEP

Pimpin fireplace

I want this.

100,000 foot view of trip

Home sweet home.

Executive summary

Four days = 1,860 Miles

Furthest location reached = Albuquerque, New Mexico

Latest Life Accomplishment to Check off list = Visit Roswell, New Mexico (I love me some aliens)

Pictures and more details to follow.

Route 66 - Day Three

Have you ever thought about something for so long, that it was almost a fantasy? This has happened to me several times in my life. Each time, reality popped my bubble hard and fast. I thought the Empire State building was going to be huge. I also thought the Statue of Liberty was going to be this gigantic thing. Nope and nope. I also thought that Hollywood was this glamorous place with movie stars all over the place. Nope. My memory of Hollywood will always be walking around Mann's Chinese Theater at night with a bum peeing all over the stars and asking for money. Yeah, real glamorous.

The latest bubbles popped. Route 66 and Roswell. I thought there would still be some glamour to the Route 66 passage. It has long faded and is mostly ghost towns and abandoned shops / gas stations. It is really sad to tell you the truth. And the whole Roswell, NM alien thing. Yeah, there are alien crap all over the place, but only for commercial purposes. The local people thought I was a freak taking pictures of everything (well based on the number of stares and finger pointing). The UFO museum was a joke, but I am glad I did it. I finally got it out of my system. I have been trying to come here for the past fifteen years. It's done now. I can check it off my list. I decided to make the best of this town and got into the whole corny alien thing.

I'm ready to move on and as of tomorrow I think I'm heading back to Texas. Next stop, San Antonio or Austin. Whichever city strikes my mood tomorrow. Was this trip worth it? Of course. I saw some amazing sites and got a chance to learn more about this great country. I want to travel the world, but I also want to make sure I see as much of my own country as possible. I still have three weeks of vacation left this year, so I have plenty of time to find other places to travel. Right now, I miss my bed and the privacy of my own home.

I'm back in another "cheap" motel. I just love it when my room has a door that connects to some other stranger on the other side. Happy happy, Joy joy. I can hear everything they do and say and I'm sure they can hear me. Ha, jokes on them when I go to sleep and my snoring keeps them awake. "Shut up!" (throws pillow). Oh, the memories.

On a totally different note, I have been contemplating the existence of God lately. I have always believed in some higher power. Any 12 steppers out there should know that familiar term. Anyway, I wonder what is the purpose of this life? I have been watching the series Torchwood (Dr. Who spinoff) and they constantly mention that there is no afterlife. Just darkness. Is this all there is in life? If so, then perhaps I should be making the best of it and not be so afraid. I grew up in a fearful household. Don't sin, you'll go to hell! Sorry mom, too late for that. But I have been afraid of rejection and that has led to me settling for some of my life choices. I have a wonderful job, but it's not what I want to do for my ultimate career. I would love to be able to work from home and do some sort of computer security for a living. Make my own hours and take time off whenever I want. I have also wanted to live someplace else. New York, San Francisco, or even Austin. I guess it boils down to fear of failure more than anything else. Why am I so afraid to fail? I'm not perfect after all. Everyone fails at some point, why not me?

Can you believe I almost went into a church today? I wanted to go into one of those really old Catholic churches and light a candle for myself. Is that allowed? Normally, you go to light a candle for someone else. I should have known it was a sign when the church was closed for the next couple of days. Have you ever seen a Catholic church closed for two whole days? Yep, it's a sign. Supposedly, they were having the floors redone and had to close the church. That's fine. Didn't want to go into your church anyway. I figured since the church was established in 1706, it would have some special kind of candle powers. Doesn't it work that way? The older the church, the more powerful the prayer candles are.

Yeah, some more philosophical bullshit for the day. You gotta get used to it this week. This is part of the trip. I find that alcohol can make my rambling sound more enlightening. Let's play a game, shall we? Every time I use the word "trip", you take a shot of tequila. Trip, trip, trip. See, that wasn't so bad. Was it?

Route 66 - Day Two

I am post dating these entries... well because I can and I figure it would make more sense that way.

I started this trip chasing a dream. I didn't know what I was looking for, but I figured I would realize it when I found it. I think I may have found it. But in a sense of irony, I had it inside all along. I didn't need to go out searching for this mystery feeling. In fact, my going across country made me realize that I may have been running away from it all along.

I don't mean to sound all philosophical on you, but this was the whole purpose of this trip. I needed a break from my day to day activities to find some sort of inner peace. I have tried meditating in the past, but have not had any luck. I still can't meditate now. I have no "inner voice". This disturbs me. Shouldn't everyone have some sort of inner voice. The whole angel and devil on the shoulders thing. I don't have that.

How much of a conscience do I have? I know I have one, but isn't the whole inner voice thing related to the conscience? I have not been fully honest with myself lately. In fact, I really haven't been honest with myself at all. I have to start listening to my gut feeling. I would second guess my hunches so much, that I started to doubt myself. I don't have an inner voice per say, but I do hear everyone else's voice in my head. ALL THE TIME. Not like I can hear their thoughts or anything, but I repeat what people tell me in my head. Not everyone, but the people that I let get close to me.

This trip made me realize that I have not fully become independent yet. I missed the detachment stage in life somehow. I jumped from child to parent so fast, that I never became independent myself. I did a 180 and went from a dependent to a supporter. I was attached to my parents until they moved out of the country, but then I had my daughter and attached myself to her. Don't get me wrong. I love my daughter to death and would do anything for her. At the same time, I want her to witness me do my thing as well. That way she can become an individual in life and teach her children to do the same thing.

I have no clue where I am in this city. I don't know anyone here. I went out to a bar for dinner and sat there watching everyone. The whole time I wanted to go back to the hotel room and be alone. At first I thought it was because I was being a loner or rebellious. I think it's the opposite now. I want to interact with people, but my psyche is telling me that it needs me right now. I can't keep running away from myself and expect everything to just "work out".

It's kind of funny that I could have saved myself a whole lot of money and figured this out at home. I don't think that would have happened though. I would have found some other outlet to ignore my instincts and go with the status quo.

This trip was very symbolic of my life right now. I am so lost most of the time, but in the end it all works out. I have learned to relax and enjoy the present situation. I have no schedule, no plans, and no goals. Well, that last one is a lie. I did have a goal, but now I realize that it was a false goal. It was my "gold cow" of goals. In fact, I have decided to change my vacation. I did the Route 66 thing for a while and now I'm off to visit Roswell, NM. I want to see me's some alianns.

Regarding the whole "Route 66" thing. That route is an elusive som' ofa biatch. I felt like I was on a safari hunting the elusive "route". I made so many detours and found it sometimes, but lost it other times. And don't even get me started on the "route" in Texas. That was the worst place to find it. At least in New Mexico they have the courtesy to display some times. In Texas, I was in the ghetto flashing gang signs just to escape with my life. Kind of funny that Route 66 is in the ghetto in Amarillo. And in the middle of the ghetto are these antique stores. I got kicked out a couple of antique stores because they didn't trust me with my backpack (Oh, but she had no problem with the ladies and their big ass purses). They wanted me to leave it by the front door. Shit, my whole life was in that backpack. I'll be damned if I left it by the door to be stolen. Seriously, you're not selling car stereos. I don't think a crack fiend is going to steal your precious sewing machine to sell for crack. Anyway, they lost my sale and karma remembers these kind of things.

Route 66 - Day one

Wow, this has definitely been the most eventful first day of a trip. Hhmm... let's see. Where to start. How about the fact that I'm typing this in some crappy smoke filled room that has crack whores next door. I knew it was a bad sign when I was checking in the first guy looked like he came straight from prison and the second guy looked like a meth head. But the damn sign showed free wireless internet. I was hooked. Besides, the place is shaped like a castle (Camelot Inn). How could I not stay here? I think I also get a free 72 oz. steak at some steak restuarant. All this for the low, low price of $29.00. Yeah, I should have known based on the price of the room what I was getting myself into.

It all started with a sign from above, but I ignored it and continued on this trip. How about the fact that I witnessed a really, really bad accident on the way here. I was on I-45 just pass downtown, when I hit bad traffic. The unusual part was that it was flowing fast (really fast). We bumper to bumper and doing 70 mph at the same time. I saw this silver metal flying through the air up ahead and thought, "Oh shit, a truck lost it's cargo in my lane." We all slam on our brakes. We come to a complete stop. Then I realize it. That was not some sheet metal. That was a SUV. It flew through the air higher than the 18-wheeler trucks up ahead. I did not see the accident because I was about seven cars back, but I did see it fly through the air. Fortunately, there were a couple of cop cars in our traffic and they went to help. There were about ten cars on our side that stopped to help (and witnesses I presume). There were people running over from the other side also. Since I didn't see the accident directly and there were way too many people there to help (about 20 people), I followed some of the other cars around the accident and continued on. It was bad. Really bad. There were two SUV trucks that were shredded into pieces and another car that was smashed between the two. I did not see any of the people in the vehicles. I hope they were not hurt too bad. This was within the first 20 minutes of my trip and the thought stayed with me the whole ten hours of my driving. It really puts mortality into perspective when you see something that bad in person.

So I have travelled 590 miles so far and ten hours of straight driving. I stopped in Amarillo and tomorrow morning will find the Route 66 junction. I made the mistake of leaving Houston during the lunch rush hour and wouldn't you know it I travelled to Dallas in just four hours. Yep, right in time to be stuck in Dallas' after work rush hour. Two rush hours in two different cities on the same day. Oh joy!

The thing I have realized so far, is that all of Texas freakin looks the same. I am in North Texas and you wouldn't know it. Other than the snow and ice, it all looks like Houston. There are a few more hills here. So you know what that means, more speed traps. There were so many, I lost count. Damn cops messing with my travelling time.

I was talking to my neighbor about my trip and he mentioned that I need to be careful with the animals crossing the road at night. He knew someone that ran into a deer and really messed up his car. I took his advice and was cautious the whole way. They only thing he did not warn me about was the damn skunks crossing the road. I almost hit one on the way here and lords know what kind of smell that would have left on my car. I guess I would have had to turn around and go home. A smell like that would linger for days.

I took some Benedril to knock me out and hopefully help with this damn smoke smell. I'm going to get up early tomorrow to get the hell out of this place and continue with my journey.

See ya on the flip side.

T plus 3 hours and counting

What happens when your unprepared? You leave three hours later than planned. I'm just now printing out my directions and about to take off. Oh yeah, this is going to be interesting.

Must remember to relax... relax... I think I really need to slow down during this trip and smell those fucking roses.

Just can't help myself

What else would I be doing when I have a cross country trip planned for 8:00 AM tomorrow morning?

Go out drinking and watching the super bowl. Hell yeah, bad food, cheap beer, you know this is not going to end well. Like Michael Jackson attending a summer camp, I just can't help myself.

Any bets, on me changing my departure time?

Gone in the blink of an eye

I've been telling anyone that will listen about my trip coming up. I am so used to the shocked look on their faces as I explain the whole solo road trip to them. "Why would you do that?" "What for?" "Are you serious?"

I have heard them all. Then someone asked, "Why Route 66?"

Finally, a question that made me stop and think. My answer, "Why not?" Of course, that's such a cop out answer. I thought about it more and finally told them the real reason. I think our society is so fast paced and destructive. We have no problem creating new interstate highways to bypass these small towns and destroy them over time. I want to view this piece of American history while it still exists. Similar to the destruction of the four-plexes on my street. I think I may have been the only person on the street that was sad to see them destroyed. They were a part of time preserved for so long. Three units destroyed in two days. All I see is a pile of rubble now and that is being cleared just as fast.

As much as I try to explain this to people, they still don't understand. I get the same blank look on their faces. I'm telling you, I was born a couple of decades too late. I make a perfect hippie. Don't two negative make a positive?

Both my parents are conservative yuppie type of people. I love them to death, but they are concerned with the latest and greatest things. The merging of the two of them created this positive hippie. I know who I am and wear the hippie badge with pride.

They do not understand my precious

During dire situations, we must all do things we do not like. My current task at hand. I must delete some of my shows from Tivo to ensure that it does not run out of room. Now I know how Padme felt when she uttered those famous words, "Anakin, your breakin my heart".

How do you choose which program to sacrifice? Are they not all equal? Ghost shows, sci-fi shows, anime, or home improvement shows... which will it be. I'm almost tempted to leave it all alone and let Tivo pick which to delete. It would obviously go by oldest shows first and then the rest.

Damn it, I knew I should have put a bigger hard drive in it the last time I upgraded. Eighty gigs is just not enough. Okay, let me be an adult about this. I have to pick, so pick I will.

Heads or tails?

Ramble, Ramble

Only two more days till my trip. I have so much to do and so little time. It's kind of ironic that I feel so rushed to have everything "ready" for this trip. The whole purpose of this trip to be spontaneous and not stress about anything. I don't know if I can do that. I have this need to stress about something... anything. I can not imagine life without any form of stress. Work has been extremely hectic lately, and lord knows I need this time off.

It looks like I might have to cut my trip short a day to come back by next Saturday. We have this huge project that we are performing after hours next weekend. That's cool. I think I should have plenty of time to accomplish all of my slacking and internalization during the week.

Witness me now because I may not be the same person when I return. When I was younger I have always wanted to go backpacking across Europe. For some reason, I never did. That damn fear thing again. After this trip, I think I may actually do it.