I have eaten a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in my life. However, until this last year I never had anything but grape jelly on them. I tried some others once or twice, but grape is all I liked. I have since grown out of that.
Today though I broke new grounds; I had a toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the first time in my life. Wow.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Canyon Lake
In my life I have not been part if the elite group of people rich enough to own a boat and regularly go wakeboarding. I have actually only been boating six times I believe since I was five. I got to go today. And it was very fun. And this picture makes me look like I almost know what I am doing.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Back to Texas . . . or Not
I left Texas June 27th to come back to Arizona. I left that I could go to Idaho Falls for the 4th of July, and then start school on the 6th. Well, Idaho was awesome (I'll try to write about that soon), but ASU changed some things and I can't register in time for the summer semester now. This left me with a lot of spare time.
In the middle of last week I got a phone call from the lead tech back in Fort Worth and asked if I wanted to come back. So Friday night I packed my things and off I went again, after deciding that I should invest in a AAA policy. I was getting a little tired so I stopped and slept for about four hours forty miles west of Las Cruces, NM. I will now give you a play by play of the next few days.
9:00 am - Wake up in Las Cruces. Get at Burger King. Back on the road.
11:45 am - My Camry decides it does not want to run anymore 75 miles east of El Paso. Exit 99.
11:46 am - Pop the hood, look at the engine (not that I know anything about cars, but that's what you do when the car breaks down, right?)
11:48 am - Decide that I should probably call AAA. Look at phone and see that I have no service. Frown.
11:50 am - Walk under the underpass looking for service. Find out there is enough to text occasionally, but no calls. Walk down the road. No luck.
12:00 pm - Go back to car. Think that maybe I can have better luck on top of the mountains. Get camera. Get cowboy hat.
12:02 pm - Change into jeans. Step over the barb wire fence. Walk across the field, trying not to get bit by a rattlesnake.
12:15 pm - Climb up on some rocks at the top of the mountain. Take picture (yes, I am that vain).
12:19 pm - Did the only logical thing next, took off shirt and took some more pictures. Not posting those.
12:34 pm - Back at car. Text Levi and ask him to call AAA for me. Get Oliver Twist and walk to the fake teepees to read. in the shade.
1:00 pm - Get tired. Take a nap on the bench.
2:30 pm - Wake up. Walk back over to car. Get asked by the Border Patrol what I am doing.
2:35 pm - Drink my warm Big Red because I am very thirsty. Wait a half an hour until the tow truck arrives.
3:05 pm - Tow truck shows up.
3:19 pm - On the road. Call AAA to verify membership for driver.
3:45 pm - Arrive in Van Horn, TX.
4:00 pm - A mechanic looks at the car. Find out that Camry is broken for good. Frown again.
4:15 pm - Go buy some water. Sit down and read, waiting for a call to see if I can rent this U-Haul truck that was conveniently parked next to my car.
8:15 pm - Still no call. Eat at diner and then walk half mile down Broadway to the Budget in.
9:00 pm - Get room for $29.95. Not a bad deal. Read some more.
9:30 pm - Wash my garments in the sink, with old people smelling hotel soap.
3:00 am - Fall asleep.
Sunday
11:14 am - Wake up to the hotel telling me I need to check out. I tell the girl on the phone I will be out around one.
12:00 pm - Get woken up again by the mother (I think). She tells me I need to check out now. I tell her I will stay another night.
1:25 pm - Wake up again to the phone ringing. Shower. Realize the Budget Inn has really crappy towels. Got dressed. Paid for my room. Finished Oliver Twist. Went back to bed.
4:15 pm - Woke up again. Walked to Chuy's restaurant. Apparently it is one of John Madden's favorites.
5:15 pm- Walked to the "park" and read Blink til it got dark on the bench there. Thought about jumping on the train that passed. Didn't have much time to think about it, so I decided against it. If only I had had more time, I am sure I would have realized that it was an excellent idea and would have hopped on for a mile or two at least.
9:15 pm - Walked to Dairy Queen for a cheeseburger and a Blizzard.
10:00 pm - Walked home. Finished Blink. Watched TV.
3:00 am - Fell asleep.
Well this is getting boring. To finish the story, Monday morning I talked them into letting me take the U-Haul. Good new is they could not figure out how to charge me what they were going to, so I got the truck for a hundred dollars less. I made it back to Tempe a little after six.
It's a little funny, me trying to go to Fort Worth and not getting there. The opposite happened to my friend Tom. He is working out there. You can read about it here.
Now, I can think of a lot better ways to spend a weekend and $500. I wish I still had a running car. I was planning on this trip paying for the next five months of rent. As it is, I am now jobless, carless, and don't have a whole lot of money. I think I should be more upset than I am, but I'm not really. Things will work out I suppose.
In the middle of last week I got a phone call from the lead tech back in Fort Worth and asked if I wanted to come back. So Friday night I packed my things and off I went again, after deciding that I should invest in a AAA policy. I was getting a little tired so I stopped and slept for about four hours forty miles west of Las Cruces, NM. I will now give you a play by play of the next few days.
9:00 am - Wake up in Las Cruces. Get at Burger King. Back on the road.
11:45 am - My Camry decides it does not want to run anymore 75 miles east of El Paso. Exit 99.
11:46 am - Pop the hood, look at the engine (not that I know anything about cars, but that's what you do when the car breaks down, right?)
11:48 am - Decide that I should probably call AAA. Look at phone and see that I have no service. Frown.
11:50 am - Walk under the underpass looking for service. Find out there is enough to text occasionally, but no calls. Walk down the road. No luck.
12:00 pm - Go back to car. Think that maybe I can have better luck on top of the mountains. Get camera. Get cowboy hat.
12:02 pm - Change into jeans. Step over the barb wire fence. Walk across the field, trying not to get bit by a rattlesnake.
12:15 pm - Climb up on some rocks at the top of the mountain. Take picture (yes, I am that vain).
12:19 pm - Did the only logical thing next, took off shirt and took some more pictures. Not posting those.
12:34 pm - Back at car. Text Levi and ask him to call AAA for me. Get Oliver Twist and walk to the fake teepees to read. in the shade.
1:00 pm - Get tired. Take a nap on the bench.
2:30 pm - Wake up. Walk back over to car. Get asked by the Border Patrol what I am doing.
2:35 pm - Drink my warm Big Red because I am very thirsty. Wait a half an hour until the tow truck arrives.
3:05 pm - Tow truck shows up.
3:19 pm - On the road. Call AAA to verify membership for driver.
3:45 pm - Arrive in Van Horn, TX.
4:00 pm - A mechanic looks at the car. Find out that Camry is broken for good. Frown again.
4:15 pm - Go buy some water. Sit down and read, waiting for a call to see if I can rent this U-Haul truck that was conveniently parked next to my car.
8:15 pm - Still no call. Eat at diner and then walk half mile down Broadway to the Budget in.
9:00 pm - Get room for $29.95. Not a bad deal. Read some more.
9:30 pm - Wash my garments in the sink, with old people smelling hotel soap.
3:00 am - Fall asleep.
Sunday
11:14 am - Wake up to the hotel telling me I need to check out. I tell the girl on the phone I will be out around one.
12:00 pm - Get woken up again by the mother (I think). She tells me I need to check out now. I tell her I will stay another night.
1:25 pm - Wake up again to the phone ringing. Shower. Realize the Budget Inn has really crappy towels. Got dressed. Paid for my room. Finished Oliver Twist. Went back to bed.
4:15 pm - Woke up again. Walked to Chuy's restaurant. Apparently it is one of John Madden's favorites.
5:15 pm- Walked to the "park" and read Blink til it got dark on the bench there. Thought about jumping on the train that passed. Didn't have much time to think about it, so I decided against it. If only I had had more time, I am sure I would have realized that it was an excellent idea and would have hopped on for a mile or two at least.
9:15 pm - Walked to Dairy Queen for a cheeseburger and a Blizzard.
10:00 pm - Walked home. Finished Blink. Watched TV.
3:00 am - Fell asleep.
Well this is getting boring. To finish the story, Monday morning I talked them into letting me take the U-Haul. Good new is they could not figure out how to charge me what they were going to, so I got the truck for a hundred dollars less. I made it back to Tempe a little after six.
It's a little funny, me trying to go to Fort Worth and not getting there. The opposite happened to my friend Tom. He is working out there. You can read about it here.
Now, I can think of a lot better ways to spend a weekend and $500. I wish I still had a running car. I was planning on this trip paying for the next five months of rent. As it is, I am now jobless, carless, and don't have a whole lot of money. I think I should be more upset than I am, but I'm not really. Things will work out I suppose.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Road Trips and Rarely Seen Animals
Over the course of the last nine days, I have driven over 2800 miles. Well, I was probably not driving for 400 of those. Anyways, I have spent a lot of time on the freeways of the western United States. The funny thing about driving is that you get the chance to encounter an animal that you rarely do elsewhere: the skunk.
Why is it that I have never seen a skunk alive? How come you inevitably smell one every few hours of a road trip. Here is what wikipedia has to say about the subject:
"Although they have excellent senses of smell and hearing—vital attributes in a crepuscular omnivore—they have poor vision. They cannot see objects more than about 3 metres (10 ft) away with any clarity, which makes them vulnerable to road traffic. Roughly half of all skunk deaths are caused by humans, as roadkill, or as a result of shooting and poisoning. They are short-lived animals: fewer than 10% survive for longer than three year."
I guess we can blame it on bad eyes then.
I suppose you could also put rabbits into this category of random animal highway spottings, or the coyote that I almost hit Sunday night. Maybe on day I'll be lucky enough to see one of these without the worry of smashing it all over the road.
Why is it that I have never seen a skunk alive? How come you inevitably smell one every few hours of a road trip. Here is what wikipedia has to say about the subject:
"Although they have excellent senses of smell and hearing—vital attributes in a crepuscular omnivore—they have poor vision. They cannot see objects more than about 3 metres (10 ft) away with any clarity, which makes them vulnerable to road traffic. Roughly half of all skunk deaths are caused by humans, as roadkill, or as a result of shooting and poisoning. They are short-lived animals: fewer than 10% survive for longer than three year."
I guess we can blame it on bad eyes then.
I suppose you could also put rabbits into this category of random animal highway spottings, or the coyote that I almost hit Sunday night. Maybe on day I'll be lucky enough to see one of these without the worry of smashing it all over the road.
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