Driving Thoughts

Today I spent practically all day in the car - no kidding... driving from St. Louis, MO to Texarkana, TX. The good thing? Low traffic volume... The bad thing? No one answers the phone (not that I was really expecting it). I do pretty well (though I do complain about it beforehand) on long car drives: I can amuse myself with my iPod music pretty well but occasionally I just need to talk on the phone for a few minutes to get the brain refocused again. I left several messages, not expecting anyone to pick up. But you never know, so I tried. My parents, of course, obligingly talked to me a few times but I had pre-warned them that I would probably be relying on them for these every-so-often check-ins.

So therefore, I had a lot of time to think. Nothing incredibly constructive, just more thinking and ruminations on my career future. And unfortunately, nothing exactly worth sharing.

I also happened to notice some very amusing things along the way. Such as the fact that I drove by not one, but TWO of my list items today. Hot Springs National Park AND Crater of Diamonds. If I'd actually thought about it, I could have crossed TWO things off during my drive-through Arkansas! Alas, I did not research ahead and I'll have to save it for next time. But now I know they're both on I-30 and relatively close in proximity. Bonus!

Ah well... hindsight is 20/20 as they say. I've a shorter drive tomorrow and I'll arrive at my apartment at long last (7 months now?). I've a host of packages to pick up and some accumulated mail, I'm sure. My forwarding ended on the 10th, but I unexpectedly stayed in STL longer than that.

And it's truth time to see exactly how my apartment has fared. I have reliable reports and a few attempts at odor-busting; but we'll see how time has affected it. I'm also hoping that my so-called complex has done the fumigation I requested (no acknowledgement on request) and fixed the broken refrigerator (theoretically confirmed fixed).

I'll believe it all when I see it. Call me a pessimist but really, I'm a realist.

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I have landed, as I've said before, in Arkansas (or am I in Texas?) at the La Quinta. Except there's TWO of them in very close proximity and I went to the wrong one first. Very confusing. My second issue (and one I've already encountered today): food. Most fast food places are not open on Christmas. I got denied my favorite driving food: McDonald's fries. I had to settle for Hardees and reluctantly so. Tonight was more of a problem than I had anticipated. Thankfully the Hooters near my hotel was closed but my only other options were Denny's and IHOP. Thankfully, IHOP was busy but efficient and I got my to-go order in short order.

I'm looking forward to having more options available for me tomorrow - including a grocery store as ALL of my food in my refrigerator/freezer fell victim to Ike.

At least gas has been easy to find and at very welcome prices! And thanks to my lovely little car, I've been averaging about 32 mpg! No pictures on this post, they shall return soon!!