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In Houston, alive and kicking...
Oct. 6th, 2001 06:46 pmIt seemed no matter what I did yesterday, I was doomed to leaving Pagosa at just after 11 am. The audit went well, I paid some bills, picked up some snacks for the road, and vamoosed.
Three and a half hours later, I was south of Santa Fe and down I-40 a ways, 256 miles from Pagosa, at the exit where Highway 84 shoots off toward the southeast toward Ft. Sumner.
A while later, passing through Clovis, I passed the Motel 6 I stayed at on the return trip last time (356 miles from Pagosa), and hit the New Mexico-Texas line 9 miles later, almost exactly at 5:30 pm MDT, "losing" an hour almost immediately.
In the end, the day was almost a replay of the one several months ago, as I refueled at Tye and checked into the Motel 6 a few miles further down I-20. A replay, that is, except for the part where I missed two turnoffs - the first around Lubbock, the other near the thriving metropolis of Slaton - causing me to have to backtrack and lose a few minutes. No big deal, though. It's not as if I start to notice something suspicious only when I see the sign "Welcome to Oklahoma!" (or whatever the next state over may be) as some other members of my family are wont to do.
I slept like a log, despite getting one of the motel's last available rooms, which faced the interstate, which meant hearing "vrrRROOOOooommm" every few minutes as another 18-wheeler flew by, bound for God knows where.
I never really considered myself to be a person of habit, but I started out this morning looking for the IHOP where I had been so efficiently served the last time I'd passed through. For some reason, the correct exit off of the interstate looked like the wrong one almost immediately, so I got off the road I was on and shortly found myself winding through the city of Abilene early on Saturday morning, keeping one eye on the road and the other on my GPS.
I turned this way and that, trying to keep the arrow to my destination (the IHOP) lined up with the nose of the car, but it was no use. Eventually, I turned left on what looked like a major street, only to see it was a broad avenue more suited for a promenade and a leisurely ride than for moving from point A to point B.
To my right was McMurray University, a Methodist institution of higher learning. On the street was a sign: "Computer flea market, Saturday, 8 to 2."
God does, indeed, work in mysterious ways.
I got myself a Power Macintosh 8100/100, with a monitor, for $50, among other goodies. It was working there, on the table, when I bought it, so it ought to work when I plug it in down here, what do you think?
As it turned out, when I finally did find the IHOP, it was SRO in the parking lot and inside the door. Not wanting to wait around for breakfast, I got back on the road.
I stopped a few times today to stretch my legs, but finally got to Pearland around 5 pm. The house still has a flea problem, that I alleviated (for probably not longer than one day) with the rest of the spray I'd used the last time I was here. I then made myself scarce for the hour that is recommended on the label (and heaven forbid I should not use the product in conformance with its label - which is Federal rap, dontcha know).
In any event, I'm tired. Tomorrow is a rest day, at least for the most part. I've already been called and informed that my shift starts an hour earlier, at 11 pm tomorrow, and ends about an hour later because of a planned EVA. No big deal.
I plan to sleep in tomorrow.
Cheers...
Three and a half hours later, I was south of Santa Fe and down I-40 a ways, 256 miles from Pagosa, at the exit where Highway 84 shoots off toward the southeast toward Ft. Sumner.
A while later, passing through Clovis, I passed the Motel 6 I stayed at on the return trip last time (356 miles from Pagosa), and hit the New Mexico-Texas line 9 miles later, almost exactly at 5:30 pm MDT, "losing" an hour almost immediately.
In the end, the day was almost a replay of the one several months ago, as I refueled at Tye and checked into the Motel 6 a few miles further down I-20. A replay, that is, except for the part where I missed two turnoffs - the first around Lubbock, the other near the thriving metropolis of Slaton - causing me to have to backtrack and lose a few minutes. No big deal, though. It's not as if I start to notice something suspicious only when I see the sign "Welcome to Oklahoma!" (or whatever the next state over may be) as some other members of my family are wont to do.
I slept like a log, despite getting one of the motel's last available rooms, which faced the interstate, which meant hearing "vrrRROOOOooommm" every few minutes as another 18-wheeler flew by, bound for God knows where.
I never really considered myself to be a person of habit, but I started out this morning looking for the IHOP where I had been so efficiently served the last time I'd passed through. For some reason, the correct exit off of the interstate looked like the wrong one almost immediately, so I got off the road I was on and shortly found myself winding through the city of Abilene early on Saturday morning, keeping one eye on the road and the other on my GPS.
I turned this way and that, trying to keep the arrow to my destination (the IHOP) lined up with the nose of the car, but it was no use. Eventually, I turned left on what looked like a major street, only to see it was a broad avenue more suited for a promenade and a leisurely ride than for moving from point A to point B.
To my right was McMurray University, a Methodist institution of higher learning. On the street was a sign: "Computer flea market, Saturday, 8 to 2."
God does, indeed, work in mysterious ways.
I got myself a Power Macintosh 8100/100, with a monitor, for $50, among other goodies. It was working there, on the table, when I bought it, so it ought to work when I plug it in down here, what do you think?
As it turned out, when I finally did find the IHOP, it was SRO in the parking lot and inside the door. Not wanting to wait around for breakfast, I got back on the road.
I stopped a few times today to stretch my legs, but finally got to Pearland around 5 pm. The house still has a flea problem, that I alleviated (for probably not longer than one day) with the rest of the spray I'd used the last time I was here. I then made myself scarce for the hour that is recommended on the label (and heaven forbid I should not use the product in conformance with its label - which is Federal rap, dontcha know).
In any event, I'm tired. Tomorrow is a rest day, at least for the most part. I've already been called and informed that my shift starts an hour earlier, at 11 pm tomorrow, and ends about an hour later because of a planned EVA. No big deal.
I plan to sleep in tomorrow.
Cheers...
