We made it!
Boise was nice, but it sure feels good to be home. Plus, I really missed my dog.
Friday was very low key, just unpacking the truck, and trying to de-compress after racing across the country.
I am so glad that we were driving opposite the flow of traffic on the holiday weekend.
Derek decided to go out to Hermiston to go 'mushrooming' with a bunch of his pals.
Travis and I stuck to the house most of yesterday, going out to get his Post Office box set up, along with opening him a local bank account so that he can access monies and pay bills easier.
Watched a few episodes of 'The Office', amusing, not sure if I like it yet, it made me laugh in a few spots, but also reminds me in a tiny way of life in my office.
Watched Kingpin and ate Round Table pizza last night. All in all, a nice quiet evening.
Today will be grocery shopping, and probably some house re-arranging. Need to set up Travis' study so that he can unpack boxes of books.
Going to have to work on the jealousy issues with Beau, he's cautiously happy, but obviously in transition.
Today is bath day for Beau, methinks. Will play it by ear.
No work tomorrow due to the holiday.
I'm so glad that I picked a holiday weekend for us to return on.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Home Stretch
We made it to Boise.
Yesterday was a big storm in Cheyenne, and the greater 'metro' Wyoming area. Guess there was even a tornado. Had to drive through some of the worst fog I have ever experienced in my lifetime, then followed by a ton of rain. By the time we hit the upper plains of Wyoming, we even saw snow still on the ground.
All in all, not too bad. Most of the Utah highway system that we drove on was under construction. That really puts a kink into the ability to keep at highway speed and on schedule.
We made it into Boise, at a nice hotel, and had dinner at a nice place.
Sooooo ready to be home though. Just a few more hours until we leave Boise, about 6 hours of driving to Portland.
More later...
Yesterday was a big storm in Cheyenne, and the greater 'metro' Wyoming area. Guess there was even a tornado. Had to drive through some of the worst fog I have ever experienced in my lifetime, then followed by a ton of rain. By the time we hit the upper plains of Wyoming, we even saw snow still on the ground.
All in all, not too bad. Most of the Utah highway system that we drove on was under construction. That really puts a kink into the ability to keep at highway speed and on schedule.
We made it into Boise, at a nice hotel, and had dinner at a nice place.
Sooooo ready to be home though. Just a few more hours until we leave Boise, about 6 hours of driving to Portland.
More later...
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wendy & Shy Anne
Good grief.
I had, until yesterday, never ever seen a tumbleweed. Wow. They really are everywhere along the rural plains.
Today was Mount Rushmore. Pretty spectacular set up, nicely laid out, neat monument exhibition, fun flag displays, and a decent gift shop. It is too bad that we couldn't witness the lighting ceremony at night, but we had to get on the road and get to our destination.
Very very very windy all day. Along one of the rural state routes there was dust and debris flying everywhere. Nasty stuff. 65 and 75 mph speed limits though. Still, it was a good feeling to be back on 4 lane inter-states again.
The hotel room in Cheyenne is impressively nice, new, clean. It puts every other place I have stayed to shame. I think it was too much of a build up, because the rest of this town....... eh.
Major winds kicked up last night 40 mph sustained winds with 60 mph gusts. Aweful stuff. Then came the rains. Ick.
This morning we are off to Boise, hoping to be in at a decent hour tonight. Friday is Portland. We are nearing the finishing line.
More tonight or tomorrow morning.
I had, until yesterday, never ever seen a tumbleweed. Wow. They really are everywhere along the rural plains.
Today was Mount Rushmore. Pretty spectacular set up, nicely laid out, neat monument exhibition, fun flag displays, and a decent gift shop. It is too bad that we couldn't witness the lighting ceremony at night, but we had to get on the road and get to our destination.
Very very very windy all day. Along one of the rural state routes there was dust and debris flying everywhere. Nasty stuff. 65 and 75 mph speed limits though. Still, it was a good feeling to be back on 4 lane inter-states again.
The hotel room in Cheyenne is impressively nice, new, clean. It puts every other place I have stayed to shame. I think it was too much of a build up, because the rest of this town....... eh.
Major winds kicked up last night 40 mph sustained winds with 60 mph gusts. Aweful stuff. Then came the rains. Ick.
This morning we are off to Boise, hoping to be in at a decent hour tonight. Friday is Portland. We are nearing the finishing line.
More tonight or tomorrow morning.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Welcome to Wherever You Are....
Made it to South Dakota.
The thriving metropolis of Sioux Falls..... quite a city.
Yesterday we drove a good ways, driving through Missouri, Kansas, part of Iowa, and finally South Dakota. I have to admit that we had a bit of a rough start due to a most unruly tarp, and lack of sufficient bungee cords. We have hopefully remedied that by a trip to the local Target.
I think we were almost willing to like South Dakota, after all, the speed limit here is 75. 75! WOW. Me likey!
However, the town is a tad on the hickey side. There are odd frontage roads on either side of most of the main drags where we are at. There seems to be a wealth of hotels and lodging, but not much housing. Weird. Is this whole town built on conventions?
Went to dinner, where we were able to overhear, in the adjacent booth, that the guy was really not as much of a beer drinker anymore since he just got a DUI and beer makes him do bad things. Sounded like a first date.
Way to go!
Today is Mount Rushmore, and then Cheyenne for the evening.
So far so good!
The thriving metropolis of Sioux Falls..... quite a city.
Yesterday we drove a good ways, driving through Missouri, Kansas, part of Iowa, and finally South Dakota. I have to admit that we had a bit of a rough start due to a most unruly tarp, and lack of sufficient bungee cords. We have hopefully remedied that by a trip to the local Target.
I think we were almost willing to like South Dakota, after all, the speed limit here is 75. 75! WOW. Me likey!
However, the town is a tad on the hickey side. There are odd frontage roads on either side of most of the main drags where we are at. There seems to be a wealth of hotels and lodging, but not much housing. Weird. Is this whole town built on conventions?
Went to dinner, where we were able to overhear, in the adjacent booth, that the guy was really not as much of a beer drinker anymore since he just got a DUI and beer makes him do bad things. Sounded like a first date.
Way to go!
Today is Mount Rushmore, and then Cheyenne for the evening.
So far so good!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Balmy St. Louis
I made it to St. Louis without too many problems.
I had opted to ship all of my belongings to my friends well in advance of my trip, since United Airlines had decided to change my flights, and left me with a layover of less than 30 minutes at the Denver Airport.
I wish to go on record as saying that I really dislike the layout of the Denver airport. It isn't very helpful when you have to go, say, 60 gates in less than 30 minuts. It is a real pain in the ass to have to run all the way when you are toting your laptop bag and your backpack at the same time. Yeah, I know, I shouldn't whine about having to travel, what with people that can't even afford to do that.
Flight from Portland to Denver..... what exactly is your definition of hell?
How about loathing children, and having a window seat, and then being seated next to a 5 and 7 year old. Whee. Luckily I was moved to an exit row so that I didn't have to deal with them, otherwise they might have needed an air marshall.... (just kidding....)
Went out to dinner with Travis and his parents last night. That seemed to go pretty well. It is obvious that they are decent, good, and kind people. We talked plenty about lots of things, nothing specifically odd, just normal interaction.
Tonight was group dinner / goodbye night. I cooked, and we had people over. All in all, a pretty low key night.
Tomorrow will be spent packing up the truck, shipping anything else out.
Hitting the road early (5 am) for South Dakota.
More later.
J
I had opted to ship all of my belongings to my friends well in advance of my trip, since United Airlines had decided to change my flights, and left me with a layover of less than 30 minutes at the Denver Airport.
I wish to go on record as saying that I really dislike the layout of the Denver airport. It isn't very helpful when you have to go, say, 60 gates in less than 30 minuts. It is a real pain in the ass to have to run all the way when you are toting your laptop bag and your backpack at the same time. Yeah, I know, I shouldn't whine about having to travel, what with people that can't even afford to do that.
Flight from Portland to Denver..... what exactly is your definition of hell?
How about loathing children, and having a window seat, and then being seated next to a 5 and 7 year old. Whee. Luckily I was moved to an exit row so that I didn't have to deal with them, otherwise they might have needed an air marshall.... (just kidding....)
Went out to dinner with Travis and his parents last night. That seemed to go pretty well. It is obvious that they are decent, good, and kind people. We talked plenty about lots of things, nothing specifically odd, just normal interaction.
Tonight was group dinner / goodbye night. I cooked, and we had people over. All in all, a pretty low key night.
Tomorrow will be spent packing up the truck, shipping anything else out.
Hitting the road early (5 am) for South Dakota.
More later.
J
Friday, May 09, 2008
Cell Musing: Hard to discern
Cell Musing: Hard to discern between crazy muttering homeless people & blue-tooth using cell phone addicts who walk alone.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Random thought IM: Instant web
Random thought IM: Instant web postable snippets made from my cell phone, like this one, could prove dangerous or helpful.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Holiday
A gas tax holiday?
Are you serious?
It amazes me that people want to hear things to make them feel better, regardless of that fact that it will make things quite worse for the world of the working class and the poor.
What happens when you lower the price of a good / product? Generally, if the product is a commodity, then demand for that item goes up, sales go up. As sales and demand goes up, the price goes up, because the manufacturer can get away with raising prices because he / she knows you are hooked.
So, drop the price of gas by the federal tax / state tax amounts, and what do you think will happen?
A> the price will drop, people will go back to buying it with the cavalier attitudes they had. As such, and the demand increases, and the supply dwindles more, the prices will shoot right back up
B> the price will drop for the wholesaler, but the retailer will likely not drop his prices in a effort to offset the higher energy and fuel prices they have been absorbing over the last few years.
The net result, the price of gas will stay where it is, or even get higher.
I'm not an economics major, and I certainly don't know everything about everything. I barely know anything.
Sometimes, however, things are so simple that adults can not grasp them. In an effort to deny a problem, many refuse to utilize some critical thinking. Add a healthy dose of skepticism and re-read the above if you don't believe me.
We are hooked on oil. The president knew it, he said so.
We all know it.
Yes, I love my SUV. Yes, I will probably buy another one. Yes, I can afford expensive gas because I don't commute large distances to work. However, I have curtailed my extra-curricular driving. I have resorted to shopping online for things I would normally run to the mall for. I consolidate my trips out to the grocery store, and I'm able to go over two weeks without filling up my tank, and even then I still have nearly 1/3 of a tank left.
If you want gas prices to go down, stop buying gasoline. Stop buying large amounts of it. Stop driving around like a lunatic. Consolidate, conserve, and relax.
If the demand goes down, the available supply will go up, and then the prices will drop.
One final ranting note, the dollar is weak. As such, the cost for that same barrel of oil is more expensive for us to import. If the dollar came back up in value by about 10%, our gas prices would likely drop a healthy amount as well. Think about that next time you ponder charging something on your credit card, and pay cash for your purchase instead. And if you can't pay cash for it, you don't need it.
*ranting complete, enjoy your day*
Are you serious?
It amazes me that people want to hear things to make them feel better, regardless of that fact that it will make things quite worse for the world of the working class and the poor.
What happens when you lower the price of a good / product? Generally, if the product is a commodity, then demand for that item goes up, sales go up. As sales and demand goes up, the price goes up, because the manufacturer can get away with raising prices because he / she knows you are hooked.
So, drop the price of gas by the federal tax / state tax amounts, and what do you think will happen?
A> the price will drop, people will go back to buying it with the cavalier attitudes they had. As such, and the demand increases, and the supply dwindles more, the prices will shoot right back up
B> the price will drop for the wholesaler, but the retailer will likely not drop his prices in a effort to offset the higher energy and fuel prices they have been absorbing over the last few years.
The net result, the price of gas will stay where it is, or even get higher.
I'm not an economics major, and I certainly don't know everything about everything. I barely know anything.
Sometimes, however, things are so simple that adults can not grasp them. In an effort to deny a problem, many refuse to utilize some critical thinking. Add a healthy dose of skepticism and re-read the above if you don't believe me.
We are hooked on oil. The president knew it, he said so.
We all know it.
Yes, I love my SUV. Yes, I will probably buy another one. Yes, I can afford expensive gas because I don't commute large distances to work. However, I have curtailed my extra-curricular driving. I have resorted to shopping online for things I would normally run to the mall for. I consolidate my trips out to the grocery store, and I'm able to go over two weeks without filling up my tank, and even then I still have nearly 1/3 of a tank left.
If you want gas prices to go down, stop buying gasoline. Stop buying large amounts of it. Stop driving around like a lunatic. Consolidate, conserve, and relax.
If the demand goes down, the available supply will go up, and then the prices will drop.
One final ranting note, the dollar is weak. As such, the cost for that same barrel of oil is more expensive for us to import. If the dollar came back up in value by about 10%, our gas prices would likely drop a healthy amount as well. Think about that next time you ponder charging something on your credit card, and pay cash for your purchase instead. And if you can't pay cash for it, you don't need it.
*ranting complete, enjoy your day*
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
