1438 miles later…

I made it, and wow – what a difference! It was raining and dreary when I left yesterday, maybe fifty degrees if you could find a bit of direct sunlight, but it’s something like seventy right now…at nearly midnight…I think I can get used to this!

About the Packing:

It didn’t take me long at all to realize that rental trucks, even at $1,500 per trip, aren’t nearly the ripoff that I had originally thought! I did cram an awful lot of stuff into my car (and I’m really surprised that my shocks made it the entire trip!), but taking everything out of the nice and neat boxes that they were in and shuffling to make more room was just a mistake. Plus, carrying it all up a flight of stairs in about four dozen trips wasn’t exactly a blast, either…

About the Driving:

The traffic wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be – traveling mid-week probably helped a bit. I did run into a bit of congestion around Cincinnati and again in Atlanta, but everything else was pretty smooth sailing. Of course, it’ll probably take my neck a few days to heal up from the excessive car time – 12 hrs. one day and 9 hrs. the next certainly didn’t help matters any, but now I’ll know to keep the aspirin a little more handy in the future!

My Fish Now Hate Me…:

Four of them died already – maybe within an hour of placing them in the hotel’s water, which kinda sucks! I’m sure the stress of living in a plastic bag for two days certainly didn’t help, either, so if the others survive, I’ll be quite surprised. Nonetheless, I can replace the whole lot and then some for thirty bucks at PetSmart and I’ll probably be over the loss by then, so oh well.

About the Shitty Hotel Room I Stayed in Last Night:

For less than thirty bucks, I know that I shouldn’t really expect much, but clocks, maybe?! Apparently the place has a huge problem with theft and ends up replacing about 2/3 of them every year as it is, but it’s tough to keep a schedule (or even checkout on time) when you don’t know what time it is. Their water also had a really odd tint to it and took a few minutes to stop running after I turned it off – needless to say, I won’t be staying there again any time soon!

And While We’re on the Subject, What’s with that Stench in Tennessee, Anyways?!:

I mean, seriously, I thought it was my fish there for a while, but when I rolled down the window, it was even worse! Are there a lot of factories or something that can’t be seen from the freeway? I really don’t see how anyone could stand it for any longer than it takes to get through the state…

So my initial reaction for this new and exciting venture? Very stoked – surprisingly ready to start the job search on Monday! I’d really like to see everything go perfectly and be moving back out of the hotel and into a new place by the end of the week, but that pretty much relies on getting hired either Monday or Tuesday…it could happen, though. Cross-a da fingers!

And to close out the evening:

Top Things I Like About the Area so Far…

• Mickey Mouse is within an hour’s drive now! Granted, I can’t afford to go visit him at the moment, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
• The city actually has a skyline– another new one to me. Gaylord’s skyline pretty much consists of a gigantic Glockenspiel atop the local grocery store, but I like this one better!
• It’s warm at night, yet still comfortable. I’m still wearing what I’d normally be wearing up north, except that I’m not freezing! ‘Nuff said.
• Strip clubs – you just gotta love ’em! I passed like a half a dozen of ’em on the street to my hotel alone. Any idea how many strip clubs Gaylord has??? None.
• Boulevarded Streets! I’m a guy, I don’t like asking for directions, and I tend to get lost a lot, so being able to turn around in the middle of the road is a big convenience for me…
• They seem to actually have traffic under control for a change. Even though I haven’t seen the busy hour yet, the infrastructure seems to be designed well for the size of the area. Of course, my hometown feared growth with a passion, keeping the roads smaller in hopes of keeping the numbers down, sometimes it felt like! Even with 200x the amount of people, it feels safer driving here!
• And they have an all 80’s radio station – how cool is that?! Back up north, it was one of the station’s gigs to play The Retro Zoneduring the lunch hour, but this is obviously so much better!That’s all I’ve got tonight – sleepy-time now because there’ll be a whole lotta cruisin’ going on tomorrow…