6.10.04

Okay, I decided to do a personal blog. The other I have given links to coworkers, etc... so I don't feel I can really vent or anything.
I cannot decide if I should leave family out of this blog too, so I can vent about them as well. Hmmm. I will think about that. For now, I will keep it clean.

Work is really boring right now. Since it's summer, campus is dead. That is another reason I decided to start this up. It gives me something to do instead of staring at the computer screen. I cannot really pick up a book and start reading, even though I work in the library. I cannot disguise that as work.

Right now, I am reading On the Road by Kerouac. I am not sure what to think of it yet. I checked it out thinking I would read it on my way down to Alabama. I didn't even crack it. So, I have started since we got back. I have to say, I was a little disgusted at the way he talks about women. For example, the male characters just see women as blondes or brunettes. I try to keep in mind the time that this was written, but it still kinda irks me.

My trip to Alabama was not the best, but not the worst. We left NYC on Thursday morning around 6 a.m. We had little trouble driving through Manhattan, which was unusual. Once you hit I-81 in Harrisburg, PA, it is a straight-shot until TN. The weather was nice and the long drive was uneventful.
It was after we crossed the Alabama border that the fun begins. It was about 10 p.m. and we needed gas so I took an exit to Fort Payne. At the Citgo, I got out, used the bathroom, and grabbed a coffee. We were on our way. I had promised my mother that we would call once we got to Birmingham. Once I saw the sign saying, "22 miles to Birmingham", I asked Micah to give my mom a call. "Where's your purse?", he asked. What, where's my purse!!???!!! It only has everything I need in it--why else would I lug the thing around, wherever I go? I panicked and decided to pull over and search the car. No purse. Crap. Micah and I racked our brains and remembered that the last place we stopped was a gas station in Fort Payne. Gas station?--that means we would have paid with the debit card. I grabbed Micah's wallet and took out the receipt. Yeah! I had an exact address, but no phone number. No fear- I called 411 and was connected immediately. The guy at the other end answered my frantic question with a "no, no purse here." I pleaded that he check the women's restroom. Few minutes later, "Yes, we have the purse." Great, but then I found out the place had just closed. What did we do? What could we, we rented a hotel room. Early next morning, found the gas station and got my purse. Wow, I was lucky!

More Alabama stories to come. . . .