That is what we will probably end up doing.  However, that’s not the trip I want to take.

Here’s the trip I would love to be able to take some day… preferably in the fall.  I’d fly to Maine, maybe Bangor since that is where a lot of Stephen King books took place, and rent a nice comfortable car.  Then head north to Quebec and see that just because.  Then head south down through Vermont and New Hampshire to get to Boston and have some Clam Chowder.  That would rock.

We’d head west then and in to Pennsylvania to see a true national landmark: Hershey!  Tour the facilities and ride the rides at the park.  Then drive through Pittsburgh just to mark it off the map on our way to Sandusky, OH to visit Cedar Point where more roller coasters and other various rides would be ridden till I was hoarse from screaming like a little girl.  We would head west again towards Chicago and stay with our friends there for a night.  Off again after breakfast we’d head north through Madison, WI and stop in at the Mall of America near Minneapolis.  I’ve been there but Michelle hasn’t.

We could then head southwest a little towards Sioux Falls and head to the Badlands via Hwy 90.  That place is very cool but I haven’t been there since I was little.  After a few pictures we would continue on 90 to Billings, Montana and then through the skinny part of Idaho and into Spokane, WA.  Since we are that close we would probably spend a night in Seattle and then stop in Olympia to see Yoshi and Meesh.  We could then take Hwy 5 south to Portland and visit Katie and then continue on to California  probably splitting off to 199 at Grants Pass to get to the coastal highway.

All the way to San Francisco to spend a night or two sightseeing and then back on the 101 to go through Los Angeles and then stop in San Diego.  For fun we could go an hour out of our way to cross the border into Tiajuana for a beer and trinkets and then find our way back across to Hwy 8 and take that to Tucson, AZ.  Off again and into Texas we would pass through El Paso and head southeast to San Antonio and then Houston on our way to New Orleans in Louisiana.

We would pass through Gulfport, Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama and travel the length of the Florida pan-handle to get to Jacksonville where we would steer that poor mistreated rental due north.  We could take Hwy 95 to Savannah, GA and then continue on… maybe go to Charleston… maybe not.  It looks kind of out of the way.  Probably just stay on 95 to Raleigh in North Carolina and then off to the coast again.  I’m thinking Virginia Beach.

Then based on the map it looks like there is a bridge that will take you on to this strange island or maybe it’s a peninsula called Delaware.  I’m not even sure that is part of the United States.  May need to have our passports there too.  Hehe.  Then up to Philadelphia as we re-enter Pennsylvania because the alternative is New Jersey and no one needs to see that.

If we had to return the car to Maine where we rented it then I suppose we would travel past New York City and maybe drive through Rhode Island because seriously… how long could that possibly take?  Perhaps stop in somwhere else for some clam chowder to wrap up the trip and back to the rental place and then to the airport.

I wonder how many miles that would be?

After some amazement at the amount of stuff we were going to have to pack into his Accord and the thought that we still had to pick up another guy and his gear, we headed out and eventually got everything and everyone settled.  The sun was up by then.  I was hungry.

We drove and drove and drove some more.  Stopped at Jack in the Box for some food that we would later regret and drove some more.  Once we reached the middle of nowhere we made a right and headed straight for Ozark Country.  The Accord deftly zipped around horse trailers and logging trucks.  I was too tired to care much.

We had to wait almost two hours for a group to show up and then boarded the bus for a very noisy ride many miles away.  Cubs fans were made fun of.  Laughter ensued.  We loaded up the canoes and floated about eight miles to the campsite where some more friends were already setup and waiting for us.  They had kayaked down the day before to make sure they got the spot they wanted.  Crazy bastards.

It was a beautiful weekend where I derided anyone for checking their watches.  I caught a few fish and generally relaxed.  I was bored now and then and I couldn’t nap when I wanted to because my tent was like an oven.  The water was ice cold so there was no recreational swimming.  But it was still nice.

By dinner on Saturday night I was taking two Immodium because I didn’t want to experience again the horror that happened after lunch earlier that day.  Dig a hole and cover it up.  Hah! Tell that to the rehydrated Chili Mac that was coming out one way or the other.  No more pooping in the woods for me thankyouverymuch.  I’d rather be medicinally constipated.

It took three tries to get my tent back in the small bag it came out of on Sunday morning.  We sat around till lunch and shot the shit and packed up the canoes and kayaks after eating.  It took a few hours and some serious paddling and we were back at the pull out site.  We were tired, smelly and I wanted to get home and see my family.

We packed up the Accord once more with slightly less than we had arrived with.  We left Ozark Country with fresh clothes on our backs but still in need of a serious scrubbing.  We made a left at the middle of nowhere and headed home once more.

So I’ve been shopping a bit.  When your stuff has been in storage for a couple of years you start to forget what you did and did not keep.  Important stuff – like a tent.  Yeah I used to have a nice tent but it no longer exists.  It had gotten a few holes in it from over-acheiving bonfire builders a few years previously so I have the vague recolection that maybe we sold it at the garage sale.  Either way – we were tentless.  So that went on the list.

I bought some travel toilet paper because that went missing from my supplies and that is a serious must have.  Sure I could have just taken a whole roll of TP, but the kind made for camping is much smaller and has it’s own little carrying case.  Now if only I could find a camp chair with no bottom for me to sit on.  How am I supposed to hold myself up, poop and read in the middle of the woods?  The idea of taking care of things in the woods is not completely alien to me but this is the first time I have had to “plan” for pooping in the woods.

No I need to go to the store and pick up some bottled water, beer, snacks, something to burn for Friday night’s dinner and some breakfast-y type stuff.  And get my fishing license.  Can’t forget that otherwise I may as well not even take my fishing pole.  License enforcement happens all the time.  Some other stuff too I think.  I better make a new list.

Do you ever look at the ads on the side of page?  Usually they are like Google ads where they are at least kind of targeted to what’s on the page.  Usually.  Not today though.  Today I was looking at all the responses to me announcing that I am no longer playing any more farming games.  If you don’t know what I’m going on about then you probably aren’t on Facebook.  And I look to the side and see this as one of the ads:

Uhhh… I think perhaps the targeted ads are a bit confused.  If this has something to do with farming then I don’t need to know about it.

Seriously though, I have nothing against gay people of either gender but this bothers me a bit.  Based on my own knowledge of gay guys that I have met or been friends with, the bulk of them seemed to have no problem flitting between lovers like a fat guy at a buffet and certainly had no qualms about cheating on each other.  I am certain that this is not the case with all gay guys and I am not trying to generalize but I am relating what I have been told personally.

Now, assuming that the kind of behaviour I describe is even relatively common in this lifestyle, this gay cruise idea sounds like a really really bad idea.  Sure it will be a fun time for the people on it but can you imagine the aftermath?  Primarily I’m talking about diseases.

Consider that most sexually transmitted diseases are spread by people who don’t know they are infected or carrying a given disease.  I’m not sure if there is a statistic on how many people get an STD over a given weekend but I imagine its more than I care to know.  Now take that number and multiply it by some other unknown number for a cruise that I assume is based on the premise of sex.  It sounds like the boat should have to go through quarantine before it gets back to US soil.

Am I wrong about an All Gay Cruise being primarily about sex?  I don’t think so or why else would it exist?  There’s nothing to say that gay people and straight people can’t share the same cruise ship for the experience of people going on vacation.  And can you imagine if someone offered an All Straight Cruise?  The backlash would be earth-shattering to say the least.  So since there is nothing stopping gay people from going on normal cruises and doing whatever they feel like, this idea of an All Gay Cruise sounds more like a “special” getaway.  A haven or retreat for the alternative lifestyle.  A place to do whatever it is they feel that can’t do when us “breeders” are around.  (Yes I have been called a Breeder by a gay guy before.)

Am I way off base here?  Or is there something even more sinister that I’ve completely missed?
What’s your opinion?

You need to watch this.  If you use your phone in your car or if you have children or other loved ones who use their phones while driving, you need to see this.  This is specifically about people texting but the same goes for anyone not paying attention.

This is a very graphic and realistic dramatization.  Those of you who don’t like the sight of blood may not make it through the whole thing.  It’s very well done.  I watched this at work right before I left and almost started crying when they showed the passengers of the second car.

Maybe its because I now have a baby of my own but that was horrible and will haunt me for a while.  I’ve never texted or written an e-mail while driving but I guarantee that I never will either.  Sure this seems like common sense but this video just drives it home.

You won’t like it but you need to watch it.

If for some reason the YouTube link above doesn’t work, here’s another link.

Today is one of those days.

Today there was a listing for a complete airplane kit on sale for the low low price of $29,980 plus shipping, crating and handling.  And of course I had to check it out because what guy hasn’t thought to himself at one time or another, “Ya know, if I just had a little plane or helicopter or jet pack, life would be so much simpler.”

So I looked.  It may not be the prettiest thing but it sure looks like fun.  Now if only I had roughly $35,000 USD to throw away on a toy.  A very large toy.  One that can kill me in various ways.  The fun I would have….  *sigh*

The only time I got to see anything in the city was when we left the office a little after 10 or 10:30pm on Saturday and walked to Times Square and ate at Planet Hollywood.  I used to think NYC looked crowded but after spending a few years in Hong Kong the busy streets of Times Square seemed barely crowded at all.  Not everyone shared my opinion, hehe.

I’m heading home in a few minutes.  I miss my family and I need a serious baby fix.

This morning we get an update that the office will be closed today.  I’m thinking that it must have been one heck of an explosion  to keep our office closed.  Then I click on the link provided.  A freaking Lear jet crash landed in the middle of Mexico City carrying important government officials.  A jet crashed only meters away from our office building there during rush hour.  As of this morning they knew that everyone on the plane was dead but had no idea how many people in the cars that the jet landed on were dead as well.

Here’s a link to an article and some video of the aftermath.  I’m betting that since it was a busy time of day, that the death toll will be going up.

Thursday night, the power went out and didn’t come back on until almost the afternoon on Friday.  We went to bed with the window open and no breeze and sweated.  I barely slept and I’m sure Muse didn’t sleep well either.  I woke up the next morning and took a shower by flashlight and skipped breakfast because we couldn’t open the fridge.

Friday I was exhausted at work and luckily it was only moderately busy.  But then I get home and we have to get packed up and drive 100 miles down to the country to visit with Muse’s family.  Highway 55 was completely stopped in Barnhart for some unknown reason so we had to fight a parking lot of cars to get off the highway and take some backroads to get out of the mess.  Needless to say that 100 mile trip became much longer than normal.

Of course we had to go visit people who are up drinking (unlike us) instead of going to sleep.  We didn’t get to crash until around 1:30am Saturday.  I’m pretty sure I’d only been asleep for 15 minutes when Muse woke me up with hallucinations of a large spider crawling on me.  Which wouldn’t be completely out of the question considering no one had been in the house we were staying at for a while.  But no.  No spider.  OK back to bed.  Another restless night on an ancient and uncomfortable bed only gives us marginally more sleep than the night before.  At least there is some air-conditioning.

Saturday was spent visiting various family members who all live near each other but can’t really stand one another.   It wasn’t horrible, but it would be so much nicer if Muse’s family could just quit worrying about who is screwing over who for what and just get together so we could see them all at once.  I get so sick of telling and hearing the same stories five times because each visit is like another day of Groundhog Day forever doomed to repeat.

Of course being tired and sleep deprived, I really wanted to get out of the country and back to St. Louis while there was still some daylight.  And of course that didn’t happen.  At least we got some dinner out of the deal before we stayed even longer.  Dinner which didn’t sit well with me unfortunately.  But finally we got on the road and Muse layed back in the seat and proceeded to sleep the next hour of the trip home.  Good thing the new car has satellite radio to keep me entertained.  So we got back in around 11:30pm and had to take care of the dogs and probably didn’t get to bed till around 12:30am or so.  And then I set the alarm for 6:45am.

On Sunday morning we got up early and met our real estate agent to view a bunch of houses in the South County area.  No luck.  We finished up and headed home.  Muse took a nap and I joined her.  Unfortunately my lingering cough that I’ve had since I returned from Hong Kong cropped up and gave me coughing fits.  OK no nap for me.  The rest of Sunday was fairly uneventful and we started a big jigsaw puzzle with my Mom and Step-Dad for lack of anything better to do.  Besides, when was the last time I did one of those?  Who knows.

We stayed up late again and set the alarm for 6:30am.  More house viewings on Monday morning.  Needless to say, we were one of the only cars on the road at 7:45am on Labor Day.    We went on a marathon run of house viewings and only found one maybe and another possibly-maybe.  Muse took another nap in the afternoon and I helped finish up the jigsaw puzzle.

Party on dudes.  Party on.

I’ve got two giant suitcases to check in at the airport and one tiny suitcase to use as my carry-on.  The carry-on case pretty much is completely filled with my XBox 360 and Playstation 2 and one of my external hard drives for backups.  That and some towels and t-shirts for padding.  It’s the only way to be sure.

Tired.  I was up till 1:30am last night packing and had to get up early to go to work early.  I was falling asleep in a vendor presentation this afternoon.  Considering they were presenting to me, that was probably kind of rude.  I’ll probably be up again late tonight as it’s almost midnight.  Then the circus starts tomorrow morning.

I won’t be in front of a PC again till I reach the office on Thursday morning.  I’ll try and give another update then.