On The Road Again...

Okay, good for you if you made it through the T-Bird saga. Let’s move on. This trip planning business is a pain in my ass. First, Ye Olde Automobile needed at least two new front tires, a front end alignment, and an oil change. The idiot shop that put my last tires on... oh, they put the wrong size on, yeah, about three sizes too small!!! So, instead of buying two new tires, I now have four! At twice the cost of course. I also have another trip coming up, not real soon, but soon enough and I have to put back money for that. OH, and I haven’t even got the front-end aligned yet or the oil changed. That’s tomorrow... yeah. Okay, it needed done anyway... and frankly, the tires couldn’t have waited. Yeah, one of them had worn funky and you know, all those silver belt thingys were frayed and making my wheel wobble-dobble. Not exactly safe. Hence the front end alignment. Wow, wonder how much my mpg will go up? COST ME 27 FUCKING DOLLARS TO PUT 12.279 GALLONS OF GAS IN MY CAR!!!! I know, what am I complaining about? Hear you peeps in Cali (Aimee, Mike, Jeanette, Gooch, Leese) are paying $3 bucks a gallon. I just want to say, that’s completely fucked up. I guess you want to know how I’m getting there and the when’s and what for’s. I’m leaving Nate’s school at 8:11 a.m. That’s one minute after I drop him off. I will then proceed to get on I-64 West and head toward Lexington, KY, dip South on I-65 and continue on I-65 until I reach Birmingham, AL. From Birmingham I’ll take I-20 to Meridian, MS. I’ll either die of exhaustion here or continue on I-59 (read: continue) to Slidell, LA, and head West on I-12 to my cousin’s place. I may actually nap somewhere in between. Dunno yet. From my trip to AJ’s I know with leaving at 8:00 I should be in Nashville at the latest by 1:30 CST. Given how fast I drove the last time. If not I’ll get there around 2:00. The next leg of the trip is a little over 8 hours if I don’t get stuck in traffic and all that jazz. I thought I would be tired when I got to Nashville, but I was okay. Excitement gets me there. I figure if I can get to Nashville and not collapse until 2:00 a.m. my time... yeah, I can do it. No, I’m not stupid. I’ve pulled over before and napped. Yes, I’ll be careful. My mother has already told me to lock my doors. What AJ and I both neglected to tell you was that my mother sent the, “he may be a serial killer” e-mail before I left for TN. Bwhahahahahahahahahaha!!! I’m not showing her a picture of Trashman before I leave... or that Halloween picture of Zelda and Jethro. Heh. I’ll be stopping in Nashville on my way back through to see AJ and family again. I think I’ll need the rest. Some of you may be wondering why I’m not taking I-77 south. Here’s why. Mountains, tolls, and high winds. Going through Nashville and south from there is almost the exact same distance as going I-77, its just much flatter (better mpg!). I felt very panicky today. I’ve never gone this far for so long and left Nate. Plus, found out more unsavory things about SD today. Yes, it can always be worse. Never, ever, forget that. No, he’s not going to be with SD the entire time but long enough. This is his holiday so there’s not much I can say. He’s knows what’s expected. What I found out though is that SD has been sending Nate and his sister next door to his brother’s house. Enough that they keep clothes over there for them. Uh huh. The local convenience store will no longer sell him beer because in this great state of mine, it is illegal to sell alcohol to a known alcoholic. Seems as though everyone knows but him. Did I tell you how bad he looks? Really bad. Sickly bad. His brother told him, whilst in the midst of WWIII with each other this past week, that he looked like he has AIDS. No offense to sufferes of AIDS but I have to agree. He’s about 6' tall and used to fluctuate between 180 and 220. SD couldn’t be over 150 now. Maybe 140. He’s really, really, really thin. His face is sunk in with big lines in it. Its hard to believe he’s only 42 years old. He looks at least 10 years older. He says he’s just been sick all winter with colds and flu, his stomach hurts, he throws up etc. He abuses his body badly, worse than just booze. Actually, he looks a little like a tweaker too, but I don’t think he’s on meth. He sleeps too much. I guess if someone wants to off themselves, it may not be quick, but its still painful to watch. Some of the panic has subsided. I think it has to do with finances too. But, everything is going okay and unless something is terribly wrong with my car tomorrow... its all a go for Thursday. If you would like for me to wave as I drive past a particular landmark or a road that would take me to you, let me know, and I’ll put it on my map.