Tuesday, November-something, 2008

Ah, it's 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. I don't have to be to work until 8. It's a little chilly outside but otherwise clear and peaceful. I'm in Amarillo, Texas. Yesterday I got up at 4, drank my coffee, unplugged from water, electricity, and sewage, and hit the road at 5. I drove down to Norman OK and arrived at 7:30. Waited around for people to show up, turned in some paperwork, and hung out until 9. As I was ready to leave, I was asked to stop off in Sayre to swap out a router in a college bookstore. I got to Sayre at noon and took care of the router, gassed up the truck, then I got a call from Danny. He left one hour after me but he was already in Amarillo. How in the world?!?
Yeah, it was pretty slow driving in the wind, but still: how did he pass me?
I pulled into Amarillo at 3:30 pm. I drove 415 miles yesterday, installed a router, set up the camper, and I was exhausted. I guess fighting the wind all day wore me out. So, like a dummy, I went to bed at 7:00 pm. Just couldn't stay awake any longer. So I started waking up around 3, looked at the clock and tried to go back to sleep, around 4 I figured it was morning enough to get up.
I made my reservations online at this KOA. I'm starting to think that I don't like KOA campgrounds all that much. The people at the Shreveport KOA weren't all that helpful so I didn't stay there. I told them I had about a month's worth of work and wanted a monthly rate, the little girl turned around and asked her supervisor who glared at me and sputtered that they "don't have long term sites". No, this place isn't that bad. It's maybe a little too manicured for my taste, but the real problem is the price. This campground is more expensive than the nice hotel I stayed at last time. My weekly rate at the hotel (with complimentary breakfast) was $189. The KOA for 6 nights is $208 with my 10% discount membership, and their cable TV is less than basic cable. No SciFi, no SPIKE TV, not even the women's channel: Oxygen. But we DO get the Weather Channel! Woo Hoo. You would think they could lower their rates during the off-season, when their little KOA diner is closed and the pool is closed, and their famous little kiddie-train isn't running...

My Dad invited me to Thanksgiving dinner in Texas this year. I always have to psych myself up for family gatherings. It's never been comfortable for me. I don't know why, I feel like a bug under a microscope. I dress up too much, or I don't dress up enough, I don't spend enough time with the women-folk, I smoke cigarettes, I stare at the children, my heart flutters and I stutter, I get nervous and say the wrong things, and usually I put both feet straight into my mouth early and I spend the duration of the gathering trying to extract them from my beet-red face. I'm much better at an outdoor beer drinking bar-b-que than I am at an indoor formal dinner. I never know if I'm supposed to be helping, I try to watch the hostess for cues, which are never straightforward (did she mean yes when she said no?). Some people dip their chips straight into the dip, some scoop a little onto their paper plate and dip from there... Yeah people, I'm a neurotic mess! Did you just figure that out?
I wish I knew how to play my guitar. I could just sit myself into a corner and lightly strum and play some appropriate little Christmas songs like background music. That way I can imagine my little "safe zone", thwart uncomfortable conversation, contribute to the ambiance, and keep myself busy and out of trouble.
Oh we can dream, can't we.
Well, I gotta hop in the shower. I still need to hitch up the box trailer full of materials and take it to the VA before anybody shows up.
Thanks for listening.
MsAmber