I made it to Billings

I left Lafayette at 10 p.m. on Friday and drove to Norman, Oklahoma. I stopped at Rob's house and did two loads of laundry, visited awhile, and slept. Saturday evening Rob, Kandelyn and I went to dinner at Applebees, then we sat around and chatted until 'way too late. I didn't leave there until 11 p.m.
Megabyte heard me and nearly tore the back door down trying to come in and see me. It was good to see my boy, I miss him.
The starter on the truck is starting to act up. When I was in Gainsville, it went out. I was at a gas station push starting the truck and some guy was leaning up against the fuel pump. He hollered out: "You're gonna have to go faster than that!", I hopped in and popped the clutch and it fired right up. I couldn't help but laugh. So far, that was the only episode. It's worked fine ever since, but I know that is my warning shot. It WILL go out, I'll just watch how I park it in case I have to push start it again.

It was a hard drive, but rather uneventful. Yesterday evening I saw a guy struggling with a flat tire. I was bored so I pulled over to help. It was a large chevy 3500 duelly and he'd blown a front tire. I saw that he was using the scissor jack, so I pulled off to see if he would rather use my big floor jack. He declined, but he didn't have a 4-way and couldn't break his lug nuts. I handed him my 4-way and a can of WD-40, and helped him get the spare out from under his truck. For some reason he wouldn't let me touch a tool, but I could tell he wasn't accustomed to changing tires...
Turns out he's a Ph.D. Yeah. I don't know a single doctor who would change their own tire. He struggled with it and I thought he might pop a vein, but by golly he got 'er done.
I was amused by the fact that he was treating me like a girl when I've certainly more experience than he in automotive mechanical work. It was quaint and cute.
Then: he tried to give me money. I wouldn't take it - I mean the dude wouldn't even let me help, did he think I only stopped to con him out of a few bucks? I took his business card though. I think I'll make him an offer on his truck. Now that it's got a fender-bender on it, it might be within my budget. He's a Dr., and he'll probably be too uppity to drive a truck with body damage. Maybe not though, it's still a really nice truck. Might be out of my price range for 8 more years or so. Though it wouldn't hurt to try...

I pulled in to Billings at 10 p.m. last night. Found the Extended Stay America and got checked in. The price is too high. I got her to knock it down a few bucks, but still: $381/wk is too much for what you get. I paid up for a week, but I'm going to look around for more reasonable accommodations. I would like to save a bit more of my perdiem to help pay for the truck I'm going to buy.

I toted 3/4 of my stuff up here to the 3rd floor and got unpacked. I'm strange that way: I have to set up the bathroom counter, unpack my clothes, and arrange the room to suit me before I can go to bed. No matter how tired I am.

My lower back took a beating on that ride. I had a muscle spasm in my right hip all day yesterday. Pinched nerve. I can hardly walk a straight line this morning. I've taken two ibuprofen and I'm drinking my coffee now. I'll be right-as-rain in just a few more minutes.

Mike called this morning already. I told him I was going to call him later to get the "Who, what, when, where, and why." He just wanted to make sure that I didn't show up on the jobsite this morning until he got approval. That's groovy, I wasn't planning on just showing up with no clue anyway.

I'm going to shower and get myself ready for the day. Maybe I'll get to have a meeting with my new crew and get oriented. The weather is beautiful. I opened the window to my room last night because it stinks of stale smoke in here, but the temperature is perfect. I slept like a baby! My window faces the highway, and beyond that is some mountains. I like being on the 3rd floor. The view is good, and I can open it up and get some air. Not too claustrophobic in here.

I was thinking to myself: wouldn't Chad just shit if I told him I liked it so much here that I'm staying? (not funny, MsAmber!)
I do love my mountains though. I'm really an Appalachian girl, but I loved the Rockies for over 9 years. I nearly forgot how much until I saw them again.
Actually, I tend to find something to love about every place I've ever been. Fickle, fickle, fickle.

You have a great day.
MsAmber