Cooler

Day 2 (Day 4 of Travel)

Safe in D.C.

The last entry came a day after everything happened, good for perspective, but perhaps allowing experience to suffer. I'm not sure I like how that will work, but I suppose these posts will eventually present two different voices of a man in the moment versus a man in reflection.

But even in the current moment, I'm starting to feel almost tingly, unleashed from the fluid structure of my last 8 years and more like a rolling flood. Now I've left home and I'm really on a trip. Had to be flexible with my plans again and Philly just isnt in the cards. Next time, I guess. Oh well, straight on and making progress. I can't be stopped until Florida because money burns.

After having arrived from Boston, my stuff was immediately unloaded into the house. I felt like the removal of it all would make my car lose its gravitational pull and hurl into space. Essentially, the next two days were spent taking stuff that has accumulated over the last generation of my life and letting them find the trash bags that would ultimately turn into a hefty donation. I hope my five National Amusements, Pepsi embossed white polo shirts that I was required to wear while I worked at Circle Cinemas makes a few people happy. There's a lot of really nice stuff too, come on, don't think I'm terrible!

So after sorting through the stuff I moved first, the tuff I moved second, and the stuff I never moved from my house in the first place, I had to cobble together the travel kit I'd need to survive, document, and rock this trip. Here's what two days of careful sorting and separation produced:

A suitcase bag full of clothes (rolling wheels)
A real bag of real steel tools
A roadside assistance kit. window
Trumpet
Medical/hygeine kit
Yoga mat
Blow up bed
DVR camera
Cooler
Suitbag containing two suits, and one outfit that seemed particulaly Miami...
A cooler with beers.

All of this fit in the trunk. I love Tetris.

And in the rear seat:

Bedding
Shamwows
my bike.
My backpack
My computer.

More than I thought it would amount to, but Longshot was doing well the way. I think. I'm not sure if I smelled something burning...famous last words.

First was NYC to get lunch with pedicabber, Bryan Plust, all the person who introduced me to freecycle Boston, the venue through which, I was connected to my "free" car. I owed him a coffee for that.

A quick, smoke filled visit to my dad and his girlfriend to talk strategy, and I was off to DC. It costs $20 or so in tolls to get to DC. And about 3:45, 233mi + 1 hr at 53mi from my house to NYC, this is the furthest in one day that my car has ever gone, and, to my knowledge, it went the fastest it ever did today as well at 81 MPH. This was when the burning smell occurred.

It was really easy to get to Teddy's, which is apparently two blocks away from the DC/Maryland border, and I may give Adams Morgan, "The Lansdowne of Washington" the visit it deserved. How about "The Ol' Boston Try", a polo'd shirt for me, a gin and tonic, and that top that makes your tits look big, baby-that atempt you see at that real classy joint Tequila Rain on Lansdowne. They must be having fun if they keep doing it. Or is it that it might be a never ending wave of new douchebags?

Statistics:

purchased $37 in gas today-bunt half a tank and 90 miles on Orange County
4 New Tires, front alignment completed
3 small car problems identified by Joe, Sears technician
2 small car problems I am actually personally capable of fixing
2 small car problems that are actually the same small problem twice in two places.
$28 in tolls from my house to Washington, DC.
28 years I've been a living person
0 pushups completed today.
286 mi traveled
4 coffees imbibed (2 cups from a pot, 2 Venti Starbucks iced.)
Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tears" came on twice on the way.
So did Mrs. Robinson by The Lemonheads.

I think I left my iPod radio converter was left in the Budget truck on New Years Eve. Suck.

Beers from...

Day 2 with Tom Francis of Greenwood Lake
#6 Samual Adams
#7 Samuel Adams
#8 LakeFront New Grist
#9 Samuel Adams

Day 3 with Amanda, and OCC Phil
#10 harpoon ufo pale ale (at home)
#11 Yeungling Draft
#12 Yeungling Draft
#13 Yeungling Botlle
#14 Corona (a quarter cheaper than Yeungling here, with a FREE LIME!)
#15 ""
#16 "" from a guy named Kevin, who annoyed his friends back to their wives, and that Amanda and I were fucking with about doing porn together and being married for 11 months, and being named James (me) and Ryan (Amanda) I told him we'd email him a link to our porn and that it was inappropriate to have him watch on his Droid right in front of us. Man, that's weird and embarassing, amIright? That is when he handed me his True Value Business Card and bought us a round.

People of the stage: Mom, Oma (my grandmother for being strong and supportive), and Bryan Plust for introducing me to freecycle



May be picking up a passenger Sunday....