Month: May 2000

Well, here I am in San Francisco…over three thousand miles and just over a week after I left, and I’ve covered the entire country. Got to see some old friends, some family, and a whole lot of prairie. It’s a big country with some really big states…especially South Dakota and Wyoming, which seemed to go on forever.

I’d love to give a full description of the trip, but I’m frankly too beat to do it right now. Maybe later. For now, you can still reach me on my cell phone at the DC number. More info on a SF number when I get semi settled (looks like Friday).

The trip by the numbers:

Miles: 3,325
Days: 8
Average Miles/Day: 403.125
“States”: 13 (DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, California)
State Capitals: 3 (Columbus, Salt Lake City and Sacramento)
Tanks of Gas: 10
Cheapest Gas: Chevron, West Valley City, Utah $1.409
Most Expensive: Texaco, Winnemucca, WY $1.759
Most Boring State: Wyoming, except for the hail storm
Most Interesting: South Dakota (really! There’s some neat stuff there!)
Cheapest Hotel: $39 Circus Circus, Reno, NV

Well, that’s about it for now. I’m a west coaster…seems kinda weird. Anyway, I’ll be in touch soon!

Well the Season of Change is upon us still.

Todd is driving across country tomorrow with his dog and his mom… a real American odyssey. This, of course, means that he will have hours upon hours of time on the cell phone harassing, hunting, and dialing.

Cheryl is leaving for France tomorrow or the next day. She is moving there with her husband and is quite excited.

Susie is leaving Toledo!… well, actually, she’s just not working on Tuesday nights any more! Okay, calm down, this isn’t as bad as it seems. She wants to spend more time with the boyfriend… which is completely acceptable. She is not leaving us empty handed though, replacing Susie is… not me… not Meatpak Chopra… nor Spendolittle… but her brother Dave! And who said that Tuesday Night isn’t a family affair.

So I was at a wedding this weekend, a friend of mine from Penn. Weddings crack me up. They bring out parts of people that should probably remain hidden. Case is point, the bride (my friend) is about to through her bouquet… some of us Penn folk where betting that one of the bride’s maids was going to get it. Said bride’s maid threw a few elbows but came up victorious. Weddings are hell!

Josh watch:
Last I talked to him, Josh was headed into Salt Lake City to meet up with future Congressman Donald Dunn. If any of you are voters in Utah, I ask you to vote for Donald when the time comes… I mean, come on, how many Jewish Congressmen from Utah have there ever been? Josh did stop at a cheese factory in Wisconsin and can verify that cheese curds do squeak when you eat them… and you thought there was no culture in the upper Midwest.

Well, Josh has left the building. Bound for Columbus… then Chicago, then points west.

I don’t know about you, but I am beat… just dead tired. Now granted, since around last Thursday I have been up to 3-ish or so every night. Susie has done her best to dent my liver.

So my sister graduate GW this weekend. Nothing like have the whole family (plus grandparents) in town… always fun to watch a variety of interactions. Somehow my family finds ways to stress even in celebration.

The Tuesday Night list needs to be introduced to Scott’s little brother, Spendolittle. Spendolittle is a superconcentrated version of Scott. He has all the basic attributes to make him a Spendolini: sarcastic wit, titanium liver, and montrous sense of humor. The most important part of Spendolittle is his ability to turn evil (especially in bars) quickly and without warning… this makes for way too much fun.

Jeez, I’m beat… see you tomorrow

I have figured out what is going on… I have figured out what this season is. As you remember, we had the Bad Season, which lasted from around the middle of last summer through the fall. And then we had a paused, as if the world was waiting to see what was coming. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the new season. Welcome to the Season of Change.

Why is this the Season of Change? First, look at the people heading out of town. Todd and Josh are both heading to San Francisco, both with new jobs. More people are looking to move, thinking that this is the time to make a change. Second, people are leaving Oracle… in droves. People are looking for change in their jobs, their lives. John is a prime example of this. Time for a change.

So what does this mean for you? Dunno… but if there are changes in your future, they’ll find you.

I was throwing darts with a few of the Tuesday Night members… and we met a strange strange person… Flaccido Domingo. He’s from Italy, speaks broken English, and can’t throw darts for shit. But he did babble on about the Italian porn industry… I dunno, we just ignored him after a while.

I have a problem, friends. Tomorrow is Josh’s last Tuesday Night here in DC. (I expect with both Todd and Josh heading west that we will see a Tuesday Night West) I, however, am going to be in Austin. I need you, all of you, to come on by tomorrow and see Josh off.