I find myself waiting

There are different kinds of waiting. 

There's waiting for dinner, waiting for the bus  & waiting for quitting time, this is different as I'm waiting for an appointment...in 5 days and I'm not at home.

It's not as bad as waiting for a baby to be born and it's different from waiting for your enlistment to end or Social Security to start. It does seems more 'personal'.

It is someplace 'here' I have  to be  in 5 days.

While I thought about 'waiting' this morning I flashed on a favorite waiting phrase, "Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him" by The Firesign Theater from a long time back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I2PjLna4C0

In those days I don't remember waiting ...
well I do remember waiting for gas in 1973.

Christmas Travels

Christmas Eve found us finishing the last 150 miles of a 2800 mile trip to surprise our children for Christmas.

We were traveling in a 1990 GMC van from rest area to rest area with an RV park stop in Quartzsite so we could look around early in the Quartzsite season. At Quartzsite there were still a lot of people setting up & a lot of room for RVs, still it's a place I enjoy.

Just an example of what you can see in Quartzsite in the winter

Between El Paso & Tucson we stopped to use the bathroom at a place we'd seen billboards advertising for miles, "The Thing".  We paid the one US dollar (ea) to see "The Thing", it was worth it.
I'm not going to say what it was, take a drive & spend the $1.

I saw a number of people on the road were I could guess 'why' they were going ( a form of entertainment while traveling at 70 mph on good roads).
Some were easy to say they were going home for the holidays, others really looked like they were moving.
I always wonder "why" someone is moving... I did find out in one case as I talked to the guy in a rest area. An older gentleman moving from Kentucky to Phoenix to live with his son. He had tools in a Harbor Freight (type) trailer and said his son thought it was time for this & he agreed.
I wonder if this is going to happen to me....

As I was driving through Portland Oregon on Christmas eve I wondered about where all the other people were going, traffic was thick but it was moving... they were probably the same sort of place we were going, to visit family during the holidays.

Good times was the goal.  We did achieve surprise and good times were had by most (me for sure!) ...

I'd like to wish anyone reading this an acceptable next year (even better than this one!) and if you run into a guy at a rest area who wants to talk about "why" you're moving, indulge him if you can <g>.

There is a lot to said for second hand stores

I was down at the Goodwill and found a pair of Levi 501's in my size & bought them, they are the blue jeans with the button down fly...

It's funny how one little thing will bring back memories from long ago.

Years ago I had worn 501's all the time, I started wearing them right after I get some hair caught in a zipper... Back then they were shrink to fit and the first wash there was blue die everywhere.

I remember why I stopped wearing them, they became fashionable and cost too damn much money. Battery acid didn't care if they were brand new or worn out, didn't care if they were cheap jeans or Levy 501's... mess with a battery & that was it.
I remember putting acid holes in a brand new pair of 501's...

I started wearing cheap jeans and have for many years now but putting on a pair felt good & the first time I went to the bathroom, dealt with the button down fly all the memories came back!
Two things that seem worth mentioning-

 Memories are a big part of life & there is a lot to said for second hand stores

This part of Texas

I'm down in south Texas for the very mild winter, because I've never been down here before, because I wanted to be close to the salt water again, because I wanted to see if I could get into fishing again and because everybody has to be somewhere. This is a better place for me to be than most right now.

This is a land of flat, a land of oak trees & birds, a land of bbq stands, a land of Mexican restaurants, a land of fishing boats. The roads are flat, mostly straight and have high speed limits. A land of Winter Texans judging by the out of state license plates you get stuck behind going 25 in a 45 zone every time I go into town.
I have not seen this many Minnesota license plates since the trip to Lake Havasu City in January a few years back!

The TV ads, there is a subject in itself!
Lawyers, lot's of lawyers and title loan places, there must be a booming business borrowing cash with you car's title as collateral... there are a lot of ads on the TV for those loans, almost as many as for lawyers.
Texas ads!
You can tell I'm in Texas by the ads! We've got Mrs Santa & crew eating like they do in Texas, we have trucks & cars that are built just for Texas, I learned that the first words from the moon were Houston!  It is interesting.

Lot's of pickup trucks here, I have noticed more Chevy trucks than Ford trucks, some days more Dodge trucks than Fords but that is unusual. Not many full sized Toyota's & most of the small trucks 'I've noticed' have been American brands.

The people are very friendly, the weather has been pleasant and the ads are Texan. Texas is a big place and I'm just seeing my small part of it but that will do for now.

Merry Christmas!

Damn dog!

At 2 am the dog starts barking, I let him out and he's still barking, I thought he had to go... I tell him to get in and he does, I take him off his long leash and go back to bed.

I can't sleep now. I toss & turn till 0330 & get up, turn the computer on & check the news, weather, comics & bank balance, the usual morning stuff. I read the blogs & email. No coffee.
About 0530 I'm tired again and go back to bed.

I actually sleep! I have dreams (I'm usually not aware that was dreaming) and wake up about 20 minutes till nine. Time to make coffee & go.

Ever heard of the "second sleep"?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783 

or

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segmented_sleep

 

The dog I was talking about