Cable Guy Clogging the toilet, Dead Bunnies and Being an Adult

I'm relaxing on a sunday afternoon, hanging out on the front porch in a rocking chair with Annie by my side and figured I'd pass the time by offering up a brief synopsis of two stories from the past week. I've already played golf with buddies early today, and the Cubs-Sox game doesn't start for about an hour and writing helps me remain somewhat coherent while I'm out of work. If you don't like today's entry make sure to check back for the Featured Friend this week; my buddy Tony who plays baseball for a living is sure to have some interesting perspective on life, baseball, and who knows what else....

Neither of these stories is a nailbiter, and neither is going to win a pulitzer prize. But maybe you'll enjoy.




Story 1: The Clogged Toilet





My sister's house is a hybrid technology home; meaning her data connections come from both AT&T (phone/internet) and Comcast (cable). Her web situation was desktop based, so she decided to upgrade to wireless and get a one stop shopping plan from AT&T. Its a nice setup if you're a techno-junkie, call your local cable operator for details. And for the record, I totally made up the term "hybrid technology" home.

The installation was scheduled for this past Friday, and was going to take somewhere between four and six hours, and although it wasn't the ideal way to spend a Friday, I didn't have much else going on. Of course, they said they'd be here between 8 and 10 AM, and of course the guy shows up at 9:50 to begin the job.

By 11:30 or so he was doing work on the first floor when I stopped by to ask if I could get him something to drink. His response was odd, something to the effect of, "Not yet, I've got to drill in here, then use the bathroom, and maybe after that." I showed him where the bathroom was and headed back outside to do some reading.

About ten minutes later I went in to the house and noticed the bathroom door was closed, but didn't think anything of it when I noticed he'd been in there for a while. I headed back to the porch out back, and he comes out with kind of a "did something wrong" look. He steps closer and asks, "Do y'all have a plunger around here?"

In my head I'm thinking "you've gotta be shitting me," but the guy is human and instead of pushing for details from him I head to the basemenet to dig out a plunger. As I'm heading back up the stairs I'm convinced I'm the king of these kinds of bizarre encounters. It legitimately felt like a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode, and after handing off the plunger I took a straight line back to the porch with the hopes he'd be a better plumber than I and figure out how to fix his mess.

He wrapped up his fix-it job in the bathroom, then proceeded with his regular job, and everything went smoothly for the rest of the day. As I thought about the situation some more, the poor guy was in a no-win situation and I have to commend him for being straight with me. If he says nothing, my sister (or me) walk in the bathroom to discover whatever mess he's created, and he's out of a job or punished if we let the AT&T folks know. His alternative is he has to acknowledge it happened, face whatever embarassment may come from it, and move on to his weekend. He played it well, and since I've had my fair share of bathroom "adventures" I wasn't going to give him a hard time about it. But needless to say I sanitized the heck out of the bathroom after he left.

Again, not exactly a cliffhanger story, but this is high drama in my life these days.

Story II: Dead Bunnies and Being an Adult


Late Wednesday night, I came home to notice a small bunny on the driveway, probably no more than five inches long. The little fella could very well have been a girl, but HE has one fewer keystrokes than SHE for the rest of the story...although I just spent about 20 seconds justifying the bunny's gender.

I got up close to the little guy and noticed his back legs were broken, or at least really deformed. At first glance I thought he may have been clipped by a car, but there was a nice size gash behind his legs. Nobody said Highland Park was all fun and games, there's a tough tag team of cats next door who have been known to hunt for a meal or two and leave surprises in the yard. They have not been questioned by the authorities for mauling the rabbit, but I'm watching them.


I let my sister know he was out there, and we decide to let him hang out there overnight to see what happens, even though we both knew he had no chance. Unless, of course, the bunny is on Medicare and eligible for total hip/knee replacement surgery. There was just no way I was pulling a Costanza and bringing the dude to a Vet Hospital to get fixed up and nature had to take its course. If you don't know the reference, this is the Youtube clip from the episode, the squirrel part is at the end about 6 minutes in and one of my favorite episodes of all time.


After waking up Thursday morning, we notice the little guy has crossed the driveway. In fact, his ears are flopping, he's eating, and seems to be hanging tough--just like the fairly tale version. I was encouraged by his progress, and even sent my sister an upbeat text message that he may make it after all. However, after returning home around 5 PM I found the little guy surrounded by flies and deader than a doorknob.


Fifteen years ago I would have called for my dad, and asked him to remove the body, but with no adults in sight I knew it was on my shoulders to give the little guy a proper burial. Being an adult sucks sometimes, and this was one of those times.

I headed to the garage in search of a contraption to get him from the driveway to the forest behind the park across the street and a shovel was my tool of choice. I did consider harpooning it with some kind of knife, but don't think that would have gone over well with the parents/kids across the street, and I wanted to avoid blood at all costs.


Picking the little guy up was tough; he was nudged against the grass and it was hard to get leverage, but I scooped him up and headed to the cemetary. As I passed through the park, two young boys and their parents looked at me like I was crazy, and I looked straight down trying to avoid eye contact with them at all costs. I got to a small trail in the forest, took a few steps and said, "good luck wherever you are" and tossed him near a bush.


After emerging from the forest, I noticed the parents and kids had left the park by that point, and I really can't blame them. If I saw a strange guy walking through a park with a dead rodent on a shovel in the middle of summer I think I'd do the same. But I was happy with the job I completed, slung the shovel over my shoulder and headed home.


As kids, my parents handled "icky" stuff like this all of the time, and made it seem so natural and easy for them. I seriously considered calling my dad at some point and offering to trade services if he'd get rid of the thing, but I'm glad I handled it on my own. Death is something we all deal with, and I don't do great with looking at or touching dead stuff, but life can't always be about doing what you like or avoiding the things you don't like. So while I don't think I'm a spiritual saint for dealing with it, I did feel a little more "adult" and I know that if I need to do it down the road I can handle it. I'd just prefer if some other adult handled the burial/body situation. Not fun stuff.


Here's the little guy when I thought he had a chance; RIP my man:

Delta Whiskey Field Trips, Dog stuff, and other things

I've been having computer issues of late, but wanted to post some photos (with captions) of the last week or so. I had my niece for an afternoon, we went to the city for a field trip....click on the link below for the photos and itenerary:

Field Trip

The featured friend will be up by weekend's end, hope you all have a great weekend!

Friday's Featured Friend: My Mom (Romeo Whiskey)

As promised, I'll post an interview/article with a friend once a week on the blog. These will be people that have a role in my life in some way, shape, or form. I may find this more interesting than you (learning more about people close to me), so if you're bored with my friends you can always interview your own.

So today's friend is my ma, who I've known longer than any human being on earth. At age 64, she is busier than most 32 year olds I know, and I challenge any of you to spend a day with her and not feel exhausted by the end. For those who think my motor doesn't stop, Romeo's motor is on turbo boost, and has been in that setting for as long as I can remember. The picture of above is my mom, pregnant with my little sister walking my brother and I somewhere in Savannah, Georgia. The one below is my ma with the four of us sometime in 1981.

I'll let her explain a bit about her, but the two things I love most about my mom are her ability to see the bright side in every situation, and her uncanny knack for clever one-liners. My favorite one-liner (passed on from her father) is: "you get more flies with honey than you do vinegar." There are countless others, and my family even has a running list of them...someday I'll hunt them down and post 'em up here.

Anyhow, here goes (my comments are in parenthesis when I felt the need to chime in):

Date and City of Birth: September 24, 1945; Louisville, KY

Siblings: 1, younger sister born two years later

Father's occupation: Dentist

Mother's occupation: Bookmaker at a Tobacco company, homemmaker

Best friend: Linda (who she still sees at least once a week)

First unsupervised vacation with Linda: Mexico City, Tasco, and Acoulpoco Mexico

Memory (good or bad) from that trip: One of us got bilked out of money by a local guy named Gerard Marey (don't ask me how she remembers the name)

Favorite Chicago movie theater growing up: Northtown

High School: Mather

First Kiss: Dennis (last name omitted to protect his anonymity)

Location of first kiss: In front of Elder Hall on the campus of Northwestern University

Length of time between first date and kiss: "Years"

College(s): 1964/65 at UW Madison, 1966/67 at Boston University (she transferred to BU to be closer to Dennis)

Favorite class in college: Art History

First job out of college: Working in claims for Blue Cross Blue Shield

Next job: Teacher in Chicago inner city grade school

Favorite drive in the Chicago area (past or present): Sheridan Road along the lake when the leaves are changing in the fall

If a tourist came to Chicago and asked for three activities, she would suggest: Driving on Lake Shore Drive, Millenium Park, and the Art Institute

Favorite Breakfast spot in Chicago: M Henry on Clark Street

Lunch: Al's Italian Beef with sweet peppers on Taylor Street (I think Portillo's is better, but we can agree to disagree)

Dinner: Spiaggia, very elegant, great location and great food

How did she meet my father?: My aunt Muriel (her mom’s sister) and Barry’s father’s sister (Dorothy) were childhood friends. And my aunt attended Dorothy’s son’s bar mitzvah and fixed us up. He called me in November of 1967 and we talked on the phone for like 3 hours. I got off the phone and said to my parents and said, “he’s an amazing person.” He cared about the inner city kids as much as I did, and he asked me out for a Saturday night date.

What was that first date like? He took me to a party at his apartment near the Medical Center with a bunch of other people. I wore a gold dress with black shoes and a white fluffy fake rabbit jacket. My mother helped me pick it out. I had long hair at the time. He did NOT kiss me good night.

Ten "Coolest" Days in her life (in no particular order)

1. Getting engaged

2. Getting married

3. Having baby # 1

4. Having baby #2

5. Having baby #3 (that'd be me)

6. Finding out she's pregnant with baby # 4

7. Having baby #4

8. Moving in to house in Highland Park (this was 1977)
9. Watching baby #2 deliver grandbaby (first time)

10. Watching baby #2 delivery grandbaby (second time)

(Note: A Close call to the top 10 was the pride she felt the day my little sister graduated from Northwestern and flipped off the camera. See above, a proud moment for the Whiskey family)
Top three favorite vacations: Australia, Grand Canyon, Hilton Head, SC

Vacation destination she'd like to go to: Nepal

A great day today is: Today was a great day. I woke up, did my crossword puzzle. My husband went with me to the grocery store and helped me make dinner. I took a walk in the Botanic Garden, came home and had a cup of coffee, and my children and grandchildren here for dinner was peaceful. I talked to four children, which isn’t easy.

I never seem to have enough time for ____________: myself. But I’m learning how to allow time for myself. I just have to say the most important thing for the day is something for me, and I just have to do it, but when I do it my day is so much better.

Favorite Hobby: My Pets

Total Pets (with names) she's owned in her lifetime: 19. Candy, Heidi, Phoebe, Ivan, Sinclair, Millicent, Bernice, Sadie, Minerva, Lillian, Rudy, Pasty, Victor, Nathan, Ben, Velvet, Mitzi, Paco, Gene

Meanest of the bunch: Lillian

Smartest of the bunch: Velvet

Best lesson her oldest son taught her: He went through some tough years with school/social things and came out a winner in the end. It taught me even though you go through life with challenges positive things can come from it.

Best lesson from daugher #1: Her ability to fight back and feistiness and to stand up for what she believes is important in her life.

Best lesson from her 2nd son (me): Ya just don’t give up. Even though things look terrible today they will be better tomorrow and they always have been with you.

Best lesson from daugher #4 (see above for middle finger): Letting go of my kids and letting them be who they are and accept them for who they are no matter where they live.

Best lesson from husband: His tenacity and his ability to work hard and stick with it to achieve what he wants.

Favorite summer destination in the Chicago area: I think the Botanic Gardens. I find serenity in there, achievement, peace, social ties, I love the music I listen to. Nobody bothers me in there, its just peace. And you get to know the people you see walking and its wonderful. But when the weather’s bad I can't be out as much as I should.

Random Photos:

Highlights from the First 10 Days, Blog News, Etc.

Last night was one of the few "adult" activities I've had since I've been back in Chicago. Some folks from Group Health (my former employer in Seattle) were in town for some meetings, and I went to dinner with a number of them. Following my own advice (and reflecting on my experience on the road), I swore I wouldn't take them to a local chain or touristy place, and settled on Zia's in Edison Park. For those not familiar with the area, its the far northwest edge of Chicago, and has some excellent restaurants. About a thirty minute drive from my sisters place, it gave me a chance to prepare for the inevitable question, "So what have you been doing since you got back?"

So here's the highlights, followed by some "Blog News" and the "Between the Ears" segment:

-Spent first two days unpacking, getting settled, and taking it easy
-Played golf three times since I've been in town; great to be around the guys on the golf course; although my golf game is in shambles I'm enjoying being out and about. I discovered golflink.com; a website that allows users to track (for free) data on my golf performance. Maybe golfers out there will find it interesting, for me its just a way to make sure I reach my goal of playing 15 rounds in 2009.
-Went to Ravinia with my parents and sisters to see Ramsey Lewis. It was like we were adults having plans together, kinda neat. Music wasn't exactly a punk rock show, but nice to see my parents getting out and doing things with them.
-Played cards with the guys last Saturday night in the city; and although small in numbers its great to be back around guys I've known my whole life
-Celebrated my dad's birthday with family BBQ last Sunday. Nothing beats Skirt Steak and a baked potato in the midst of summer. Unless you're a vegetarian. Then you just get a potato.
-Got a phone call this past Monday about a job at a local health care organization doing work very similar to what I did out in Seattle. Have yet to hear back from them, but am feeling good about a job materializing. Economy Schminomonee (I know, I probably just cursed myself)
-I've established a daily management plan that probably looks crazy to my sister and kids, but its helping make sure I'm not sitting around watching Card Sharks, The Price is Right, and Jeopardy. Yes, those are all linked to Youtube stuff if you're really, really bored.
-Being around little kids is contagious and fun. My niece has been a huge help walking Annie, and I've helped her by getting her to play Tiger Woods golf on X-Box. My nephew is 2 and obsessed with anything that has wheels, a man in a uniform, or a horn. Both are great a riot to be around, and I'd be a strong camp counselor if I had no career ambitions.
-Annie loves it here. There are rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and others to chase. There are endless lawns to pee/poop on. There are several great off leash dogparks. There are multiple parts of my sister's home where she can sleep. Other than my nephew sleeping on her, she's got it really good here.
-Weather has been crappy and humid, and thats a subject that just gets old fast so I'm not going to dwell on it. Tune in to weather.com if you're looking for a weather update.
-I really love Chicago sports. The Cubs coming back to beat the Sox today was great; although I'm feeling very cynical about this Cubs team. Something about them just doesn't feel right...although every time it has felt right, its turned out wrong, so go figure....

Blog News
Thanks to Facebook and my ongoing self promotion I'm now at a grand total of 10 followers but have a hunch there are others out there reading and lurking. I'll do my best to keep this blog entertaining, and have decided to start a new feature, the Friday Featured Friend. I'll interview a friend of mine and write up a little ditty about them. Some may be more interesting than others, but at least its a way for me to talk about someone other than me. Could be someone I went to high school/college/work with, a family member, a random acquaintence, you get the idea.

This week's Friday Featured Friend: My Mom (Romeo Whiskey). She and I did the interview last week, and I'll consolidate it while I'm nursing her through what may be her 100th career colonoscopy. I'm not far behind, but I'll put her numbers in the GI procedure lab up against anyone.

I've already interviewed her, although my mom on versed could be very entertaining as well.

Between the Ears

After arriving last week, I took a few days to get my bearings, unpack some things, and slow down. Coming back to live in the town I grew up in, but living with my sister, has been a really neat way to see my hometown through a different perspective. She's in Ravinia, a small part of Highland Park, a suburban town about 20 miles north of Chicago along Lake Michigan. If Highland Park had Burroughs, Ravinia would be one of five or six.

Here's a link to the Wikipedia Page on Highland Park; even locals will find some of this interesting...and for non-midwesterners you'll recognize some of the films and public figures tied to my hometown.

Within walking distance from her home there are a handful of shops, some great running/biking trails, the beach (that's Lake Michigan), a Metra station (goes to the city) and Ravinia Festival; an outdoor music venue. It's about a mile and a half from my parents; so there's enough distance for me to feel like I'm not living in the home I grew up in, and it certainly is nice to see some familiar places and faces.

Being around my family was the primary reason I moved back to Chicago, and living with my sister and her kids has been a ton of fun. Granted, I'm not sleeping as much, and Annie gets hassled a bit more by a few curious kids, but there's a lot more laughter in our lives than there was a few months ago. My niece (soon to be Age 5) and nephew (an energetic 2 year old) are more excited to have Annie around than Uncle Daniel, but we're all having a hoot. And living with young kids has given me a far greater appreciation for the things parents do on a daily basis to help kids grow up.

For those in the Chicago area, Highland Park's reputation can make it tough to be proud of our hometown. Most folks think of the north shore and Highland Park and they think pretentious, spoon fed, a**holes, and there certainly are a handful of them around. But all in all I've had very few if any reasons to be annoyed, and its actually a nice change for me to have neighbors and people welcoming me in to the community. My sister's neighborhood is full of young, non-pretentious families, and although I'm still itching to get back to life in the city it is really nice to have such a low key, comfortable way to get re-established here in Chicago.

My parents never got in to the cliquey, gossipy, materialistic Highland Park many have come to loathe, and I'm convinced staying out of that nonsense is the only way to stay sane. And I guess it was beaten in my head early and often that I shouldn't let5% of the population define 95% of my happiness. There are d**chebags everywhere, the key for me is to look the other way and not get caught up in the BS and go about my business without getting caught up in the ratrace.

Maybe that is relevant to you and your life these days, maybe its not.

Either way, thanks for stopping by,
D

Sammy Sosa and the Summer of '98

Warning to non sports readers: Today's post deals with sports. Check back tomorrow and I'll run through what has happened the past 10 days since I got back in Chicago. I just need to get this off my chest.

One of the cooler things for me over the past week (more on the other things later) has been the return of Chicago sports on my radar. Although the internet makes it easier to track and follow how teams are doing, I wasn't surrounded by others who experienced the same ups and downs as fellow Chicago fans. There's a lot to be excited about nowadays in the Chicago area sports scene: the Bears have a quarterback, the Bulls and Hawks are young and talented, and the Cubs are trying to regain my trust after two seasons that ended in the depression I've experienced multiple times in my life. Oh, and those Summer Olympics things are probably going to be here in 2016 if Mayor Daley gets his way. But the story that broke yesterday was kind of a slap in the face to Cub fans and professional sports in general.In case you didn't know, Sammy Sosa was one of 104 players to test positive for steroids in 2003.

As a die hard Cub fan living in Chicago, the summer of 1998 was a great year. I got to see many of Sosa's 66 Home Runs as a student living near Wrigley and attending DePaul. The Cubs were big at that point, but not huge and tickets were pretty easy to come by for games early in the season. Like the rest of the city, I was swept up in Sosa fever by the all-star break, and he amazed many of us by hitting baseballs out of the park on what seemed like an everyday occurence. He had a Superman quality to him, one we believed in, one we rooted for, and one we look back on like a Fairy Tale.

Even the most casual fan had an opinion on whether Sosa and Mark McGwire would break the Home Run record, and here in Chicago the Cubs and Sosa were THE game in town. Checking scores every chance I got, watching every Sosa At Bat, checking what McGwire did that day, these were the things I spent my time on in the summer of 98 and I was not alone. My buddies and I even bought tickets for a Brewers game in late September and sat in the left field bleachers in the hopes we'd catch a McGwire home run, maybe even the one to break Roger Maris' record. He did homer twice in the game, no one caught a ball. And we had a lot of fun in Milwaukee, since it was a nice meeting place for the guys in Madison and elsewhere in Big 10 country.

I was listening to sports talk radio while running errands this morning, and there's a combination of feelings from the callers: anger, denial, and most notably indifference. It was almost as if we all knew he cheated, and the story from yesterday made complete sense. I too feel indifferent about it, which is kind of sad when I think back to how much of my life I invested in the Sammy Sosa scam. And it wasn't just here in Chicago, folks did it in Los Angeles/Boston with Manny Ramirez, Texas/New York with Alex Rodriguez, San Franciso with Barry Bonds, and the list can continue on to nearly ever 'star' baseball player over the past 15 years. We were scammed by guys who took shortcuts to success, and there has yet to be an apology from one of those guys.

All we get are denials, excuses, and press releases that say nothing. The chain of events after each of these stories goes something like this:

• Folks like Ari Fleisher (if he can help Bush he can help anyone) and other PR agencies craft the message
• The player rehearses it
• They trot him out for a public statement and softball questions
• The player disappears for months never to be heard from again

These guys have broken laws (illegally obtaining prescription drugs), stolen our money and time, and sent an awful message to the next generation: that cheating is not that big of a deal. We saw it on Wall Street, in Politics, in Real Estate, everywhere we look, and none of them apologizes with an honest attempt to make right their wrongs.

Rather than blaming their positive test on their doctor, their trainer, whomever, I'd love to see these guys come together and take accountability and do something to repay the fans--the ones who pay their salary. Some ideas for the Sosa/Bonds/Ramirez/Rodriguez/McGwire/Palmiero gang:

• Donate some cash back to MLB to lower ticket prices. Better yet, buy some tickets and donate them to families struggling with the economy.
• Volunteer your time teaching kids how to play the right way.
• Help the MLB and other major sports understand how you got your hands on the drugs, and what they can do to clean up the game.
• Give up your records, stats, and everything you did under the influence.
• Apologize to folks like Hank Aaron, Roger Maris, Willie Mays, and everyone else who worked their asses off to achieve greatness.

I'm not the kinda guy to say I'm done with baesball. I'll be glued to the TV for most of the summer in front of Cub games, but I'd like the Cubs to win their title fair and square when they finally do it. And if they're not going to win it, I want to be sure that they're losing to a team that did it the clean, fair way.

Laminated plastic with a picture and writing on it...how hard is this?

Do you know that feeling you get on Sunday nights before work that absolutely stinks? You know, the one where you absolutely dread going to work the following morning? It probably happened when you were in school as well on Sunday nights and may be a conditioned response its hard for me to shake.

The term I've heard used to describe that feeling is the Wretcheds. For me, they generally hit between 6 and 9 PM on Sundays, depending on the quality of the weekend and the upcoming week at work.

But as I drove home from the DMV I thought of several situations that also give me the Wretcheds. Here's a few of those things we all have to do that also give me the same wretched feeling. After all, our days can't be all fun and games....

-Attending a Funeral
-Packing for anything (moving, a trip)
-Unpacking for anything
-Going through security at an airport
-Dental procedures/work
-Folding socks during laundry
-Dealing with anything run by our goverment.


That last one is really in my crawl after my visit to the DMV this morning in nearby Northbrook. Before I explain, I need to be very clear that I'm a huge fan of our country, but I believe our government is the worst run organization in our country. In fact, its hard to believe how ineffecient it really is until you go see the actual work, done by the actual people, in the actual place where work is going on. Using a list, here's the steps that took place this morning for me to achieve my goal of getting an Illinois Driver's License.

1. I logged on to the computer and went to the website of the Secretary of State.


2. I gather documentation required for my new driver's license out of my car.


3. I drive to the DMV


4. I wait in line


5. I have a man ask me why I'm there


6. I tell him I'd like a get a new driver's license since I'm returing to Illinois after living in Washington


7. He asks for my documentation


8. I give him the documentation


9. He reviews the documentation


10. He finds my passport expired this past october


11. I ask what that means


12. He tells me its not an eligible document


13. I ask if there's any way to make an exception


14. He says he cannot


15. I mention I should be in their computer system, I moved away in September of 2005


16. He looks up my social security number


17. He has no record of me in Illinois


18. I ask how that is possible


19. He tells me they 'purge' records


20. I ask what I should do now


21. He tells me to go to the Skokie Courthouse to get an official Cook County birth certificate.


22. I get in my car, annoyed how screwed up it is that this is so complicated


23. I decide to say screw it and deal with this another day and blog about it in the hopes someone who works in our government sees this and decides to do something about it.

OK, enough of that, but the moral of the story is I didn't get my new license. I wasted time, gasoline, and energy that could have been used for anything more productive. This was not an urgent need, but its definitely something I'd prefer not to spend my time doing. And its all because Government agencies are organized around their needs, not ours. It's more important for them to Cover their Asses than to provide quality service to us, the ones paying their salaries.

Any business that puts the customer first would have a clear understanding for what customers want, and design products and services to meet those needs. Do you think it was an accident that iPhones, iPods, and iTunes were as big of a hit as they were? Apple does well because they are very clear about defining what their customers want and they create products to meet those needs. They also market the hell out of those products, but all the marketing in the world won't guarantee a good experience if their product isn't designed around what a customer wants.

This is the underlying jist of my last job; defining what customers (or stakeholders) need and helping teams implement processes to meet those requirements.

Our government does not see me as a paying customer. If they did, I wouldn't have wasted my morning going over there. I would have logged on to a computer, gone to a website run by our Government, that allows me to securely request a new license and have it delivered to my new address in one or two days.

Sound impossible?


It shouldn't be. I'm asking for a piece of laminated plastic with my information on it. Producing that card takes probably 40 seconds of work. If I can access bank and health records online, why the hell can't I do something like getting a new driver's license?


Waste like this put Detroit Automakers out of business, yet somehow our government can take up to 30% of our income and piss it away on processes and systems that make it seemingly impossible to get what I want from them.

Since the DMV is the only one issuing Drivers Licenses, I'm pretty much screwed and need to schlep down to Skokie and deal with more government BS to get that birth certificate.

And all I wanted was a piece of laminated plastic with my picture and letters and numbers.

June 11: Settling In

So far so good here in good ol' HP.

My sister and the kids have been great about welcoming Annie and I in to the mix.

From Annie's perspective its probably really nice to no longer be running around and riding in a car all day. My sister has several couches to choose from, and I think she's enjoying the chance to rest her old bones and sleep in the same place for more than a night.

The new place is great for her; even a cat nearby for her to check on, and although Rudy (their cat) may not like Annie at the present time I'm sure the two will bond over their love for sleeping.

The kids love having her around, and she is good with them as well. This morning, my nephew drove an ambulence the length of her body and she had no problem with that at all. My niece loves to walk her as well, although she's insistent that picking up Annie's poop is Uncle Daniel's job. I'm trying to adopt the same policy with my nephew's diaper, but don't think that's likely.

I also brought her to the local off-leash dog park, and Annie is going to make plenty of friends there.

As for human stuff, its really great to be back here and very nice to chill out for a change. So much of the last 3 months has been focused on packing, moving, looking for jobs, travelling, etc., and the pace has slowed down. The nice thing about living here is that I don't need to cram every activity in to a handful of days.

Being around the family is great; the kids' laughter is contagious and this morning's 5:45 wakeup was no big deal at all. When a 5 year old girl in cowboy boots, a pink hat, and socks pulled up to her knees asksto walk Annie it is tough to wake up in a bad mood....

Of course, the elephant in the room is the job situation. I knew heading in to the move that without a job for me in Chicago I'd have to be comfortable taking on that risk. Now that I'm settling in, I need to approach the job search like any other day of work, and I'm hopeful that if I'm disciplined about it something will turn up. The challenge is the discipline, since there are a ton of distractions that can pull me from that focus....cubs games, golf, seeing friends/family, exploring an area I haven't lived in for a while, etc. Again, all of those activities aren't going anywhere, so prioritizing time and attention are the key...as is the case with just about anything else in life.

The last 24 Hours on the Road

South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois

Photos

Pix today are a highlight reel from the trip. Not a ton
to see in Big 10 country so here are the top ones from the last week heading across the country.

Highlights

-Had a great country breakfast around 11 AM somewhere in
South Dakota. It was about 50 miles from where that kid
won the huge lottery, but couldn't tell you what town I
was in. I'm convinced I could live on Bacon, Eggs, and
Pancakes my entire life.
-Adam Carolla's podcast made 90 minutes fly by. For
those in Seattle, its better than his old radio show, and
for those in other parts of the country its worth
checking out. His guest yesterday was Bill Simmons, a
writer for ESPN every male under the age of 50 knows.
-South Dakota gets a bad rap in terms of being a boring
drive, but I kinda liked rolling through the farm land.
None of our states are useless, all of them serve a role
in our economy and the breadbasket states are the ones
behind that cheeseburger you eat at lunch.
-Annie and I stopped in Albert Lea (not to be confused
with the homewares store in Seattle), and she got a run
in the local lake (one of 10,000 in the state).
-I got us to Wisconsin and had to have a Culver's
Butterburger. You haven't had grease until you've had
one of these suckers, and it was everything I hoped it'd
be. Annie agreed.
-I rolled in to my parents' house about 12:15 AM.
-Annie immediately made enemies with Velvet, their 12
year old black lab. She also tried to hunt down their
cat, Patsy (aka Fatsy Patsy) and was not well received.
She slept with me upstairs, and we've got a ways to go in
the Annie immersion project.
-Woke up this morning, drove to Starbucks for coffee and
heard Lin Brehmer on XRT. There's probably some cliche
analogy I could use (putting on worn in jeans, an old
t-shirt, whatever) but it just felt comfortable being
back here.
-Went to my temporary permanent residence, and began to
unpack Annie and myself.
-Annie sits next to me as I write this blog, 10:18 AM
central time.

Between the Ears

After a great night's sleep in Oacama, SD I decided to
haul ass and get to Chicago in a day. Even though
there's some interesting stuff between Oacama and
Highland Park (my final destination in suburban Chicago)
I figured I can always visit those places, and it was
time to head home. I spent about 11 hours in the car,
and the final stats on the trip are below.
I spent most of the day listening to the ipod, local
radio (South Dakota really likes they're
Nickelback....blahhhhhhhh), and even just driving with
the windows down listening to the wind.

It gave me a chance to summarize the trip in my head, so
I'll rattle through my thoughts after 9 days on a road
(these are in no sequential order of importance,
relevance, or any other variable).
Total Miles Driven: 3,198

Google Maps Distance from Seattle to Chicago if I took I90 the whole way: 2,004

Favorite Stop: Missoula, Montana

Least Favorite Stop: Sheridan, Wyoming

Annie's Favorite Adventure: Rattlesnake Park outside Missoula

Dan's Favorite Adventure: Getting lost in Glacier up near Bowman Lake

Most Popular Businesses in EVERY town with more than 1,000 people: Bars, Hair Salons, Gas Stations

Professions I admire most after this trip: Truck Driving and Parenthood

Professions I'm not sure I'd be able to handle: Truck Driving and Parenthood

Most jaw dropping moment: Having a Bison herd rumble past my car at the Bison Reservation in Montana

Most Disappointing Moment: Getting to Rushmore to see it covered in Fog

Best Cheeseburger: Culver's in Wisconsin, with a close #2 to Mo's in Missoula

Worst Meal: Cheesesteak from hotel restaurant in Kalispell

Most Pleasant Surprise: Wall Drug. I know I'll get crap for that, but it really is an example of a guy who knew how to sell the heck out of nothing to travelling tourists.

Biggest Weather surprise: A tie between the desert heat in eastern Washington and snow in June in Wyoming.

Most Interesting Person I met on the way: Roger, who works with his ma in a camera store in West Glacier. He'll be an environmental engineer or something that makes a big impact on the world...some people you can just kinda tell.

Best Job I heard about: Mark, the guy who works for the National Parks tracking Bears.

Worst Job I heard about: There's no such thing in this economy, lots of folks struggling to make ends meet out there.

Proudest moment as an American: seeing Missoula rally around Sidney Watson, the gal who was badly injured in a car wreck

Saddest moment as an American: watching public access TV in Wyoming and hearing how budget cuts are killing some vital public health and education programs in rural America.

Memorable Music selections in select states:
Washington-Pearl Jam as I passed the Gorge;Montana-Wilco as I wandered up to Glacier; Wyoming-Johnny Cash as I headed in and out of Cody; South Dakota-Metallica a perfect soundtrack for haulin'
ass;

Minnesota-Weezer as I headed towards Wisconsin Border;
Wisconsin- Smashing Pumpkins will always be synonymous
with Madison, Wisconsin on Halloween weekend in 1995.
Fun to revisit some of those memories.

Illinois- Fleetwood Mac; the song from the end of shows
at the Vic (Never Going Back) was playing as I crossed in
to Chicago..not my favorite band but a song with lots of
memories attached to it.

First thing my mom said to me when I walked in: You must be exhausted, go to bed.

Second thing my mom said to me: You must be hungry.

Best comment during phone call: "Long trip dude. Long Trip" - Jonathan Merel

Regrets: Staying at the Motel 6 in Sheridan.

Other things I gleaned from the past 10 days:

-Exploration doesn't have to be on vacations. I can have the same spirit anywhere I live, and hope you all do as well. Its not easy to get out of our comfort zones, but
its so rewarding when we do.

-Talking to strangers can be a lot of fun. Meeting one new person a day is not a bad goal to have. -Travelling alone is not easy, but its a lot of fun. Not more fun than with people, but a cool experience.

-Annie is one tough cookie. 3200 miles is not easy on a human, and she was a rockstar

-Its really nice not to be sick. Many of you know I've battled with an illness up until a few years ago, and it was so freeing to be out in nature, in foreign places, and not having to worry about my health. Enjoy your health when you've got it; as I found out, we have no guarantees.

-Its time to find work and settle in.

Thanks to all for following along, I'll keep posting on here, just probably not daily.
-D

Speaking of stimulus money....

I caught this in the paper this morning, figured I'd share as well.

Seems a good chunk of that money is going to public works types of projects, and here's one that should help out folks in climates that are unbearable....of course, we could just send 'em to south dakota, plenty of cool, cheap land to be had here.

I think projects like these are great, now let's get some folks to work on these, and other civic/national improvement projects. We've got lots of folks sitting around who would be happy to help if given the opportunity to make a few extra bucks and feel better about their time in unemployment.

Eastern Wyoming through Central South Dakota

A long day on the road has come to an end; of the 8 days I've been on the road this was the longest in terms of driving and shortest on highlights.

Pictures:

Here's what I got from today; if you're looking for scenic shots you won't find them, but a few randoms that might be amusing.

Highlights:

Woke up at around 9 in Sheridan

Weather is awful, snowing in Eastern Wyoming, high 30s for temps, visibility is awfulDrove to

Devil's Tower, the site from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Don't remember the movie, but its a pretty cool site.

Stopped in Sturgis, bought some tough looking motorcyle shirts for other people to wear (I'm not tough)

Headed east to Mt Rushmore. Only Dan Weber goes to Mt Rushmore and can't see the mountain. Fog made it impossible to see, if you think I'm making this up, I'm not.

Headed east to Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, at least I knew I'd see something.

Got in car and headed east on I-90, nothing to see but rain, fog, and lines on pavement

Got to Wall Drug, was blown away at the size of the thing. More on that below if you're interested.

Headed east as far as I could go, ended up driving about 500 miles today.

Staying in Oacoma (kinda like Tacoma, with an O at the front, so I have no idea how to say it)

My hotel is the Oasis Inn and it kicks ASS! Great web connection, TWO beds, and very clean

Between the Ears

I left Sheridan, Wyoming headed east towards Devil's Tower and and was blown away by the weather being as crappy as it was. Its June for chrissakes and the High temperature was in the low 40s with snow flurries out in Wyoming. It is June, and it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the weather was half-way decent.

But its not, and that's not something I can do much about. I stopped at the sights I planned to see; namely Devil's Tower and Mt Rushmore. Devil's Tower was easy enough to see, and its a pretty wild looking formation out in northeast Wyoming. And chances are, you know what Mt Rushmore looks like, but I'm embarassed to say I've achieved a feat not many can say they've done: I've gone to Mt Rushmore and didn't see a single president. It was kind of a bummer--its not like its on the side of I-90, and after paying $10 to park a car (to visit a free national park...such crap) I walked in to the viewing area and saw bleachers, but no faces etched in to stone. Between those two stops I went to Sturgis, which is the home of the big biker rally every summer; I'm not a huge motorcycle guy but it sounds like its a Woodstock for bikers once a year, and the town kind of looks like you'd expect.

I left Mt Rusmore in kind of a cranky mood; I made the effort to go there and it wasn't in the cards for me to see it, which was out of my control. But I got worked up on them charging for parking, without letting people know you can't see a lick. And I got a little more worked up after I remembered a conversation I had with a guy in kalispell about Mt Rusmore. His point was Mt Rushmore is a symbolic middle finger to the native american folks in the area who were basically slain to advance white causes....some food for thought...

I think our country is really damn cool, but you have to question, why this location? In a sports analogy, I'd be pretty pissed if Wisconsin invaded Illinois and built a statue of Brett Favre, Robin Yount, and Sidney Moncrief on Michigan Avenue.

My last tirade with myself was about the effort and support the country put in to the monument back in the early 20th century. Rushmore was built from 27-41; essentially right after the Depression (sound familiar), and came along with a number of other big investments in our country's infrastructure. Given our economic situation, maybe we consider investing money and time in some public improvement projects to get folks working on making the US a cooler place to live. Rather than collecting welfare and doing nothing (I've come across this twice on my journey thus far), why not give people an incentive for more welfare through volunteer work? cleaning up parks? converting cable boxes to digital so we can stop with the ads?

Again, I digress.

I decided I needed to do something funny, so I went to a Dinosaur park, which was a nice break. Annie got to run around with Dinosaurs, I got to take some pictures and stretch the legs, and it helped put the Rushmore experience out of mind. Plus, my niece told me earlier today she's a big fan of dinosaurs and I happened to be in the hotbed of dinosaur activity.

After consulting with my ma, I decided I'd head east as far as I could get, but promised I wouldn't push it. About ten miles after Rapid City, it was clear I wasn't going to see a thing and should just put the petal to the metal and haul ass. The only thing that stood in the way of me and Sioux Falls was Wall Drug.

I had seen the Wall Drug bumper stickers and really had no idea what it would be. I had a few souveniers I wanted to pick up, and thought it'd be at least a fun couple of pictures. You can see for yourself in the pictures, but its really something you have to experience. The amount of stuff you can buy in there is unbelievable, and its kind of an old school Wal Mart. As cynical as you may be about the place, I respect how successful they've been and it really is fun to check out all of the different things they've got in there.

My sisters and mom have an activity called "Schmying" which is essentially when the three of them head to discount stores (places like Nordstrom Rack, Marshalls, etc.) and comb through just about anything to find things. I realize that sounds completely vague, and the best I can guess is they spend time chatting, looking at stuff, and bringing home a few things that may be useful. Wall Drug is the perfect location for Schmying, and God help the people of Wall, South Dakota if the three of them ever pass through at the same time.

I did a little bit of shopping myself; I was looking at the customized coffee mugs/lisence plates/keychains in Wall Drug and thought how hard of a job it must be to select the names you purchase from the manufacturer. For example, I saw a South Dakota license plate with a "Blythe" but not a "Barry"...so just how does the person know which ones to buy?

But I ramble.

Annie digs the hotel, there are two beds, which means I dig it too.

We're going to sleep in and let the rush hour traffic in to/out of Oacoma die out before hitting the road. With about 800 miles between here and Chicago, I hope to have some decent weather for the home stretch, and even though it may not be scenic mountains I'm looking forward to some interesting sights of the midwest.

Field of Dreams field in Iowa?

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester?

Camp Randall Stadium in Madison?

Mars Cheese Castle?

Tommy Barlett's Waterskiing Extravaganza?

Other suggestions from the peanut gallery?

In any case, thanks for reading through the rambling, and have a great start to the week,

D

Day 8: Yellowstone, Cody, Sheridan

As I did yesterday, today's post is broken down in to three categories: pictures, highlights, and between the ears stuff. But a heart felt mazel tov to Liane and Greg (and Quinner) on the birth of their newborn son, Campbell McGregor Smiley. Charley Mike Sierra. Well done.

Photos

Here ya go; there's a lot today.

Highlights:
Very cold in West Yellowstone; car temps at 38 when I got in
Hit the road around 9 AM and went through Yellowstone from Northwest entrance
Saw a bunch more wildlife, but crowds near popular sites and bad weather (snow!) changed my plan
Rather than going south to the Grand Tetons, I headed for NE corner of Yellowstone
NE Corner of Yellowstone was unreal; tons of wildlife, some great views
Outside the park, picked up a Scenic Highway that may have been toughest driving thus far; at 11,000 feet, driving through clouds on windy roads was tricky
Stopped in Cody for late lunch around 3 PM, at at Irma's Wild Bill's Hotel that was what you'd expect
Headed east on some scenic routes to Sheridan, Wyoming
Checked in to a Motel 6 that is not cool. (Smoking room, carpet that resembles the felt on a blackjack table in downtown Reno, and smells worse than most fraternity houses. I will be sleeping in my clothes tonight.)
Blogging

Between the Ears

I really liked Yellowstone, and wished I went there first rather than going north to Glacier, but waddayagonna do. The scenery is unreal, and I would have loved to have explored more through Yellowstone and the Tetons. My decision to skip the Tetons was something I made after noticing the herd mentality in the park, the weather, and Annie not being a good 'visitor' to the park. There were still a ton of things to see from the road, and I had a great day behind the wheel.

I was really blown away a few times today behind the wheel. Early in the morning, I remember feeling like I was in Disneyworld and following the herd to each 'attraction' in the park. It felt inauthentic (not sure if that's a word), and just didn't feel right. I was on the main loop through the park, and there was a ton of cool stuff to see, but it just felt like I was in some safari ride in a theme park. I decided to head for the Northeast corner of the park, which is what Mark (the bear tracker from Kalispell) suggested. He was right on; it was very remote, and a super cool drive.

In the travel book I keep nearby, Charles Kuralt (Former CBS Sunday Morning Host) called it the most beautiful stretch of road in the country. It was funny reading that quote--I remember my folks watching that show when I was young (usually right before NFL pre-game shows) and it was never of interest. Now if I catch it, there's usually some cool pieces, and I can see why Chuck felt it was such a great drive. There were some wildlife sightings you'll see in the photos, mainly some deer, a ram (?), and a basset/beagle that was a total pain in the butt.

From a weather standpoint, its friggin cold here. The temps today stayed between 42 and 50 degrees; not exactly warm stuff. I'm wearing winter clothing, so its not exactly summer, and its been rainy/grey at times too. Visibility isn't great at high altitudes, since you're literally in the clouds. Driving in the clouds was bizarre; I could see about 50 yards in front of the car, and I remember thinking, "gosh its foggy here" until I realized how high up we were.

Annie has been hanging like a trooper, and she's not exactly an ideal wingwoman for trips in to quiet areas of the park where there are wildlife around. She doesn't bark at the wildlife, she barks at being left behind in the car. Which, even with the windows up can be kinda grating. I get her out of the car as much as I can, and it can't be comfortable sitting in that position all day, so I'm trying to work with her by driving through areas where she can run around and get dirty. I know, she's a dog, but she's not the easiest travel companion.

Yellowstone is a super cool part of the country, and coming back with a bit more "freedom" is something I'll definitely do. I was really impressed with Wyoming's scenery, and its a very nice combination between plains and interesting geological formations. Up near Big Horn (?) National Forest (Northeast part of the state) there were formations that reminded me of Sedona, and it really felt nice getting back on the road away from the crowds.

Tomorrow I'll head to Devil's tower, Rushmore, the Black Hills, etc., and then its further east from there. I'm not sure where I'll be stopping, but I did like a suggestion from one reader to hit a big ten campus before hitting Chicago/Highland Park. Iowa City is very cool, as is Madison, and of course, there's no guarantee I stop at either...I guess I'll figure that out tomorrow evening.

Hope all of you enjoy your weekends,
D

Day 7: Billings, West Yellowstone

I've had a busy, interesting day; I'll get to the highlights quickly with a new and improved layout. I'm summarizing my posts in three segments: photos, highlights, and 'between the ears.'

For the folks who would rather see pictures:
Click Here

For the folks who want the chronological highlights:
Woke up about 8
Walked Annie, Packed Car (so much easier with that pair of shoes gone)
Drove to Jiffy Lube for oil change, Annie pukes in lobby of Jiffy Lube
I clean up puke
We head towards Billings, I spend the time worrying if she's sick
Talk to My sister who notifies me that my niece met the requirements and has successfully completed Pre-Kindergarten. Nice work Maddie!
Get to Bozeman around 12:30, walk around Montana State University Campus
Stop in bookstore, get dad souvenier for father's day
I get a really good sandwich at a place called the Pickle Barrell.
I eat sandwich on campus, Annie watches.
Drive through Yellowstone towards the town of West Yellowstone. Technically I've been in Montana and Wyoming today, and there's a chance I'm watching news from Idaho. But West Yellowstone is in Montana, so we're clear.
Check in to hotel named "Brandin' Iron" (once again, I'm a sucker for the clever names)
Hotel is fine, a log cabin looking place from the 1950's; wood panneling, no A/C (but heat). For $50 bones its not so bad, and i'm trying to stay cheap.
Walk the town of West Yellowstone; it is just like the Wisconsin Dells (sorry for west coasters.
I debated the comic value of taking a picture with Annie in one of those black and white sets where you dress up in old clothing. I'd make annie wear a top hat, but that would violate Rule # 28 in the world of Delta Whiskey: Pets don't get dressed up in clothing. Ever.
I eat dinner at local cheeseburger place (shocker).
I'm underdressed so decide to put pants on and take annie for a hike
Annie and I walk, she has a #2 that looked like a #1
I worry again about Annie's health, decide I need to take advantage of proximity to yellowstone park (across the street from my hotel)
Get Annie in car, drive through Yellowstone at sundown
Run in to another pack of Bison, very close to the car. Some great photos and videos.
Drive to Old Faithful
Watch Old Faithful erupt at 9:10 PM.
Drive back to West Yellowstone
Write Blog

Between the Ears:

I decided I'll have two more nights on the road; three if it gets impossible to make it in two. There are two reasons for the self imposed end of the line: money and Annie.

First, it doesn't take Alan Greenspan to realize that it costs money to travel across the country. Hotel rooms, Gas, meals, etc. may sound like it would be cheap, but its about $120 a day. For those new to the Adventures in my world, my career is a bit up in the air, and I need to be smart about not burying myself in a hole.

In terms of Annie, I'm about a 4 on a scale of 1 - 10 in terms of how worried I am about her health. She has been drinking (water, you sickos), and has been eating, but the puking and runny poop are making me think I should get moving towards Chicago a little quicker.

Believe me, I'd love to stay out here for more time, but its not such a bad thing: I have a HUGE highlight waiting at the end of this vacation. Returing to a kick ass city, approaching the peak summer months, means a loooong list of other things I'd like to have some money to be able to do (i.e., golf, Cubs, travel w/ sis and family to Fla) so I'm trying to be mindful about blowing too much on my travels back.

But in the meantime, today was a kick-ass day. Bozeman was a cool little college town, living in one of those towns sounds so appealing--the pace of life is just quick enough to have 'urban' things, yet slow enough so you don't have to feel rushed or overwhelmed by its size.

I decided I'd make West Yellowstone tonight's destination, and as you saw in the highlights its not much of a town. It has the fudge shops, t-shirt stores, etc., that you'll find in the Wisconsin Dells, Daytona Beach, or any of those kinds of towns. But its one redeeming quality is the proximity to the park.

After dinner I had a choice: either head to Ashton for a rodeo at 8 PM or head in to the park for some dusk viewing of the wildlife, geysers, and scenery. I chose to head in to the park; and although the rodeo would have been a great chance for pictures/stories, Old Faithful beats the Rodeo.

I had another great Bison run-in on the way to Old Faithful. Once again, guys, gals, and their kids (a baby Bison is a calf? is that correct?) were within feet from the car and there's video for that one.

The other nutty experience was watching Old faithful blow the top. For starters, its crazy how its not sectioned off. I'm not saying all People are dumb, but I could see some jackass trying to run under it like a fountain at Grant Park. But then again, its nice to not have a bunch of manmade stuff around the Geyser, and hopefully people have a shred of intelligence not to walk near it.

But idiots aside, it was a very cool experience to watch Old Faithful explode as the sun was going down on the day. I'd describe it like this...
-Steam begins to come out of the ground (like chimneys from hell)
-Steam volume picks up
-Ground Rumbles
-Steam turns to water
-Earth belches twice with water coming up about 20 feet high
-Water explodes up to about 80 feet high, with steam

I think its hard to describe being there and feeling the earth rumbling under your feet, the sounds, even smells of Sulfur in the air. I have video and I'll get it up here eventually.

It was also very cool that it happened with not much of a crowd around. Its chilly up here; temps are in the 40s, down in to the 30's at night, and with kids still in school it really is a great time to be travelling like I am.

So tomorrow its off to see more of Yellowstone. My big dilemma is fitting in the Grand Tetons AND the NE corner of Yellowstone, but I'll figure it out and my guess is I'll be somewhere in Central to Eastern Wyoming tomorrow.

Til then, do something fun this weekend,
D

Day 6: Heading south to Wyoming

Today wasn't an extremely eventful day, but it sure beats some of the alternatves so here goes. Here's the photos; some keepers in the bunch from Glacier.

Wednesday night I spent doing laundry, and getting ready to start the second major leg of the trip back to Chicago. I got up pretty early, and figured I should get my money's worth out of the Season's Pass to the National Park System, so I decided to head north from the Rodeway Inn towards West Glacier and Going to the Sun Highway.

Before I left the hotel, I obviously had to pack up once again, and got annnoyed that I don't seem to be dropping any weight along the way. For some reason, I have this hope that the next time I go to pack my car I'll have fewer things. But with the exception of trash, there isn't much I'm getting rid of. Most vacations work that way, you come home with what you brought.

But I decided to do something about it and get rid of one item I didn't need. I looked through my suitcase, and there were two candidates to make Kalispell, MT their home: 1) Magnets from my refrigerator and 2) a pair of hiking/water shoes. I decided to go with # 2 but only after I gave those shoes one last chance to be comfortable and/or functional. I've worn those shoes in Asia, across the country on my trip to Seattle, and countless other times only to be disappointed that they really aren't that comfortable. But as a shoe whore, cutting bait on a pair of good looking shoes is not easy, so I gave them the day to redeem themselves. And as a sucker for nostalgia, I hate letting go of those shoes I had some great trips with.

But after a day wearing those suckers, I'm officially done with them.

Once I got over my "big decision" for the day (what to ditch), I headed to Glacier once again. Before entering the park, I stopped in to say goodbye to Roger at his camera store. If you're ever in West Glacier, make sure to stop by and pick up something from them. Here's Roger hard at work with his ma. He's got a brother in Chicago who I'll have to catch up with once I get settled down.




I then headed towards Lake McDonald, which is one of the more famous vistas in Glacier. I snapped a few photos, and took the highway as far as I could before I saw "End of the Road" signs.

Since I took 93 up from Missoula to Kalispell, I decided to take 83 on the way back south, so I could see a bit more of the east side of Flathead Lake. There was some great views of Mountains, and I took whatever pics I could on the way south from Glacier. Sometime during the drive, I noticed I had about 10% left with my car's oil life, and that I'd need an oil change before I head to Wyoming. I wasn't going to make it to Yellowstone in a day, so I decided to take 83 south and head back to Missoula for the night. I'd get the oil changed, catch the first game of the NBA finals, then head to Wyoming in the AM.

I settled back in to Missoula around 7 PM, and headed to Mo's once again for a cheeseburger, since its a place I'm familiar with and like the burgers. On the way back from dinner, it occured to me I haven't eaten a vegetable in about a week. I know my gut isn't great at handling veggies since the surgery, but that's a bit long for me. So tomorrow I'll make sure to eat some form of a vegetable.

As I said in the intro, today wasn't a day filled with highlights; lots of time to think about what's to come once I head back to Chicago. I'm excited to be near friends and family, and the great city of Chicago, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit concerned about the work situation. I wouldn't say it took the shine out of the trip, but it has occured to me in the last 24 hours that eventually the trip has to come to an end, and I'll need to get back to work. I don't mention it to be a downer, just wanted to paint an accurate picture of what's shaking between my ears. I guess that reality means I should continue enjoying every minute I have on the road, and having fun along the way. So its off to Wyoming in the AM.

I have a reader question to answer, so I'm including that here at the end:

Question: Is Annie enjoying the trip?
Answer: I have no idea if this is the greatest thing she's ever done or just another day. For those who know Annie, she is an impossible creature to figure out. But after having her for 2 and a half years, I believer Annie's ideal 24 hour day includes:
20 Hours of sleep
1 Hour of running around, walking like a dog and peeing on everything in sight
1 Hour of sitting in the car, checking life out
2 Hours of begging, eating, barking and causing trouble.

On this trip, this balance is way out of whack for her. She hasn't been sleeping much in the car, so I'm trying to get her long blocks of time to rest at the places we're staying. Today I tried to get her some extra running around time at a dog park here in Missoula, and I think she's had a good day.

I do think she enjoys being in nature, but from her perspective, the alley behind the hotel counts as nature....

Will check in tomorrow, hope all of you are well,
D

Day 5: Into the Wild Part Deux: He Lives!

Tonight was a night for laundry, a cheesesteak (absolutely awful), and figuring out the next leg in the journey. Today's photos are up, so go crazy. Again, if you just want to click that link (yes, those words in different colors link to other stuff, I've included a bunch in this post.)

And an early tangent: if any of you know someone at Google/Snapfish/Facebook; can you please let them know that its driving me nuts having to update things in 3 places. Its a friggin' headache, and I'll explain:

I use google for the blog because I don't want to force people to sign up for Facebook.

I use snapfish for pictures because every digital picture I have is on snapfish and don't want pics in separate sites.

I use facebook for quick updates, mainly to let folks know where I'm at.

None of them want to work together to make my life easier. Monoplies are sometimes OK.

OK, back to life in Northwest Montana.

After getting Annie out for a long walk, I dropped her on a lounge chair and headed towards Glacier. One of the guys suggested Bowman Lake, a pretty remote part where I'll get some good views without a ton of visitors. I had no idea what "remote" meant, but I found out pretty quickly after arriving to Glacier.

I entered the park and wandered around until the pavement ended and a gravel road began. I had no idea how long there'd be gravel, and I wasn't going to let some chipped paint get in the way of a cool day. About 1/2 mile in to the drive, the road started getting bumpy, and it continued to be bumpy for the next 3 hours. You're probably reading that thinking, "how bumpy are we talking about?" I'll describe what it was like using a metaphor from shopping at your local Mall.

You know that feeling when you're looking for a parking spot, don't recognize a speed bump, and get jostled in your seat? That's what it was like, on about an every 30 second interval throughout the course of the drive. So not exactly a relaxing easy drive.

I first hit Polebridge, a small town that sits just outside the park entrance. When I say small, I mean two buildings small. A bakery and a bar. I walked in to the bakery and had a great sandwich with the shop owner (from Milwaukee).

I got to the Park Entrance, and purchased my official 2009 Season Pass for $80 to access our National Parks. Between Glacier, Yellowstone, the Tetons, I'll probably pay for it on the trip, and I figure it'll help make sure parks like this don't get messed with. Getting back to the drive, the Park Ranger told me when I arrived in the park that the road to Bowman Lake is about a mile away...yet somehow a mile passes, two mile passes, three miles pass, and I'm officially committed down a long, gravel, windy road that would continue for about 10 miles. Remember, that's 10 miles on a road that a Honda Accord is not built to handle.

Sometime in those 10 miles, I thought about JP's question a few days ago about the soundtrack for the trip. And as I got further and further in, I found myself listening to the soundtrack from Into the Wild. In case you aren't familiar, the film was based on a John Krakauer novel about a young kid who checks out in to the Alaskan wilderness after graduating college. It's an excellent book, and the story is both inspirational (follow your passion in life) and depressing (you don't have to die pursuing something you love). And the soundtrack is very good as well, which could bring me to a Tangent story about my mom and how she bought me the soundtrack but that's not interesting. All you need to take away from that last paragraph is you should either add it to your Netflix Queue, read the book, or buy the album on itunes. Regardless of your age or how you live your life, its a story we can all relate to on some level, just not to that extreme.

Back to the drive, it really got me thinking that this was the furthest "off the grid" I'd ever been by myself. No cell phone access, no street signs, no pavement, just trees, mountains, meadow, lakes, rivers, and some wildlife. Being "away from it all" can be a freaky experience. For starters, if something happens to my car, I'm screwed. Second, if I get out and a Bear or Mountain Lion crosses my path, I have no idea what to do. Everywhere I look there are signs for bears and wildlife, and while it'd be great to see one, I'm not ready to call it quits just yet. So coming back to the whole Into the Wild thing, my goal today was to make sure I walk out alive.

As I continued along my drive I continued a book on audio that was recommended by Connor, a coworker from Group Health, that sounds dry but is very interesting. Guns, Germs, and Steel is essentially an analysis of our evolution as a species, and why european/american cultures have amassed so much more than counterparts in less developed areas. Assuming you don't buy the Adam and Eve thing, it really is crazy to think about how we got settled around the globe as we evolved from primate. Of course, we've always heard the "white, anglo-christian" version in history classes, but being in these parts today I've had a greater appreciation for the toughness of humans who survived in some climates/regions. I'm here in the middle of summer and can barely swing it with 2 gallons of water and a car--imagine living in -50 below temps, with feet of snow on the ground, and no way to know where your next meal is coming from. THAT is toughness. I guess there's a National Geographic project going on that I've been told is pretty interesting if you're curious to learn about where you originated from. I think they want a paid DNA sample to give you an answer, so I'm OK knowing I originated out of Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago on March 13, 1977.

The coolest part of today was hanging down by Bowman Lake, and I'm doing my best to bring you all with...here's a video (trying something new here).

Its on to Yellowstone for the next big highlight, but I'l make a few stops along the way as I head down tomorrow, and of course will keep y'all in the loop with words and pictures... In the meantime I'm lucky enough to catch this week's Breaking Bad while doing laundry...easily my favorite show these days.

hope you all are doing well,

D









has her own taste in music, as do I. She has her taste in movies, as do I.

Tuesday Evening, in to Wednesday AM

I decided last night I was sick of driving everywhere and walked to dinner and Amatuer Folk Music night at Red's, a place in downtown Kalispell.

While on the way, I messed around with some camera settings, but thought a few of the pix were kinda cool.

It was a good evening, I ran in to the guys I met in town the previous night, and it was fun catching up with them and meeting a few more locals. Everyone's got a story, and its a ton of fun listening to them (at least for me). I guess one of the things I thought about while walking home, is that I don't have to be in the far ends of the world to talk with strangers. I'm not saying we all need to wear nametags and introduce ourself to each other, but there are so many times I catch myself in a hurry to run to the next thing without asking folks how their day is going, what life has in store, that kinda stuff. It doesn't need to be an in-depth conversation, but my experience has been pretty good with it. So ignore what your parents told you, its OK to talk to strangers. As long as they're nice and you're nice in return.

Annie is crashed out on the couch in my motel room, so its off to Glacier for me, much more pics tonight.

Day 4: North of Flathead Lake, South of Glacier

It's about 5:45 on Tuesday afternoon, and rather than running like a madman to the next thing, I figured I'd slow down and get settled in to a Motel for the next few days. I'm staying at the Rodeway Inn. I do not know why they've chosen such a clever name--the spelling of "Rode" in that fashion was an excellent decision, since it got my attention amongst its competition (Holiday Inn, La Quinta, Super 8, Motel 6). None of those say Montana to me, but the Rodeway Inn is definitely Montana.

Before I get in to the day, I just want to say thanks for all the encouragement folks are giving me on the blog. I think there's a way to subscribe so you'll get updates emailed to you, but I'm really not that familiar with this whole computer thing. Feel free to post your comments on the blog too (you can do that anonymously and give me crap), so fire away....

Also, today's blog is long on rambling, short on action. So if you don't want to read through the stuff below, you can see the highlights here. I try and put captions with photos on Snapfish, but only have so much brain power to write captions and blog simultaneously. And I know my writing isn't perfect, so eat me. But the thought has occured to me that if I was a writer I could put together some clever short stories on all of these random episodes I've had. Kinda like Kramer/J Peterman. Before the whole racist rant thing, I really liked Kramer. Underrated guy on the show...these are a few great ones:

Moviefone

TCB

Kramerica Industries (couldn't find on Youtube)

Merv Griffin

I'm still in Kalispell, about 2 miles from the hotel I stayed in last night, which is not a big deal. Let me just walk through my thought process before 11 AM to explain why I'm still in Kalispell.

• Wake Up in Kalispell Grand Hotel, Annie hogging the Twin Bed, slept like crap.
  Decide I need to go to Glacier today or tomorrow.
• To do this, I need to either find lodging or a dog walking facility for her
• Clean Up
• Walk Annie, Leave her in car
• Go to hotel, check out
• Drive car to coffee shop
• Eat
• Search for dog kennels online, its a pain in the ass and expensive
• Search for motel room on hotels.com.
• Make a reservation at the Rodeway Inn
• High five myself in my head for getting a "good" deal on a hotel room at a place with such an awesome name
• Ask waitress for day hike I can take annie on prior to checking in to hotel
• Go on Hike, Wander Rest of Day

Looking back on that whole process, several steps never needed to happen...total waste. My former coworkers are probably smirking at the Waste in all of that. All in all, I could have just stayed in my last hotel room, but the lack of wireless was not helpin' my cause and I just didn't dig it.

So my day really began after breakfast, heading to a hike in Columbia Falls at Columbia Mtn. Columbia falls is about 15 minutes north of Kalispell, and my waitress (Emily) said it was where she would go on a day off of work. I've found that's a good question to get a "local" perspective on things. Obviously people live in this part of the country for a reason, so why not ask the people who know the best stuff around? Duh. And if a tourist came to you in whatever city you are reading this from, I'd hope you wouldn't send them to a tourist trap or lame attraction (see Navy Pier, Pike Place Market).

Anyhow, the hike was tough on Annie. Very steep, and I have a hunch we're at some elevation (at least that's the excuse I'm giving myself for being winded as well). It was probably 2 miles to the lookout at the top, and we made it in about an hour or so. Rather than head to Kalispell, I decided to take a field trip down Route 2, the road that leads in to Glacier. I just need to say it again, but the whole "go with the flow" attitude is really fun--no timetables, no schedules, no commitments (other than Annie). Its like travelling abroad, just not so far away.

We cruised through to Hungry Horse National Park, which got me thinking what Native Americans would have named Annie and I if they stumbled across she and I in the woods. Annie would obviously bark at them once they stopped petting her, so I think the name for her would be: "Thundering Cucumber." I don't know what they'd call me, probably "Skinny Jackass Wearing a Bears Hat." I guess that counts as a tangent, so I'll retroactively warn you.

Hungry Horse was pretty cool 'cause NO ONE was there. I had an entire Lake to myself, with amazing views of Snowcapped Mountains, and I think that may be the benefit of not flocking to tourist spots. I still want to see some of those traditional tourist spots, but there's also something to be said for getting off the Interstate and checking out some really cool stuff.

After Hungry Horse I decided to continue on Route 2 to West Glacier. One of the guys I met last night (I think its Roger) worked with his mom at a camera store in West Glacier, and I had nothing else to do so went and paid them a visit. He's a sharp kid--graduated from Wash U in St Louis and has a degree in Engineering. He's a Cards fan, but a nice guy, and it was funny to see him working with his mom. They had great senses of humor as we chatted about the low tourism turnout thus far. I was the 2nd customer of the day, and reminded them that technically I'm a 'visitor' and should not be counted in their census....always thinking facts/data thanks to you Lean folks. They gave me a cool recommendation to a path along the Flatlead River which I headed to with Annie. I floated down that river during our family trip here in the 90's, and it was pretty cool to see it flowing. Annie and I had one wildlife moment that freaked the sh*t out of me with a snake. Annie took us down to the riverfront, and as she comes across an uprooted tree stump her ears and tail pointed straight up which means its "Go Time" with a small animal. I look closer, and see a snake slither through the tree and in to some grass nearby. Yowsa my heart jumped through my throat.

Tangent: I hate snakes. I'm sure they're really nice animals for snake lovers, I just don't like seeing them in the wild. As a kid who grew up in suburban Chicago, the wildlife I am comfortable seeing in public are birds, squirrels, deer, and the ocassional raccoon. Since I'm on the topic of animals I don't really care for, here are the things that freak me out with animals: 1) Live fish touching me. whether its under water or not, I just don't like 'em. Of course, this instantly eliminates fishing as a potential hobby, and I'm totally fine with that. 2) Birds flying inside. I hate when birds flap their wings indoors. Even if they have their wings clipped I still don't like 'em. 3) Snakes (see above) 4) Pigeons. I have a hypothesis that our natural food chain would go completely un-influenced if we removed Pigeons from the food chain. Other than Mike Tyson and something for people to feed in Europe, is there a benefit to these animals?

So back to the topic at hand, tonight I have two choices. At 730 there is a monster truck rally at the Fairgrounds in town; at 830 there is an Open Mic night at a local bar. Either way, there will be some interesting people watching...but I'm leaning towards Open Mic since that's where my friend from the camera store will be going, and they seem to be good guys.

With a web connection, I'll keep the updates rollin'.