A wonderful and relaxing break

I finally got to see my family again.  It took a lot of driving but I made it back to Indiana in one piece and had a week and a half to spend with them.  This time was filled with as many family dinners as we could get.  Now, these dinners aren’t the tense, awkward minefields that some family dinners may be.  My family gets as many laughs as they can in every minute. 

This creates a pretty chaotic environment for newcomers.  Many times I have seen new significant others (of sisters, cousins, family friends, etc) visibly intimidated by their surroundings.  It is what I was born into but I can understand how that environment could be jarring for others.  No matter what anyone else thinks, I wouldn’t want to live without it.  We are loud, near shameless, and quick to make a joke.  I pity anyone who dreads their family get-togethers.  Everyone should love seeing their family.

No, my truck doesn't have a D-Rig.

So, I have a hell of an update for this thing today.  I am just sitting down after a trip half-way across the country.  That's right, I made the trip back from Indiana today.  I had a wonderful time at home for Thanksgiving, and I will update you on that tomorrow.  Today's post, however, is reserved solely for the trip I just made.

I left my parents' house at 4 am EST this morning (so 3 am CST), which is normal (I have to drive in the dark for one half of the trip, I figure it should be the half where I am waking up, not falling asleep).  Much to my chagrin it is raining when I leave.  I hate driving in the rain, with a violent, burning passion.  I hate driving in the rain even more than I hate driving at night.  I was well rested, which is a pleasant change, but driving the interstate at night in a steady rain during deer season isn't my ideal Sunday. So, if you do the math you come up with the fact that this trip did not start off well for me.

Next on the hits parade we have the fact that my car is TERRIBLE at keeping moisture out.  So, the inside of my windshield fogs up, badly.  Turning the heat up only increases the condensation (while I am driving 65 mph), so I am forced to turn on the A/C to clear my windows.  It is 43 degrees and wet outside.  So, for the next 4 hours I stave off hypothermia in my polar bear friendly car to make it to sunrise and the end of my foggy window issues.  Luckily, the rain had stopped and I was almost to St. Louis.

Now, I really dislike driving through Missouri.  St. Louis is fine, but the rest of the state is just a bunch of advertisements for A) porno for truckers, B) Jesus and his Earthly minions, or C) Maramec Caves.  The scenery in most of the state is beautiful, but all those damned billboards just eviscerate that experience.  On top of this, the bulk of my drive happens in Missouri, so I am forced to stop and will my gas tank 2 of the 3 times in this state. 

I made one of these pit stops at a Flying J in Sullivan (I think).  I gassed my car up and got my obligatory water and snacks, but the interesting part of this stop happened in the mens room.  After washing my hands a gentleman behind me asked if the truck I was driving had "one of those new D-Rigs."  I politely informed him that I was not a trucker and went about my business.  Now, it wasn't until later that my wheels started turning on his question.  This man asked me, a complete stranger, about something called a "D-Rig" in a mens room at a truck stop...But I suppose I will leave any interpretation up to the reader from here.

Possible close calls aside my trip was going pretty smoothly now.  The only exception at this point was the fact that the town of Sullivan tricked me into missing lunch by misrepresenting where their Mc Donalds was.  So, I went hungry until my car needed filled up again, which was in another 3 hours.  I stopped in Joplin to fix all of these issues.  No odd run-ins here, but the mens room in this truck stop was the busiest bathroom I have ever seen.  There must have been a church without a toilet close by... Either way I made it out and walked over to the conveniently placed Hardee's right inside the gas station.

Eating the largest burger Hardee's makes while driving through construction areas is hard.  I made it through, however, and was now squarely in Oklahoma with a full stomach.  I cruise along for a while and end up doing about 10 over the speed limit on I44 for a large portion of my sprint across the state.  Now, I am confident in my ability to speed here because I have honestly never seen a police officer on I44, ever.  I have made this trip around a dozen times at this point, and I knew that cops just didn't exist until I hit OKC.  I learned something new today.

I got tagged by a state trooper just before the 2nd toll booth.  I came up over a hill and there he was, ready to pounce.  Luckily he let me off with a warning since I was a college student returning from Thanksgiving (Mise!).  I did, however, do the speed limit for the rest of my trip.  Well, with the exception of the merging point of I44, I40, and I35...

I think the one thing that I want to do the least after driving for 13 hours is sit in 40 minutes of stop-and-go traffic on the interstate.  I don't know the person who decided one lane was enough to drain 3 interstates into 35S but they should be shot, twice.  This exit is easily the worse part of my 14 hour drive back every single time.  Given enough time and annoyance, I made it through, and cruised the rest of the way to my apartment.

All in all this trip was about par for the course.  I almost always drive through rain at some point on a trip home each year.  Missouri always sucks, sometimes more than others.  I once again succeeded in not getting a ticket. And that 35S merger can still die in a fire.  I am so glad that I am flying home for Christmas...

Reduce, Rebuild, Reschedule

The end of the semester is quickly barreling down on us.  I don’t have quite as much to do as usual, but this semester has taught me a lot.  I will definitely be taking a different strategy next semester.  In the next 6 months I need to finish assembling a committee and present my research proposal.  I will still be taking classes.  So I need to make sure not to impale myself on teaching responsibilities again. 

I believe I will be splitting time with both a teaching assistantship and research assistantship.  This will give me plenty of time to focus on class and my proposal.  It is very nice having research funding to fall back on when I need to.  It doesn’t hurt that any research that I do (as long as it is prairie-chicken related) counts toward that assistantship.  I am looking forward to only teaching one section next semester.  Life should be much more normal.

The time is almost here

In a little more than 48 hours I will finally be back in Indiana.  I am taking the last 2 days of the week before Thanksgiving off, like I usually do, to spend some extra time at home.  I haven't seen my family in 11 months, outside of a 2 day visit by my parents in August.  I cannot wait to finally see everyone again and spend time with them!

A lot has happened since I left after Christmas break.  My little sister had a baby (and a very scary false alarm a few weeks after delivery), who I have not met yet.  My other new nephew gets bigger and bigger by the day (from what I hear he has hit the hilarious oblivious statements stage) and is 2 and a half now.  My oldest nephew moved back to Indiana to finish high school in a better environment (no family issues, he just hated Wisconsin and it's inhabitants...).  And my father develops a closer relationship with their cat every day (which is still very funny to me).

I am so ready for today and tomorrow to be over.  I have never been so excited to drive 12 hours in my life.

The Grind

Five weekends worth of travel.  Four of those have been out of state.  Two trips to Kansas City, 1 trip to Dallas, and 1 trip to San Antonio.  All of this grinding has been in pursuit of a larger goal; to play the game at a higher level.  Along the way my skills have increased as well and that increase is finally starting to show.

Unfortunately the grind is starting to get to me.  There is a break coming up for Thanksgiving and one more weekend trip to make.  I am not sure that I can make it 6 weeks in a row.  I have had decent success during this run, but the traveling is wearing on me.

These trips typically yield little sleep and require 1 or 2 full days of intense mental activity.  Needless to say it is easy to get burned out on this type of schedule.  The trips have been a lot of fun so far, but I am afraid I have reached my limit.  I am thankful for the break I am about to get.

Not only will I get a rest from competitive play, but I get to see my family as well.  I am very excited to go home for the first time in 9 months.  I will be able to get away from my school, teaching, and gaming schedules for 2 weeks.  This will be the perfect time for me to get away and recharge for the end of the semester.

I have been using these weekend trips to relax after my hellish weeks of teaching and learning.  Those trips have lost their luster as of this weekend.  I cannot wait to step away from all of it and come back afterward with fresh eyes.