Category: General

Strictly burgers at Blondie's.

Since I didn’t leave town until almost 5p, I’m not calling that my first full day. It’s Day 0.5.

My home to Roseburg, OR is 183 miles.

Picked up the car a bit early, 3:30p or so. The kid behind the counter was new, and showed it. Every little step of the transaction got a confused look from him. Swiped my AmEx – confused. Clicking through the screens on his computer – confused. Figuring out what car they had set aside for me – confused. I was patient and didn’t bug him about it, and in the end, he realized that the whole thing was taking far too long, so he upgraded me from my Toyota-Corolla-or-similar to a ’07 Malibu, in a cool dark gray color. Nice. I thought the gas milage would suck, but so far I’ve used less than a half-tank. I’ll be fine.

When I tossed my luggage in the trunk, O.B. remarked, “You look like you’re runnin’ away from home!” Maybe I am, O.B. Maybe I am.

Which thought explains why I was a bit embarrassed when, after my last go-through in the apartment to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, as I was literally walking out the door to leave, iPod in hand, I ran smack into Kevin, smiling like he caught me. Well, he did catch me as I was leaving. He said he’d been on his way home from work, saw that my front door was open, and took a chance. We caught up, I showed off the rental, I invited him along. He couldn’t go. Or, he could but there’d be Hell to pay when he got home to the wife and kids. I understood and was amused. As I quickly told the story of my last road trip to Vegas, I realized that I had forgotten my road atlas. Thanks, Kevin, for delaying me just long enough to remember that handy item. Maybe things do happen for a reason after all…

Traffic on I205 southbound past Oregon City was exactly what would be expected for 5p Friday before a virtual holiday weekend. Ugh. It didn’t really clear up and start moving until past Wilsonville. I didn’t start my music until then. I played 3 full albums on Day 0.5:

1. “The Blues Brothers Original Soundtrack”
2. “One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This” by the New York Dolls
3. “Straight on Till Morning” by Blues Traveler

.

Stopped in Eugene for dinner. I could’ve sworn that one of the waitresses was staring at me. Might’ve been my bald head and the fact that I was eating alone, both of which made me stand out. Lots of couples and families in there. The waitress was cute, too – curly brown hair and a round happy face. Even though she wasn’t my original waitress, she took the initiative to refill my drink, and get me my check. Flirting? Or was she just filling in for the other girl, who I did not see after she took my order?

I checked Google Maps at a coffee shop (delicious Dutch apple pie, yum) near where I parked the car, and saw that I could detour to see Crater Lake National Park. That would mean turning off of I5 at Roseburg. I decided Roseburg was far enough for the first half-day, seeing that it was already after 9p, and would be another hour and a half or more down the road. I got disoriented and pulled off the road in Sutherlin, saw that there was no room available at the hotel there, and kept going. Got a text from Tracy asking how I was doing. I replied but figured she was already asleep by then.

Three different motels did not have a sign visible from the highway or street indicating whether or not they had a vacancy. That seems wrong. Or maybe I was tired. At the last full one, a Best Western, the lady behind the counter started to tell me that there wasn’t a bed to be had in town, then, reluctantly, said, “You can try the one just down that way. It looks just like this one; it’s called America’s Best Value Inn.”

Sure enough, it was laid out exactly like the previous one. Same blueprints. I felt an entirely understandable deja vu driving into the courtyard. Unlike the Best Western, this one’s office was closed so I had to ring a bell at the night window. Down the stairs behind me walked a beauty in blue jeans, brown eyes and red hair, and she greeted me warmly and stepped into the office. “Sure, I’ll sell you a single,” she said. I wanted to ask her if I could stay with her instead, but the ring on her “alert” finger dissuaded me.

I crashed quickly, after trying to set the alarm for 8a. The digital readout was broken. When the alarm went off in the morning, and I got up to check my email (the motel offered free internet (at least I hope it’s free! Haven’t checked out yet) if you provided a Cat5 cable) I found that it was actually 6a. Oh, well, I was awake already.

Dressed for a run. Decided I’d run away from the motel for 15 minutes then turned around. 10 minutes along, I saw a sign for “Gaddis Park” so I took that street, past the oil tanks, and found five baseball diamonds, with bleachers for each. A paved trail ran around the park so I continued along it, still running, and found myself down by the river (the Umpqua? The Willamette?) and passing underneath the freeway back to the other side. Through a small woods, then past a huge fenced-off field. Shortly I spotted a huge, old, 2-story brick mansion on the other side of the field, and shortly after that the field became a golf course. Then I popped out back by the freeway overpass by which my motel sat. And then I showered and posted this.

More to come…

Ready to go!

Rain and gray on my way out of town.

So it turns out that blogging from my phone is quite easy. I can send texts and pictures and have Blogger publish them with ease. So y’all don’t have to bookmark a new page just yet.

But I’m still going to use Twitter, and I may send some pictures or videos to my T*Mobile gallery. But it’s all going to be duplicated here, on my main blog.

I love technology.

Smacky is excited at having the house to himself. Can you tell?

Next week I’m on vacation. Yes, the planned road trip to Vegas. In fact, I’m leaving tonight, this evening.

I’m ready for the vacation, definitely. I re-watched “Swingers” this week. I’ve been running. Got some money saved up. Packed my sunscreen (according to Weather.com it’s freakin’ 99° as I type this).

Smacky’s got food to last him ’til I’m back. Bills are paid. Yup. I’m ready to go.

Of course I’m going to blog while I’m gone. Duh. But if you need a quicker hit of some of that Lunar Obverse magic, I’m going to be using Twitter for my trip.

Twitter is a new social page that lets people text or IM short messages and have them posted on the internet. I can update Twitter from my phone, using the unlimited texting that T*Mobile graciously provides me for a nominal fee.

I may or may not figure out how to send phone pics to Twitter. I’ve already made my phone pics available publicly here, so you may want to check there next week to see what I can capture with my cruddy phone cam.

Sometimes, the best show of one’s strength is to admit weakness.

So weird.

Walking back from Video Lair (I rented “Swingers” and “Tideland”) I saw white-haired Dave, tall, tanned, handlebar mustache, sunglasses, baseball cap. He saw me and laughed.

“Ol’ Ben is still trying to figure out that lottery machine,” he said.

“Oh, man. I’m sorry!”

“Oh, it’s OK. See, normally, if we run a mistake like that, we have to buy it. But Dave” by which he meant the other Dave “ended up buying it.”

“Awesome!” I said.

“He was sayin’ that he hopes you don’t think he was mad at you.”

I thought about how we’d yelled at each other, in public, and how he’d stormed off into the back room and slammed things around. “Oh, no, it was all just a silly mistake.”

So his name is Ben. I’ll have to buy him a beer or something.

After my run, I walk down to Foster’s Market. The Oregon Lottery Megabucks prize is up to over $18 million and I want to play.

White-haired Dave, the one who always wears sunglasses, is behind the counter, helping a black lady. I wait my turn while I look at the reader board to confirm that no one won the Megabucks prize, that it’s still a huge amount. I calculate in my head that if the “prize” is $18 million, that after splitting it in two to take it as cash, and after the mandatory tax withholding, that’s still a lump sum of over $6 million.

A shorter, dark-haired guy is behind the counter, beside Dave, talking to me. I’ve seen him before but not often. I think he’s new. “What can I get ya?” he asks quickly.

“Megabucks, Quick-Pick, five plays, plus kicker. Total of ten dollars” I say, just as I’ve said for every drawing since the prize when over $2 million. I’ve learned, through rote, how to say it, just like my Starbucks coffee order, just like ordering my burrito at Taco del Mar or my sandwich at SubWay, I’ve learned exactly how to say it through repetition.

The man, shorter than me, goes back to the lottery machine, punches numbers, pulls out a ticket, comes back. He hands it to me.

I expected a longer ticket. It doesn’t look right. There’s only two lines on it, instead of ten – two plays per dollar should be ten lines. “This… this isn’t right.”

“Sure it is!” he says. “Five plays.”

“This is only one play.”

He points at the bottom of the ticket. “No.” He cranes his head around because the ticket is still on the counter and facing my way, he turns his head to read it. “See? Five plays. Just like you asked for.” Printed on the ticket is a series of five dates, the next five drawings for the Megabucks lottery.

He’s given me one chance for each of the next five drawings.

I look up. He looks me in the eye.

“This isn’t right. I wanted,” I tap my hand on the counter, lightly, but assertively, emphasizing my point, “five plays for the next drawing, plus the kicker.”

He slams his hand down, still not touching the ticket. The black woman and Dave are silent, watching us. “That’s what you asked for! You have to buy this ticket!“

Firmly, I say, “No, I don’t. It’s not what I wanted.”

Panic rises in his voice. He picks up the ticket and displays it to me. “I have to eat this!”

I just stand there. It’s not what I wanted.

“You have to get a separate ticket for each chance!” He’s upset and his voice is almost, but not quite, yelling.

“No I don’t!” I point at Dave, from whom I’ve bought countless of these tickets. “He knows how to do it!”

“Fine, have him do it!” the man yells at me, and he turns away from the counter, angry and upset.

Mildly, Dave says to his co-worker, “You advanced it.” I have no idea what this means but it’s apparently related to how to run a ticket on the machine. Dave looks at me. “I’ll be with you in a minute.” He finishes up with the black lady.

The shorter man goes in the back. I hear a slam. Probably a fist into a door or wall, or a door slamming shut.

The black lady takes her items and walks away. A tall guy in black shorts and black t-shirt with a cast around his right hand is next in line.

“I’m sorry,” I say, not really that sorry.

Dave shakes his white-haired head. “It’s been that kind of day.” Another slam from the back. “Sounds like he’s trying to put his fist through a wall.” He looks at the guy with the cast. “You know how that feels, right?”

The guy raises his cast and laughs softly. “Amen.”

Dave looks at me. “You want a Megabucks ticket, five plays… for the next drawing, right?”

“Right,” I say. I’m kinda soured on the whole playing-the-lottery thing. If I win now it’s going to be bad news, I think.