Got My Chips Cashed In

I had to put Carolinimas on hold in order to effect my move. I had plenty of time to think, though, so here are some of the things I considered while driving a 16' truck.

If you are going to drive a truck as an amateur in California, do so on the weekends. California loves it some weigh stations, and it loves for everyone to go through them. No one has ever, ever stopped me in a weigh station, but they want me to drive through anyway. On the weekends, however, most of them are closed. At least they are on Sunday. I drove by four closed stations and only had to drive through one.

If you want to drive a truck fast, do so in Nevada. After California, with its 55mph speed limit for trucks and anything with a trailer, Nevada is a godsend. The speed limit is 75mph. That's it. 75. No exceptions. And let me tell you, the truckers hammer down in Nevada. I was doing 65mph (my personal limit), and I was passed by everyone but 3 people.

Nevada knew I was coming, and put up special "Slow Trucks" signs with blinking lights, just for me. (I swear, I was the only slow truck in Nevada, even when going up hill.)

Nevada is also a miracle of road-building. Not only is the speed limit practically non-existent, the roads are beautifully maintained. Beyond that, there is no construction! I don't know how they do it, but they do.

Utah's salt flats are evil. Do not lose your sunglasses before driving through Utah.

Western states have an absurd fondness for mileage signs, Idaho in particular. They will post a sign every 8-15 miles. And the distances are long. I do not need to count down the ridiculous distances I need to drive every 10 miles. Every 30 or 40 would be sufficient.

Using gears in an automatic truck is good, especially when descending 12 miles worth of 6% grades. If you can get yourself down to speed (35mph) and then shift into 3rd (or even 2nd), the truck does all the rest. It ceases to be scary, because the truck will not accelerate over 35mph. You just slowly cruise downhill, with all the four-wheelers screaming by you on your left. Whatever. You're cool, man. Suave.

Montana has pretty good roads, and the construction zones to prove it. However, the last 10 miles of Montana are bone-jarringly rough. I'm surprised I didn't bite my tongue or break a tooth.

The weight distribution of an empty truck and a fully-loaded car being towed behind said truck is not good. Acceleration, in particular, causes shaking. I do not advise the last 10 miles of Montana to anyone driving this particular set-up.

Penske rocks. Sadly, they do not have a dealer in Montana. I would like to suggest one in Butte, where I-15 and I-90 meet. You know, just in case anyone out there with any power at Penske is reading this.

On the Seventh Day of Carolinimas...

...My boyfriend sent to me a vase of flowers.

I could have chosen any number of things to write about. It was the last day of school (thanks District!); I don't have breast cancer (yes, I had a scare); I went out to dinner with friends (yay for friends and dinner). However, the highlight was coming home from all of the madness of the day (and two hours hanging out with a bunch of women who have been told to not wear deoderant or perfume is trying), and finding flowers on my porch. It was a very sweet ending to my day.

On the Sixty Day of Carolinmas...

...My mechanic gave me a car that was fixed.

Yeah, it was making some evil noises and shuddering at high speeds. (This all came to a head when I was driving to Berkeley.) I finally remembered my Car Talk and realized it was pretty dangerous. If a part of your drivetrain or axle fails while driving, it's very not good. Anyway, I (slowly) drove to the shop and it was done by noon.

On the Fifth Day of Carolinimas...

...I grilled out in the backyard.

I'm also making some Vichysoisse with the leeks I grew in my backyard. It's still on the stove, so I can't tell you exactly how good it is, yet, but I bet it'll be awesome. Potato leek soup is good anyday, but with homegrown leeks? Yummy.

Also on the menu, grilled sausages on grilled Italian bread and grilled asparagus. Maybe some arugula salad with strawberries and locally-produced swiss cheese. I'm getting hungry and tired, though, so am losing my momentum for salad-making.

On the Fourth Day of Carolinimas...

I went wine-tasting and to dinner with a friend.

I went to "my" winery and bought a few more bottles before I have to give them up. We then went around the corner and spent too much money on dinner in Carmel Valley Village. The food was good, but I don't know that it was that good. The bread was awesome, my Ceasar salad was tasty, but I was a bit disappointed with the Margehrita pizza. The tomatoes weren't fresh... so it was a bit acidic. Still, it was nice, just not great.

On the Third Day of Carolinimas...

...I went to prom.

I had a delightful dinner with some friends at a Santa Cruz eatery. The highlight was getting the "treasure chest" at the end of our meal. The chest is filled with cheap plastic toys. I took a shark. My friend's friend took a lobster. My friend took nothing -- for fear she was taking something from a kid. Um, the thing is FILLED with toys, I think there will be some left for the next kid when they finish their meal. And we paid $40 each, I think we deserve a plastic toy.

Prom itself was sorta lame. The music was all techno, but I was not dressed in techno attire, nor was I prepared to dance to techno at my age or in front of students. It just takes too much energy.

However, afterwards we walked down to the ocean and trashed the dress. I know, you're supposed to do that to wedding dresses, but it works with prom, too. We didn't get totally soaked (it was chilly), but it was fun. When I get my hands on some photos, I'll let you see them.

(I'll probably get the dress washed, but I also spilled sauce on it at dinner, so it might be trashed already anyway.)

On the Second Day of Carolinimas...

...I gave to myself, a trip to Berkeley to see The Flight of the Conchords.

It was awesome. I got the tickets through the pre-sale (off Facebook), so I had good seats. I didn't have a date (Salinas being lame and my boyfriend living 7 1/2 hours away), so I sold the extra on Craigslist. It took about an hour to sell, the dude was pretty cool. He was ortinally going to just use me to get inside and then go sit with his friends. Our seats were so good, though, so he stayed with me. It was cool.

The show was awesome. The guys are hilarious and the music is better live (as I thought it would be) than it is on the show. They opened with Robots. Some highlights included Boom, Inner City Pressure, Too Many Dicks on the Dancefloor, and Bowie with glittery shirts and tear-away pants. They also told some hilariously boring stories that all came back around during one of the last songs. A joke that comes back around? Priceless.