Monday, October 30, 2006

Bullet point(lessness)

• I guess I'll be voting for the terrorists to win.

• If you ever decide to hire a moving company, may I advise against World Moving Service of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.? And for whichever moving service you decide to hire, please (and this is very important) stipulate that they not contract out to Magic Moving. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that we slept on the floor for 12 extra nights and paid $1500 more than the estimate. In fact, maybe you should just rent a truck and move yourself.

• For most of my friends and family, it's Halloween. For me, technically, I've got just under two hours. But tonight I am living vicariously through them: a steady stream of candy and Treehouses of Horror.

• The city where I now live, Desert Hot Springs, has won all sorts of awards for its tasty drinking water. While I don't consider myself a water connoisseur, I will say our tap water is crisp, refreshing and without the sulfur tang occasionally found in Blufflestank.

• Go Bears! I'm eagerly anticipating "The Super Bowl Shuffle: Sexy Rexy Remix."

• Posted by Brian at 10:02 PM
• Comments (0)
• Category: Random

Friday, October 27, 2006

First week on the job

In the past three days, some jackass tried to burn down half of Southern California, there was a very slim chance that the mayor of my town possibly may (allegedly) not quite be all there and I produced my first online video: Pugs wearing ballerina costumes.

There are a lot of adjectives that can describe my first week. "Dull" is not one of them.

• Posted by Brian at 1:07 AM
• Comments (3)
• Category: Media

Saturday, October 21, 2006

A litte slice of Reno (as in Nevada, not Janet)

Reno is the type of place where it comes as no surprise to find yourself comparing scores with a country music singer at 1 a.m. in a 24-hour bowling alley in the basement of a casino. It's a weird place. Want a wide variety of adult bookstores, wedding chapels and businesses using some permutation of the words "Western," "Silver" and "Dollar"? Reno's your city.

I spent most of my time there in a video training seminar for work, but we had a little time to wander around the bright neon of downtown. I also squeezed in a few minutes to hit the slots while at the airport and tripled my high-rolling $5 investment. I caught a couple people staring at me because I was the only one who actually pulled the level to spin rather than just hitting the little button. Not sure if they admired me for being old school or were annoyed at the extra noise.

The best part about Reno? The hotel room. Specifically, the fact that I could choose between two king beds and a pull-out couch. This overabundance of bedding was ironic to Debz, who remained at home waiting for the movers to show up (which still has not happened) and sleeping on the floor. It was a tough decision, but in the end, I decided to utilize one of those king beds and not crash on the floor in solidarity.

• Posted by Brian at 11:08 PM
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• Category: Travel

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Day of rest

Ever since we entered California, Debz and I have been slogging away at the various nagging chores that accompany moving across the country: finding a house, setting up utilities, arguing with the moving company, registering the cars, blah yadda and so on.

This morning, we were at a loss of what to tackle next. What would be open on a Sunday? Joshua Tree National Park, that's what.

After a less-than-one-hour drive, we breezed through the entrance with our National Parks Pass (thanks, Diane and Suzanne!) and gazed upon some of the weirdest and coolest scenery I've ever seen. We embarked on the Ryan Mountain hike because the trail guide I bought classified it as easy/moderate, and my hiking boots are still on the moving truck. As you may have noticed if you clicked the link, the NPS rates it as strenuous. It certainly wasn't the most difficult hike we've ever taken, but given my inappropriate footwear and lack of exercise over the past couple of weeks, I was pretty proud to make it to the 5,461-foot top.

Back at the base and with tummies a-rumblin', we decided to drive back to the town of Joshua Tree to a place called Crossroads, a small roadside diner-type with pretty decent burgers that was populated by a crowd of hardcore rock climbers. The dudes at the next table were going on about the four climbs they hit that day and were wondering if there would be enough daylight for a fifth. I sat there with my legs still a little wobbly from the hike and felt like the biggest wuss on the planet.

Tomorrow I start work, and the day will end with me in Reno. This will be good because I will be staying in a hotel room. Odds are, this room will have a bed, which is something the new house will not have until the movers arrive late in the week. Doesn't help Debz much, but it's a nice break from sleeping on the floor for me.

Unfortunately, the flight coincides with the undefeated Bears' impending massacre of the Arizona Cardinals. I have a two-hour layover in Phoenix that might allow me to catch a good chunk of the game, which will be taking place just a few miles from that very airport. It's as good a way as any to kill a two-hour layover.

• Posted by Brian at 9:46 PM
• Comments (1)
• Category: Travel

Friday, October 13, 2006

Heading home

We're preparing to bid adieu to Room 247 of the Thousand Palms Red Roof Inn, with its lovely view of Little Sister's Truck Wash and Interstate 10. It has served us well for the past week, but the time has come to move into an actual residence in Desert Hot Springs.

DHS (as it's called) is so named because, well, it's in the middle of the desert, even moreso than the rest of the Palm Springs area. DHS is separated by a good chunk of nothing (plus I-10) from the rest of the valley. And yes, there are numerous hot springs located around the town. We're told that resort spas have plopped down atop every one of them, but admission to the spas are pretty cheap.

DHS is also the jumping off point for Joshua Tree National Park and our backyard has awesome views of Mt. San Jacinto.

We're pretty relieved to be settling down in a permanent place. The cats have been packed into their mobile kitty prison for the last time (they, however, are not aware it's the last time, and so they hate me), and we'll be sleeping on our own floor tonight! Our bed is with the movers and won't be here until next week.

This pretty much concludes the South Carolina to California travel blog. Further updates (once we have Internet access) will be of the fun and possibly even interesting variety.

• Posted by Brian at 7:29 AM
• Comments (2)
• Category: Travel

Monday, October 9, 2006

Home is where the plumbing problem is

We're making our way around this weird, alien landscape known as southern California. Tall garish signs invite us to such unfamiliar establishments as Carl's Jr., Del Taco (which is surprisingly tasty) and In-and-Out Burger, which I'm determined to try because of the Lebowski reference and despite the name, which implies the sandwich shoots through one's gastrointestinal system as if it were a water slide.

We're continuing our house search, and we have it narrowed down to 3 places. We decided to eliminate the one earlier today after being shown the place by a 10-year-old boy. He seemed to be an uncommonly confident young lad, but he seemed a bit annoyed at us for interrupting his play time.

The next time I post, it will be to proclaim the end of our temporary homelessness. Don't misunderstand... we're in a hotel and not sleeping on the street. In fact, I need to wrap this up in case the hotel maintenance guy shows up. He should be here in the next 20 minutes or so to unclog our toilet.

• Posted by Brian at 10:46 PM
• Comments (4)
• Category: Travel

Saturday, October 7, 2006

Crossing the border

Early this afternoon, we had to break out our passports. That's right, folks... we're now in our new hometown in the United States of Canada after crossing over from Jesusland.

Ok, in actuality we left Arizona for California, but we passed through an agricultural inspection station that was not present at any other state line. Helpful signs informed us there was no inspection today. I guess agricultural safety takes weekends off.

Now the fun part begins: the race to find an affordable place to live in Palm Springs before I start work (October 16) and our stuff gets here (date: who freakin' knows?).

Also, for those of you who are back on the East Coast, you'll notice that this site now officially runs on Pacific Standard Time. This is gonna be weird. Primetime shows at different hours; NFL games that start at 10 a.m. ... It really is like another country.

• Posted by Brian at 4:49 PM
• Comments (4)
• Category: Travel

Friday, October 6, 2006

A little Texas goes a long way

Egads, that's a massive state. We drove all day Thursday and still didn't make it to New Mexico. I've always wondered why some states got to be so big while others, Delaware for example, are slightly smaller. You can fit probably 2000 Delawares into Texas. It's just not fair to poor Delaware.

Anyway, there's really nothing west of San Antonio. A few miles east of Fort Stockton, I finished up an audiobook. I couldn't reach my iPod so I tried the radio. The choices were slim: a waltz, Spanish-language talk radio and Motley Crue. I went with the Crue. As Fort Stockton faded into the distance, my easy listening and bilingual options were out of range. By the time we hit Van Horn (town slogan: "Stop In Van Horn Or You'll Run Out Of Gas"), the radio's scan button yielded nothing but an infinite loop around the FM band as no signal was strong enough to lock on to.

So that was last night's stop: Van Horn, a town that's only purpose is Gas, Food, Lodging. Tonight's stop is a little different as our window looks out onto the massive block of traffic moving at 65 mph that is Phoenix's I-17.

Our first milestone this morning was billboard-infested El Paso and then (finally!) a state that wasn't Texas. And although you easily could make your way across the country on I-10 eating only the delicacies provided by Crackel Barrel, we had somehow resisted the temptation until today when we met Debz's cousin for lunch in Las Cruces. After lunch, we skirted past forgettable towns with forgettable names in the desert, finally zipping through Tucson and into Phoenix.

By early afternoon tomorrow, we'll be in Palm Springs. The cats still hate me though. You haven't lived until you've grabbed a broom to sweep a freaked-out cat from under a hotel bed. Good times.

• Posted by Brian at 11:48 PM
• Comments (2)
• Category: Travel

Wednesday, October 4, 2006

The joys of Red Roof Inn

We're staying in a lot of Red Roof Inns on this trip because they are the most pet-friendly hotel chain. A lot of hotels will allow pets, at an extra $10+ per fleabag, but the good folks at Red Roof Inn don't charge an extra cent for our two little furry companions (who are getting used to this whole traveling thing, but still hate me).

Unfortunately, Red Roof Inn also happens to be just about the only hotel chain that doesn't offer free WiFi. At our current stop near Katy, Texas (home of such notable celebrities as Renee Zellweger AND Deborah Nicol), the Internet is a luxury. But when we're socked away at our maroon-thatched domicile in Palm Springs, that lack of web access will seriously hamper our ability to search the classifieds and Craigslist for our future abode. So I forked over the 20 bucks for one month of hotspot access. Grrrrrr.

So Red Roof Inn gets a B for its spacious, clean rooms and pet-friendly policies (sorry about the cat puke in the corner of Room 213 in Katy), but gets points deducted for it being 2006 and not offering free wireless.

• Posted by Brian at 11:32 PM
• Comments (1)
• Category: Travel

Tuesday, October 3, 2006

Homeless, unemployed and in Mississippi

Sounds pretty bleak, eh? It's not as bad as it sounds.

We've turned in our keys to the Bluffton house, but we won't start looking for a place in the Coachella Valley until we get there.

My last day at the Packet was yesterday, and I don't start my new job for another two weeks.

And after a solid 10-hour day of driving, we're at the WiFi-enabled Super 8 in Moss Point, MS. (Mississippi: The One State South Carolina Consistently Outranks.)

Now since Debz told everyone I'd blog the trip, I feel obliged to spout off some crap about our first day of driving.

First off, when you fire up your iPod, and "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" is first out of the chute, you've laid a solid foundation for a good road trip.

The Florida panhandle is very long and not terribly interesting. And the few interesting points were not good interesting. Picture an Interstate gas station filled with Confederate flags, bumper stickers and shot glasses. Yeah, that kind of interesting.

Mobile, Alabama, might be cool, but it was dark by the time we got there, and all I know is that there's a tunnel, a long bridge and a battleship in the bay.

And the cats hate me. Fortunately, a little food in the bowl, and I'm back on their good side.

Unfortunately, the Super 8 cable system does not carry Comedy Central. So I suppose it's off to bed. We might even sleep in since we only have to get to Houston tomorrow.

• Posted by Brian at 10:21 PM
• Comments (1)
• Category: Travel

Sunday, October 1, 2006

We're moving to California, but will our stuff make it?

The movers came today, and I can safely say that it was the single most frustrating business encounter I've ever had.

First off, the truck showed up 90 minutes late because of an apparent MapQuest breakdown. Then the one fella in the truck asked where the other 2 or 3 guys were. I certainly didn't know, and the driver was saying things like, "Well, guess we'll have to do this tomorrow." Uh, no. Which we told him, and he reluctantly began his work.

The lone gunman began by swinging open the back of the truck... causing some poor schlub's life to crash to the ground. I distinctly heard at least two different shattering sounds, and some kid is gonna burst into tears next time he sees his 10-speed.

I will give the guy credit for busting his ass to get all our stuff loaded by 5 p.m. Because of the insurance, we couldn't help him, but there were a couple things (bed, couch) that simply weren't getting on the truck without a second pair of hands.

Debz and I debated on the tip, and decided to give the guy a decent one because he had to go it alone and more importantly, because he was in possession of all our stuff. Stiffing him on the tip probably was not in our best interests.

So now everything's on its way to southern California via New Jersey, which should baffle anyone who's even remotely geographically literate. I have zero confidence that it actually will get there. Tomorrow night, we'll be on our way as well.

Bye bye, South Carolina. It's been fun, but I really didn't see where this relationship was headed.

• Posted by Brian at 7:00 PM
• Comments (4)
• Category: Rant