Friday, August 11, 2006
Beach Trip Adventure
I'm sitting here, typing this on my mighty Zaurus. I'm too lazy to go upstairs to my desktop, and have the Zaurus handy. I recently started blogging (again) and have been simply dying to put pen to paper and regale you with a recent adventure.
A few weeks ago, my girlfriend Bobbi and I spent a week with her family at Ocean Isle Beach, NC. It's something her mom and stepdad make possible for the whole family: sons. daughters, grandchildren and everyone's significant other (that's how I get to go). Next year, there will be a greatgrandchild. We all get to spend a week together in a beach house. In addition, my own family lives about 30 miles away. I get to spend time with both families, and when I'm tired of one, I can go see the other.
Although this is my fourth year making the trip, I'm never quite sure of the best route. I have no problem finding my way there; I just don't know the most efficient route. Even though Bobbi pretty well knows the way (until she gets to Whiteville, anyway), I decided to consult Mapquest and see what they said.
There were two options: quickest route and shortest route. I already knew their quickest route, so I chose the shortest and got a printout. Even though it was the shortest route, it was listed as a 6.5 hour trip (the quickest is longer, but nearly 2 hours faster). When it came time to leave, Bobbi and I both decided that we were in no particular hurry and decided to take the scenic short route, even though it took the longest time.
We started out on the main highways. but it didn't take long for Mapquest to take us off the beaten path. As far as I can tell, when finding the shortest route, Mapquest basically draws a straight line between the two points (start and finish). It then lists every highway, byway, street, road, trail, lane and path that the straight line intersects. It didn't take long for us to get mostly lost. Most of the time we were out in the country, and at one point we were on a gravel road for a mile or so. Eventually, at an intersection, Mapquest instructed us to turn right, go .5 miles, and turn left. There was no street name or state road number listed; just go .5 miles and turn left.
At the .5 mile mark, we found a couple of narrow gravel driveways marked "Private Property". Nothing more. We kept going (eventually going nearly 4 miles), but never found any left turns. Only right turns. We went back to our start point and tried again, going .5 miles and looking for a left turn. Still nothing. We went back once again and found a mail carrier (I grew up in the country, and we always called them "mailmen" but this one was a female and "mailwoman" sounds like I'm describing a hermaphrodite, so I'll go with the politically correct term, this time). We asked her if she knew of anything that sounded familiar, but she just looked confused. None of the roads sounded familiar to her (how the hell could she deliver mail and not recognize any of the road names?!). We eventually thanked her for what little assistance she had provided and went about our business of getting un-lost.
By this time, Bobbi and I had decided that the scenic route was a waste of time. We had already wasted two hours on what should have been a 45 minute drive. We took off in what we thought might be the right direction. Every road we got on eventually ended at a stop sign, where we would have to decide on a direction. After 15 or 20 minutes of this, and still not knowing where the hell we were, I was ready to find some place where I could ask directions (we hadn't seen anything even resembling a convenience store, let alone your basic country store, in nearly an hour).
We soon came upon a store at a crossroad, and I pulled into the parking lot. On the way in, however, I noticed a signpost on the road, and turned around to see what it said. Asheboro - 6 miles! Exactly what we needed. And best of all, I hadn't actually had to stop and ask for directions. Six miles later, and we were finally on our way to the beach.
A few weeks ago, my girlfriend Bobbi and I spent a week with her family at Ocean Isle Beach, NC. It's something her mom and stepdad make possible for the whole family: sons. daughters, grandchildren and everyone's significant other (that's how I get to go). Next year, there will be a greatgrandchild. We all get to spend a week together in a beach house. In addition, my own family lives about 30 miles away. I get to spend time with both families, and when I'm tired of one, I can go see the other.
Although this is my fourth year making the trip, I'm never quite sure of the best route. I have no problem finding my way there; I just don't know the most efficient route. Even though Bobbi pretty well knows the way (until she gets to Whiteville, anyway), I decided to consult Mapquest and see what they said.
There were two options: quickest route and shortest route. I already knew their quickest route, so I chose the shortest and got a printout. Even though it was the shortest route, it was listed as a 6.5 hour trip (the quickest is longer, but nearly 2 hours faster). When it came time to leave, Bobbi and I both decided that we were in no particular hurry and decided to take the scenic short route, even though it took the longest time.
We started out on the main highways. but it didn't take long for Mapquest to take us off the beaten path. As far as I can tell, when finding the shortest route, Mapquest basically draws a straight line between the two points (start and finish). It then lists every highway, byway, street, road, trail, lane and path that the straight line intersects. It didn't take long for us to get mostly lost. Most of the time we were out in the country, and at one point we were on a gravel road for a mile or so. Eventually, at an intersection, Mapquest instructed us to turn right, go .5 miles, and turn left. There was no street name or state road number listed; just go .5 miles and turn left.
At the .5 mile mark, we found a couple of narrow gravel driveways marked "Private Property". Nothing more. We kept going (eventually going nearly 4 miles), but never found any left turns. Only right turns. We went back to our start point and tried again, going .5 miles and looking for a left turn. Still nothing. We went back once again and found a mail carrier (I grew up in the country, and we always called them "mailmen" but this one was a female and "mailwoman" sounds like I'm describing a hermaphrodite, so I'll go with the politically correct term, this time). We asked her if she knew of anything that sounded familiar, but she just looked confused. None of the roads sounded familiar to her (how the hell could she deliver mail and not recognize any of the road names?!). We eventually thanked her for what little assistance she had provided and went about our business of getting un-lost.
By this time, Bobbi and I had decided that the scenic route was a waste of time. We had already wasted two hours on what should have been a 45 minute drive. We took off in what we thought might be the right direction. Every road we got on eventually ended at a stop sign, where we would have to decide on a direction. After 15 or 20 minutes of this, and still not knowing where the hell we were, I was ready to find some place where I could ask directions (we hadn't seen anything even resembling a convenience store, let alone your basic country store, in nearly an hour).
We soon came upon a store at a crossroad, and I pulled into the parking lot. On the way in, however, I noticed a signpost on the road, and turned around to see what it said. Asheboro - 6 miles! Exactly what we needed. And best of all, I hadn't actually had to stop and ask for directions. Six miles later, and we were finally on our way to the beach.
Monday, August 07, 2006
It's been a long time.....
I didn't realize it's been so long since I last posted something. I had actually forgotten I had an account here, and couldn't remember how to get into it. I've been so busy with work and school, I don't have much to write about. Now that I'm out of school (until mid-October) I have a little more spare time on my hands, so I thought I'd get back into this and see where it goes.
It seems I had originally planned to rant about my job. My last post was from two years ago, and I was getting cranked up to basically stay on some type of tirade against my job/employer/workplace. I guess I was pissed at the time. I must have calmed down, because that was my last post. Either that or I just didn't follow through (something I'm good at :) ).
Anyway, the job situation basically hasn't changed in the past two years, but at the same time, I don't feel like being angry all the time just so I can vent here. It's not worth the emotional bullshit. Better to let things go (when I can) and just use this as a forum to babble about whatever strikes my fancy.
I went to see a movie last night, so maybe I'll write about that. My girlfriend and I went to see "Clerks 2." We've both been fans of Kevin Smith for a long time now, and I for one was really excited about the new movie. From what I had read (and had seen at the end of the previous movie) "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" was supposed to be the end of the View Askew universe. Personally, "Clerks 2" seemed like a better closing, since it in effect comes full circle, starting with "Clerks" and ending with "Clerks 2."
After seeing the movie though, I think he should have stopped at "J&SBSB." There were several other movies my girlfriend wanted to see, but she knew I wanted to see this one, so she let me. About 20 minutes into the movie, I actually started feeling guilty (and I definitely owe her one; I'll sit through a chick flick without complaining). I like juvenile humor, but this was, for the most part, one long "dick/pussy/fuck" joke. And not really that funny a joke. Most of these jokes came from Randal, instead of from who you'd expect (Jay).
Dante hadn't changed any from the first movie. He still has women troubles, or, more specifically, he has trouble choosing between two women. However, things are simplified for him when he discovers one of them is pregnant. Yeah, he does the right thing and proposes to her, dumping his current fiance to do so.
That's about all I'll say about the plot (now that I've basically ruined it :) ). My girlfriend didn't hold it against me that we'd gone, and she even said that it had some funny moments (she actually laughed at it more than I did). She did say that it seemed a bit too preachy. I can't really put my finger on how it was preachy, but I'd still have to agree with her. All in all, it wasn't a really bad movie, but it was definitely my least favorite of all the View Askew movies, and made me feel like the View Askew universe has definitely jumped the shark.
It seems I had originally planned to rant about my job. My last post was from two years ago, and I was getting cranked up to basically stay on some type of tirade against my job/employer/workplace. I guess I was pissed at the time. I must have calmed down, because that was my last post. Either that or I just didn't follow through (something I'm good at :) ).
Anyway, the job situation basically hasn't changed in the past two years, but at the same time, I don't feel like being angry all the time just so I can vent here. It's not worth the emotional bullshit. Better to let things go (when I can) and just use this as a forum to babble about whatever strikes my fancy.
I went to see a movie last night, so maybe I'll write about that. My girlfriend and I went to see "Clerks 2." We've both been fans of Kevin Smith for a long time now, and I for one was really excited about the new movie. From what I had read (and had seen at the end of the previous movie) "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" was supposed to be the end of the View Askew universe. Personally, "Clerks 2" seemed like a better closing, since it in effect comes full circle, starting with "Clerks" and ending with "Clerks 2."
After seeing the movie though, I think he should have stopped at "J&SBSB." There were several other movies my girlfriend wanted to see, but she knew I wanted to see this one, so she let me. About 20 minutes into the movie, I actually started feeling guilty (and I definitely owe her one; I'll sit through a chick flick without complaining). I like juvenile humor, but this was, for the most part, one long "dick/pussy/fuck" joke. And not really that funny a joke. Most of these jokes came from Randal, instead of from who you'd expect (Jay).
Dante hadn't changed any from the first movie. He still has women troubles, or, more specifically, he has trouble choosing between two women. However, things are simplified for him when he discovers one of them is pregnant. Yeah, he does the right thing and proposes to her, dumping his current fiance to do so.
That's about all I'll say about the plot (now that I've basically ruined it :) ). My girlfriend didn't hold it against me that we'd gone, and she even said that it had some funny moments (she actually laughed at it more than I did). She did say that it seemed a bit too preachy. I can't really put my finger on how it was preachy, but I'd still have to agree with her. All in all, it wasn't a really bad movie, but it was definitely my least favorite of all the View Askew movies, and made me feel like the View Askew universe has definitely jumped the shark.
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