Thursday, July 26, 2007

Is this thing still on?

Is anybody still reading?

I know. It's been a ridiculously long time since I last posted, but believe me, it's not for a lack of things to write about. In fact, having so much to write about is part of what's been keeping me from blogging. Everytime I sit down to start to try to catch up, I wonder, "where do I begin?" Then I get overwhelmed with how much is going on. Then I have to wander over to Daily Puppy to calm myself down. Then I get distracted and don't ever get around to actually doing any updating.

So, in case you were wondering, my last couple of months can best be summed up like this:


Yeah. That's a lot of driving. 22,000 miles since March 23rd, to be exact. I have slept in my own bed 39 nights out of the last 148 (since March 1st).

Am I complaining? Not hardly. My job is awesome. I'm getting paid to go on roadtrips. Occasionally I do have to do some work, but it mostly consists of standing around talking about bikes.

My camera died yesterday. Well, it's not completely useless. It still takes videos pretty well. It just doesn't really take still pictures anymore. They come out blurry at best, but most of the time, you can't even tell what was in the picture. Honestly, I'm a little surprised that it even lasted this long. Many of you will agree when I say that I just can't have nice things. I put that camera through some tough times: beaches, rainstorms, beaches during rainstorms, sweaty bike rides, every mile I've traveled on the road this year, rambunctious parties, and other adventures. Oh, and I've dropped it more times than I can count. So, as a final farewell to the little camera who just couldn't take any more abuse, I'm posting some of my favorite pictures taken on it.


My pal Kellen and me in Orlando.


My bike on some railroad tracks in Tallahassee, Florida.


Kellen and me again. We were watching a storm coming in over the beach and I got the bottom of my pants went. Some of you who are fellow Ace Ventura fans (Sarah) might recognize that I'm reenacting the scene where Ace gets hit with spears in both legs.

Vacationing in Reno/Tahoe. I thought the cruise ship looked lame, so I let everyone know how I feel.



Letting my little sister Johnna know who's boss in front of the Reno sign.



By the end of the trip in Reno/Tahoe, I was flipping off most things just for the hell of it.


Of course, there's a gazillion more pictures that I took on that camera, but these just happened to be some that were handy and/or amusing to me.

I was just outside of Asheville, North Carolina yesterday when I passed a Best Buy. I went in just to look at cameras and at least start getting some ideas for replacing my broken one. I wasn't really planning on buying one yet. Then I saw this display for the Olympus Stylus 770SW:

You're probably looking at the features highlighted on the right and going, "Wow! Really?!" I was anyway. It was significantly more expensive than the other 7.1 Megapixel cameras, but I decided it would probably be worth the extra money now if I don't have to replace it in less than a year. So far, everyone I've told about it is wondering whether or not this thing is really as tough as they claim it is. Give me a few months with it and I'll let you know.

Of course, this post would be incomplete without the first picture I took with the new camera:



I try to camp whenever possible on the road because it's a hell of a lot cheaper than hotel rooms. Plus, it adds a little variety sometimes. Last night I got my campsite, set up my tent, and built my fire. Then the sky starting pissing rain, which kinda irritated me because I had just worked so hard making a fire and had really been looking forward to an evening of wine and roasted marshmallows next to the fire. Instead I just sat in my tent reading and occasionally glaring at the rain as my fire fizzled down to nothing.

Funny story about the wine glass though. I found this little wine shop in town owned by this really nice little old man. He chuckled when I asked him what would go well with roasted marshmallows. Not only did he have a few suggestions, but he also insisted that we open a couple bottles and try them out. After tasting three of them, we ended up just drinking the rest of one bottle. Then, as I was buying one of the other bottles, he asked me, "What are you gonna drink this out of?" I replied with, "The bottle." I fully expected him to be appalled at that, but instead, he laughed. I took this response to be a sign of good character. Then he gave me a wine glass to take along so I could "enjoy the wine properly." So now I have a wine glass. Although, judging by my past track record with nice things, this one probably won't last long.

It rained all night, but at least I managed to stay dry while I slept. Tonight I'm at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. After two nights of camping, I was ready for a nice soft bed, continental breakfast, and all of the other luxuries that come with a hotel room. I'm pretty excited about tomorrow. I've got some neat plans for the morning. I'll tell you about it later. For now I'm off to take advantage of the free cocktail hour and then the hot tub.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't like the looks of that fucking cruise ship, either.

Anonymous said...

I distinctly remember you also going into a headlock. :D My camera works now.. maybe it doesn't like elevation or something. I took Danger to the vet today.. She can start going on slow short walks in about 3 weeks. She told me she was really excited. She also made a small dog hyperventalate or whatever with her immense size. and she growled at the little thing. It was really funny.

Anonymous said...

OK, I can't believe I haven't been on the Daily Puppy site. Even though today's feature was a dachshund, he was still pretty cute.
I was also pretty impressed to see that 3 buck chuck made it on your blog, he holds a special place in my heart too :)

Anonymous said...

You make me laugh. I'll see ya soon.