The Journey Continues....

I was wrong. Due to Rockwall's proximity to a big reservoir east of Dallas, hotels in the area (yes, even La Quinta) were too expensive for our government per diem rate. So we ended up *closer* to Dallas, in "East Dallas." Again, we stayed in a La Quinta Inn. The Inn in Laredo is a bit of a dive, or nearly that, but the clientèle in Laredo was far superior. Yes, in Laredo we did have a group of ten or so guys hanging out in the parking lot, clustered around a flatbed truck and drinking beer for hours and hours. In East Dallas we apparently had... um, ladies of the night?

As we pulled in to the fine establishment, we were a bit puzzled by the number of women hanging around, many in shorts. Later in the evening I observed several minivan taxis picking up numerous women and taking them elsewhere. Hmm. We can't be sure, but it did seem a wee bit suspicious. I mean, how many women wear low-cut blouses and daisy dukes at a particular location. Draw your own conclusions; we did.

We had a tasty dinner of fish and hushpuppies from Captain D's. A couple hours later we enjoyed our two remaining Shiners. Apparently the alcohol ordinances vary by county in Texas. Laredo was much like Virginia: grocery stores and convenience stores sold beer and wine. In the Dallas area, only liquor stores sell alcohol. We arrived late and there were none in our immediate neighborhood anyway.

On the plus side, the room had Cartoon Network and Saturday is Toonami time! Cartoon Network in Mexico was a varying mix of English and Spanish audio cartoons, but no Toonami and few of the action/comic type cartoons I enjoyed in the US. Emily let me watch it for hours: Ben 10 (the new series), Inuyasha, Samurai Jack (an oldie but a goodie - "You can fly?" "No, me jump good!"), and others. She's a good wife. :-)

So, we left the Dallas area and headed east. As we headed homeward, the landscape grew greener, with more and more trees. I saw cattle egrets, red-winged blackbirds (something I grew up with and have missed immensely in Mexico), blooming mimosas and sumacs, and increasingly familiar trees: oaks, sycamores, maples, and cottonwoods. As expected, I also saw a lot of pecan trees, which also grew in Monterrey.

We left Texas and crossed Arkansas. Emily commented on the signs on each bridge we crossed: bridge may ice in cold weather. "Cold weather! Home!" she said. We headed into Tennessee at Memphis, admiring the cool pyramid building. Our next overnight stop: Brownsville. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. We're staying at the Econo Lodge. Brownsville apparently doesn't rate a La Quinta. Gotta love this 440 miles per day rule. Under the old rules we wouldn't be stuck between major cities like this, struggling to find a pet-friendly hotel that is within per diem rates.

Dinner consisted of KFC's new chipotle crispy chicken washed down with Sprite. Walmart doesn't appear to sell alcohol in Tennessee, or at least this area. Tonight we split a small bottle of Chartreuse that we got with a Christmas gift pack in Virginia at least five years ago, moved to Mexico, and packed in the car for the trip back. It amounted to less than a shot each, I'd guess. Tasty, though.

Tomorrow we'll complete our drive across Tennessee and overnight in Bristol, Virginia, possibly in the same La Quinta we enjoyed on our drive to Mexico nearly two years ago. We hope to get an early start so as to arrive in Virginia early enough to get our car inspected Monday afternoon. If not, we'll shoot for first thing Tuesday morning and hope for the best. Our VA plates are good (our diplomatic plates took so long that we ended up renewing our regular plates while we were in Mexico) and our emissions inspection isn't due for another six or eight months, but the safety inspection is about 18 months out of date. We'd rather not have to cross all of VA with an expired sticker. We could probably talk our way out of a ticket easy enough, but it would be better to just get it over with. We're hoping for no major problems/repairs.

Well, if we're going to get an early start, we gotta go to bed, not to mention reclaiming the laundry from the nearly-antique equipment here and taking the dog out for her evening constitutional.

Gas update: regular unleaded has been under $4 for our entire trip thus far. Best price: $3.75 at a Pilot station in West Memphis, followed by $3.82 at Walmart near Texarkana.

We made it!

I write this from the lovely La Quinta in Laredo, Texas. Yesterday we cleared out of our house in San Pedro, hit the road, and Emily drove us all the way to the border. Once we reached Laredo, we stopped at the HEB for some dog food pouches and some beer, then swung by a Taco Bell for some gringo food, and finally checked in at the hotel.

After feeding the dog, we fed ourselves. We felt much better after some food and some fine Shiner Bohemian Black Lager. I stayed awake long enough to catch Letterman's Top Ten last night.

This morning Emily rose early, as usual and took her first real bath in.... ages, I guess. (We had only showers in Monterrey.) While I shaved, showered, and fed the dog, Emily headed out to take care of a few errands. Check-out is at noon, so I spent some time re-packing and cleaning up the room. When she returns, we should be able to hit the road fairly quickly.

Our destination for this evening is Rockwall, Texas, just northeast of Dallas.

Nature at its finest
Today I spotted a pale yellow butterfly doing its thing, fluttering from flower to flower in our yard. I hurriedly grabbed the camera and headed out, remembering to go into the menu and change the quality from "better" to "best" (Emily changed it for household inventory photos) as I walked out. I soon spotted the beastie and got a few decent shots.



The butterfly then headed to our larger lantana, the one actually planted in the yard. I followed and managed to get one shot.



I didn't notice at the time, but the butterfly wasn't alone. Apparently the butterfly didn't notice either.

Next thing I know, as I was trying to line up for another shot, the butterfly is fluttering like mad, but not getting anywhere. I started shooting like mad, but only managed a couple shots. Unfortunately I hadn't taken the time to turn off the "preview" (where the camera shows you a copy of your shot before moving on to the next; I've found this preview to be really annoying when dealing with non-cooperative subjects such as hummingbirds and butterflies), so only a few blurred shots worked out.


The butterfly soon escaped. I guess the mantis didn't have a good enough grip on it. I then got a series of shots of the mantis itself, which soon got tired of me. This guy is particularly spooky looking with that small, curled up posterior (vaguely scorpion-esque).



All this reminded me of a cartoon I once saw. The occasion was at my first "rock" concert, at least the first one I ever attended without parents/siblings and for which I paid: Weird Al. The opening act was his mentor, Dr. Demento. One bit of the show was a short (1:30) cartoon called "Bambi Meets Godzilla." So, with no further ado, here it is:

Plug for web comics part 1: Sluggy Freelance

Thanks to mentions in some John Ringo books (he's having a Red Shirt contest now, for those who might be interested in some literary immortality), I found Sluggy Freelance. It took quite a while to work my way through the archives, but I keep current with it now. This comic has been running for over ten years, and has two NPR interviews (one & two) to prove it. I don't always love an individual strip (not a huge fan of some of the parodies), but overall it's a lot of fun. Every day I head over and check out the new madness; it's become a part of my routine.

Sluggy Freelance revolves around a cast of characters including Torg (web designer), Riff (mad inventor), Zoe (babe next door), Aylee (alien), Bun-Bun (mini-lop rabbit seen above), Kiki (hyper ferret), Gwynn (bungling witch of sorts), and others who come and go as the stories progress. Creator Pete Abrams has parodied Harry Potter several times, various sci-fi classics, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Wikipedia as a decent summary. The strip is a mad mix of sci-fi, fantasy, social satire, and general absurdity. It's pure geeky fun.

Plugs for Things I Like

For the remainder of our time here in Mexico, I have decided that I am going to try my best to put in a few plugs for things that have kept me informed and amused during a time of major changes. For tonight, though, a bit of rambling dialog is in order.

Before Emily joined the Foreign Service, I was a productive yet frustrated IT guy, making good money and working too many hours. I left that job, learned a *very* little Spanish, helped prep our house in Manassas for rent, and then moved to Monterrey in the first stage of this grand adventure. I left behind job, family, and friends, although my best friend was right there by my side the whole time: my wife, Emily. She does her best to keep me sane and put up with my idiocies, er... that is, idiosyncrasies.

All I can say is, thank goodness for decent internet! If internet wasn't available here, I couldn't have gone back to school, kept in touch with friends and family (by email and phone - Vonage), or maintained my sanity in all likelihood. This is a subject of considerable concern in Albania, although we've heard some favorable news on that front lately.

As we prepare to pack out for training in the States followed by two years in Albania, I am trying to remain philosophical. I may be able to continue my studies in Tirana; chances are actually very good. I'm beginning to really feel that I need to contribute more, however, so I don't know how much longer I can do the full-time student gig. Do I want to go back to IT? I've worked in it for 10 years and loved computers for many years more, but maybe it's time for something new. We shall see.

I'm giving up nearly all my beloved science-fiction and fantasy books; most are packed for Freecycle and a few will be donated to the Consulate library. I have set aside a few books that either hold special meaning for me or that I've found hard to find in used book stores. All my signed first editions (not many, but a few) will go to storage. I'm currently debating about some certification books. Should I ship them back to the States and hope to find the time to actually use them? Should I give up on it for now and just give them away? I really don't know.

I'm giving up my regular computer; it'll be cleaned up and given to my brother before we head out to Tirana. I'll replace it with a laptop, a breed of which I'm not overly fond. I gave up my server, spare computer parts, and nearly all my cables. What's a guy without cables?! :-) That's okay; the computer stuff has gone to a good home. Hopefully Gerardo will put them to good use.

Well, I'll put this aside for now. Tomorrow I'll start my plugs, hopefully frequent, for Things That Keep Me Sane.