Well, the next chapter for me is right around the corner,
but I have at least eight hours of driving left before it begins.
I’ve made it safely to Nashville,
where I’m holed up in the hotel room. As exhausted as I am from driving the
first eight hours, I’m OK doing nothing but dining on Cheesecake Factory for
dessert. (Key lime.)
Since FSU’s super regional was rained out, I’m watching Game
5 of the Stanley Cup finals. I guess I’m pulling for LA, just because I’d like
to see the Cup handed out. I love watching them celebrate.
Tomorrow, it’s an in-hotel breakfast and then off for Chicago, with a tentative plan to stop in Indianapolis for lunch or something.
As it turns out, I don’t have to be in Chicago until Monday afternoon, not Sunday night
as I previously thought. Not a big deal; will essentially have one evening in Chicago. No great plans
for that.
Training starts Monday evening, I guess, and my guess is
it’s a lot like PC’s. Lots of getting-to-know you and icebreaker stuff. Joy.
Then I’m on to Minot,
where I’ve learned I’ll be staying in an RV, which sounds a little smaller than
the trailer I previously thought I had. That’s OK; I can deal with it.
Honestly, at this point in my life I figure I could do 12 months in a Turkish
prison, not that I want to test that theory.
I’ll be in the RV until October or so, when I move into an
apartment. The RV might not be big (I’ve no clue), but I just learned it has
DirecTV and Wifi, which is awesome. I might be the most-set AmeriCorps
volunteer around. At least other than my roommate.
This past week was pedal-to-the-floor. Errands galore,
including some stupid things like having to run back to Target because I left
my cellphone there the day before. But I got a ton done and even had time to go
to FSU’s super regional game one last night. Which was awesome. The Noles won, 17-1, against the nation’s
best pitcher. Overrated.
My packing job is pretty sketchy. I already realized I
forgot toothpaste, but I’ll be doing a Target/Walmart run pretty quick off
anyway. I thought about doing it all in Florida,
but since ND has a much lower sales tax I couldn’t figure out a single reason
to do so now.
I think I have enough clothes. Honestly, if I don’t, it
doesn’t matter. I brought everything that fits and looks reasonably OK. I just
don’t have much right now.
It’s the other stuff I had no idea of what to pack. What
complicates it for me is that I had way more room than either PC or Indonesia’s
trips. I am not a person who needs too many options. I could never, ever build
a house from scratch. I need limitations.
Once the clothes were done – and man, Laurie would be proud
of my packing job; it all fit in the trunk – I had the whole back seat to fill
if I so chose.
So I started, pretty much randomly, throwing stuff in. I
mean, I had a little plastic thing of “electronic,” but I wound up tossing
things like business cards and coasters in there. I also stuck in a few
favorite cups (like the one I snagged from the Globe office) and a very motley
mix of DVDs, way more than I took to Indonesia. I might have even
brought the little DVD player. It crossed my mind, but I’m not sure my body
went through with it.
The weirdest thing, by far, I packed were the MREs we found
in Gray’s house. I’ve absolutely no idea what I was thinking on that, but you
have to be ready for everything, right?
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