Here I am! Over here!

Yeah, that’s right, I dropped off the face of the earth for a couple days and now I’m here in Dallas, TX, preparing to begin working. A lot has happened over the past few days, so I’ll try and organize this post so it’s easy to navigate by day:

May 05, 2002

I left for Jacksonville pretty much on schedule. I ended up arriving at Cross Creek restaurant kind of late because I had to drop something off for a friend on my way into Jacksonville. Anyway, I had a great time eating lunch and talking with my family and I’m glad I was able to see them. I said goodbye to them all and then went and took a tenacious nap for about three hours. I haven’t napped that well in a long, long time. I then went to see Spider-man again, this time with some of my good ol’ Jacksonville buddies. It wasn’t as good the second time around, but it was still a very entertaining movie and I’m glad I went. Then, some of us guys headed out to the beach to a place called Cruiser’s, which was basically a cafe style place. My friends knew the waitress (yeah, I’m not big on always using politically correct terminology) and so we all had a good time, laughing and messing with her. It was really nice to hang out with the guys that I spent most of my high school days with. It’s awesome to see them all moving forward in life and looking for a niche in the music world or grabbing a college degree while they can. It was ultimately very encouraging to see those guys again.

May 06, 2002

Woke up late: about 9:45. I wanted to be up by 9, but I guess I needed more sleep than I thought. Anyway, I headed out around 10:30 and had my tires rotated and balanced (seemed like a good thing to do before taking a road-trip–I have no idea if it did anything positive for my trip, though). I then met a couple of my buddies for lunch and we chatted and ate for about an hour before I had to head out of town.

Several hours passed… I decided to stop in Jackson, Mississippi. I crashed at a Holiday Inn Express, which was pretty nice and had that nice smell of freshly washed, heavily perfumed linens. I felt very clean staying in that joint. I ate dinner at Applebee’s, where I decided to try the Honey Barbecue Riblets (the menu said they were famous for them). They were tasty, but that was probably the messiest meal I’ve ever eaten. In retrospect, I think maybe it wasn’t too wise to get such a messy meal since I was already self-conscious about being in there alone, and having gotten there just before they closed. I know no one was actually watching me, but I could almost feel the imaginary eyes burning holes in the back of my head. Of course, the only person who could see the back of my head was another guy who was in there by himself and, since he spent his entire visit talking on his cell phone and eating, I’m doubting he even noticed I was in there.

May 07, 2002

I woke up, on my own (I guess a wake-up call wasn’t necessary after all) around 9. I was out of the hotel room by 9:20 or so and then I headed to Waffle House (affectionately called by many as “Wa Ho”–long o) for breakfast/lunch. I had my fill and a few laughs (I think it’s impossible to go to Waffle House and not see something that strikes me as funny) and then hit the road. This year, I decided that my traveling strategy would be to keep my speed at exactly 9 mph over the speed limit. Normally, I would just go as fast as I can until I see somewhere a cop (eh hem… “Policeman” or “highway patrol officer”) might be hiding, then I’d slow down gradually until I’d passed the potential hiding place. Last year, I got a speeding ticket in Louisiana (83 in a 70), not because my strategy was bad, but because I made the mistake of following someone and using that strategy. Essentially, I got pulled over because the guy I was following got gunned with the radar and I happened to be behind him. I’m convinced that the cop couldn’t have possibly gotten me on radar. Anyway, my strategy worked this year as I passed a few speed traps with no issues. I also made it a point to drive through Louisiana without stopping, so I filled up in Mississippi and then didn’t stop until I was pretty much in Dallas.

I got into Dallas and to the place I’ll be staying this week at about 3:30. I hung out there for a bit, catching up with my previous supervisor (he’s kind enough to let me crash at his place for a week until I can move into my apartment) and then my friend (whom I attended Summer Project with and lived with last summer, here in Dallas) came and picked me up, so we could start making our way downtown to the Dave Matthews Band Concert. First, he took me by his apartment, showed me around and then we went and got some grub at The Cheesecake Factory–I ate too much and was in some pain for about half an hour after we finished eating. We then proceeded downtown to the American Airlines Center (also known as the home of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team) to see the show.

Last year, I saw The Band in Dallas, but the venue was Texas Stadium, which is an open dome old nasty football stadium. It was hot and the air didn’t circulate and I was about 120 yards from the stage–needless to say, I didn’t enjoy the show and couldn’t see a thing while I was there. This year, on the other hand, was totally different. The seats I got were awesome (I could clearly see the entire band–facial expressions and all–from our seats) and it was air-conditioned. Also, the band played a great set with some of my favorite songs–Grey Street, Ants Marching, Tripping Billies, Where are You Going, You Never Know, etc.–so it was an all around good experience. I was also excited to hang out with my friend from last summer because it’d been about nine months since I’d seen him. We’re also both huge Dave fans, so we had a spectacular time. I’m glad I went and I’m glad I went with my buddy.

And that brings me to about now…

Today, I just ran errands–got my car washed because it was absolutely disgusting, picked up my ID and parking pass for work, etc.–and spent about an hour trying to concisely summarize (yes, I know that’s a split infinitive) the past few days of my life. I start work tomorrow and I’m both excited and disappointed about it. Part of me wishes I’d taken a couple more days to relax, but I know I would have been bored if I did. I’m glad to start working and the best part is that I’ll get paid for tomorrow and Friday in a week. So, that’s quick money in my pocket.

Now, I’m just trying to figure out what I’ll do tonight. I’d like to go bowling, if I can find somewhere to do it.

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It’s time to go…

I’m leaving for Jacksonville in 6 hours. I think the worst part of moving is being alone in my house with all the lights on, cleaning and packing and trying to make sure I’m not forgetting that one all-important item. Last year, just before I left for Dallas, I spent 13 consecutive hours packing, cleaning, throwing stuff away and finalizing things in my old apartment. I’d been there for almost three years and it was a hand-me-down from some other friends. Translation: there was about three generations worth of college-kid junk accumulated in that apartment and I was responsible for making sure it wasn’t there when the new, totally-unrelated-to-me-and-my-predecessors tenants moved in a couple days later. This year hasn’t been nearly as bad. I watched Zoolander tonight with some friends, did packing and cleaning sporadically throughout the day and sort of eased my way into leaving. Some things never change though–I’m still sitting here with my computer completely assembled, loathing the moment when I have to disconnect it because I know that moment symbolizes my ultimate disconnection from Gainesville.

The thing that is most frustrating about leaving this time around is that I’ve begun developing some awesome friendships recently and I’d give almost anything to see them continue to grow. Who knows, maybe they’ll continue to grow in spite of this long break, but that’s often not the case. When fall semester begins, people will have different schedules and will be different people because of their summer experiences. When fall semester begins, not all of my closest friends will be here, beginning a new semester. I guess that’s part of the college life, though. There are certain aspects of my existence as a college student that I wouldn’t give up for anything–seeing my closest friends cycle in and out as if this were some glorified educationally based bus station is certainly not one of them.

Well, if I’m going to get any sleep, it needs to begin now. I have to be up and packing up the car in a few hours. I’ve decided to leave that for the morning light, simply because packing up my car with all my most important (and small-enough-to-pack) items is depressing enough without doing it in the dark in my seemingly empty neighborhood. I seriously hate every second of leaving my home, even if it’s to go have an awesome summer and learn more about myself and life. Home is home and nothing can change that except lots of time. Fortunately, this summer won’t be that much time.

On a final note, I just want to say thanks to all my friends that will not be back in the fall. I can’t express how much your friendships have meant to me and I want you to know that you’ll be missed. Granted, this should not be read as an excuse to give a lackluster attempt at keeping in touch, but this is my official farewell. I hope to be seeing you in the near future and I pray that our friendship remains intact and even grows over time. May God bless you in the next phase of your lives. You know who you are and so do I.

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It’s amazing what a couple hours of reviewing can do for one’s confidence before an exam. I have briefly reviewed the material from the first nine weeks of the semester and now I’m making my “cheat sheet” for the last five weeks. After looking over just a few more pages of notes, I will officially have a comprehensive guide to the course on just 1 1/4 pieces of paper. I’m pretty excited about that, too. I think I will do pretty well on this test, then I’ll go get some dinner with some friends, make a few phone calls and spend as much time as possible preparing for my last exam, which occurs tomorrow at 12:30. It’ll all be over soon and for that, I’m grateful.

I’ve decided I’ll probably stay in Gainesville a little longer than anticipated. Unfortunately, the time I have to leave from Jacksonville for Dallas is set in stone, so that means I’ll be spending less time in Jacksonville than I thought. I plan on seeing my family as much as possible and also seeing all the friends I can. But now, it looks like I’ll be doing that all on Sunday afternoon. I’ll probably be in Jacksonville for less than 24 hours before I head to Dallas. Basically, I’ve realized that there’s no way I can possibly get everything done in Gainesville that I need to (clean our house, pack up, ship my things to Dallas, get my car tweaked for the road trip, etc.) in one day. I won’t be finished with finals until tomorrow at three in the afternoon, so I can’t realistically even start packing until sometime after that. My start date at work is May 9th, so I’ll get a one-day “vacation” after the concert on the 7th.

Here’s to speedy living…

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