Monday, August 9, 2010 / Tuesday, August 10, 2010
We made it safely to Colorado yesterday. Christy lives just outside of Denver, and we reached her house in the mid-afternoon. We took a walk around her neighborhood, saw the lake, and walked to the library. Lindsey and I were ready to walk almost anywhere at that point. Then Christy took us to see the Columbine Memorial. That was sobering. It is a beautiful monument, and well constructed. When the rain came we left.
For dinner we had pizza and salad, along with the wine we brought as a hostess gift. After dinner we watched “Miss Congeniality”. I hadn’t seen that for a long time.
Colorado is gorgeous. The Eastern part is the same as the Western part of Kansas, which is more flat and dead than the other, though nowhere near as flat and brown as I was expecting. The Rockies took longer to appear than we thought they would. Little hills popped up here and there, and we, thinking they were the foothills, kept looking for the actual mountains. Seeing none, we wondered if they weren’t as big as we’d always been told, like Kansas isn’t as flat, dead, and boring as we were always told. Eventually, though, we were met with walls of stone. Denver is one mile in altitude, and behind it the Rockies looked very imposing. We stopped doubting and started wondering how we’d make it over.
We left this morning at 7:30, and three hours later we’re a little ways into Wyoming, which already looks vastly different from Colorado. It has its plains and hills, but the colors are different. The grass is still green, but more on the yellow side. The trees are becoming less and less deciduous and more coniferous. We’ve gone through one or two of what looked like mountain passes, but they probably weren’t. At all. The Rockies are still in the distance, but we’re feeling the effects of the real foothills. It is incredible country, though. We see lots of cows (no cowboys yet), deer lazily munching their way through a pasture, rocky outcrops, cliffs, rolling hills, horses, and these strange wooden walls that we can’t quite figure out what they’re for. They’re either wind breakers or snow drift preventers. They’re regular 2x4s nailed horizontally to vertical posts, with a few inches of space between each horizontal. The fences are between six and eight feet tall, but are definitely not fences in the enclosing sense. They seem more or less randomly placed, sometimes in rows. Very interesting. Since Colorado we’ve also seen groups of the giant energy windmills. Right now there’s a long row of them across the horizon. It is very windy up here. Last I saw we were almost 7000 feet in elevation. When we stopped for gas in Cheyenne, we were blown perpetually. Temperatures are still pleasant; we have the AC running.
While gassing up in Cheyenne, Lindsey called home to check in and mom told her about the convicts that escaped from Arizona about a week ago. Apparently in the last day or two, one was caught in Wyoming. The search has been extended to Montana. We’re guessing they convicts are on their way to Canada. But, since we’re in Wyoming, we’re being very watchful. We’re not taking hitchhikers anymore, so that should help. Just kidding, we never had any. But we’re keeping a weather eye out for them. Well, it’s time to stick the bike in the car; it’s way too windy for it to stay on top.
Back in the saddle again and running better with the bike in the back seat. I’ve been watching the clouds and seeing some lenticular clouds. They only happen in areas with mountains or high elevations. The warm air rises, collides with the colder mountain air, the moisture from the warm air forms a cloud, but the cloud is punched in from the bottom like a lens. They’re fascinating; being at sea level, we never see them back home.
We've stopped for the night in Tremonton, Utah, which is on the corner of No and Where. Hopefully we'll get into Moscow tomorrow around noon.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
On the Road Again
Sunday, August 8, 2010 / Monday, August 9, 2010
Life got a teeny bit interesting after I took the wheel. We started having car troubles, so we pulled over and talked to dad. He advised us to push through to Paden and Jasmine’s, and to keep him posted. The problems seemed to resolve themselves once we eased back a little. I think the car was just tired.
We arrived a little after 7:00 P.M., just in time for dinner. Jasmine made taco salads, and used a neat pan to make the tortilla shell bowls. It looked a little like a Bundt pan, only without the spike in the middle. She oiled the tortillas, stuck them in the pan, and put it on the stove. We had such a good time seeing them again. Paden pulled out all the stops as far as drinks went. He made Margaritas with dinner, and served a nice rum with dessert, which was excellent. Jas had sliced peaches and fried them in sugar and cinnamon. Absolutely delicious. We hit the sack around 10:30, since Jasmine gets up a little after 5:00 for work. Paden made us breakfast the next morning, and we got on the road at 8:00.
What has surprised me most about Kansas so far is that it is not what I thought it would be; I was expecting to cross the border and immediately find flat, dead, brown grass. There are hills. There are trees. Green trees. Green grass. And, most surprising of all, water! At dinner I expressed this surprise, and Paden laughed and told me to just wait; it gets like that later. It is really beautiful in this North Eastern part, though. Very different from Maryland, but stunning. I still can’t believe it.
Now we’re on the way to Colorado. We’re getting on I-70W, and should be here for another 450 miles.
Maybe if I ever find Internet I can actually post this.
Life got a teeny bit interesting after I took the wheel. We started having car troubles, so we pulled over and talked to dad. He advised us to push through to Paden and Jasmine’s, and to keep him posted. The problems seemed to resolve themselves once we eased back a little. I think the car was just tired.
We arrived a little after 7:00 P.M., just in time for dinner. Jasmine made taco salads, and used a neat pan to make the tortilla shell bowls. It looked a little like a Bundt pan, only without the spike in the middle. She oiled the tortillas, stuck them in the pan, and put it on the stove. We had such a good time seeing them again. Paden pulled out all the stops as far as drinks went. He made Margaritas with dinner, and served a nice rum with dessert, which was excellent. Jas had sliced peaches and fried them in sugar and cinnamon. Absolutely delicious. We hit the sack around 10:30, since Jasmine gets up a little after 5:00 for work. Paden made us breakfast the next morning, and we got on the road at 8:00.
What has surprised me most about Kansas so far is that it is not what I thought it would be; I was expecting to cross the border and immediately find flat, dead, brown grass. There are hills. There are trees. Green trees. Green grass. And, most surprising of all, water! At dinner I expressed this surprise, and Paden laughed and told me to just wait; it gets like that later. It is really beautiful in this North Eastern part, though. Very different from Maryland, but stunning. I still can’t believe it.
Now we’re on the way to Colorado. We’re getting on I-70W, and should be here for another 450 miles.
Maybe if I ever find Internet I can actually post this.
Free and Easy down the Road We Go
*I'll post pictures when I get a chance*
Saturday, August 7, 2010 / Sunday, August 8, 2010
When driving across the country, time passes abnormally. So long as you’ve got good company, good music, and a good attitude, you’re OK.
Lindsey and I left Maryland at 5:00 A.M. Saturday morning, travelled through Maryland to West Virginia, where we crossed the Appalachians and made it down to Kentucky by 4:00 that afternoon. The scenery was very beautiful. Before exiting Maryland, we visited an old abandoned settlement called Twiggtown. I know a man in Idaho with that last name, and he told me about that settlement, started by his ancestors. Apparently, the Twiggs were so numerous at one point that they feuded over a certain house. The Twiggs on one side of the pond warred with those on the other side. It was easy to tell who was on which side; the blue-eyed Twiggs fought the brown-eyed ones. No, I did not make that up. When we reached Twiggtown, though, there was nothing. We were back in the sticks, and saw trashy trailers scattered here and there. We had hoped to find the house that was fought over, or some tumbled-down cabins. Finally we asked a man about it, and he said there wasn’t anything, but there was a Twigg that lived down the road. We didn’t have the time or guts to go knocking on some stranger’s door at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, so we simply left.
Before leaving Maryland, we went through Cumberland (very close to Twiggtown; we saw a Twigg’s Auto Shop). The historic section was very nice. There were about six large, beautifully constructed churches that appeared to be in use. One had a banner trumpeting its 200th anniversary this year.
We hit Kentucky around 4:00 where we stayed with friends, enjoyed their company, and especially enjoyed getting to know Lindsey W.’s new boyfriend. We, being such good friends, did our best to break Aaron in. He took it well. We had a blast with all of Lindsey’s family; she is the second of ten children, and most of them were there the whole time. We brought them two dozen ears of Maryland sweet corn in exchange for a night, and that was a good deal. Mrs. W. and Lindsey fixed dinner, breakfast, and packed us an excellent lunch to take the next day. Because their church service didn’t start until 11:00, Lindsey W. found another church with an earlier service. We three girls went to the 8:30 service at Walnut Memorial Baptist Church, where Aaron joined us.
We left directly from the church for Kansas. We travelled through Kentucky to the toe of Indiana, into Illinois, passed through St. Louis, and crossed the Mississippi River without even knowing it. In St. Louis, we saw the famous arch, some lovely stone churches, and the Cardinals’ Stadium. There’s something different about the land further South and West. When we reached Kentucky, we commented on how similar it looked to Western Maryland, and yet how different. We couldn’t figure out what exactly is different. We think it’s that the land begins to open up and flatten slightly. It seems wider, but not overtly. We’re passing through Missouri right now, and here the difference is very noticeable. There are still lots of trees, but they’re not so dense; the fields are larger. This is due in part to the increasing flatness. I think the lack of rivers also has a lot to do with it. Our area of Maryland is chopped up by rivers, creeks, and ponds. There are ponds and creeks out here, even rivers, but being so far from a major source of water like the Chesapeake, they’re much smaller.
My turn to drive.
Saturday, August 7, 2010 / Sunday, August 8, 2010
When driving across the country, time passes abnormally. So long as you’ve got good company, good music, and a good attitude, you’re OK.
Lindsey and I left Maryland at 5:00 A.M. Saturday morning, travelled through Maryland to West Virginia, where we crossed the Appalachians and made it down to Kentucky by 4:00 that afternoon. The scenery was very beautiful. Before exiting Maryland, we visited an old abandoned settlement called Twiggtown. I know a man in Idaho with that last name, and he told me about that settlement, started by his ancestors. Apparently, the Twiggs were so numerous at one point that they feuded over a certain house. The Twiggs on one side of the pond warred with those on the other side. It was easy to tell who was on which side; the blue-eyed Twiggs fought the brown-eyed ones. No, I did not make that up. When we reached Twiggtown, though, there was nothing. We were back in the sticks, and saw trashy trailers scattered here and there. We had hoped to find the house that was fought over, or some tumbled-down cabins. Finally we asked a man about it, and he said there wasn’t anything, but there was a Twigg that lived down the road. We didn’t have the time or guts to go knocking on some stranger’s door at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, so we simply left.
Before leaving Maryland, we went through Cumberland (very close to Twiggtown; we saw a Twigg’s Auto Shop). The historic section was very nice. There were about six large, beautifully constructed churches that appeared to be in use. One had a banner trumpeting its 200th anniversary this year.
We hit Kentucky around 4:00 where we stayed with friends, enjoyed their company, and especially enjoyed getting to know Lindsey W.’s new boyfriend. We, being such good friends, did our best to break Aaron in. He took it well. We had a blast with all of Lindsey’s family; she is the second of ten children, and most of them were there the whole time. We brought them two dozen ears of Maryland sweet corn in exchange for a night, and that was a good deal. Mrs. W. and Lindsey fixed dinner, breakfast, and packed us an excellent lunch to take the next day. Because their church service didn’t start until 11:00, Lindsey W. found another church with an earlier service. We three girls went to the 8:30 service at Walnut Memorial Baptist Church, where Aaron joined us.
We left directly from the church for Kansas. We travelled through Kentucky to the toe of Indiana, into Illinois, passed through St. Louis, and crossed the Mississippi River without even knowing it. In St. Louis, we saw the famous arch, some lovely stone churches, and the Cardinals’ Stadium. There’s something different about the land further South and West. When we reached Kentucky, we commented on how similar it looked to Western Maryland, and yet how different. We couldn’t figure out what exactly is different. We think it’s that the land begins to open up and flatten slightly. It seems wider, but not overtly. We’re passing through Missouri right now, and here the difference is very noticeable. There are still lots of trees, but they’re not so dense; the fields are larger. This is due in part to the increasing flatness. I think the lack of rivers also has a lot to do with it. Our area of Maryland is chopped up by rivers, creeks, and ponds. There are ponds and creeks out here, even rivers, but being so far from a major source of water like the Chesapeake, they’re much smaller.
My turn to drive.
The Last of the Work
Well, life has been busy, and now summer is basically over. But, here’s the last of the work stories.
I did the BARS Program a few more times. I revisited the store where that one kid had gotten so upset and torn his red card. He was working again. I suspected it was he, and that suspicion was confirmed when he looked at me hard, crossed his arms, and said mockingly, “Can I see some ID?” I chuckled and said, “I thought that was you.” He took his green card, then began questioning me about the whole process, and why it was he would get in trouble for not carding someone obviously of age. He pointed out that he could just say he thought I was over 30, and how would I be able to get him in trouble? I shrugged and told him he’d found the loophole, and I had no idea. Best to just card everyone.
I had another assignment that was interesting, a one day job. Coca-Cola has a call center near my house that needs two people to come in once a month and sort Coke products. They give their employees a discounted group order, and when it ships, we come in and sort it for them. So I spent the morning making Bob’s pile, Sally’s pile, and so forth. The only reason I was excited was that I’ve wanted to see the inside of that place for a long time. I wanted to know what happened there, whether it was a bottling location, or what. It’s actually rather boring, but I enjoyed getting paid to discover that.
The job I most enjoyed was a 3.5 day project. A company wanted to test their EZ-Pass technology, and hired some experts from New York, Canada, Ohio, and the Carolinas to come and run the show. They came and used the Crofton Raceway, and hired us to drive the cars they rented. I drove a 2010 Toyota Corolla, which was nice, but had a lame engine. A few times I worried I would burn it out just trying to keep up. Each car had a number, and we were assigned walkie-talkies. They had a variety of vehicles, and arranged us in ‘platoons’ to simulate as many real life situations possible. There were ten of us in sedans, SUVs, a minivan, a cube truck (the smaller kind of moving van), and an 18-wheeler. We had a varying number of lanes, and would go through as a group, one row at a time, one column / lane at a time, sometimes at 5mph, 25mph, and 65mph. It was very fun. During breaks, you could read, walk around, do whatever. The minivan had a TV and DVD player, so that was the movie van. I had better books, though, and I had absolutely no desire to be anywhere near the driver of that van. The reason for that goes back to the very first day of that job.
The morning of day one was spent familiarizing ourselves with our cars, walkies, each other, the process, etc. My car happened to be parked next to the minivan, which was driven by Yuri, a guy from Ukraine who immigrated with his family when he was a kid. He was in his upper twenties, arrogant, sort of belligerent, and had a case of localized fat such that he looked 9 months pregnant. And that is not an exaggeration. Anyway, he was blaring his techno music, of which I was not fond, and trying to talk to me through the windows as I adjusted my settings. We wound up shouting to each other because of the volume. I sat in the passenger seat of his van, which meant we could talk at a polite yell. I decided I didn’t like him, and he made an impolite comment, and thankfully just then we had to get to work, so I left. We drove 5 laps in each platoon, and after a few platoons, they told us to park in the new order, but wait for about 30 minutes before getting on the racetrack while they fixed something. Out of nowhere, Yuri (or Urine, as my sister dubbed him) popped into my car and started talking again. He looked at the car in front of us and noticed it was filled with males. “They seem to prefer male company,” he said. “I don’t understand that at all.” Oh geez, I thought. He told me all about his girlfriend in Ukraine that he had just met online a few weeks before, and that they talk for hours every day over Skype, and how he can’t wait to get a real job so he can take time off right away and visit her, blah.
Somehow we began talking about drinking, and I mentioned that I only drink what I like and when it pairs well with the food, not just drinking to drink. Well this seemed to impress him, because he said, “Wow, we should hang out.” Now the correct response to this would have been, “Um, no.” but I am plagued with the desire to be polite as often as possible, which can get me in trouble. I told him my parents wouldn’t be comfortable with that, which he tried to work around, but I blocked him at every pass. A simple “No” would have been better. “Anyway,” I continued, “I don’t think your girlfriend would like that.” He got offended and said, “I didn’t imply anything more than hanging out!” “I didn’t say you did,” I replied. And then he began his soliloquy about her again. He complained about the inadequacies of Skype, and I told him to be grateful for it. “Not too long ago, you would have had to write a letter that may or may not make it to her, and wait for weeks for a reply.” “Well I’m something of a romantic,” he responded; “I like writing letters.” “So do I,” I said. “I bet your boyfriend gets a kick out of that,” he replied sarcastically. I told him I don’t have a boyfriend. “What? You don’t? Wow! If I weren’t already sort of in a relationship, I’d say, ‘In that case, what are you doing tomorrow night?’” I was secretly appalled. I wondered if I had a neon sign that said, “Desperate! Date me or I die!” One again I was saved by the walkie, and from that moment on I studiously avoided him. This happened about a week and a half after my first experience along these lines, so I hadn’t fully recovered yet. Honestly, though, what conceit to just assume I’d actually want to go out with him! Ugh. Looking 9 months pregnant seriously didn’t help.
For lunch, everyone generally drove off to get fast-food. I always brought my lunch, and sat with Rusty, the guy who took notes. He was a brick mason from Ohio out of a job. His cousin got him the job, and he told me he was shocked people got paid to write things in a notebook, but was glad for the work since he’d been laid off. He told me about his family, let me try some of the venison he grilled for his lunch (one of his sons had shot it and he brought it with him, and it tasted great), and told me about brick laying. I always felt at ease around him, Bob (the big boss), Glen (second-in-command, who made faces at me when I drove by and laughed when I cracked Star Wars jokes over the walkie), and Adam (he sometimes drove, directed traffic, and sat at the entrance to the racetrack). There was also an old man from Canada who was always puffing on his pipe. I knew I recognized the tobacco, and he told me it was Black Cavendish. Glen laughed and said, “Yeah, you should see him when he goes back home; he stops off at the last CVS on this side of the border and gets a few pounds and smuggles it in, since they don’t sell it in Canada!”We never interacted with the people who had hired them to do the testing. Some of my fellow drivers were OK. I knew two from Nordstrom, one of whom was Enon. I asked him how he was enjoying Alice in Wonderland, and he said he liked it. I’m not sure if he had even cracked the cover, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
We had an interesting incident on the third morning. When arranging ourselves in a new platoon, one of the SUVs clipped a sedan. I looked in time to think, “Huh, she’s cutting it close.” Yeah, that was too close. So that put a stop to work until after lunch, because there was paperwork and stuff for them to fill out. While we waited, I hunted bugs in the area. I earned the nickname “The Bug Lady” since I was always finding them, holding them, etc. There were lots of cool varieties I’d never seen before, even though it was about 30 minutes from my house. There were also a lot of trucks processing gravel, dirt, and stuff like that since there was a quarry of sorts right there. A few hours later, the walkie crackled and Bob said, “Kathleen, where are you? We need to give you your reward.” I waved, and he and Adam came over. I had no idea what to expect. Bob said, “Since the sedan is out of commission, we need to shuffle the vehicles a little. Your reward for being the best driver here is that you now get to drive the cube truck.” I was scared. “Are you serious? I’ve never driving anything that big before!” I protested. “You can do it,” Adam said. “You’re the best driver we have; you’ll be fine.” I was having flashbacks to my car flip in Idaho, so I wasn’t so sure. But I said I’d do it, and thanked them. It was so fun! It was much easier than I’d expected, and it was neat being up so high. And the fact that I had my hair in pigtails that day just made the whole picture funnier. Glen laughed and said, “It’s always fun seeing women drive huge trucks!” Adam sat at the entrance to the track and thumbs upped me as I went by. He took a turn driving one of the SUVs and gave me tips here and there. When I gave the keys back at the end of the day, I thanked Bob again and told him how much I enjoyed driving that truck. He said, “Now you can tell your friends when they move that if they load, you’ll drive, and charge them for it!”
I really enjoyed working for Bob & Co., and since they were all polite, fun, hardworking blue collar men I felt right at home. I learned a lot from that job, and more than just driving a cube truck. I learned about brick laying, bugs, making dirt and gravel, and that I need to sacrifice manners to give the right answer to fat, pushy Ukrainians.
I did the BARS Program a few more times. I revisited the store where that one kid had gotten so upset and torn his red card. He was working again. I suspected it was he, and that suspicion was confirmed when he looked at me hard, crossed his arms, and said mockingly, “Can I see some ID?” I chuckled and said, “I thought that was you.” He took his green card, then began questioning me about the whole process, and why it was he would get in trouble for not carding someone obviously of age. He pointed out that he could just say he thought I was over 30, and how would I be able to get him in trouble? I shrugged and told him he’d found the loophole, and I had no idea. Best to just card everyone.
I had another assignment that was interesting, a one day job. Coca-Cola has a call center near my house that needs two people to come in once a month and sort Coke products. They give their employees a discounted group order, and when it ships, we come in and sort it for them. So I spent the morning making Bob’s pile, Sally’s pile, and so forth. The only reason I was excited was that I’ve wanted to see the inside of that place for a long time. I wanted to know what happened there, whether it was a bottling location, or what. It’s actually rather boring, but I enjoyed getting paid to discover that.
The job I most enjoyed was a 3.5 day project. A company wanted to test their EZ-Pass technology, and hired some experts from New York, Canada, Ohio, and the Carolinas to come and run the show. They came and used the Crofton Raceway, and hired us to drive the cars they rented. I drove a 2010 Toyota Corolla, which was nice, but had a lame engine. A few times I worried I would burn it out just trying to keep up. Each car had a number, and we were assigned walkie-talkies. They had a variety of vehicles, and arranged us in ‘platoons’ to simulate as many real life situations possible. There were ten of us in sedans, SUVs, a minivan, a cube truck (the smaller kind of moving van), and an 18-wheeler. We had a varying number of lanes, and would go through as a group, one row at a time, one column / lane at a time, sometimes at 5mph, 25mph, and 65mph. It was very fun. During breaks, you could read, walk around, do whatever. The minivan had a TV and DVD player, so that was the movie van. I had better books, though, and I had absolutely no desire to be anywhere near the driver of that van. The reason for that goes back to the very first day of that job.
The morning of day one was spent familiarizing ourselves with our cars, walkies, each other, the process, etc. My car happened to be parked next to the minivan, which was driven by Yuri, a guy from Ukraine who immigrated with his family when he was a kid. He was in his upper twenties, arrogant, sort of belligerent, and had a case of localized fat such that he looked 9 months pregnant. And that is not an exaggeration. Anyway, he was blaring his techno music, of which I was not fond, and trying to talk to me through the windows as I adjusted my settings. We wound up shouting to each other because of the volume. I sat in the passenger seat of his van, which meant we could talk at a polite yell. I decided I didn’t like him, and he made an impolite comment, and thankfully just then we had to get to work, so I left. We drove 5 laps in each platoon, and after a few platoons, they told us to park in the new order, but wait for about 30 minutes before getting on the racetrack while they fixed something. Out of nowhere, Yuri (or Urine, as my sister dubbed him) popped into my car and started talking again. He looked at the car in front of us and noticed it was filled with males. “They seem to prefer male company,” he said. “I don’t understand that at all.” Oh geez, I thought. He told me all about his girlfriend in Ukraine that he had just met online a few weeks before, and that they talk for hours every day over Skype, and how he can’t wait to get a real job so he can take time off right away and visit her, blah.
Somehow we began talking about drinking, and I mentioned that I only drink what I like and when it pairs well with the food, not just drinking to drink. Well this seemed to impress him, because he said, “Wow, we should hang out.” Now the correct response to this would have been, “Um, no.” but I am plagued with the desire to be polite as often as possible, which can get me in trouble. I told him my parents wouldn’t be comfortable with that, which he tried to work around, but I blocked him at every pass. A simple “No” would have been better. “Anyway,” I continued, “I don’t think your girlfriend would like that.” He got offended and said, “I didn’t imply anything more than hanging out!” “I didn’t say you did,” I replied. And then he began his soliloquy about her again. He complained about the inadequacies of Skype, and I told him to be grateful for it. “Not too long ago, you would have had to write a letter that may or may not make it to her, and wait for weeks for a reply.” “Well I’m something of a romantic,” he responded; “I like writing letters.” “So do I,” I said. “I bet your boyfriend gets a kick out of that,” he replied sarcastically. I told him I don’t have a boyfriend. “What? You don’t? Wow! If I weren’t already sort of in a relationship, I’d say, ‘In that case, what are you doing tomorrow night?’” I was secretly appalled. I wondered if I had a neon sign that said, “Desperate! Date me or I die!” One again I was saved by the walkie, and from that moment on I studiously avoided him. This happened about a week and a half after my first experience along these lines, so I hadn’t fully recovered yet. Honestly, though, what conceit to just assume I’d actually want to go out with him! Ugh. Looking 9 months pregnant seriously didn’t help.
For lunch, everyone generally drove off to get fast-food. I always brought my lunch, and sat with Rusty, the guy who took notes. He was a brick mason from Ohio out of a job. His cousin got him the job, and he told me he was shocked people got paid to write things in a notebook, but was glad for the work since he’d been laid off. He told me about his family, let me try some of the venison he grilled for his lunch (one of his sons had shot it and he brought it with him, and it tasted great), and told me about brick laying. I always felt at ease around him, Bob (the big boss), Glen (second-in-command, who made faces at me when I drove by and laughed when I cracked Star Wars jokes over the walkie), and Adam (he sometimes drove, directed traffic, and sat at the entrance to the racetrack). There was also an old man from Canada who was always puffing on his pipe. I knew I recognized the tobacco, and he told me it was Black Cavendish. Glen laughed and said, “Yeah, you should see him when he goes back home; he stops off at the last CVS on this side of the border and gets a few pounds and smuggles it in, since they don’t sell it in Canada!”We never interacted with the people who had hired them to do the testing. Some of my fellow drivers were OK. I knew two from Nordstrom, one of whom was Enon. I asked him how he was enjoying Alice in Wonderland, and he said he liked it. I’m not sure if he had even cracked the cover, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
We had an interesting incident on the third morning. When arranging ourselves in a new platoon, one of the SUVs clipped a sedan. I looked in time to think, “Huh, she’s cutting it close.”
I really enjoyed working for Bob & Co., and since they were all polite, fun, hardworking blue collar men I felt right at home. I learned a lot from that job, and more than just driving a cube truck. I learned about brick laying, bugs, making dirt and gravel, and that I need to sacrifice manners to give the right answer to fat, pushy Ukrainians.
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