On the Road Again

Last Sunday night I went to see the Red Headed Stranger at the Rosemont in Chicago. We must have bought some of the last available tickets, as we were seated in the very last row. I've had an altitude nosebleed ever since. The concert was Ray Price, Merle and Willie in a very large concert theater. It was quite commercial, with Merle and Willie running through their popular hits for the crowd. They were very polished in their performance. I'd've liked to see him in a bar in Austin, instead of on commercial tour, but we take what we can get. I just think Willie would have been more entertaining if he wasn't restrained by the venue and crowd.
On Monday my old man sent me on the weirdest errand ever. He wanted me to fetch drinking water from a forest preserve well. Seems to me most people would kill for American tap water, but whatever. Not just any well would do, I was given specific instructions to proceed to Schiller Park in the NW part of the city and to pump from the well west of the model airfield. Needless to say I was pretty skeptical, but when I arrived there was QUEUE! While I was there, half a dozen people showed up with water recepticles to fill at this specific pump. Wierdest thing I'd ever seen. It was alright water, but I'm told it has to settle a day or two before its full potential is realized.
On Tuesday I started home. By Wednesday midday I made it to Cheyenne, and saw ominous clouds in the distance. By the time I hit Laramie the snow started. The radio informed me that the NW portion of WY was in a blizzard, with I-90 shut down. No biggie, I thought, I'm way south of there on I-80. Nothing to worry about.
As I continued the road got slick, and then it got icy. I slowed down to about 45mph. Crossing over a bridge the trailer I was pulling bounced on the potholes formed where the asphalt meets the concrete. I know I wasn't braking (NEVER brake when crossing an icy bridge, and keep that wheel straight) but I must have been slowing down. The trailer had its own inertia and swung the back end of my truck around. At first I was travelling sideways down the interstate, then sideways down the shoulder and finally sideways down into the ditch. There was nothing to be done but drive out of the ditch and continue on. I slowed down to 35mph.
Further west there had been an accident involving a hill, 2.5 inches of ice and 7 tractor-trailers. The last 35 miles of the day to Rock Springs, Wyoming, took me 9 hours. We sat on the expressway until WYDOT cleared the accident from one lane. After I broke my frozen brakes free, I started rolling again. A few miles up the road I got to the hill that caused th initial problem. In five hours the truckers hadn't managed to chain up. The highway patrol was displeased with this (I had been listening to them chatter over the radio), but I was moreso. It was getting cold, and each time traffic stopped because the trucks had no traction, my rear brakes froze again. Then the hydraulics in my transmission started to freeze, and stranded in the middle of Wyoming in a blizzard is no place to be. When I reached the top of the troubled pass traffic thinned out. It was 3 o'clock in the morning by the time I got to a hotel room. It was by far the worst day of driving in my life. Between the weather, mechanical difficulties and crazy truckers I was absolutely exhausted from the stress of it by the time my head hit the pillow. The only way it could've been worse is if I had had an nervous passenger to deal with. A Mom, CK or in-law type personality in the passenger seat ratcheting up the anxiety level would've made it absolutely unbearable. They'd've wound up walking home.

I want my 12 Dollars

I don't care what Don says, bureaucracy is for liberals and other assorted scum. As soon as I crossed into the Land of Lincoln, the tolls started. After enjoying the use of the federal interstate system for 2100 miles without interruption, in easy motoring bliss as Kunstler would say, I racked up over $12.00 in tolls for the last 60 miles of corn fields. Nathan, you might say, you just spent $350 on gas, why complain about $12 in tolls? Because federal dollars built I-90 darn it, and if Cook county's suburbs want money: let 'em raise property taxes.
First person who points out my past support of user fees as a tax collection modality gets the boot. First person to point out the incredible jump in pavement quality from Wisconsin to Illinois gets deported to a North Dakota Gulag for insolence.

300 (Volts)

Finals are over! I had given up on recieving an A in anatomy, but it turns out I did much better on the final lab test than I thought. I owned todays written final to the tune of 97%, so when grades are recorded next week I'm expecting another excellent quarter.
Last friday I planted 11 more rose bushes in the front yard. I'm looking forward to those to grow well this year, and if they bloom at all I'll get some pics posted.
Tomorrow I'm driving to Chicago, to hand deliver Ben's 300VDC(no load) power supply, displayed above.

Science Faire

The Eco-Roof won a $50 prize on saturday. I was impressed with the groups performance, they were a bunch of on the ball kids who managed their portions of the project well. Now that that's done the finals crunch can begin. My civil liberties research paper took up most of my weekend, but with that done I can concentrate on other classes. Final Bio Lab test is thursday, and it promises to be a bear. Point and name cat and human musculature, YEAH! Monday and Tuesday of next week is written chem and bio finals, which should be less difficult than the project and lab portions. After that I can travel to Chicago to clean out Don's garage, after which I will be up to full capability at Hersey Machine Works West in the machining department.

Taxpayers 2

Seedlings in the GreenhouseBusy Hands Building the Green Roof

The band played friday night at a house party up the street. This time we managed to play 8/9 of the set darn near perfectly. We skipped the slow song, which is prolly for the best, since we were opening for a metal band. After we played things began to get rowdy, so I bagged ass. I don't want anything to do with house party shenanagins, I'm too old and too conservative for that stuff.
Saturday I set up the greenhouse and planted some seedlings. I've started some early greens, brocolli and cauliflower outside under a glass cold frame (to trap heat to promote germination). Inside the greenhouse I've planted pea and bean seeds, and I'll transfer them outside when it's time.
Today my chemistry class group came over to build an eco-roof. We hadn't had any luck with outside sites needing our help building one. In order to provide an "experiential" portion of our eco-roof class project, we built a small scale one over my compost reactor to prevent leeching of my valuable nitrogen into the Willamette river. It was a good day to be working outside, and it only illustrated how much more garden work I've got to do to get the yard in order.