The long drive
It is very loud here today, as a bunch of people showed up at 7:00 Am to put in a new floor. And as I cam oddly not working today (my schedule has gone rather weird) I thought I would answer the questions about the trip to Pennsylvania.
I may one day have to be able to spell that state's name correctly, as this was for a job interview. The same thing goes for Massachusetts (where I interviewed just before Thanksgiving). I drove to Northern PA Institution Of Higher Learning (it and the town hereafter listed as Northern PA). No, I'm not going to use the real name of the place, as I don't want to jinx any job chances I have.
The trip from Maine to Albany was fairly uneventful. Albany more than made up for that. I was driving along in the far left lane to allow oncoming traffic to enter from an on-ramp. Ahead of me I saw something very odd. It looked, in silhouette, like a very large Segway. A tall stick-like shape about 6-8 feet high, coming down the on-ramp ahead of a dump truck. As my brain attempted to process this and came up blank, the front end dropped to the pavement.
And I realized this was a motorcycle. Doing a wheelie. On the highway. At speed.
The nutcase then pulled in front of me (I was going 75, so this guy with a death wish was as well).
Nutcase then decided the far left lane wasn't quite right and darted into the 8 foot space between two semis.
And then popped another wheelie while holding pace with me or going a bit faster.
When I stopped yelping "Oh shit, he's gonna die and I'm going to be seeing his entrails!" I grabbed my phone and made my first ever 911 call. Sadly there were no cops running speed traps when you need them.
The rest of the drive to Ithaca was uneventful (thankfully so).
I located lissa_dora's apartment and waited a bit for her to get home. We located The Commons through sheer luck and gut feelings, then wandered until we found the one end of it that has food. The pub I picked was reasonably priced and had what I assume was good atmosphere (any atmosphere is good when you are the only people in a pub).
We left full of hot soup and garlic bread, and somewhere in the midst of the tour of Ithaca it began to snow. This was alarming, given the near total lack of visibility and Ithaca's location in a gorge (hills and snow are not a good combination).
Given that a quick check of the internet informed us of scattered snow flurries and a rather straight (as the crow flies, those of us driving get hills) route to Northern PA, I headed out.
The snow had turned to rain while we were checking the internet, which made me worry about black ice. Thankfully, there was none. The drive was rather intense, along very winding and steep roads that I was not at all familiar with. There were lots of "You might hit a deer" signs.
I stopped for gas, and was entertained by the attempt of the management to get me inside their convenience store.
The little screen on the pump welcomed me to their station, and invited me to come inside for "Hot Fresh Coffee Pizza Sandwich and Drinks."
Now, I know that the screen is capable of producing punctuation, as the welcome message included not one but three exclamation points. So one has to take them at their word.
The Hot Fresh Coffee Pizza Sandwich must be very large, as they only have one. They do have multiple Drinks, which one must need after consuming even part of the mighty Hot Fresh Coffee Pizza Sandwich. I wasn't tempted, as it sounded like a rather nasty combination. I made a note to buy a copy of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves and read it soon.
I knew from the drive into the town that this bit of Northern PA had some lovely scenery. Granted, I couldn't see any of it (not even the very bright and close to full moon helped), but any drive that involves barely visible hills and mountains on one side and the tops of trees or utter blackness on the other side has views. At one point the other side of the divided highway was at least thirty feet above me- that means really spectacular views. I still saw none of it.
The hotel was easy to find, and had a sign promising "Free Internet Access." This turned out to be free only for those with a laptop. Those without a laptop would need to buy one somewhere, making the internet rather expensive. I opted to go without, but was a bit bummed at the absence of a computer lounge to email Lissa_dora that I survived the trip.
It took five minutes for the desk clerk to turn up (my calls of "Hello! Hello, does anyone work here?" got me the chance to chat with a member of the board of directors for the university). I was assigned a room well away from the surprisingly loud and active bar (who knew some many people would be in such a small town on a Tuesday).
The next morning I enjoyed the continental breakfast (make your own waffles!), checked out (the room went on the university tab), and headed out to my car for the interview.
The view was indeed lovely. The hotel was on on the side of a hill, the town in a valley, and a classic campus of brick buildings perched on the edge a second hill. It was very picturesque and reminded me of visiting my sister in Alfred.
Except for the deer. That was a surprise. I walked over to my car, and noticed something out of place from the corner of my eye. I turned to find what could have been a large, unused playground swing set...
Were it not for the six dead deer strung up by their necks.
My first thought was "That's odd. Dad always hangs them by their rear feet. That looks better. This looks like a hanging."
My second thought was "Wow, Northern PA is lucky I'm not a city girl. I wonder if any of the other job candidates got freaked out by this?"
My third thought was "What an odd place for a tagging station. Why a hotel? And why are the deer still here? Normally you just tag them and then take them away to a butcher."
It turns out it was opening weekend of hunting season in Pennsylvania (which is very late, Maine is finished) and some hunters from other states like to register to hunt in Pennsylvania to lengthen their hunting season. The out of state hunters stay at the hotel and hang any deer they shoot in the back parking lot of the hotel during their stay.
The interview itself was pretty standard. I had lunch in the local coffee shop (more hot soup) and got a copy of the local paper before I left. It's a small town, about 3,000 people and another 3,000 more at the university.
The drive back to Maine was long. And tiring. Northern PA and Southern New York are very scenic, and there is very little traffic on the Future Interstate 86 and on 88 North. This was helpful.
I passed the time amusing myself with place names. Just past Ithaca on the Route 17 and Future 86 I passed the town of Vestal. I was unable to stop and look for virgins or goddesses, sadly. I was even more amused that the next exit was for Union.
I stopped at a rest area off 88 in a town called Unadilla... One wonders how something can be not adilla, and how adilla can be used in a sentence. "What a very adilla house you have here!" Well, it amused me.
I then arrived in Maine and fell in bed and slept til noon the next day.
I may one day have to be able to spell that state's name correctly, as this was for a job interview. The same thing goes for Massachusetts (where I interviewed just before Thanksgiving). I drove to Northern PA Institution Of Higher Learning (it and the town hereafter listed as Northern PA). No, I'm not going to use the real name of the place, as I don't want to jinx any job chances I have.
The trip from Maine to Albany was fairly uneventful. Albany more than made up for that. I was driving along in the far left lane to allow oncoming traffic to enter from an on-ramp. Ahead of me I saw something very odd. It looked, in silhouette, like a very large Segway. A tall stick-like shape about 6-8 feet high, coming down the on-ramp ahead of a dump truck. As my brain attempted to process this and came up blank, the front end dropped to the pavement.
And I realized this was a motorcycle. Doing a wheelie. On the highway. At speed.
The nutcase then pulled in front of me (I was going 75, so this guy with a death wish was as well).
Nutcase then decided the far left lane wasn't quite right and darted into the 8 foot space between two semis.
And then popped another wheelie while holding pace with me or going a bit faster.
When I stopped yelping "Oh shit, he's gonna die and I'm going to be seeing his entrails!" I grabbed my phone and made my first ever 911 call. Sadly there were no cops running speed traps when you need them.
The rest of the drive to Ithaca was uneventful (thankfully so).
I located lissa_dora's apartment and waited a bit for her to get home. We located The Commons through sheer luck and gut feelings, then wandered until we found the one end of it that has food. The pub I picked was reasonably priced and had what I assume was good atmosphere (any atmosphere is good when you are the only people in a pub).
We left full of hot soup and garlic bread, and somewhere in the midst of the tour of Ithaca it began to snow. This was alarming, given the near total lack of visibility and Ithaca's location in a gorge (hills and snow are not a good combination).
Given that a quick check of the internet informed us of scattered snow flurries and a rather straight (as the crow flies, those of us driving get hills) route to Northern PA, I headed out.
The snow had turned to rain while we were checking the internet, which made me worry about black ice. Thankfully, there was none. The drive was rather intense, along very winding and steep roads that I was not at all familiar with. There were lots of "You might hit a deer" signs.
I stopped for gas, and was entertained by the attempt of the management to get me inside their convenience store.
The little screen on the pump welcomed me to their station, and invited me to come inside for "Hot Fresh Coffee Pizza Sandwich and Drinks."
Now, I know that the screen is capable of producing punctuation, as the welcome message included not one but three exclamation points. So one has to take them at their word.
The Hot Fresh Coffee Pizza Sandwich must be very large, as they only have one. They do have multiple Drinks, which one must need after consuming even part of the mighty Hot Fresh Coffee Pizza Sandwich. I wasn't tempted, as it sounded like a rather nasty combination. I made a note to buy a copy of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves and read it soon.
I knew from the drive into the town that this bit of Northern PA had some lovely scenery. Granted, I couldn't see any of it (not even the very bright and close to full moon helped), but any drive that involves barely visible hills and mountains on one side and the tops of trees or utter blackness on the other side has views. At one point the other side of the divided highway was at least thirty feet above me- that means really spectacular views. I still saw none of it.
The hotel was easy to find, and had a sign promising "Free Internet Access." This turned out to be free only for those with a laptop. Those without a laptop would need to buy one somewhere, making the internet rather expensive. I opted to go without, but was a bit bummed at the absence of a computer lounge to email Lissa_dora that I survived the trip.
It took five minutes for the desk clerk to turn up (my calls of "Hello! Hello, does anyone work here?" got me the chance to chat with a member of the board of directors for the university). I was assigned a room well away from the surprisingly loud and active bar (who knew some many people would be in such a small town on a Tuesday).
The next morning I enjoyed the continental breakfast (make your own waffles!), checked out (the room went on the university tab), and headed out to my car for the interview.
The view was indeed lovely. The hotel was on on the side of a hill, the town in a valley, and a classic campus of brick buildings perched on the edge a second hill. It was very picturesque and reminded me of visiting my sister in Alfred.
Except for the deer. That was a surprise. I walked over to my car, and noticed something out of place from the corner of my eye. I turned to find what could have been a large, unused playground swing set...
Were it not for the six dead deer strung up by their necks.
My first thought was "That's odd. Dad always hangs them by their rear feet. That looks better. This looks like a hanging."
My second thought was "Wow, Northern PA is lucky I'm not a city girl. I wonder if any of the other job candidates got freaked out by this?"
My third thought was "What an odd place for a tagging station. Why a hotel? And why are the deer still here? Normally you just tag them and then take them away to a butcher."
It turns out it was opening weekend of hunting season in Pennsylvania (which is very late, Maine is finished) and some hunters from other states like to register to hunt in Pennsylvania to lengthen their hunting season. The out of state hunters stay at the hotel and hang any deer they shoot in the back parking lot of the hotel during their stay.
The interview itself was pretty standard. I had lunch in the local coffee shop (more hot soup) and got a copy of the local paper before I left. It's a small town, about 3,000 people and another 3,000 more at the university.
The drive back to Maine was long. And tiring. Northern PA and Southern New York are very scenic, and there is very little traffic on the Future Interstate 86 and on 88 North. This was helpful.
I passed the time amusing myself with place names. Just past Ithaca on the Route 17 and Future 86 I passed the town of Vestal. I was unable to stop and look for virgins or goddesses, sadly. I was even more amused that the next exit was for Union.
I stopped at a rest area off 88 in a town called Unadilla... One wonders how something can be not adilla, and how adilla can be used in a sentence. "What a very adilla house you have here!" Well, it amused me.
I then arrived in Maine and fell in bed and slept til noon the next day.