Home (And Back) For The Holidays
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0338
First, I trust that everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Asimov's Birthday. I would say that my holidays were pretty decent, on the whole.
A couple of weeks before Christmas, my manager asked me if I was planning to go to my parents' for Christmas -- before I could even bring the subject up. When I said yes, she said that I could have Christmas off. The catch, though, would be that I would have to work Christmas Eve. Fair enough, I suppose.
I let my parents know what was going on, even though at that point, my plans weren't set in stone. Hell, at that point, they were barely set in Silly Putty. Not long after the talk with my manager, I reserved a rental car for Christmas weekend. And once I had a better idea of my schedule for the weekend, my plans did b ecome more firmly set.
Christmas Eve arrived, and the first order of business was getting the rental. I was renting from Enterprise because as they say in their commercials, they'll pick you up. I usually get the smallest category of car available, because it's usually just me in the car. This time, the car was a 2009 Hyundai Elantra. It was a nice car, but I think I'm going to go up a size category next time. I could have used just a little more legroom.
Once I had the car, I went by the library to email my dad, reminding him of my plans. I went home to finish packing, then went to work.
At first, I thought I was going to have to close on Christmas Eve. Instead, I was working during the afternoon and early evening, and encountering everyone who was either trying to avoid the malls, or were on their way either to or from the malls. I think being in the mall might have been a saner choice.
I was out of the madhouse at 7:00 PM. I went by Jimmy John's, and got a sandwich to eat while on the road. I also picked up a couple of loaves of their day-old bread, because it makes some really great garlic bread. I then went home, loaded a final few items into the car, and called my parents to let them know that I was about to hit the road.
And hit the road I did. And almost immediately, I pulled into the nearest Speedway to fill the car up. I hadn't paid close enough attention at the time I picked up the car, and I didn't notice that it only had a quarter tank of gas. (More on this later.) I also picked up a cup of coffee, because I thought I would probably need a fair amount of caffeine in my system for the next few hours. Then I hit the road in earnest.
Now, the drive from Louisville to Murray takes roughly four hours. That would have me arriving at my parents' house somewhere around 11:00 PM CST. That would also be under normal driving conditions, and it was anything but that on Christmas Eve. I encountered rain during most of the drive. It ranged from nothing (no wipers needed), to a light misting (flip the wipers on once every couple of minutes), to about 15 minutes of complete downpour(wipers on highest speed). That slowed me down enough that I didn't pull into my parents' driveway until just after 1:00 AM CST.
I did make use of the car's CD player during the trip. It's probably a good thing that I was traveling alone. I'm not sure how many people could handle Boy Krazy, Avril Lavigne, Billy Joel, Amy Grant, and Mannheim Steamroller in succession. (Yes, I do have somewhat eclectic tastes in music, why do you ask?) Or my singing along with "Shades Of Gray" and "Every Heartbeat," just to name a couple of songs.
The good news is, they were still waiting up for me, and they kind of figured what had happened to me. The bad news was that I still had enough caffeine in my system that I it took me another hour or so to finally get to sleep.
My sojourn into Morpheus's realm only lasted until about 7:00 AM. That's when I was awakened by a knock on the door, and my brother's voice informing me, "Your niece and nephew want to open their Christmas presents."
I replied to the voice, "I'm surprised you just didn't send them in." I think that was the backup plan for getting me up. The thought of those two pouncing on me did not particularly appeal to me, so I dragged myself out of bed, and slowly made my way downstairs.
I got most of what I wanted for Christmas. My niece gave me a photo frame that she had made, with a photo of her and her brother inside. When I showed it to my coworkers a few days later, they all loved it. And my niece and nephew loved their presents from me. (I like to think I have a pretty good idea of what to get them.)
The rest of Christmas was pretty low-key. I managed to get a little more sleep before the big Christmas meal, among other things.
The day after Christmas, I had to leave pretty early. I was scheduled to close that day, and I had to be at work at 4:00 PM EST. I had just about everything packed, loaded, and ready to go, and then my brother asked if I could wait until after he showered and dressed. I said yes, and that was a big mistake. It was some 45 minutes later before I finally got on the road. When I was telling this to Emma at work, she asked, "What does he do -- take a long girly shower?" When I told her how long, she said, "I don't take that long in the shower, and I am a girl."
Fortunately, I made good time on the drive back. Where I was doing good to stay at 60 mph on the trip to Murray, on the drive back to Louisville, I had to keep an eye on the speedometer. With clear skies, I had to be careful not to push it too high over 70 mph. Even then, I saw it inching up toward 80 more than once.
In fact, the most part of the drive back happened once I got off the Watterson Expressway. It was then that every single traffic light on my way to work decided to turn red as I approached it. I managed to make it to work on time -- but just barely. And Emma seemed to find that somewhat amusing.
Monday, I returned the Elantra to Enterprise. I had filled the car up before taking it back, only to learn that I just had to bring it back at the same level in which I got it. Well, they did give me a credit for bringing it back with a full tank.
As I said, I had a good Christmas. I hope you did as well.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0338
First, I trust that everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Asimov's Birthday. I would say that my holidays were pretty decent, on the whole.
A couple of weeks before Christmas, my manager asked me if I was planning to go to my parents' for Christmas -- before I could even bring the subject up. When I said yes, she said that I could have Christmas off. The catch, though, would be that I would have to work Christmas Eve. Fair enough, I suppose.
I let my parents know what was going on, even though at that point, my plans weren't set in stone. Hell, at that point, they were barely set in Silly Putty. Not long after the talk with my manager, I reserved a rental car for Christmas weekend. And once I had a better idea of my schedule for the weekend, my plans did b ecome more firmly set.
Christmas Eve arrived, and the first order of business was getting the rental. I was renting from Enterprise because as they say in their commercials, they'll pick you up. I usually get the smallest category of car available, because it's usually just me in the car. This time, the car was a 2009 Hyundai Elantra. It was a nice car, but I think I'm going to go up a size category next time. I could have used just a little more legroom.
Once I had the car, I went by the library to email my dad, reminding him of my plans. I went home to finish packing, then went to work.
At first, I thought I was going to have to close on Christmas Eve. Instead, I was working during the afternoon and early evening, and encountering everyone who was either trying to avoid the malls, or were on their way either to or from the malls. I think being in the mall might have been a saner choice.
I was out of the madhouse at 7:00 PM. I went by Jimmy John's, and got a sandwich to eat while on the road. I also picked up a couple of loaves of their day-old bread, because it makes some really great garlic bread. I then went home, loaded a final few items into the car, and called my parents to let them know that I was about to hit the road.
And hit the road I did. And almost immediately, I pulled into the nearest Speedway to fill the car up. I hadn't paid close enough attention at the time I picked up the car, and I didn't notice that it only had a quarter tank of gas. (More on this later.) I also picked up a cup of coffee, because I thought I would probably need a fair amount of caffeine in my system for the next few hours. Then I hit the road in earnest.
Now, the drive from Louisville to Murray takes roughly four hours. That would have me arriving at my parents' house somewhere around 11:00 PM CST. That would also be under normal driving conditions, and it was anything but that on Christmas Eve. I encountered rain during most of the drive. It ranged from nothing (no wipers needed), to a light misting (flip the wipers on once every couple of minutes), to about 15 minutes of complete downpour(wipers on highest speed). That slowed me down enough that I didn't pull into my parents' driveway until just after 1:00 AM CST.
I did make use of the car's CD player during the trip. It's probably a good thing that I was traveling alone. I'm not sure how many people could handle Boy Krazy, Avril Lavigne, Billy Joel, Amy Grant, and Mannheim Steamroller in succession. (Yes, I do have somewhat eclectic tastes in music, why do you ask?) Or my singing along with "Shades Of Gray" and "Every Heartbeat," just to name a couple of songs.
The good news is, they were still waiting up for me, and they kind of figured what had happened to me. The bad news was that I still had enough caffeine in my system that I it took me another hour or so to finally get to sleep.
My sojourn into Morpheus's realm only lasted until about 7:00 AM. That's when I was awakened by a knock on the door, and my brother's voice informing me, "Your niece and nephew want to open their Christmas presents."
I replied to the voice, "I'm surprised you just didn't send them in." I think that was the backup plan for getting me up. The thought of those two pouncing on me did not particularly appeal to me, so I dragged myself out of bed, and slowly made my way downstairs.
I got most of what I wanted for Christmas. My niece gave me a photo frame that she had made, with a photo of her and her brother inside. When I showed it to my coworkers a few days later, they all loved it. And my niece and nephew loved their presents from me. (I like to think I have a pretty good idea of what to get them.)
The rest of Christmas was pretty low-key. I managed to get a little more sleep before the big Christmas meal, among other things.
The day after Christmas, I had to leave pretty early. I was scheduled to close that day, and I had to be at work at 4:00 PM EST. I had just about everything packed, loaded, and ready to go, and then my brother asked if I could wait until after he showered and dressed. I said yes, and that was a big mistake. It was some 45 minutes later before I finally got on the road. When I was telling this to Emma at work, she asked, "What does he do -- take a long girly shower?" When I told her how long, she said, "I don't take that long in the shower, and I am a girl."
Fortunately, I made good time on the drive back. Where I was doing good to stay at 60 mph on the trip to Murray, on the drive back to Louisville, I had to keep an eye on the speedometer. With clear skies, I had to be careful not to push it too high over 70 mph. Even then, I saw it inching up toward 80 more than once.
In fact, the most part of the drive back happened once I got off the Watterson Expressway. It was then that every single traffic light on my way to work decided to turn red as I approached it. I managed to make it to work on time -- but just barely. And Emma seemed to find that somewhat amusing.
Monday, I returned the Elantra to Enterprise. I had filled the car up before taking it back, only to learn that I just had to bring it back at the same level in which I got it. Well, they did give me a credit for bringing it back with a full tank.
As I said, I had a good Christmas. I hope you did as well.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0338