Time warp

For lunch we went to Reno's Steakhouse. I ordered a beer only to find that on a election day in this town, you cannot be served spirits until 6 pm. The waitress responded in some serious twang, "'Parently in this hick town, politicians have been known to buy people's votes with liquor." Well, I declare!

Kentucky feels like a time warp. The parts I've seen seem a throw back to what I remember growing up with in the 80s. Neighborhoods of kids, nobody all that wealthy. Bad hair. Worse fashion. A t.v. in every house, if you were lucky, anyway. And then there were some things I didn't expect perse. Trailer parks plentiful. And on the side of major highways. As though that were your front yard. And still, I'm not sure how anyone pays for anything. It's industrial, looks like mine country. The local gas station had 4 pumps out of service, and those working had no automatic cut-off mechanism. An older gentleman was pumping away until the lady in the box hollered over the system, "Sir! Your car's leakin'!" And at these gas prices...ouch!

Into the dark

The drive was so dark, the scenery obscured in the night sky. A big city far and away, the sky is like onyx, obsidian,. Beautiful and like an egg speckled only with stars. A great deal of rain joined in once we hit Pennsylvania, on through Maryland and into West Virginia. Heather is a new driver as well, equipped with a learner's permit and a bit of experience. She took the wheel in West Virginia, which turned out to be mostly pitch black dark, curvy mountain roads that only truckers use. Yikes! Well, I guess we all face tests in life.

An eleven hour drive through the night, we were zombies once we finally reached Kentucky at daybreak. The hills covered in changing leaves, the view was gorgeous. The gang we visited stay in cabins on the side of a mountain. A lake, tons of trees, and deer. That's the neighborhood. Wow. How different from my daily life.

Kentucky-bound

We left for Kentucky this evening. Heather & I in Hyundai. Ten years ago, the car maker's rep was such a joke. But apparently they're making some decent cars nowadays. For me, the tush warmers made all the difference in the Acera. Wait. Isn't that the name of the shuttle from NYC to DC? And who's in charge of car names anymore? The Escalade? It's almost a step up but not quite. The Aztec? Is it built of adobe? The Prius? Seems intrusive, no? Anyhow...leather seats in the Hyundai, fine, nice, sunroof, excellent, although chilly. But the tush warmer, now that's a feature! They're also great for pranks. Talk about putting someone in the hot seat!!

All dressed up

I just passed two guys on the street dressed up for Halloween as doctors but with name tags on their lab coats. Kind of like mechanics. Their tags didn't read Jimmy Bob or even Tony, but "orgasm donors." They had stethoscopes around their necks, and well, it didn't make sense to me. Guess I figured they'd have other instruments...and, more appropriately, no clothing at all. Or maybe chaps. Or a loin cloth or something. Just seemed kind of sterile. And I wonder. Is it like an organ donor? Once you die, all your orgasms are harvested and given unto those in dire need of them?

Me, I'm not sure what to do about Halloween. I haven't gotten into it that much since the days of side ponytails and bangle bracelets. I'd love to carve a pumpkin and may end up doing that. But as far as dressing up...anyone got any ideas?

We're only human

So Bono came into the restaurant with his daughters and wife this morning. At least I think that's who the 3 women with him were. They certainly seemed familial. They stood at the bar waiting for a table. Funny about where I work. Even Bono has to wait for a table. There's just something nice about being fair to everybody. Fine, you're a worldwide celebrity, with the power to impact millions with your influence. And yet you choose to patron a place where you're treated like everybody else. I think it says something about a person. Having all that fame, being able to go anywhere in the city, in the world, and probably have your whole meal comped, all fancy schmancy and snooty, and yet, you choose to go to a place where no one treats you any different than the struggling cellist next to you or the dominatrix on her third Bloody Mary at the bar.

I didn't recognize him at first. Offered them all coffee or juice while waiting, and then heard that all to familiar voice ask for coffee. I almost fell over but didn't let it show. He and his posse were lovely. Everyone noticed him. And yet no one said a word. New Yorkers are a trip. "Honey, look! It's Bono!" uttered under her breath. Then, "Excuse me! Can I have more coffee?" Just goes to show. We're all still people. With our own agendas, loved ones, families, eating breakfast, who take coffee with a smidge of milk.

And a shout out to one of my loved ones. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVID! I love you my brother!

DMV

I'm not sure what's going on with me and the usual world of bureaucracy. I went to the DMV today to swap my Georgia driver's license for a NY state one. I am finally doing it...committing to New York! So I completed the necessary form, took a number, got my photo taken & eyes checked and heard my number called even before my photo was finished. I had to run to the appropriate rep so as not to be skipped. What?!? The DMV moving faster than me? Holy crap.

It almost makes me worry. I got my social security card in record time, my passport, like butter, and then the DMV, a breeze? It makes me nervous. Nervous.

And with the form I completed, I was also able to register to vote in New York. Woah. What is going on in the world?!?

My code?

I walked outside this morning and felt like I was in Buenos Aires. A gray sky, leaves on the trees turning yellow, the colors and the chill in the air felt just like Buenos Aires. I did a double take, worried that I'd been dreaming for the past few months. It's funny to think the last time I had weather like this was in B.A. in June. How quickly the mind adapts to include new experiences. I'd have thought my mind would have conjured up images of New York over the last few years, but no. It skipped to Buenos Aires. Lovely.

Maybe with a day like today, the world is telling me to get back on the road. First, the international trip down memory lane. Then, I got my passport back in the mail. It took less than a month. Woah, rehiring those who had recently retired sure is working. Or maybe the troublesome passport times for American citizens who've never been arrested who have lots of blond highlights in their hair are over! I was worried it'd be January before I got it back and that I'd have to suffer through my third winter of 2007.

Did you know that US passports are now electronic? A chip embedded in them somewhere links directly to each passport holder's info. Scary. What is this 1984? I can even scan the bar code on the last page to retrieve flight information at online airline kiosks. As though I need the feds to track my domestic flight info as well. It's strange, too, now having a bar code associated with my identity. I wonder: will airport security turn into the check-out line at Stop & Shop? "Price check on aisle 4!" It's enough to make me nostalgic for my old passport, not to mention the cool stamps that barely had enough time to dry before surrendered to the State Department. And I have a new passport number! Dag! I'd just gotten the old one memorized. Well, at least we've still got social security. Knock wood. I bet years from now we'll joke about those. "Do you remember your social security number?!?" It'll be like Name That Tune. "I can name 5 out of the 9 numbers of my SSN." "Well, I can name 6 out of the 9 numbers of my..."