April 9, 2003
All -
After
almost three weeks in a hotel, I finally got to move out Sunday. The
hotel was nice with a small kitchen and everything but it was still small and I
felt like I was living out of the back seat of the truck and a suitcase.
Had some fond memories in the hotel like buying a TV Dinner and wondering on
the way home how I was going to cook something that is in an aluminum dish in
the microwave - they use plastic now (guess I am dating myself as the last one
I ate was in aluminum!) Or the time I washed the clothes, put them in the
dryer, put the money in, pressed the button and nothing! The clothes in the
next dryer somehow got 60 more minutes of drying time, though. Oh,
well. Or the time I carefully followed the directions on the Lean Cuisine
and smell some burning from the microwave, opened the door and the dinner was
gone! How could it have disappeared? Then I spotted it next to the sink!
Found
a Harbor Freight store and spent some time there. They sell all sorts of
tools and I get their catalogs all the time but have never been in one of their
stores. It was a lot of fun. I think the RadioShack thing is not
going to work as they haven’t called back. The district manager told me
he wants full-time people pretty much. Oh well. Will probably try
to get something part-time in the next few weeks.
Still
getting used to driving here. I think every place is different and
learning the roads and traffic patterns will help. One of the first
nights I rode the motorcycle I was on a road with grass covered islands
separating northbound from southbound. I wanted to make a left at the
signal up ahead where 2 green left arrows meant 2 lanes of left turning
traffic. I saw the left turn arrows painted on the street and moved over
- then I realized it was for a side street! No time to swerve back - up on the
pegs, hit the curb, on to the grass, no brakes or turns so I wouldn’t fall down
and after about 100 feet I am jumping off the curb on the other end. Oh
no! Another island! Come to a screeching halt before the next curb and tried to
look nonchalant about it. Night driving is evidently not any easier in
Louisiana. The motorcycle and truck are running good. I took the
truck in today because it was running rough. They replaced the plug that
I couldn’t get out and put in a new rotor and cap that I should have done
before I left Pennsylvania.
Moved
into the house that I mentioned previously on Sunday night. Boy what an
easy move - two suitcases and a couple of boxes! I am still getting used
to everything and feel glad to be out of the hotel and in a place where I can
settle in to. Cheryllynn, who owns the house, lets me use the kitchen,
living room, study and half the garage as well as my bedroom and bath.
The first night she cooked up some steaks on the grill and we had a real nice
dinner. Bought a few things I needed like a chair and clothes dryer
contraption (hey, I don’t know what they call it! It’s a rack for drying
things) and some sheets for the bed. Last night I picked up some
groceries and a few odds and ends. It has been raining hard here for
several days with bad thunder and lightening. When I went in to Wal-Mart
the rain had stopped. Coming out was a different story! On top of that I
couldn’t find the truck! Took me about 5 or 10 minutes in the pouring
rain to find it. For a while I thought it was stolen. Hey, that
drying rack came in real handy!
Went
to a couple more local restaurants. Boutin’s is a Cajun place with Cajun
music on the weekends and some real good food. Stopped in for a late
lunch and had some Gumbo for the first time. It had broth and shrimp and
vegetables and who knows what else. It was spicy hot and tasted great!
Had some fish (covered in etouffee), corn and jambalaya all Cajun style.
Etouffee is pronounced “A-Two-Fay” and is a spicy sauce with shrimp. “On
the Half Shell” is a local tavern like place where I talked to some people at
the bar as I ate a fried oyster platter and had some Mexican beer for an early
dinner. Was told that at night they had some entertainment so I stopped
back later to hear a couple of guys playing some light music (Cat Stevens,
Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, etc.). Had a good time.
Went
to the dentist this morning (Tuesday) for a root canal. Took a couple
Ibuprofens afterwards and still feel fine. I have some pain pills if
needed but I hope not to use any. About 20 years ago, when I had the
other root canal done, I did have some pain the next day and had to take a pain
pill so I am hoping for the best but prepared for the worst. I go back in
2 weeks to get the crown put in.
Have
some airline flights to come home end of April and end of May. Will be coming
home at least once a month and like 9 days in August for MusikFest ( http://www.musikfest.org/ ).
Hope to see you all there!
[Didn’t
get to mail this out yesterday so am adding the following] Took a couple
Ibuprofens this morning and have not had any pain today – hopefully that is
it. Dentist said I could have up to 4 weeks of pain but he has never seen
anyone go longer than 5 days.
Took
a walk around the development this morning. Pretty cold here – upper 30’s
maybe. Noticed a lot of the houses have hip roofs (probably for the
wind/hurricanes) and many don’t have gutters.
By
the way, my cell phone number is 484-554-6959.
Soon,
Paul