kevin_standlee | Ready to Roll

I took the rental car back to Fremont this morning and walked over to the Depot Cafe, bought breakfast, and worked from there for a couple of hours. (I had to return the car about 90 minutes before my mechanic opens, or else pay overtime charges on the car.) Fortunately, I was able get work done there and even turn in a project early before walking back to my mechanic to collect the van. There were only a few minor things wrong, some of which were just finishing things that he'd started a few weeks ago but for which he had been waiting for parts. I broke the emergency flasher switch a while back and finding that part is getting harder for a 1989 GM minvan than it once would have been, for instance. Cory was a nice guy and only charged me for the parts, not the labor for installing them. He pronounced the van as fit as he could make it for the cross-country drive to San Antonio, including having a fully-charged air conditioning system. So I hope that the $900 or so I've spent on the van in the past month is a sufficient offering to Murphy for the trip to go without mechanical issues.

After collecting the van, it was after 10 AM and I thought it would be an easy over to Mountain View. Nope. I never got above 50 MPH. I-880/CA-237/US-101 were heavy and slow even at that hour of the morning. That's a heck of a rush hour.