Rushing About

I did most of my packing last night while watching the first of this weekend's Super 14 rugby matches, but not without a great deal of difficulty getting the wireless signal to stay connected. My computer continues to refuse to hold a wireless connection in this apartment whenever it is plugged into ground power, sometimes not even when the computer is less than a meter away from the WAP. Anyway, this morning I downloaded the second match (that will give me something to watch at the hotel in Ashland *knock wood* tonight).

Because I'm driving, I'm traveling heavier than usual, but that also leads to even more "what have I forgotten?" moments. I have a box into which I keep putting things "in case I need them," but I expect I'll end up forgetting something anyway. I'm sure I'll get by.

Good thing I called my mechanic before heading over there. The shop assistant said they were taking it out for a test drive right now. They will call me when it's ready. My credit card is glowing with anticipation of the large charge I'm expecting for the combined job: oil plug, water pump, universal belt, radiator. Again, better that these things should go wrong before the trip than during it. I shudder when I remember that I had considered putting off the scheduled water pump replacement until after the Oregon trip.

The ants continue to feast upon the Terro traps. Enjoy yourselves, I say, while because of a comment from yourbob, the Pink Panther theme won't get out of my head.

Oh, and I'm getting my mundane job done as well, setting up my work schedule for the Sunday-Thursday week I'm planning next week. Since there won't be anyone around on Sunday for me to ask questions of, I need to work out in advance what they're expecting of me so I don't waste anyone's time.

Felt That One

Yesterday evening about 8:40 PM, I felt a lurch and the building made noise, sort of like what you might feel if someone slammed a door in your room or the upstairs neighbor had dropped a very heavy load on their floor. I checked, and indeed that was an earthquake, and I dutifully reported it through their system. It was minor from my point of view; nothing damaged, nothing fell off shelves, etc. I might not even have noticed it had I not been sitting quietly at my desk at home.

I'm Outta Here

Astonishingly, the traffic reports again show I-880/I-80 through Oakland and Berkeley to be the quicker route this afternoon than I-680, so I'm on my way. With luck, I'll be in Ashland not too late tonight.

On The Road

It took me two hours to get to Vacaville this week -- twice what it took a week ago. What looked like clear roads on the online traffic map turned into congestion in the time between me logging off and actually getting on the road. Going up I-680 wouldn't have done me much better, unfortunately, as there was apparently an accident on the Benecia Bridge as well.

Including stopping longer than planned to eat at Vacaville, I'm now substantially behind my original schedule, and am going to have to eschew my usual slow-road policy on I-5 in order to make up time and get to Ashland (where my non-refundable hotel reservation awaits me) at a not-too-unreasonable hour. Fortunately, the weather is good and the roads are clear.

Driving along I-5, I saw a sign for Java Stop ("free internet") and since it was at a point where I needed to stop for a diabetic blood test anyway (blood sugar 179 thanks to eating-and-driving without exercise, boo), I got off at Williams and checked mail. Now I must get going. Time's a-wasting, and it's still around 230 miles to go.

Greetings from Ashland

I fairly flew up I-5, so even stopping a couple more times (as I'm wont to do), I got to Ashland only a little bit later than I'd originally planned. After refueling the van (about 3.5 gallons left in the tank, which is cutting things a bit fine -- the gauge was on empty -- but gas is more than 30 cents/gallon cheaper in Ashland than in Weed, which was the most-likely spot before here), I pulled into the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Express at 9:40 PM, 8:35 after leaving Fremont, 377 miles ago, for an average speed of just under 45 miles per hour, which is astounding considering that I stopped five times along the way, once for an hour to have lunch.

( Travel natter )

They have wireless internet here, not wired, but the connection speed is pretty slow. I tried to dial in tonight's Super 14 rugby match, but the connection speed is just too slow to stream the game. No matter: I have one of the other games from overnight downloaded and will watch it over dinner before turning in.