Personal Dork Assistant

Long Way Home

Perversely ended up heading out right into the teeth of the afternoon commute. Crawled along with all the worker ants for an hour before getting out of San Diego. Stopped by at the La Mirada In-n-Out for a quick bite. First time I ever saw someone order a burger Protein Style, but she also had a double-order of fries, so I don't know what the hell her deal was.

I always forget how big LA is until I hit San Clemente and keep going until Castaic 2.5 hours later and it's totally urbanized all the way. Even after waiting a day, it was snowing at the peak of the Grapevine and we had to crawl slowly over the pass around the stuck tractor-trailers. It was kinda funny watching the BMW in front of me spin his wheels as he tried to accelerate as my Accord crept up behind him. Tried to go around him, but once my tires left the clear strip of asphalt I could feel my tires slip, so I had to wait until the beamer got a grip.

Once I got down into the Central Valley it was smooth sailing, as there wasn't as much traffic at night, so I could set the cruise control and concentrate on staying awake. Got brave and stuck the Etys in my ear after I got out of the Grapevine. It was nice to not have to deal with wind noise. I think it actually made it easier to concentrate on the road. I wouldn't do it in dense traffic, though.

Funniest thing I heard on KNBR while driving: an ad for a charity which starts out, "Hi, this is Rich Gannon, and between throwing Hail Mary passes for the Oakland Raiders..." The humor is left as an exercise for the reader.

Got in at 2:30am. A hot shower and a warm bed made things all better. Just in time, too. It's suppose to get ugly again tomorrow.