A long drive home.

[vakkotaur]

I'll have more to say about Penguicon itself later, when I get the laptop set up again and have what notes I wrote on it handy.

Yesterday was a long day. After finishing packing and loading the car, jmaynard drove to the Detroit airport. He took the stuff he'd need on the rest of his trip, and I moved to the driver's seat. Getting out of the airport and onto I-94 westbound was easy enough. There was enough fuel left to get me well out of city and so I refueled at some small place and had a light breakfast as well.

XM radio is a very nice thing indeed. I spent most of the trip listening to either old radio shows or to 1940s music. I stopped for fuel again in Michigan City, IN. I wasn't out of fuel by any means, but I remembered Thursday and the construction that I would encounter soon. I wanted to be prepared with a full fuel tank and an empty bladder. Fortunately, being westbound in the morning but after anything-but-rush hour meant things moved along rather quickly.

In Michigan City I also found Maple Nut Goodies, which I knew existed but I had not encountered in some years. I bought a bunch and they (or at least most of them - I might hold just one out for myself) will be among the things I take to RCFM in a month.

I stopped more for water than gasoline. In the evening I had made it to Hwy 218 in Iowa and had just past an exit for Charles City when the fuel warning light came on. I had expected that what the gauge said was 1/8 tank would last a bit longer before the warning light came on. Rather than find out just what the range limit is, I took the next exit and found my way to a Sinclair station. There I filled the tank and looked around and found a couple things I've looking for. One RCFM roommate will be flying in from quite a ways and asked about getting some Jolt, and I finally found some. I had also been looking for Sioux City Birch Beer and found some of that, too. I was getting low on cash so I didn't get much of either but at least I have some. I'll probably check and see if the Sinclair station in Blue Earth also carries Jolt and Sioux City Birch Beer.

Eventually the radio show block repeated, as did the 1940s stuff, so switched to the 1950s and actually didn't too much mind "Matt the Cat" as DJ. I'm not sure I'd care much for Matt's style at any other time, but in the final hours of a long trip, I could deal with it. I got home around 10 PM and managed to back the RX300 in without doing any damage. Between unloading the car, unpacking some things, setting others aside, bringing up the desktop computer, and getting a big stack of mail in, it was closer to 11 PM by the time I got to bed. I found out that Jay's day, unexpectedly, turned out to be longer than mine. Ouch.

I am trying not to use caffeine today, but I might just have some yet.

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I may be a bit tired, but I'm still awake enough to know that the LJ spell checker is screwy when it says that "gauge" isn't a word and suggests "gage" instead.

Comments

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

I ought to go to one of these things, just so I can introduce all the people on my friends list to each other!

evil_phoenixand her husband ext_706 were there - she was at the ER stories panel as well. Also sisucore (MiRF wench) and her guy were there too.

[jim-ghote.livejournal.com]

…so switched to the 1950s and actually didn't too much mind "Matt the Cat" as DJ.
Matt the Cat? It can't be that Matt the Cat from the old WMMS hey days.
Could it?

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

No idea. That's not really something I'd know. A bit of googling shows others have wondered the same and at least one person claims the answer is no.

[jim-ghote.livejournal.com]

If the voice you heard on SatRadio sounds young, then I'd have to say no as well.
The Cat I knew from radio would be in his late 50s~early 60's by now; he was doing a shift on a "prehistoric" rock station before he left for who knows where.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

His voice did not sound old, at least to me, but neither did it sound overly young. It sounded about what one would expect a DJ to sound like, if that makes any sense.

Hmmmmm…

[jim-ghote.livejournal.com]

If I ever have the timing of listening to somebody's XM(?) rig, and he's on, I'll probably know for sure.