Drive to Jacksonville.
Aug. 17th, 2011 06:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsThe next day we had lunch with the grandparents and then drove out, headed for Jacksonville. Other than a big chunk of the freeway basically not existing but for gaily colored construction equipment (who dyes their backhoes bright pink?), there wasn't much to see. We were driving through the heart of Florida. It was very gothic, lots of farmland and horses and billboards. There were fewer attorneys along this stretch, but Omaha noticed a very disturbing pattern after a while: one sign for "Join the Marines," two signs for sleazy bookstores, and then one for a retirement home.
As far as I can tell, in this farm country, if you don't join the Marines, your alternative is to stay and there ain't many women, so they've got a big supply of wank. If you live long enough, you might get to play golf if your artifical hip will let you.
There are no helmet laws in Florida, and there are dozens of old guys (i.e. my age) riding around with long hair and wrap-around goggles and no helmets. It's kinda weird looking. Also saw two twenty-something couples go buy on two bikes, and only one girl was wearing a helmet. Nobody wears road armor; hard to blame them when the afternoons are 98F (37C).
Passed a sign for "Jack's Junk Food Joint." Yeaaaahhh... I'd want to eat there.
They must be desperate for sysadmins here. I passed a huge billboard with a cartoon alligator. "DO YOU KNOW LINUX? WE'RE HIRING!" It was for HostGator. It felt surreal. Well, if I ever move back, at least I know I'll have a job.
We got into Jacksonville late, found the hotel. It's a Radisson, and we are most displeased. First, the WIFI sucked. We complained. It got better. I am under the impression they said, "Oh, family of four. They don't need WIFI. If they do, the second-floor nodes, where all the business people are, will be enough." It wasn't. Apparently, "Family of four with nine WIFI-enabled devices" (2 laptops, 3 Nooks, 1 iPod, 1 iPhone, 1 iPad, and a Palm T|X) is still pretty weird around here.
I stayed up late and finished, for the first time, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
As far as I can tell, in this farm country, if you don't join the Marines, your alternative is to stay and there ain't many women, so they've got a big supply of wank. If you live long enough, you might get to play golf if your artifical hip will let you.
There are no helmet laws in Florida, and there are dozens of old guys (i.e. my age) riding around with long hair and wrap-around goggles and no helmets. It's kinda weird looking. Also saw two twenty-something couples go buy on two bikes, and only one girl was wearing a helmet. Nobody wears road armor; hard to blame them when the afternoons are 98F (37C).
Passed a sign for "Jack's Junk Food Joint." Yeaaaahhh... I'd want to eat there.
They must be desperate for sysadmins here. I passed a huge billboard with a cartoon alligator. "DO YOU KNOW LINUX? WE'RE HIRING!" It was for HostGator. It felt surreal. Well, if I ever move back, at least I know I'll have a job.
We got into Jacksonville late, found the hotel. It's a Radisson, and we are most displeased. First, the WIFI sucked. We complained. It got better. I am under the impression they said, "Oh, family of four. They don't need WIFI. If they do, the second-floor nodes, where all the business people are, will be enough." It wasn't. Apparently, "Family of four with nine WIFI-enabled devices" (2 laptops, 3 Nooks, 1 iPod, 1 iPhone, 1 iPad, and a Palm T|X) is still pretty weird around here.
I stayed up late and finished, for the first time, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
