Sunday: Going Home
Jul. 21st, 2003 08:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsWe wake up early and take a quick shower. As Omaha puts it, "You're pungent." Charming. By the time we're dressed and ready to go, her grandmother (Kouryou-chan's great-grandmother) is up and looking through the packet of photographs we had left for her. She adores all of them. We leave two copies of the CD with her; one for her and one for her Aunt. (The one with a hand-made "American Needs God" button prominently dead-center of her blouse. Remember her?)
Omaha's grandmother makes the first decent cup of coffee I've had this entire trip. Kept calling the beans "gourmet" and suddenly I realize that I live in a coffee heaven if even the beans at work are better than what mainstream drinkers are quaffing down here.
Then we're on the road. My breakfast is a banana and some milk. Omaha and Kouryou-chan fare better with doughnuts for their milk, but it's a long, long drive to Tampa, especially through the dark heart of Florida. The billboards become alarming as we drive. I counted on one ten-mile stretch fourteen billboards for churches; eleven billboards for retirement homes; four billboards for "personal injury attorneys"; four for "pro-life" causes; and one selling tires. And there are churches indeed everywhere. The pro-life ones start to tick me off: "Aren't you glad your mother chose life?" It's not a question than can be answered yes or no, because it rests on a meaningless premise: if you didn't exist, you would be upset about it.
We pass by a pickup with a business sign: "Lisa's Oversized Load: Personal Pilot and Escort Services." Y'know, I really am curious as to what they sell.
We eventually get to Tampa, where we stop at a mall to have lunch. And I see a man who's got troubles. I joke about how hard it will be, when Kouryou-chan starts dating boys seriously, to not wring myself insane with fatherly worries. This guy... twins. Exotically beautiful, part Asian, long hair straight down the back, barely sixteen twins. Wearing hip-hugging jeans, wide attention-dragging belts, and tight, white shirts that only go over one shoulder, heavily decorated with glitter to drag the eye to their chests. Oh, and each's shirt goes over a different shoulder, the belt over a different hip: they're mirror images of each other.
What was the age of consent in Florida again? Heh. Just kidding. Besides, their parental unit looks like the type to own a shotgun. Double-barelled, in this case, of course.
We leave the mall in a hurry and head to the airport, where everything goes more or less smoothly. We check in, get our bags down, head for the airport. We're a half-hour early, so we stop by a Starbucks to suck down some bandwidth and make some posts, then get on the flight to Atlanta.
We transfer in Atlanta. I cannot believe on a five hour flight that there's one in-flight snack and a pop. I am never flying Delta again. The in-flight movie is Down With Love, which looks cute enough I might rent it (Renee' Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, David Hyde Pierce, Toni Randall, Jeri Ryan... nifty cast), but I am not paying five bucks to watch it on the airplane. I dive into Banks's Use of Weapons instead.
Goddess, I can't believe how sweet and wonderful Kouryou-chan has been the whole flight. She got restless and bored about halfway through the Atlanta to Seattle leg, and after I read four stories to her (Frog and Toad; thank you again,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fallenpegasus, those tales are wonderful!) and gave her a pillow she passed right out.
Poor little girl. This is really going to mess up her sleep schedule.
fallenpegasus met us at the airport and drove us home, circumventing the need for a cab. Miraculously, our luggage is among the first off, we easily find our ride, and Kouryou-chan wakes up just enough to walk to the car.
At home, we find the cat well and we owe the cat-sitter some money. She did a really excellent job of maintaining the household, especially with our poor old kitty. We discover that Wednesday ants had invaded the kitchen, but the cat-sitter took care of them with some spray and moved the catfood into another room, putting the food in a bowl in a frying pan to make a moat the ants can't cross. Smart thinking. I'm surprised they don't manufacture bowls like that in the first place.
We find another ant invasion underway, this time a minor one in the living room. They're going after a large bug of some kind that had died on top of the case filled with dishware. More vacuuming, more bugspray, and then we just go to bed. I don't even bother to turn on my computers downstairs. I just crash. It's so wonderful to nobe able to sleep in my own bed, with clean sheets (we changed them just before we left) and a nicely aired-out mattress. We must have brought some Florida with us; this hot and muggy weather is just too much, but the fan does an adequate job. I must have fallen asleep within ten minutes of hitting the pillow.
Omaha's grandmother makes the first decent cup of coffee I've had this entire trip. Kept calling the beans "gourmet" and suddenly I realize that I live in a coffee heaven if even the beans at work are better than what mainstream drinkers are quaffing down here.
Then we're on the road. My breakfast is a banana and some milk. Omaha and Kouryou-chan fare better with doughnuts for their milk, but it's a long, long drive to Tampa, especially through the dark heart of Florida. The billboards become alarming as we drive. I counted on one ten-mile stretch fourteen billboards for churches; eleven billboards for retirement homes; four billboards for "personal injury attorneys"; four for "pro-life" causes; and one selling tires. And there are churches indeed everywhere. The pro-life ones start to tick me off: "Aren't you glad your mother chose life?" It's not a question than can be answered yes or no, because it rests on a meaningless premise: if you didn't exist, you would be upset about it.
We pass by a pickup with a business sign: "Lisa's Oversized Load: Personal Pilot and Escort Services." Y'know, I really am curious as to what they sell.
We eventually get to Tampa, where we stop at a mall to have lunch. And I see a man who's got troubles. I joke about how hard it will be, when Kouryou-chan starts dating boys seriously, to not wring myself insane with fatherly worries. This guy... twins. Exotically beautiful, part Asian, long hair straight down the back, barely sixteen twins. Wearing hip-hugging jeans, wide attention-dragging belts, and tight, white shirts that only go over one shoulder, heavily decorated with glitter to drag the eye to their chests. Oh, and each's shirt goes over a different shoulder, the belt over a different hip: they're mirror images of each other.
What was the age of consent in Florida again? Heh. Just kidding. Besides, their parental unit looks like the type to own a shotgun. Double-barelled, in this case, of course.
We leave the mall in a hurry and head to the airport, where everything goes more or less smoothly. We check in, get our bags down, head for the airport. We're a half-hour early, so we stop by a Starbucks to suck down some bandwidth and make some posts, then get on the flight to Atlanta.
We transfer in Atlanta. I cannot believe on a five hour flight that there's one in-flight snack and a pop. I am never flying Delta again. The in-flight movie is Down With Love, which looks cute enough I might rent it (Renee' Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, David Hyde Pierce, Toni Randall, Jeri Ryan... nifty cast), but I am not paying five bucks to watch it on the airplane. I dive into Banks's Use of Weapons instead.
Goddess, I can't believe how sweet and wonderful Kouryou-chan has been the whole flight. She got restless and bored about halfway through the Atlanta to Seattle leg, and after I read four stories to her (Frog and Toad; thank you again,
fallenpegasus, those tales are wonderful!) and gave her a pillow she passed right out.Poor little girl. This is really going to mess up her sleep schedule.
fallenpegasus met us at the airport and drove us home, circumventing the need for a cab. Miraculously, our luggage is among the first off, we easily find our ride, and Kouryou-chan wakes up just enough to walk to the car.At home, we find the cat well and we owe the cat-sitter some money. She did a really excellent job of maintaining the household, especially with our poor old kitty. We discover that Wednesday ants had invaded the kitchen, but the cat-sitter took care of them with some spray and moved the catfood into another room, putting the food in a bowl in a frying pan to make a moat the ants can't cross. Smart thinking. I'm surprised they don't manufacture bowls like that in the first place.
We find another ant invasion underway, this time a minor one in the living room. They're going after a large bug of some kind that had died on top of the case filled with dishware. More vacuuming, more bugspray, and then we just go to bed. I don't even bother to turn on my computers downstairs. I just crash. It's so wonderful to nobe able to sleep in my own bed, with clean sheets (we changed them just before we left) and a nicely aired-out mattress. We must have brought some Florida with us; this hot and muggy weather is just too much, but the fan does an adequate job. I must have fallen asleep within ten minutes of hitting the pillow.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-07-21 09:15 am (UTC)As for the airlines: Don't you know it stands for Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport? I swore off Delta some years ago after encountering three busted aircraft within two segments... don't ever fly Delta.
*makes some disparaging remarks about the stuff designers put out these days... and about the parents who allow their kids to wear such things.... *
no subject
Date: 2003-07-21 11:10 am (UTC)Still, I can see those twins as rigged for some special occasion, and over here 16 would be old enough. It's when I can't tell which school they go to that I worry (local primary school, distant secondary school, so you can work it out on school days by when they're rushing past with bags of books, but otherwise...).
Sounds to me like they could be having fun with being twins. There are worse things for a parent to worry about.
...
Date: 2003-07-21 12:13 pm (UTC)Me, I'm glad I was a planned pregnancy. All the choosing had already been done by the time my exact genetics were brewed up.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-21 03:33 pm (UTC)Oversized trucks must be escorted by smaller vehicles and have appropriate signs and warning flags. If the truck is too large in one or more dimensions or is carrying certain unusual hazardous materials (or both) it must have a special movement permit to use the public roadway and an additional pile of special signage, plus advance notification to local law enforcement and/or the fire department. The permit paperwork can be arcane.
Typical loads include live trees, electrical transformers, industrial machinery, houses, aircraft.
The typical problem is excessive height (above 14'), which is where the "pilot" part comes in . . . a person who knows to the inch what the actual clearance height of each and every bridge and overpass is on a certain route, and any tricky ways to "get around" particular unpleasant obstacles using side streets or alternate routes.
It sounds like Lisa specializes in escorting oversized vehicles and arranging for these permits.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-22 02:58 am (UTC)"Dammit, you've ruined a perfectly good discussion by posting FACTS!"
...in other words, the sign was funnier without the explanation. ;) But it's interesting nonetheless. (and useful, if I ever plan on uprooting my house and trees and moving them somewhere else)
no subject
Date: 2003-07-21 03:48 pm (UTC)ants and cat food
Date: 2003-07-22 11:41 pm (UTC)