Durango

Got up this morning and spent a cold hour wandering around the Pueblo.

Wandered into a restricted area accidently and we were run out.  We didn't see the sign about Kiva.  Uh oh

So we quickly hopped in the car and headed toward Durango

The drive to Durango started simply. 

Then suddenly the mini was traveling through an untouched hwy 64 in several inches of snow.   It's called the lonely highway for a reason.  A 20 mike stretch took an hour 

But we ultimately arrived and found the bar and grill of the Strater Hotel. 

Taos

Spent the morning in Sante Fe.  

Laredo cathedral 

What is that by Mary's feet?

I don't remember alligators in the bible 

But the stair case is beautiful.  Years ago there was no railing 

Rio grande gorge.  Pulled off the road on the way to Taos

Waylon wasn't totally impressed 

But he pretended to love it 

Ten miles west of Taos on hwy 64 the Gorge Bridge was fab.  Froze my ass off getting these pics 

After the Gorge we drove up to Taos Ski Valley 

We reached the top in the mini and it was just us and the snow plow.  The Resort was not opened yet so it was desolate.   It was 32 degrees  and dropping so I took my lil 2 wheel drive car on back down the mtn 

Sante Fe

First stop on the way to Sante Fe.  Stroud, OK.  Rock Cafe 

Big Red Barn

Soda POP

The rest of the way to Sante Fe.  It was a seriously long drive.  

Oklahoma

Leaving Memphis on the bridge over the Mississippi.  The other side is Arkansas 

First stop in Oklahoma is Sequoia's cabin where he lived with his wife Sarah 

 Met up with my friend Ruth and we had dinner at Tally's with her and Carter.  Specialty is the official food of Oklahoma, chicken fried steak 

Route 66

Memphis

Having a Ghost River at the first stop

After having a beer with the ghost of dead hookers. . .

We went to college

This is Ashlee's fave room at Rhodes in the library 

Keep your foot hard on the pedal. Son, never mind them brakes

If the Bandit’s song was:

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin',
we're gonna do what they say can't be done.
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there.
I'm east bound; just watch ol' "Bandit" run.

The NASCAR song should be:

Victory lane bound, driving round in circles
We’ll smoke cigs while Jr. gets er done
We got no where to go and a long race to get there
I’m Nascar bound, just watch that race car run!

Well, all I can say right now is been there done that, and I had the good sense to save my money and walk away without the t-shirt! I was all over the place this weekend, I had more plans than time but I definitely crossed a few things off my list. I’ll keep the items from Friday to myself for the time being, but I’ll share the rest.

Saturday I woke up and hurriedly pulled myself together, racing to get to see Elaine on time so I didn’t miss another hair appointment! I couldn’t wait one more minute. When I first walk into the shop, I usually get either a compliment about looking slim or a suggestion to lay off the bread. This time, it was a healthy diet tip! It amazes me what a difference 3 lbs makes to my beloved French Eliane! I sometimes feel like Andre Smith headed to NFL training camp! Just gotta loose some lbs before I get to training right? DOES this make any sense? No, I’m pretty sure it does not in my case, probably would have been a good plan for Andre though. Well, if Elaine ever goes to a NASCAR event, she might have a heart attack on the spot. I did witness a guy get winded just opening a beer! Too his credit it wasn’t a twist off.

Anyway, my hair was done and it looked lovely, but alas it took a while and I missed the window to get by Dragoncon, at the Civic Center. Dragoncon, btw, is a convention where the lovers of any or all things Scifi come by to share their passion though dress, parades and camaraderie. I was a little sad. I have wanted to go since I moved to Atlanta and after all, I AM dressing as an anime character for Halloween this year. If you have any idea what I am talking about, you can guess who!

So it time for phase 3, and I packed my bag and hit the road toward Hampton, GA for a few days at the Atlanta Motor Speedway with my buddies and girlfriend Jan. Her buddy Wyatt has an RV, as do his best buddies and they gather together at such events, form a compound, drink liquor and smoke cigars. I realized pretty quickly once I arrived that the next few days were going to be a little different from my typical weekend activity. –

***PAUSE for a quick second as I just noticed that Wyatt enters surgery in 5 minutes for a Stent to be implanted in his heart! Quick prayer, one for his quick recovery and a second as a thanks to God for making my friend too tough to be kept down long by such a thing***

So as Wyatt undergoes the knife, I continue to recall the events of two days prior. Saturday night, there is an evening race. 195 laps around a 1.5 mile track. I was kinda enjoying myself until I realized that the race was not going to end before the Alabama game started. I can’t miss the first game, people. Finally it ended and I got back in time to see Alabama tear into VT, actually VT was a pretty strong opponent but we did win in the end.

So, I find out the next day that the big race that evening at the Atlanta Motor Speedway is 325 laps. Do you have any idea how long that takes for cars, even at very high speeds, to travel in circles for 500 miles. - Hint, it’s a really long time - The most interesting part for me was watching the fans. At what seemed to me to be random times, some guy would jump up and start cheering for his driver, kinda like I would if I was hoping for Julio Jones to catch a TD pass! But there was no clear indication of a particular “race changing” event when the cheers erupted, just seemed like a spontaneous outburst. Honestly, im still confused about all that. I was ok until about lap 200 when I realized that they had 125 more to go. I was gonna be sitting there all night and I was not really sure why.

According to my friend Jan, this is the biggest spectator event in the USA. Seriously? I have decided that I like my roommate, BK’s, method of watching racing better. Sit on the couch, fall asleep, wake up for the last 50 laps. Or even better, just catch the highlights from Windtunnel on Sunday night.

What we want

SO, I just realized that finding a job is a lot like dating. You find something that looks interesting and you go on an interview, maybe you will like the person, maybe they will like you, who knows? There are zillions more people in that “organization” that you might or might not mesh with, but you by chance end up sitting across from that one in particular and what happens next is completely dependant on that interchange.

You talk a bit, chit chat . Tell them all your finest qualities, why you are the best “man” for the job. They tell you what all they have to offer and why you would be SO happy with them. The exchange ends, you share a parting gesture, and go about your way.

You drive away evaluating your thoughts. Was there an instant connection, a possible interest? Or was it a definite NO. This happens on both ends, of course.

Maybe you get a call back, a second interview. Maybe you go, maybe you don’t. It all depends. Sometimes you might already have a “job/significant other” to fall back on. Sometimes that is exactly what you are running from. Maybe you don’t really want a “new job” at all and you were just a little bored. Or you don’t have any leads at all right now and you are willing to take the chance on a maybe just to get out and try something new.

Maybe you get the "dream job" and quickly realize that dreams are better left in sleep.

OR . . . you just go back to the drawing board and wait for the perfect fit.