Car Wars

Ok. So i try to get a early start out of Memphis, b/c i plan to drive straight to Dallas today. I get up, rig up my fan to my battery and head out. i knew i should have done some test drives around the block first. my temp was still sky high. i run into a few gas stations to check my water and stuff like that, and i realize...hm. i'm not in the best neighborhood. both gas stations i went to were all barred up around the cashier. and when i used my card to get gas at the pump, why did it ask for my zip code instead of my pin number? totally wierd. and why does NO gas station have bottled Frappachino!!!!? suck.

Somehow, i get on the road. totally later than i wanted to. temp running mid high, no windows open, no a/c running. I talk to D, and he's telling me to put the heat on, so that it takes away the hot air from the engine to help keep my temp cool. thank goodness i got an early start, it wasn't as ass hot as it could have been. i'm worried about the car, so i make it to Hazen, Arkansas and pull into a gas station and call AAA. i'm only getting a fucking busy signal on D's phone. I run into the gas station and ask the guy what the address was, and he's all, "need a tow? my guy Rick is right down the street...he's AAA too" so awesome. he gives him a call, and just so happens, a few minutes later, Rick himself walks in. I 'splain about the car, it needs to be looked at, running hot, etc. and b/c we gotta go thru AAA, i have to call AAA back and get the paperwork done. the guy that had called Rick turned out to be the owner of the gas station, and he was really really nice. Hollis. Hollis in Hazen, AR. thanks dude, if i hadn't come into your gas station, who knows how freakin long i would have been sitting waiting for a tow.

So we get the car to Rick's auto shop, and turns out that my radiator was almost empty of water, and thats it. I had been refilling the other tank, not the radiator itself. sheesh. ok. so i head on back out. Rick and Hollis were very nice, and i'm feeling lucky, or that maybe someone's really watchin out for me on this trip. b/c i had pulled into another gas station on the opposite side of the Hwy, but decided to cross and stop at that certain gas station for some reason.

I pass through, or rather, around Little Rock, it looks like a nice town. i have an old co-woker from my IT days that is in LR, who i would have loved to see, but i know she's out of town on b'ness. and there's an old co-worker from NOLA WF that i would have liked to see, but he already moved too. So i speed on through.

I get SO BORED in the middle of the day. the drive to Texarkana is SO BOOOORING. bored. bored bored. i've run through all the Sirius radio stations, and even put in my Harry Potter book on cd, and i was STILL BORED.  i thought i was gonna die, and its still so early in this trip. i shouldn't be tired of driving noow. but somehow i get through it and make it to Dallas. FINALLY. I roll into town, and i finally get to meet up with the Noo and Janet. i can't say how freaking cool it is to meet these bitches. Mary greets me with beer (mmm Beck's light.) and Vodka. then we go out to meet Janet and have mexxican food and margs. mmm margaritas. i have to say, my drinking has vastly improved in my time in Auburn.

Pixel and Dusty, Mary's dog are totally best friends. they run around and around and around with each other. its so awesome. Pixel is so happy to be able to run and play with another dog after being cooped up in a car for two days straight. She didn't have any other pup friends in Auburn either, so she's having the best time playing with dusty. sheesh. its 12.30pm, and they have been at it since 6am, and they are finally ready for a nap. Pixel really does antagonize Dusty though. she's such a brat.

of course there's car issues. my poor ride. we drop off the car at the car place here in Dallas, and come to find out, my radiator is leaking, and it needs to be replaced. woo. i guess that would 'splain why it was practically empty in Hazen. i mean, when is a radiator ever empty?
unless it leaks. and i just got it flushed too, in Auburn when i had the whole thing tuned up and stuff. whatever. better i find out that ish now than in the effing middle of the desert. i would actually die. die, if that happened. so i'm chillin here with the pups and satellite tv. its a nice break from driving.

a bizarre thing happened last night: when i closed my eyes to go to sleep, it was as if i was back in my car. i saw huge semi trucks passing in my periphery and then zooming ahead of me. it was *exactly* as if i was back in my car. totally wierd. how do people drive for 14 hours at a time? 10, and i'm seeing trucks behind my eyelids already.

i figure i'll chill here in Dallas for a bit, and when i sober up, i'll head out to Oklahoma City, and get on with the rest of my trip.