Oma's Trip ~ 02/11/03 Dateline: New Orleans, LA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OK... I'm in "planning stage" for my return trip. I'm thinking to leave here on 2/19, 2/20, or 2/21 and will have to take the "southern route" home because the weather is still kinda nasty in CO, WY, MT, and ID -- and will probably stay that way for another month at least... so it's I-10 west from Louisiana and haven't quite figured out the whole route yet... MAYBE just go I-10 til I see a sign that says "I-5 NORTH" and hang a right... Had my trusty '82 Subaru checked ut last week and it's good go go... tires are fine... oil and oil filter changed. I'll rent a mini storage place here for all stuff that won't fit in my car -- stuff I've accumulated since I got here -- stuff that I might be able to use when I come back next Winter. Stacey will have a key so that anybody who needs/wants anything can get to it. Say "road trip" real fast and it sounds easy... I plan to update this page and also do my e-newsletter (The Alumni Sandstorm) every day on the trip, so here's the process I go thru as soon as I arrive at the motel for the night... after check in.... FIRST THING: Let my puppy, Pepper, out take her for a little walk around the motel parking lot - look for a patch of grass and see if she has any business she needs to take care of... and then get her settled in the room... I can usually hook her leash to the toilet paper holder in the bathroom while I unload the car.... THEN UNLOAD THE CAR Suitcase over night necesseties, Pepper's food and water, drag out the laptop (and of course, all that goes along with the laptop -- the portable/external zip drive, the power supply, various CDs and zip floppys, all the cords that go along with all that, mouse, mousepad, and maybe some other stuff I can't think of right now).. Get everything plugged in -- including the phone cord... find the local access number for earthlink and see if I can establish a connection to the internet (that never DID happen in Salina, KS on my way down here -- have a coupon for one free night at Motel6 because of that). Getting connected to the internet can sometimes be the most time consuming part of the whole deal)... Once I'm online, I'm likely to STAY online for a while cuz I'll download the day's messages that have been building up while I drive... and then take care of anything that needs attention -- have to update websites (including Oma's page -- lotsa people out there WAITING for the daily Oma's page update so they can relax for the night) and sometimes have to change an email address on a website -- or change a Sandstorm address and let the class webmaster know about the change).... I put all the Sandstorm entries in a separate folder as I'm going thru the incoming email until I'm ready to put it all together... Got to eat dinner sometime... this is where someplace close the the Motel6 would be cool... I can leave what I'm doing, go eat, and then get back to it... but if that doesn't happen, I have cheese, triscuits and Power Bars OR if I can find a Burger King or McDonald's close by, I'll do that... and then go there on my way OUT of town in the morning, too for sausage/egg croisant or McMuffin (my favorites!). Then somewhere around 11pm or so, I start to put the Sandstorm together... get that all finished, and (just after midnight) post it on the Alumni Sandstorm website and send it to the NetAtlantic folks so they can distribute... then do some back up so I can shut down. When I'm at home, I usually stay online and do other stuff... maybe get a start on the next day's Sandstorm formatting... but when I'm on the road, I GOTSA sleep so I can be bright eyed and bushy tailed to drive the next day... AND... I do nicotine, too!!! All the while all the above is going on... There's so many people who don't these days... If I stay with someone who doesn't smoke, I go outside to smoke occasionally -- which just adds to the time it takes me to get everything done so I can sleep... I can smoke in the Motel6 and they also allow animals, so my Pepper isn't a problem... plus lots of them even have a separate line for internet access which is cool... My plan for next year (which was really the plan for this winter, too, but it didn't happen) is to get a class "C" mini motor home... call it The Alumni SandstorMobile or maybe Oma's Hot Rod and have the laptop all hooked up all the time, so I won't have to deal with that... when that gets all set up, I'll seriously consider friends' DRIVEWAYS en route *GRIN*... and then just plug in to power and phone for the night...