I really need to take a vacation. But I hate to take time off and do nothing; makes me feel like I’ve wasted the time off. But, what to do? In my younger days, I used to throw the tent, sleeping bag, and camping gear in the truck, pick a direction, and just drive. Made it down to Myrtle Beach one year, which would meet with Cokie Robert’s approval, and found myself at a Preakness Party in Maryland another year (I didn’t make it to the track, but I didn’t really care). Of course I’ve headed the other direction a bunch of times, too, and made my way to the Adirondacks and Canada, among other places.
Spent several summers down on the Jersey shore with a friend of mine, too. Even got to replace my starter in a campground one year (always travel with your tools; that’s my motto), only to have the fan belt break literally moments later (traction cord and duct tape got me about half way to a parts store; always have a spare set of belts; that became my second motto).
But that was long ago, and I really don’t think I’ve done much of anything (except what other people have wanted to do) in quite a few years. So, I’m open for suggestions. What’s something relatively cheap that a person can do on his own for a week or so? A person who aint a kid anymore, that is. Just the daydream alone might help get me through another Monday.
Monday is a mess
I had a friend who lived by the beach who told me to bring my GF’s Chrysler Newport down and we would replace the starter and save some $s.
Sadly, the thing was frozen on and it took us 8 hours to get it replaced. When we were done, we went into his house to watch some Sunday night network TV and he made some popcorn. I cracked a molar on an unpopped kernel and had to get it fixed the next day. Later I paid $600 to get the tooth crowned.
We saved that $60 in labor and now I guess at least I can say I own gold.
More Antoine
pj- Just reassure me that this wasn’t a (not so subtle) message that Fred (dy’s) is :reaper: 😮
What’s the budget for your week long get-a-way?
I did not even think of that, art. I thought pj was just raking in some placement money for knit hats. :knit: :knit2:
It was also 8.13.90 when Curtis was paralyzed by lighting equipment that fell on him while performing in Brooklyn.
THIS JUST IN- Cokie repeated her idiotic Hawaii exotic foreign vacation slam on O”Bama, enhanced even, on NPR this morning. :fu: Where’s my gun?
Oh, no, I just had that song in my head. Maybe because Bernie and Isaac died over the weekend. Not that either one of them was pushin’ dope for the man.
I don’t really have a budget. Probably can’t afford to spend a week in a hotel. I mean, I could I guess, but I wouldn’t spend money on that.
Problem is, it’s been so long since I’ve done something I wanted to do that I don’t even know what it is I like to do anymore.
I guess I’ll just save up my time until I max out.
Sorry for bringing up such a dark thought- big imagination with nowhere to go 😯
I’ve got a couple of suggestions:
-The only non-in-law related trip I’ve taken to New York was to this place outside of Albany http://www.theabode.net/. I was pretty involved with these people about ten years ago after I was finished destroying my first marriage. It’s right on the border of western Mass. It’s a little like going back in time and getting in touch with what little there was of true spirituality in the sixties. You wouldn’t have to participate in anything but you might just kind of experiment with what’s offered. In any case, it’s a pretty cheap place to be in the woods, have a roof over your head and not have to worry about food. It might have some possibilities for you to chill out.
– Secondly, what about Vegas? Of course it’s as artificial and cheesy as you’ve heard but it’s cheesy on a massive scale. You’re so overloaded with stimulation, it’s like taking a drug. Also, you might see some great music. Here’s some examples of who’s going to be there in the next month- Gladys Knight, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, Chris Rock, Lewis Black- http://visitlasvegas.com/vegas/special-offers/vegas-right-now/index.jsp You could get a great deal for three days, eat some free food (some of it’s not too bad) and see a great show. What the hell, embrace the dark side.
I’ve gone both places by myself , learned a lot and enjoyed both on some level.
Definitely not Vegas for me. The Berkshires are really nice, though.
Storms all night here (all day, too, it looks like). That means one unhappy dog, and no sleep for me. This is going to be a long Monday.
Goddamnit! I couldn’t find my Isaac Hayes CD at home last night. Came into work hoping it was stashed in a desk drawer, but no such luck. Brought the South Park Chef Aid CD instead, figuring it would be better than nothing.
Just my luck, I was hoping for Shaft, but all I can have are Chocolate Salty Balls.
Also brought the Alkaline Trio’s Goddamnit. Just for symmetry.
Damn right, Kevin
In my younger days, I used to throw the tent, sleeping bag, and camping gear in the truck, pick a direction, and just drive.
I moved to Colorado that way, I just packed up the truck and left.
One year, I picked up my National Geographic National Parks book, thumbed through it, and picked out Pt. Reyes National Seashore and booked a flight. Showed up at the airport and tried to check my backpack with my canteens, coffee pot, boots, tent, sleeping bag and whatnot tied to it. The ticket agent shook her head and said “you can’t check that!”
So she gave me some boxes and I put all my extraneous shit in there and checked in (back in the day, flying wasn’t the nightmare it has become). Then when I got to the San Francisco airport, I tied all the shit back on and started walking.
That was only a year after I’d fractured my T-10 vertebra when I rolled my pickup. Ah, to be young again….
That was you, pj? That was some ‘coffee pot’! :bong:
I’ll be going to Cape Cod next weekend. It’s only cheap for me because I’ll be staying with in-laws. Our treat will be an overnight in Mystic, CT at a B&B. The road trip can be fun.
Salon’s guide to cheap American beer. Kind of like a trip down memory lane for me, though they don’t mention Carlin Black Label, and, sadly, Piels Real Draft (in the keg can) has gone to beer heaven.
Used to get the Piels on sale at the IGA for $1.99 a case (yes, case) back in the day. Once you had ’em on ice for a while, you could slam ’em right down. Or you could “shoot” ’em, but we preferred to shoot the PBR tall boys.
pj, I had brunch yesterday with some friends who had just spent a few nights on a farm near San Luis Obispo and they did farm chores and milked sheep and goats. Probably paid handsomely for it.
Maybe there is a similar experience at a microbrew/B&B somewhere (or maybe we should start one).
Bed and Brewing?
Brew and Bedding?
OMG, fire it up, BHO haters. Still 2 weeks to go. HRC can win!
Wolfson: Edwards’ Cover-up Cost Clinton the Nomination
guess her oppo team loses a little cache in the next few prime months.
and Cokie blows on
Yeah, I read that. Of course, both Obama and Clinton decided to take Edwards’ positions on just about everything. So who knows what positions they’d have come up with without him in the race? And certainly the very serious Washington pundits would have frowned and said that Edwards’ affair reflected poorly on Clinton.
Then again, had Edwards admitted his affair in 2006, it would have been old news by Iowa. Hell, he might have even been helped by the revelation, as it could have made him a “regular guy” instead of a “pretty boy.” I mean, Maureen Dowd might have been aghast yet intrigued by him instead of dismissive and, well, whatever the hell it is that Maureen Dowd is.
So, I think you can clearly say that had Edwards not covered up his affair, Clinton would have been out of the race much sooner.
That’s the best part about if; you can make things come out any way you want.
I still want to know what would have happened if Ernie Davis not died of leukemia and the Cleveland Browns had him and Jim Brown in the backfield together.
Deep ‘cuse!
If he had come clean in ’06, they could have been the next Clintons.
Don’t Tase Me, GOP!
Local activists and media say that the department ordered 230 stun guns in late February — adding to the 140 already in its possession — in preparation for protests at the upcoming Republican National Convention (RNC), which St. Paul will host from Sept. 1 to Sept. 4.
I still want to know what would have happened if Ernie Davis not died of leukemia and the Cleveland Browns had him and Jim Brown in the backfield together.
Comment by pjsauter — August 11, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
My childhood would have been a lot different because my dad probably would have ponied up for season tix, and I would have been the envy of all my friends. To this day he loves his Browns, despite no championships since ’64.
Gmail is being a pain. Temporary Error (502)- Server error
Mmmmm Sewage :40: :crap:
Yeah Travis, I was getting that too! Stupid gmail!
PJ, perhaps you should have asked Cokie the Hag for vacation suggestions. She seems to be in charge with what is American and what is foreign, like some of our states.
Personally, the most vacation fun I’ve had recently was digging up trilobite fossils in Utah. Within a 50 mile radius of Delta Utah there are places to find trilobites, sunstones, geodes and topaz and I’m told that the Chesapeake Bay has locations where you can find ancient shark teeth. There are also mines where you can dig for gem stones all over the Lower 48. I think the internet tubes would yield some info.
Interesting. The best time I’ve ever had in my entire life was in Utah (odd as that may sound). My friend’s sister (known them both since I was in fourth grade) was a geologist living out in Moab, and her significant other was a white water rafting guide out there. So we got two other guides and ten or so of us spent 10 days rafting from the Green River down to the confluence of the Colorado River, and there into Lake Powell. Floating down the river, surrounded by four-thousand foot high red canyon walls with three rafts loaded to the gills with food, beer, booze and :bong: . No agenda, so we could just pull over whenever we saw something interesting (like thousand year old petroglyphs and ancient Indian structures), camping out under the stars – I remember sleeping on a ledge with a rock wall on one side and a few hundred foot drop on the other, hearing the water below lap against the canyon wall as if it was two inches away….
I can’t do it justice here, but it was an amazing trip. Inspired me to quit my job and change careers.
Dear campaign in the ass Democrats,
Why are you NOT making the Republicans run on their record. The Republican fiscal policy since 1981 has been a disaster for the United States economy. Out sourcing our government services has produced huge deficits and third rate services. Our education system is in shambles as is our infrastructure, health care system, retirement system and military. Republican deregulations, tax breaks for the rich and other policies have destroyed our position among nations and stolen trillions of dollars from the American people. Republicans have claimed the moral high ground while bringing a level of corruption and deceit to our country at levels never imagined.
And yet you and other Democrats sit on your asses and don’t force these criminals to defend their policies and actions where every voter can see Republicans at their worst – in the media. You are not showing me any reason you might be better than McCain. Don’t just stand their responding to the old man’s feeble attacks – fight. And fight ALL Republicans, not just one white-haired psycho.
Signed,
NC Blue
Calm down, NC Blue! They still need to figger out how to satisfy the CLINTONS. Then maybe they can begin to move on to McCain and beyond.
:fist: NC Blue. I hope someone is listening to you.
Good post NC Blue- you outa’ be in charge of some national media outlet. :fist:
It’s taken me awhile to figure out what’s going on in Georgia and who did what. Here’s a quote from a story about their bush-aligned president that told me everything I needed to know.
“We have an idiot president,” said Marika, 40, a physician, who wouldn’t disclose her surname. “He ruined our country and that’s his idiotic politics.”
artnorton, re 2 … I thought the same thing so thanks for asking PJ…
I just hope that it is not a “sign” about dear :pirate: :hubba: Fred. 8) “dude”… :knit: :fist: :gate:
A!I!V!
Olbermann had this guy on last week, a sports statistician applying his craft to politics. Forgot about him until Jill referenced him in a blog about the fantasy a Hillaroid is having about Edwards costing her Iowa and the nomination. Even Andrea Mitchell was laughing that one off today on Hardball.
If nothing else, they probably should be kicking themselves in the butt for not coming up with this oppo to bury Edwards themselves.
Another good one from B @ B
AT LEAST 3 STRIKES AGAINST Sen. Clinton, thus I speak on Blog (usually after 2 or 3 Strikes). Say what you will but Hill would have been President Dem-elect had it not been for Edward’s LIES … and now my City is swallowing the continuance of Obama as when VERBALLY DEMANDING Gore to step-away and GAVE TO BUSH of :crap: 🙄
… :pirate: :reaper: A!I!V! :reaper: :dancers: OMEGA