Day Five of PLM at McCrone started much the way the previous four had…except I had to haul all of my luggage over to the parking garage and load up my car. The street that the hotel is on is a one-way affair, and the openings for cars to get in and load up are not openings…they are an OPENING (singular). And it’s next to a bus stop. So I actually began the day on Thursday night by taking stuff I really didn’t need over to the car. In the rain.
Checkout was simple. Gave’em my room number and they said I was good to go. Got my parking violated, I mean validated and I was on my way to the garage. As I went to pay my parking, I noticed that the machine didn’t take Discover. What an interesting discovery. Luckily I had my handy-dandy Visa. $95 later, I was pulling out of my space and onto class. Traffic was light and I didn’t have to use the siren or anything. I’ve got some pictures of the Institute itself, but not anywhere near a computer, so that’ll have to wait.
Friday was sample prep day. Don’t ask me why the last day of the course is the first time we learn how to make slides. It’s not my course. But it was informative and interesting. I made some cross-sections of fibers, and learned that having a good stereo ‘scope and a sharp razor can do some good! Around noon, we called it a day and everyone headed out, almost all to the airport. Not me….I was hitting the road in the Blue Streak. Traffic was really light until I hit the second tool, I mean toll plaza. The attendant in my lane closed it down three cars ahead of me. I think the car that was in the lane broke down, cuz there was a butt-load of fluid underneath it. As I waited for a break in the line that was steadily building beside me, I pondered what would cause someone to leave their car in the toll plaza and not try to move it off to the side where the plaza was closed? Ahhh, far be it from me to try and apply common sense to the situation. Eventually I made it through the plaza and was steaming forth into Gary, IN. Bleah. It was one of those days where it’s too cool for AC, and not too cool for vent or open windows. So I drove around Gary with open windows. Bleah.
The drive south on I-65 was as eventful as 200 miles of open, flat farmland can be. I made it through Indianapolis before rush hour, even given that I gained an hour somewhere on I-65. I didn’t make it to Loiusville, KY before rush hour, however. And there’s only one lane on the bridge that goes to I-64 east. So I pulled a “rush ahead and cut someone off in the exit lane” maneuver. I hate it when people do that to me. About the time I got through Louisville, my headache that started in Gary got worse. So I stopped at the one restaurant that I had not been to since the start of my PLM odyssey. Waffle House. My favorite on the road place to eat. As I ate, I noticed there were several hotels in the immediate area, and called home to say that I thought I’d stay in Louisville for the night. Ahhh, but little did I know that my second favorite travelling companion was about to kick in. Right before I started eating, I downed an orange goody’s powder. Right as I was finishing my headache started to ease, so I thought, “I’ll put in another hour or so, and cut off some time that I have to travel tomorrow.” So I pushed on. Two hours into my “hour” I realized that I was more than halfway home, so I might as well keep going. Then I ran into traffic in Knoxville. I have no idea why two of three lanes were closed, and as I moved 5 miles in one hour, I still didn’t see why. Eventually (10 miles in) I saw that the lanes were closed. Good on ya, Tennessee DOT! It’s all good, though. The iPod was going, I didn’t have to fill up on gas, and HOLY COW I HAVE TO GO UP AND DOWN SOME MOUNTAINS! Luckily for me, I found favorite travelling companion #1 at a rest stop in NC. Wild Cherry Pepsi. That 20oz of heavenly flavor lasted me all the way to Lexington, SC. Never mind that I had to stop twice more to stretch and move around to stay awake. But I made it home at 3am Saturday. I’m guessing at the stats, but here they are anyway: Total time, 14 hours and change; driving time, 12 hours and change; average moving speed, ~70mph; average overall speed, ~60mph. Number of troopers seen: less than 5. I’m not including sheriff’s deputies, but I saw about a dozen of those, mostly in TN (around that traffic backup).
Stuff got: a really good class on PLM, appreciation for mid-sized towns, respect for Chicago cab drivers, a cool black messenger bag, several buttons, a beanie, a harmonica and a key chain from House of Blues, a cool black polo shirt and sleep deprivation.
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