there's never any time!!

I was hoping to have the chance to recap the past six days or so but that will have to wait until I actually have time to sit in front of my computer for longer than 30 minutes without other work to do. Actually I should probably still be doing work but it's late I'm tired. I think the official time of the end of the work day was 10:45 p.m.; it started at 7:30 a.m. and included a two hour drive in the middle somewhere. Good thing I like my job.

I recieved a disturbing phone call from Julia this afternoon. Her cousin and our high school drinking partner Tony was in a really, really bad car accident on Sunday. She told me that it was easier for them to count the un-broken bones than the broken ones. He is very lucky to be alive though he is in very bad shape.

Some lady ran a stop sign and hit his driver door. I later found out that my sister already knew and didn't tell me because she didn't want to upset me. grrrr

Anyway, I have a lot more I want to say but I'm just too tired. It will have to wait until I can find extra time.

Lincoln, NE

I was disappointed that I had to stay in Lincoln, Nebraska instead of heading to Omaha. While in Denver, I met a girl that gave me many tips as to where to go and what to see in Omaha, but what the hell was I going to do in Lincoln. I took a $15 cab ride from my hotel by the airport to anywhere downtown. I was dropped of by the University, walked around the campus for a minute and hit the streets of downtown Lincoln. Finally I found some cool stuff which conveniently included shopping. I found a vintage shop, "the Black Market" which was awesome. It was probably a good thing that I didn't have many dollars otherwise I would have gone overboard. I settled for a new band t-shirt "the lepers". I can never have enough t-shirts!

I wandered around another vintage store and a couple record shops successfully resisting purchasing and then hit the "the watering hole" a favorite to locals and college students alike. I quickly discovered that smoking is banned in all bars in Lincoln, annoying but it kept me from smoking too much for entertainment purposes. I meet some interesting characters as soon as I took my post at the bar. I even got them to shoot some pool with me, good times.

I took a cab back to my hotel around 10p.m., returning with a much better opinion of the city of Lincoln and a handful of new friends.

Work came to early on Tuesday but since we were working at two community colleges, I knew it would be a good time. When we finished around 3p.m. I got in my truck and started driving toward Ohio, I can't wait to get to NY when my long driving days will be over until December.

Will the drive ever end?

No it won't! I made it to Colorado around 9p.m. after sleeping in this morning, which was great by the way. Today's drive was less exciting than yesterday's not that that's a bad thing, no truck troubles and no creepy old guys in truck stops.

I tried to take some pictures during my drive but that effort was officially deemed as unsuccessful, with the possible exception of the following picture. I haven't made a final decision of opinion as of yet but it looks almost surreal to me. What do you think?




I used my usual method to make hotel reservations, call the 1-800# and try to find something in a reasonable location, but tonight I got lucky in my random choice. My hotel is what could easily be a crawl from an Irish Pub. I checked-in, dropped my stuff and immediately went for a cold one. I have yet to find an Irish Pub where I feel out of place.

I want to thank Dave and Kendall for the warm welcoming and great conversation. It's great to run into good people in random places. Check out Kendall's Golden Retriever Bone's blog here



During my stint at the pub, an idea for a reality show surfaced. Imagine this, a hot chick driving a tool truck across the country trying to prove herself in a 98% male dominated industry. May not sound all that interesting to you but you're not the one driving the truck. My blog may give you a decent idea of the things I see and the people I interact with but honestly you have no idea. And to think that I'm just getting started!!

An expensive repair later

They finally finished working on the truck around noon today but that was just the start of the problems. One of the guys I worked with complained to the Garage manager over the phone about the bill because he was quoted 2 hours of labor when we were charged for 3.5. An hour of it was knocked off the bill but I still had to sit through the manager bitching at me like I was the one arguing with him. Not only did this annoy me but I had a hand-full of the ugliest guys I've ever seen talking to my chest for the duration of my waiting time. I guess a low-cut tank top was a bad idea. Forty-five minutes and $600 later I was able to hit the road towards Albuquerque.

I stopped at a truck stop about half-way to refuel on gas and grub. Truck stops are usually a little creepy to begin with but as soon as the guys notice a hot chick getting out of a truck, one better have good ignoring skills. As I was paying at the gas counter, the cashier, a scruffy 50-something male, reminded me not once but twice that they offer free showers to truck drivers. I responded with a polite thanks but no thanks grabbed my change and went straight for the exit. I know he wasn't telling me that because I looked like I needed a shower. Once I got back in my truck I giggled to myself, the dirty old men will cease to surprise me though I wish they'd stop trying.

I was excited to arrive in Albuquerque, I'm really not sure why since I'm just going to get up early and start driving to Denver. I am determined, however, to find some kind of night life, aka the closest bar. I was a little disappointed when I asked my sister to call they guy that she knows in this city to see if he would want to hang out and she refused. That's no fun! At least I'm not shy.

Here's some pics from my drive, I apologize for any of the bug guts from the windshield but it would just be too logical for me to pull over to take pictures.

Why me?

I keep telling myself that my bad luck streak will soon come to an end but as soon as I start believing it something else happens. After an extreme mountain drive from Phoenix to Flagstaff, I discovered my transmission fluid overheated (or something like that). I guess the last time Brian took the truck in they didn't change it so it was overdue anyway. Luckily I found a mechanic that can work on it but not until tomorrow morning. It was a sight to see, me walking down historic 66 in Flagstaff for almost a mile with my backpack, computer bag and purse to get to the Hampton Inn. At least I can laugh at myself and at least I have a nice place to stay with a couch. It's the little things that make me happy. I am a little disappointed that I didn't make it to New Mexico but I have an extra day in my driving schedule to spare. SO much for my first day on the road!


My body was over stocked on caffeine and I couldn't sit still so I hit the elliptical machine in the hotel workout room for about an hour. It helped but not very much, I probably could have stayed on for another hour if I wasn't a smoker.

Other than that, there's not much going on. Flagstaff doesn't seem to be a happening town but I'm sure I can find something in the area to keep me entertained this evening.

Phoenix and Tacoma

We left Vegas around noon on Sunday and headed towards Phoenix. Both of us looked pretty rough but I was feeling ok so far. As the day progressed so did my hangover, Brian took over driving after we stopped for lunch, thankfully. It took us six hours to get to the Phoenix suburbs.




I had the day off on Monday which allowed me to get some paperwork done and hit the mall. I finally bought a pair of prescription sunglasses, which I don't think have left my head since. I'm sure it's not a big surprise when I tell you they are pink and silver. Once again retail therapy proves successful!

Work on Tuesday was miserable. We had an open house from 8 a.m. til about 1 p.m. in the over one hundred degree weather. Unfortunately for us, it is monsoon season in Arizona and the humidity levels have been up to a supposedly 70%. I thought I left that shit behind in Ohio. I was shocked that the first time I encountered rain in my first six weeks on the job was in the desert! We didn't even get any rain while we were in Seattle. It's funny how it works.

Brain flew back to Texas this morning so as of today I am officially an independent road warrior. We went to the Claim Jumper for dinner last night, an excellent choice I might add. After dinner we talked a little about some of the issues I've had lately and Brain helped me gain a new perspective on things. Thanks Brian, I much appreciate it.

At 7 a.m. this morning I drove to Tacoma with one of our reps who happens to be loving life at the ripe age of 71. I was a little nervous about the trip at first but the entire drive was spent telling stories and giving me a crash course in Arizona history.

The gentleman we worked with in Tacoma is also an old car fanatic and was nice enough to give me a tour of his garage. A mint 55 BelAir, 57 Thunderbird and a 68 Malibu all to drool over. I guess he got a great deal on the Thunderbird, half its blue book value, so I tried my hardest to get him to sell it to me while still being very polite. It didn't work, needless to say, but I was ready to hook it to the back of my truck and drive it straight to Ohio, a slight detour on my way to Omaha. I told him that if he did decide to sell it to call me, it only has 55,000 miles, it needs no restoration (all original) and it runs perfect, oh and it's black. I'm still drooling!

I made it back to my hotel in Phoenix around 2 p.m., hung out in the sun for awhile, hit the gym and now I get to run around town for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow I start my long haul to Omaha, a drive I'm spreading over four days or so. To my own surprise, there is no nervousness in my blood as of yet. Just me, my ipod and the open road, enough to make some jealous.

...and I'm hooked

Vegas was awesome! I should from what I can remember, Vegas was awesome. Once I finally upgraded to the blackjack table there was no pulling me away. Kyle and I spent Friday and Saturday doing just that. Saturday we spent the entire night at the Las Vegas club at the liberal 21 table. Two guys from Kansas City joined our table towards the earlier part of the evening and partied with us until we decided to finally walk away. I remember telling Kyle that I wanted to take it semi-easy since a 6 hour drive was in my next morning furture but that went to shit as soon as the first of many rounds of shots was ordered. Good Times!

I am dissappointed that I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked but the dent in my wallet is more than enough proof that I was there. If nothing else it was great to have a fun weekend to help take my mind off other things/people, but that wore off as quickly as the weekend came to an end. Anyway here are som pics.


Kyle & me


a perfect depiction of myself over the weekend


the ever-famous


Kyle w/ hot chick

Losers Circle

Night two on the town and I am a loser thus far, but hey what can you do.

Kyle came to visit only to trigger drama between him and his girlfriend, whom I have never met. One of the reasons she was mad was simply because he is visiting "some bitch" in Vegas. Yeah... I'm such a bitch, I hope that everyone else knows me better. She can call me whatever she wants, but Kyle is my friend and I will not be hateful towards her, I wish she would also be my friend. Actually I believe that if she would meet me that she would like me instead of considering me a threat. (enter laughter here)

We walked through a couple casinos before giving in to the "cold beer" signs at the tourists shops. We continued walking before going to MGM. I felt bad taking a beer in (considered standard) so I chugged my Miller Lite 24 oz. while Kyle took his High Life in with us. I felt so ghetto walking around with a 24 in a little paper bag, how Cincinnati of me. Eventually it will seep into your blood no matter how much you try to fight it.

We played the slots, we're too cheap to play the real games. We both ended up negative, me more than Kyle, but that means tomorrow, it's on; they're not going to get anymore than they've already taken. You may think my optimism is too much but I say it's just enough :-)

another horoscope

Aquarius
Moving up your own personal career ladder could be thrilling -- and yet just a little bit terrifying at the same time. On no account should you beat yourself up for having mixed feelings about being successful. After all, the price of getting what you want is having to deal with ... getting what you want. And while in many ways it's a great thing to achieve so much, it can be stressful, too.

Breaking even is still winning

After finally catching up on work after the six hour drive to Vegas, I debated what to do with myself. Hmm... It didn't take much to convince myself that the best way to keep myself sane and entertained was to hit the strip. We are staying in the Hampton, just across I-15, so I took advantage of the free hotel shuttle and told the driver to just drop me off anywhere he would recommend.

He drove me down most of the strip so I could see where everything was and then dropped me off at MGM. Walking into the casino was eye opening, seriously I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head. I walked around the MGM casino in awe before heading out to the street and checking out the scene.

The outside was cool but the inside was better. I fought the foot traffic and started with the slots at the Monte Carlo. I spent the following four hours bouncing around casinos, playing slots and not losing money. I could have ended my night ahead but I got greedy and broke even. At least I didn't lose anything and got a few free gin and tonics out of the deal.

Today at work, I drove around with a rep to visit many of his clients. All day he gave me pointers as to where I need to go before I leave Vegas. I think I'll have to party hard this weekend (not that I wasn't planning to anyway) to hit them all. I think after the sister trip to New York, Las Vegas should be next. (hint hint)

Kyle is flying in to visit for the weekend, must be nice to fly for free. I had plans to go to Cincinnati this weekend but that was cancelled. Then again where would you rather be? I'll take Vegas!

Catching up

Sorry I haven't been keeping up but I've been moving around so much I just haven't had the time to blog.

Sunday I flew from Cincinnati to Cleveland to Los Angeles. The quick flight to Cleveland was almost traumatizing. I was on a tiny plane that had one seat on either side of the aisle and seated under 20 people. I started feeling sick during the ride but after I got off I thought I would vomit at any second. Luckily I didn't.

We spent Monday working in LA. The city is cool but I expected the skyline to be bigger, then again I was told that it looks much bigger from when you see it from another direction.

Monday night we stayed in Rondando Beach. Our rooms were upgraded so I got a balcony on the 3rd of 3 floors, it was awesome. I was surprised by the cool weather by the coastline, it was only like 65 degrees. Not that I was complaining, it was much better than the 103 degrees we had in Boise.

We worked half a day in LA on Tuesday and then drove to San Diego to work for the rest of the day. We then turned around and started north towards Las Vegas but stopped after 45 minutes on the road to avoid dreaded traffic. We ended up in Temecula, it was a cute little California town but everything shut down at 8 p.m., except Target which closed at 9.

I drove the truck for the first time by myself to make a quick Target run. It was liberating. When I got back to the Hotel I ordered room-service and continued watching Magnolia, which I had started earlier but had to pause because of the multiple phone calls I'd received. I didn't think that I've seen it before but I had, must have been a while ago. I fell asleep before it was over so I have to watch it again.

Wednesday morning I was able to sleep-in for an extra hour or so before we took off for Vegas. I drive the entire what turned out to be a six hour trip, not bad at all.

Hogscraper vs. Johnny Cash

Since I dropped my cigarette on the floor, can I please use your lighter. I hate being in charge of the tunes especially when it's not my music library. I recognized most of the bands, a crazy variety, some good stuff.

I was surprised to find the Hogscraper, a band that has maintained it's negative Andrea status, but I played it anyway. AHH HA HA HA HA HA
I have it on my computer but I will never admit to contributing to their constant spot on my audioscrobbler. Jon decided on Johnny Cash instead.

Not the same as being a tourist

One month ago today I packed up my fancy rental car, drove to Chicago and walked away from the semi-normal life I spent five years developing. At first it seemed almost glamorous, still does to some extent, but the realization of the 'on the road' lifestyle started kicking in.

At the beginning of my six week training session with Brian, I was so intrigued by my presence in unfamiliar territory, I wanted to be a full time tourist. I'm currently working in state five, California, spent the last week in Sacramento and I can't say that I have one picture to prove that I as much as entered the city limits.

After spending a full day on site and a couple hours following on planning and organizing, figuring out the most cost effective way to reach the city center and/or other main attractions was the last headache I wanted to attempt to medicate. I unconsciously conducted a count of my luggage and put Storytelling, the only movie I have in stock, into the DVD drive on my notebook computer. I was home.

The majority of days, I live at the Hampton Inn. Every state, every city, every morning it's the same breakfast and the same coffee, a strange take on the normal morning routine leaving the variation to the time I pour my first cup of the Robust Blend and the city skyline views I pass to and from client and customer visits.

I stayed on the road for the first two weeks. Towards the end of the stint, the excitement of traveling 'home' for the weekend clouded my attention to other tasks. The weekend trek to eastern standard time only came to prove my concept of 'home' as illusionary. I can use my parent's address and have stuff sent to and stored at my sister's place, but my 'home' is nonexistent.

When wondering through the overgrown retail world for entertainment purposes and time killers, I often catch myself considering the purchase of items to decorate the apartment I do not live in and to fill the closet I do not have. I have even considered ingredients for food I could not cook. Sounds pathetic, teasing myself with the 'rewards' society expects from having a real job.

Many business students expect to set up work camp in a cube following their much anticipated graduation date. I was expecting it but it was not something to which I was looking forward, the confines would only result in a strong relationship between my forehead and the sharpie decorated desktop.

I have had my doubts of working in an industry with an employee base that is over 90% male and sometimes the feeling of insecurity that goes along with the lack of solid living arrangements gets a little overwhelming but the chaos and uncertainty proves magnetic.

As the workload constantly increases and the schedule intensifies my yearning for personal freedom becomes more of a reality and my fear of living stagnate dwindles. I don't know if the real world is going to be able to handle me but it doesn't have much of a choice.

Funeral over the phone

I wanted to be there more than anything but that was asking the impossible considering I'm currently in California and didn't have enough cash in my account to buy the tickets or the balls to ask for the time off. I called Bryan just in time for another 'cheers to Kevin', actually it was about 13 seconds late but he still counted it valid.

Bryan was nice enough to bring his phone around to Ryan and Jason (Kevin's older brothers respectively) so I could voice my own sympathy. I know that the words that I had to express where no different than than those expressed all day long but I feel better knowing that they heard it from me directly rather that from a cheezy hallmark card.

The Exact time of of me typing this sentence is 12 a.m. E.S.T and I called Shelly just to say happy B-Day and my phone battery is out of juice. Happy B-day Shelly!!

keeping busy is key

It's just after 10 p.m. and I just finished for the day. I got back to the hotel around 6 p.m. but after being on site all day there was plenty of paperwork and phone calls to keep me busy. I actually wish I had more to do just so I'm not bored. Once I get bored it's all downhill.

Isn't my life just so exciting!!

Tomorrow I'm going to try to do some actual Sacramento exploring, but we'll see.

I'll get into Cincy on Thursday at 10:40 p.m. (I still need a ride if anyone can pick me up) This is going to be my last weekend in the Nati for I don't know how long so as for Thursday and Friday night, it's on!

p.s. I still haven't recieved my missing bag from the airlines, bastards

Back in the west

I didn't say much about being in Portland last week because all I could think about was my trip home for the weekend. I was exuberating with excitement to go back to the nati, I feeling that I never thought I would have so strongly. That went to shit as soon as my plane landed and I got word that Kevin Schutz died. I was proud of myself for keeping my cool until I got in Michelle's car. As so as I got in the car the tears came.

I felt better when I got to Steve's, I was so excited to see him. We went out to dinner and then I went to the Victor Street to hang out with my girls for a while; I should have stayed there. After Steve and I made it most of the way through the movie Mean Girls, we decided to crash. It wasn't until I was ready to pass out that he broke up with me, *ouch*. I didn't know what to say or do so I just grabbed as much of my stuff that I could grab quickly and left in tears.

Luckily I still have my keys for the victor street house, so I dropped off my stuff and headed to Murphy's where my sister was going to meet me to make sure I was OK. I wasn't, I was devastated. I hid by the back bar until they moved us up front, letting friends buy me shots to make me feel better, it didn't work, I was just getting more upset. Michelle took me back to the Victor Street house where Jon picked me up to see if he could cheer me up.

Michelle was a little apprenhensive to let me go with Jon since she was now driving me to Minster in the a.m., as the original plan was to take Steve's jeep. I did talk to Steve for a while on the phone, against all recommendations, probably should have listened. Jon did make me feel much better with his Andrea is the coolest chick ever speeches. Thanks Jon, you're also the coolest.

Saturday while at my parent's house, I had a moment of anger when I looked at my pink and black bracelets covering my right wrist and I tried to rip one off, very unsuccessful. Michelle noticed what I was trying to do and got out the scissors. With tears forming, she cut them off and threw them away. It was almost ceremonial. To make myself feel better and to replace them I bought a really nice green bracelet from the jewelry line that Lisa sells. It was expensive but dammit I deserved it.

Saturday night I originally wanted to go out and have fun, I had been looking forward to going to the light brite festival but was nervous that's I'd run into Steve and it would be weird so Jon and I hung out at his house, I got drunk and passed out early.

Sunday I was feeling a little better and a little less worthless so I invited Steve to go out to breakfast with Sara Aaron and I. I didn't really want to see him but I thought it would be unfair for me to go out with his friends and him not be there, especially since it was Sara's last day in town before her move to New York. Once again I was proud of myself for not getting upset even though I lost most of my appetite.


So much for a fun relaxing weekend. If I thought being burnt out towards the end of last week was bad then I'm afraid how the next few day are going to be. At least I'll be back in Cincinnati Thursday night so I can hang out with friends and pull myself back together.

I made it to the airport just in time, as usual. I walked around in a daze most of the day but I was feeling better until I got to Sacramento and realized that they lost the bag that I checked that contained some important work stuff. This was just too much for one weekend. I made it to my hotel and I cried.