Chores

You know I have had a number of chores that I’ve needed to do this week and most of them are still on the to-do list.  But one thing that I have realized as I constantly have to justify postponing doing them, is that certain chores have to be done at certain times during the day.  Now I have not made an exhaustive list due to the busyness of my schedule, but here are some that I thought of off of (weird three word combo) the top of my head.  Cleaning must be done during the day; it is most efficient when done at midmorning and even better when on Saturday.  One cannot clean after midnight though, its not allowed.  Thank you notes have to be written by natural sunlight.  Packing must be done at night.  One cannot pack while it is still light outside, it has to be done late the night before and the later the better.  Of course when I really consider these I guess you can do them whenever, however, placing time boundaries on them helps me in the justification of my procrastination.

These things I noticed

Now when you drive for 3600 miles in a matter of simply six days, it does not take a person with astute powers of observation to notice a few peculiar items.  I tried to remember a few of these and compile them into a nice list for all to enjoy.  So these are the things I noticed while driving from Missouri to Montana and back, once in the middle of the night, the other time in a two day stretch.

• people stop waving to you east of South Dakota
• there is the same amount of traffic in South Dakota at rush as there is at 3 am
• the midwest has rest stops with wireless internet, South Dakota has rest stops with giant teepees
• there is a word in the English language with two double a’s: its somewhere in eastern Montana
• people really will speed up when you try to pass them as proved by two minnusoetuns and a nort dakoetun
• some gas pumps are really slow
• the average distance between green signs letting you know how far to the next city is 8 miles
• those same green signs are also unreliable, or I was driving backwards at one point on my trip
• you could take a picture of the road in South Dakota with barren wasteland on either side and if you stared at it for five hours you could receive an honorary award for having driven across SD
• even when telling a joke to yourself, its all in the delivery
• everything has to be transported somehow as proved by the strange loads on some semis
• i would love to know the number of semis on the road in the US at any given time
• it really is darkest before the dawn
• QT stands for Quick n Tasty
• you can put too many sunflower seeds in your mouth at one time
• you can drive for 1/2 hour in SD without passing or being passed by anyone
• states such as Montana and Wyoming should be commended for not being littered with Adult video billboards
• you can’t judge a store by its billboards, everyone who has stopped in Wall knows this
• just because you came up with a pun does not mean its clever evidenced by Mitchell’s corn palace which really isn’t all that A-MAIZ-ING
• De Smet home of Laura Ingalls Wilder is 400 miles from lake De Smet: kind of weird
• it is possible to drive the exact same speed as someone, but only once you are within 50 ft of them
• you really could make fun of the name of about every city, but after a while it gets old
• the unintentional pun of the street name Parrallel Parkway is clever
• Some people have too much time on their hands proven by some of the atrocious structures in SD
• old people get a a bad rap for not being good drivers… and for good reason
• while there are Lewis and Clark signs all across the nation they are not all the same; sometimes they are pointing right and sometimes they are pointing left
• it is absolutely necessary to have a trusty co-pilot who can help keep you awake with incredibly loud snoring
• odds- north and south; evens- east and west
• if you own a roofing business and your last name is Fiedler be sure and name your business Fiedler on the roof
• mile/exit 1 is never at the beginning of anything… it is actually normally right in the middle
• to get from Missouri to Montana you drive north and then turn left and it is awfully anticlimactic when you find out that the left turn isn’t actually a left but rather a big right
• the term mountain is relative
• when the word “England” is written on a semi truck it is a brand name not where the truck originally started

Lewis & Clark

This Monday David and I drove back home for spring break.  We didn’t get on the road until late because David had a class.  So we left at about 10:30 and drove straight through until we arrived in Helena at about 6:30 the next day.  I ended up driving through all of Iowa and through part of South Dakota.  Well it was late in the night and I was getting a little bored and was looking for just about anything to help keep myself amused.  About the only thing I found was some signs signifying that Lewis and Clark had traveled through that part of the country.  Well being so bored and all, I got to thinking that Lewis and Clark traveled through Montana as well.  Do you know how long it took them to make it across the country.  Well I didn’t either, but it was over a year.  Over a year!!!  And here I am complaining about making the same trip in under a day.  Under a day!!!  This actually led to one of my favorite activities to do while I am bored on the road and that is pointless mathematical calculations.  So I estimated about how many days I thought it took L&C to make the trip and then how long it would take us and then figured out about how many days worth of progress I was making every minute I drove.  It really gives you quite the sense of satisfaction to think about progress in the that light.  Tomorrow we are heading back and so I will once again use that thought as encouragement for those lonely times on the road.

T minus 300

It is important to be conscience of time.  This is true for just about anything in life.  When you are playing sports you always have to know how much time there is left in the game, shot clock, play clock, etc…  Also when you are in class it is important to know how many more torturous minutes you have to fight to stay awake through.  It is important to watch the clock otherwise you might lose track of time and forget to eat before the caf closes.  Then you will have lost that meal forever.  It is also important that you keep a close eye on the calendar to be sure that you don’t miss important dates such as anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, divorces and so on and so forth.  With the importance of time thus being ensured, I now want to do a favor for all of you, for it is you, the reader, that I am here for.  I aim to please and hope that I do.  So here is a friendly reminder that we are now within 300 days of Christmas.  Saturday was officially 300 days away.  So be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that extra tricky person to shop for because remember it is never too early to start your Christmas shopping.