August 8, 2005

I had to get up at a normal time this morning because dad was meeting me for breakfast and then taking me up to the city (East Rochester) to pick up my car from Vincent Mazda. My computer, in the car, apparently died or something and had to be replaced. So now I have to drive the car for a few days (my trip to Allentown should do the trick) so that it will allow the New York State inspection computer to talk to it. What a stupid way to design a car. So, supposedly, I have a ten day extension on my inspection so that I can continue to drive the car during this time to get it able to be inspected. But the sticker on my car didn’t change any and I didn’t get any paperwork to hand to a cop if and when they pull me over. So I am not too confident with how this process works.

We had breakfast at the Omega, imagine that. I really do eat there four or five times a week on an average week. Then we went up to the city and picked up my car. I hit the bank on the way back to the house and deposited my paycheck. I really wish that I had direct deposit. But not many places are too keen to do that for short term contractors. Then I got back to the house and helped dad get Oreo ready to go home with him. Dad is watching Oreo the next two days while neither Min nor I are at home.

I had to take a shower and get packed so that I could get down to Bethlehem in time for work this evening. It is about a four or five hour trip down to the Allentown area. It is an easy drive: i390 south to i86 east to i81 south to PA Turnpike 476 south and there you are. Very direct from here, for the most part. No cities to drive through the entire way unless you include Scranton which you can bypass if you take 476 out of Clark Summit but I prefer not to because they have all of those annoying automated toll stops along that route. I feel that it is better and faster to just take i81 right through town and pick up the pike on the south side of Scranton and only get the regular ticket tolls down there. Min did most of my packing for me. She is much better at remembering everything that I need than I am.

I managed to get on the road just a little after 2:00. Min had to go to work at 3:00. She is doing her regular Monday/Tuesday double double again. I was excited to get onto the road because I am part way into Bill Bryson’s book “A Walk in the Woods” and I want to finish it. I am also excited that Audible has a bunch of Bryson’s books available. I am always on the lookout for good stuff to read. He has a number of books that sound good.

I finished my book just a little before arriving in Allentown. I got to the hotel a little before 7:00 but it turned out that there wasn’t any Internet access there and they hadn’t called me or put information on their website. I wonder why they take my phone number when I make a reservation if they aren’t going to call when the services that I booked for have changed. It isn’t like I booked the room a long time ago either, I booked the room early this morning. So I cancelled my room and drove on to Wegmans so that I could get some Internet access and try to find a hotel. Luckily, Wegmans was just around the corner. I tried a few hotels and finally found a Comfort Inn in Easton. I ran over there before starting my shift and got checked in.

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