“Your Nissan is really going to hate you.” — Chris, after I told him the trip I had planned.

He was right. I was just 15-20 miles from home when the right front blew on my truck. Someone had absconded with my spare [again! ... time to take action], so I had to call a wrecker. Thankfully, I found one 1) in my area and 2) going my way, so I was towed into Huntsville, where I got four new tires. [I was close on needing new ones, but they looked okay before I left on the trip. I was planning for this trip to be their end-of-life. Heh.] I’ll start calling about a spare tomorrow at the town junkyards.

The total mileage was something over 1070 miles, not counting the 10 miles or so of the tow.

Pardon me, but I need a really long shower and a beer…

There was a small part of me that wanted to keep the run going and head to Nashville tomorrow to see Sandra McCracken and Matthew Perryman Jones in Nashville, but … man. I just need to get home. As it is, I’ve got 428 miles to haul tomorrow, and I better get a move on as soon as I can get up and headed in one coherent direction.

I did get both shows taped tonight, and the sound was pretty good on both of them. Gary Maurer was back with HEM after a two-show break; his presence really made it worth my trip. I almost bailed on this show last week, seeing as a bunch of contracts came in and we’d be short-handed again this week with people on travel, etc. However, I took the healthy approach that I’d already scheduled all this and was going to just roll with it. [But yes ... if I get moving early enough tomorrow, and I get into Huntsville before 1530, I will stop into the office and put out any fires that I can. I'm just that crazy.]

This trip was largely reminiscent of a hockey weekend to me, especially just all the driving and the camraderie. It helped tonight that I had a view of Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals on OLN at the Vistulite’s bar, so I kept my head on a swivel when it looked like the game was good: concert, recorder, game. This was the first bit of playoff action I’d been able to catch on TV! Gotta love it when you win on a goaltender puck turnover behind the net. Dwayne Roloson probably won’t sleep tonight … but I sure will.

It never fails: I think I’m not going to write much, and I write a ton; I think I’m going to write a ton, and I won’t check in at all. Clearly, this weekend has been the latter—I have five setlists to post, and I haven’t even sniffed doing it. Been too busy to post, mainly because I’ve been with awesome folks. [Look ... if you're staying with Jeff and Adriene for two days, you don't have time to blog, people. You're having too much fun.]

Which is not to say that Sarah is boring, ’cause she’s not. We’re just running around and doing a bunch of stuff today, because this is what we do when we hang out.

OtR rocked it on Friday [and Brandi would agree]. Hem was … okay. It was their first show ever without Gary Maurer, so they were, as they noted, “overcompensating”. Saturday was better for both, amazingly, although Rick Plant’s wicked guitar solo during “When I Go” was better on Friday night. I finally figured out my recorder during OtR’s set on Saturday—yes, as always, I’m an idiot—so I did get all but the opening of that. CC was really great last night, too … best show I’ve seen from them in … three years. Booted that one, but I haven’t listened to it at all.

Okay … back to hanging out with Sarah. Besides, I’m listening to “Tommy the Canexican” by Eddie from Ohio and am laughing way, way too hard to think. OtR and HEM tonight, then going home tomorrow.

You’d think that, given the facts that I 1) have to leave directly from work to head to Nashville tomorrow and 2) won’t be back until, oh, Tuesday, that I’d be close to packed for my trip.

You’d think that, but you’d be wrong. [Well, you wouldn't think that if you know how I roll.]

I crashed after I got home tonight; I had a minor panic last night when I saw that one of my Japanese customers planned to call this morning. As I think I noted earlier this week, my boss is out of town on vacation, and so is one of my colleagues. My other day-to-day colleague went to KSC yesterday, which left me as the only engineer in the program office. Hey, if you’re going to be the boss, temporarily, it’s cool when you just have yourself to boss around.

Anyhow, the Japanese phone call kinda threw me—I’d wanted to have this conversation last week when I wouldn’t be the only one on this end. Now, it turns out that he didn’t call [and won't be calling in the morning ... whew], but I was a bit leery of winging it on my own. No real reason; I’m the one closest to this quote effort, and I knew all the answers to give. But I didn’t sleep well at all, mainly because I knew I needed to be up early and maybe into the office by 0600 if he was going to call. [The 14-hour time difference between Huntsville and Tokyo sucks when we're trying to have a phone conversation.]

Hey, it could have been crazier … it could be like the time I was on-campus at UAH, overseeing the construction of some barricades for one of UAH’s Frosh Mosh foam parties when another one of my Japanese customers called me on my cell phone. Kat was with me, and I think she enjoyed seeing my eyes bugging out of my head.

Been an interesting work week: everyone leaves town, and most all of the contracts we’ve been working to get all show up. I told my boss that he has to take vacations more often. Of course, all this work focus has made trip planning wholly secondary, which stinks as I need to be packed and ready to go in … eight hours. [Don't you love my coping mechanism, babbling through this entry? Me too.]

Okay. Must pack. Must find food. Must … hit … Publish …

Well, I now have my itinerary confirmed:

• Friday, 2 Jun 2006: HEM and Over the Rhine at the Exit/In, Nashville, TN. Stephen will be riding up with me for the show, and Brandi, Trey, Andrew, and Alison may end up coming. We’ll have to see.
• Saturday, 3 Jun 2006: HEM and Over the Rhine at the Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA. Some may say that it’s silly to see the same two artists back-to-back; I say that it’s a rare opportunity. Combine that with the fact that I’ll not only get to stay with Jeff and Adriene and get to see Jason, and it seems like a good idea; given that Jeff is who hooked me on OtR in the first place, it’s a necessity. I have warned Adriene that I may spontaneously cry and hug Jeff before, during, and after the show.
• Sunday, 4 Jun 2006: Caedmon’s Call at Church of the Apostles, Atlanta, GA. We hadn’t planned on this show happening, but when Jeff saw it on the schedule, he said, “Dude! You have to come with us!” I think he’s just using me for my ability to get guestlisted. [It's okay.]
• Monday, 5 Jun 2006: Over the Rhine and HEM at the Vistulite Theatre in Charlotte, NC. This is the show I had been planning to see for about two months, really. Why this show? It gave me a ready excuse to visit Brandon and Sarah, with hopes for seeing Mike and Kari as well. We’ll all four be going, as will Andrea. It’s me and my Carolina crew! [Even if they all hate Duke.]

Some call it obssession. I call it commitment. I’ll drive home on Tuesday and be back at work on Wednesday the 7th. My boss is out tomorrow through next week, so I will be looking forward to a little time away.