Settling in…

I left Flagstaff, Arizona at around 3:30am, and ended up at Aaron’s place at 11am. 7.5 hours? Not bad at all, I’d say, and that’s including stops. I got pretty scared as I pulled into a little town called Bristow in California for gas. Why? The lowest price for gas was $4.57. Nope. Not making it up. I found out later that this stupid little town is basically a scam. As in, there’s nothing there except a coffee shop, a gas station, and some lodging, and it’s the only gas station around for miles so they jack up the prices because people can’t go anywhere else. The bastards!

Thankfully, LA’s prices aren’t as bad. Aaron and I drove out to Burbank today and the price was about $4.09/gallon which is pretty nominal for a big city. True it ain’t the $3.43 of Oklahoma, but at least I didn’t pay $30 for 7 gallons of gas.

The day was pretty productive. We got some lunch, went to Lowe’s to make duplicate keys, I emptied out my car and set up my computer. After taking a nap for an hour, I went out to buy groceries and was pleasantly surprised that at a grocery store called Trader Joe’s, they sell almost solely organic foods (which is what I’ve switched to for the past 3 months). PLUS, whereas in Oklahoma I’d spend $85-90/week on groceries, today I spent $50. That’s right, California is cheaper, at least for me. Afterwards I went and washed my car, came back, made a turkey wrap, and now I’m typing this up.

Don’t worry- I’m not going to be writing detailed reports like this every day. I just wanted to give a full account of the trip in sordid and (slightly boring) detail. Tomorrow I need to go 100% into looking for web design work.

Everybody keep your fingers crossed and pray. Otherwise this will be one really short stay and I’ll be back in Oklahoma before you know it.

Now to get some rest… adieu.

Tags: California, Travel

On the road. And still posting?

So I’ve stopped at a Travelodge in Flagstaff, Arizona because my friend Aaron told me it’s an pretty nice place to stay as a mid-trip layover.

Except on weekends.

There was only one room available (the ‘Snow Bowl Suite’, whatever that means), and it is $149 for the night. I was sorta hoping $50-70. Damn. Apparently I’m at the south entrance of the Grand Canyon, so it’s a huge tourist mecca, and the Arizona Cardinals play here on the weekends. Just…. peachy. So what does that mean for me? Jacked up weekend rates at all the nearby motels. Awesome. Mad props, Aaron. Mad props.

But that’s been the only negative so far. The drive is, suffice it to say, pretty arduous. I started at approximately 7 pm from Oklahoma and ran into a surprising amount of traffic, and since my goal for the entire trip was not to get a ticket (successful so far), I had to follow that stupid 65 mph nighttime speed limit throughout Texas. That definitely slowed me down a good deal, even though I cheated at going 74 mph.

Once I hit New Mexico, salvation! The speed limit is 75! Which means what? That’s right, say it with me– 85! Okay fine I didn’t book it at 85 throughout NM but I was around 80-83 the entire way. And then 5 am hit. And boy howdy did I get drowsy. I kept Twittering messages to keep myself occupied throughout the night, but at this point I was so exhausted I just couldn’t continue. So just outside of Albuquerque, there was a pretty big gas station/rv camper rest area that was well lit. I pulled over and took a nap for a few hours, and left for Flagstaff, Arizona. I got here a little while ago I checked in and plugged my iMac in. (Seriously folks, it took two minutes since they have wireless here.)

Now I’m gonna go out, get some food, come back and sleep until whenever. I’ll probably hit the road again and maybe midnight or a little after so that I can get to Los Angeles on Sunday morning when the traffic should be a little lighter.

Talk…… later.

Tags: America, Happenings, Travel

Okay. No really, this time.

It’s now the night before I’m to leave for Los Angeles. Yep, there’s a truckload of fear that is coursing through my veins, and yet…. excitement as well. I’ve lived in Oklahoma a grand total of 9 years (if my mental math is right), and I think it’s time for me to explore another area.

If I could put it into a more familiar situation I guess it’d be like the day before your first day of junior high school. You knew that the kids were meaner, the classes were harder, and gasp!– they wouldn’t have RECESS anymore. But, try as you may, you just couldn’t go back to the comforts of homeroom and the teachers that had guided you along the way. Even the bullies of elementary school now seemed like amateurs compared to the horrors that lay ahead. It was rushing at you, full speed, and the only hope of salvation was that you somehow didn’t drown as the waves of newness crashed hard on your helpless, frigid body.

Did I go a little far with the metaphor? Probably. But you get the general gist of it.

But I’m ready. At least, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. In exactly 24 hours, I should be about 3-4 hours into my trip. My plan is to leave home at around 7pm (just as the sun is setting), and drive the approximately 13 hours to Flagstaff, Arizona. There I’ll crash at some cheap motel, and after resting for a good while, get driving again the rest of the 6.5 hours to Los Angeles. I’ll have to time it out so that I can reach LA at around 9 or 10 in the morning on Sunday, which means I may have to leave around 3 am Sunday morning- a dicey proposition. But we’ll see when I get around to it. Oh yeah– I’m THAT spontaneous.

Why drive at night? A couple of reasons, the main being that for whatever reason, I get very sleepy driving during the daytime, whereas driving at night I end up more alert. Make sense? Yeah, it doesn’t to me either. Second, the entire southwest is going through a heatwave, and the less I can leave my air conditioning on, the better for fuel economy. Of course considering I’ll be dragging all my immediate belongings with me the weight of my Civic will be heavier than usual, but hey– if I can save gas at least in one way, may as well do it.

I guess right now is just a time where I’m trying to put aside all emotional baggage so that I can focus solely on the details. Driving time, gas, lodging, how many cans of Monster I’ll need to buy to stay alert, etc. I suppose it’s avoidance, but if it gets me through this, I’ll work with it.

As a separate note, I’ll probably be updating either my Brightkite and/or my Twitter throughout the trip so that you can see where I am. If you’re interested, have a blast.

Finally, I also finished up my updates to my olllllld portfolio site, The Designs Bakery. Take a look if you get a chance, and let me know your thoughts.

Tags: America, Happenings, Travel, Work

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.

Okay fine, that’s a bit dramatic, but I just wanted to use the title of that movie considering I was in New York this weekend. And also because well, I spent the entire weekend in New York and I never really posted anything on here about it.

So basically, I got up early Friday morning (5:30 am is early for me my friends) and got to the airport, where I parked the car in shuttle parking. $4/day? Not bad at all, I might add. The flights from OKC-Dallas-LaGuardia were boring and asinine. Have I expressed how much I dislike domestic flights in the US? It’s like they squeeze the seats together so that unless you’re 12 years old or younger there’s no way you can be comfortable. Food and drinks? Sure no problem! If you BUY their sandwich for $6. Ridiculous. So pathetic also that when I was flying domestic in India (INDIA, cough cough) the service felt like that of a 5 star hotel compared to American, Delta, etc. They bring out fresh towels when you get on, a drink as you settle in, some kind of snacks — and no we’re not talking peanuts — during the flight, and full service video and music all throughout. And this is economy/coach class we’re talking about.

/*– end tirade –*/

I get to New York and stay at my cousin’s house and….

man…

I just realized this post is gonna be long if I do all the details. So let’s do this, I’m going to summarize. Ready?

• Friday
  • Got to Aleena and Aaron’s house. Stayed there. Nisha came over, hung out. I fell off the patio, landed on my head. Negligible damage to Vinoj
• Saturday
  • Left for wedding in Somerset, NJ at 8:30am. Drove my uncle’s car there. Arrived at 9:59am.
  • Wedding begins at 11 am, and continues to dull my brain for the next few hours. Check messages re: my status during the wedding at Twitter.com
  • Leave wedding, go to Elmont, NY, in Queens. Same place where the Triple Crown Horse Races are going on. Big problem when leaving at 6:30pm— travel 1 mile in 2 hours of being stuck in traffic
  • Get to Gena, Millie, and Cheryl’s house at 9:45pm. Hang out for a bit. Leave at 11pm
  • Back to Aleena and Aaron’s house at 11:30pm
• Sunday
  • Get up at 6, get ready, go to airport.
  • Leave NY at 10:30 am.
  • Arrive in Oklahoma sometime around 4pm

There. Done and done.

Tags: Happenings, Travel

Do I extend, or leave on time?

So now that I know that Apsi’s ticket has been confirmed for Sunday from Malaysia, should I stay a few more days, or should I just leave on time? I’m tossing the idea around, and I’m thinking I should just leave on time.

First off, I think that there will be some sort of charge for changing the dates. If so, we’re talking a couple of hundred bucks right there. Then, even if I do stay, Apsi will be backed up with work for hours and hours, and I won’t have much time to spend with her. And since the Kodaikanal trip is now canceled, there’s no “me and her” time that I’ll have specifically where we’re not worrying about different stressors.

On the other hand, she does have off on Monday, which would make it a three day weekend. GRRR.. the decision.

I have no clue. I’ll see if there’s a charge. If there is, then screw it, I’ll just leave on time. If not, then maybe I can leave next Monday/Tuesday.

We’ll see what happens. Will keep you “posted”, no pun intended.

Tags: America, Travel

10 days and counting down…

I’ve got 10 more days left in India. That’s it. Wow. 10 days after 2 years of being here. I don’t really know how to feel. I’ve explained in great detail the problems I’ve had here, but there are certainly people that I care about a lot that I’ll miss a great deal. And that’s what I’ll miss the most. I was already starting to feel a bit down about it, and was looking forward to Apsi coming back from Malaysia tomorrow. And then I got some more bad news…

Apsi’s had to extend her stay for 4 more days because of violence in Malaysia and it’s not safe to travel now. That means I get 6 days with her until I leave. Bummer.

I’m going to try to make the best of what I have left here. I’ll be performing Forgot About Dre at Opus on Wednesday at their semi-finals as a guest from last season’s Kroaking Contest, which I’m looking forward to. I’ve got some a client for a website that I’m working with, and I always enjoy working on websites. And then, a chance to meet with some more of my friends before I leave. And that’s all, for now.

Yes, it’s definitely bittersweet.

Tags: America, India, Travel

Selling my Blaze!

I’m selling my Blaze, and I made a small subdomain for it at buymyblaze.vinoj.com. If you know anyone, lemme know!

Tags: Design, Happenings, Travel