Then I didn't update, then I spent almost all of December and February traveling, then I moved. 2500 miles. To San Diego.

So in other words, it wasn't a lack of news that was responsible for the lack of news...

Southwest: Cattle Car in the Sky

Tuesday I'm going to fly to San Francisco for GDC. It'll be, I think, my thirteenth takeoff since I flew home for Thanksgiving last year, and the first that isn't on Southwest.

I fly Southwest often for a couple of reasons: First, you don't have to book months in advance to get a decent seat. Second, they have an awesome frequent flyer program. Third, there aren't celebrities on it. Fourth, I'm pretty good at scaring people away from the middle seat, so I can nearly always get some extra space next to me.

The problem now is that they've started allowing people to print out boarding passes at home and bring them to the airport starting at midnight the day of the flight. This means that it's almost impossible to get a coveted "A" pass (first group to get seated) if you don't print it out at home. This is great when you're flying from home, but it sucks when you're flying back -- I've only been able to print out my pass from a hotel once in that time. It's not the most business/vacation - travel - friendly development.

Road Note: Weimar, Texas: I feel very out of place because I am not wearing a camouflage jacket or buying a lottery ticket.

So last August, I drove 1980 miles up the west coast from San Diego to Seattle in a rental car. I took two weeks, driving about 180 miles a day, stopping whenever I saw something interesting, avoiding interstates, and generally enjoying the drive.

In late February, I drove 2500 miles from my old place in Orlando to my new place in San Diego. I only had five days to drive (I wanted to beat the moving van), and it was nearly all interstate. It would have been amazing if I'd had the time to explore -- nearly all of it was new territory for me. As it was, it was fun but I wouldn't do it again.

Quick recap: Leave at 9 PM, jam northwest on the turnpike, make it to Ocala, FL at midnight, find out nearly all rooms are taken due to horse shows, sleep in a cheap motel 'til 10.

Leave at 11, eat on the road, hit I-10 and turn left, pass Gainesville, Pensacola, and Mobile, find the giant rainstorm that I've been dreading, become the westernmost member of my extended family, pass Gulfport, find a nice room in Slidell, LA around 9.

Leave at 10, get an oil change, close out my Amsouth bank account 'cause I don't know how far west they have branches, take I-12 to avoid N'awlins, find more rain on I-10 past Baton Rouge, hit Lafayette, Sulphur, and Beaumont, get Mexican food in Houston, and stop for the night in Sealy, TX.

Leave at 10, get barbecue in Weimar 'cause it's Jason's hometown, take the loop around San Antonio, cheer when it stops raining, hit a LOT of nothing (but pretty countryside), get a written warning for going 7 miles over the limit from an apparently bored state trooper, pass Junction, finally make it to Van Horn. TX. The place has high speed internet access, and I'm shocked.

Hit the road at 9:30, almost immediately cross to the Mountain time zone. Lot of nothing, then a lot of El Paso. Have two stretches of interstate with 35 MPH speed limits that mystify me. Have lunch in a town so small the restaurant closes "At 9 or 8 if not busy," finally turn off of I-10 to I-8, have awesome fajitas for dinner in an even smaller town (Gila Bend), push it to make it to Yuma around 9, find a room on my 5th try because of a car show. Made it 680 miles that day.

Sleep until 9:30, have a good breakfast, leave at 11, marvel at Imperial Valley (where the growing season is already on), marvel at the mountains which look like they're from Mars, and get in to my apartments at about 3 PM due to the time change. I'm so wasted I order pizza, inflate my matress, and crash at about 8:30.

Now what?

So now it's Sunday. I got here almost a week ago, my furniture came Wednesday, and I still have a ton of boxes to unpack. Today I'm mostly doing that, then tomorrow I get to see if I can get my business cards before I fly to the conference or if they'll have to meet me there, then I can order my computer desk and possibly a sofa and pack.

After GDC I think I'll look in to sleeping. I hear it's good.