Adventures In Parenting:

Hello Everyone!

As many of you already know, I am safely in IL. My folks are safely back in Utah. I have to say I had an interesting drive. I learned quite a bit about the United States just by driving across part of it! The trucks performed very well, and my parents are excellent at packing boxes so nothing breaks, sneaking gifts into boxes while I’m not looking (thank you!), and loading the moving truck so nothing moved. 1400+ miles in two days, full of mountains, hills, potholes, speed bumps, and train tracks with not one box out of place when the door was opened! Every glass piece made it here intact, and functional.

Day One (10/20):
We left a little later than planned, and drove from Layton UT to Kearny NE. This day was fairly uneventful. We ended up at a Wingate Inn, nice place, good service, and a good continental breakfast.

Day Two (10/21):
This is where the drive got interesting. We started off OK, driving before sunrise on flat, smooth, Nebraska freeways. If you have never experienced good freeways, and need smooth driving fix, go to Nebraska. We were treated to a spectacular sunrise over a low level of fog. At some point, I will include a picture of that!

Then we got to Lincoln, Nebraska. Dad and I driving, Mom was sleeping in the passenger seat next to me. I swear the big orange sign read, “I-80 East and HWY 34, Take Exit 401”. So, dutifully I took exit 401, Dad followed. We had an interesting ride on the ‘Cornhusker Highway” until it met up with I-80 East of Lincoln. We lost 40 minutes in Lincoln alone.

Next up, Omaha (will you not go with Paco to Omaha?). Well, Dad got a bit confused about where we were, got off at an exit because we needed gas, and he thought he saw a gas station. Turns out, we went 3 blocks into Omaha, found a gas station and in the process of filling up two trucks made the attendant think we were stealing gasoline! Once she figured out that we weren’t stealing she gave us directions! The cool part about driving into Omaha is that I got to drive past; I am not making this up, “John Galt Boulevard”. This was nifty. except, I don’t recall Omaha being part of Atlas Shrugged. I did take a picture from the car and will work on posting it here when the opportunity arises.

Lincoln and Omaha also share a common problem that annoyed the three of us. Most of their interstate signs don’t list a direction. They just say “I-80”. Not, “I-80 East” or “I-80 West”. Very bad things could happen if you didn’t pay attention at the on ramp. Bad things like going west for 100 miles when you want to go east. This thankfully didn’t happen to us.

Iowa is very pretty, for those who have never been. This being a political blog of sorts, I spent a lot of my time in Iowa trying to fathom why the US Presidential race starts in Iowa. These farmers, the people at the Subway in Des Moines, etc…are the first people to rate the candidates for President. So, if you want to be President of the United States, you have to impress farmers first. The place seems much removed from the politics of Washington, yet in the same moment the epicenter of US politics. I guess the farmers were very smart to make a law insisting that Iowa hold their primary election before any other state. This law creates a huge incentive for the candidates to spend a lot of time there. Whether it’s a swing state or not is irrelevant. I will have a very different perspective on the Iowa primary next time around!

We arrived safely in Barrington at the end of Day two.

I am now living in a little apartment above Christina’s grandfather’s house, and have unpacked everything that I need for now. There are a few things I’d like to find, but are not critical (e.g., my reading lamp would be cool). I have a small list of things I need to buy. One of which is a pair of scissors. I can hear Amy chuckling right now.

Day Three (10/22):

I spent the day with my parents unloading the truck, returning the truck, assembling furniture, and starting to unpack stuff. Then it was off to Wal-mart to see my new store, check-in with the management team and get a few necessities. We found the store alright. Then the store manager had no clue who I was, or that I was transferring! This installed instant panic in me! Only to find out that the personnel manager had approved my transfer while the store manager was on vacation. So, I start tomorrow night and will have to see how it goes. They tell me I’m going to be in electronics; hopefully I get a nice coworker to show me the ropes of the electronics department.

The store seems pretty slow compared to Logan. The electronics department is about half the size of the Logan store. Middle of a Saturday they seemed to be well staffed, people actually working risers and zoning in the middle of the busiest day of the week. The one interesting factoid I have learned is that this store leads ALL Wal-Mart stores in donations to the Children’s Miracle Network. More on this as I work in that environment.

Then off to Best Buy for a new phone and dinner with Christina and my folks at the Onion Pub. I really enjoyed it, good food and good beer. Note to Jon Wheeler, they sell a t-shirt with your favorite Ben Franklin quote on it!

Day Four (10/23):

OK, the day started with breakfast with my folks and Christina. Then they bought me groceries! Then Christina and I took them to O’Hare so they could fly home. Since then, I have been unpacking and finding my life!

Usually I’m sorry for long posts about politics or economics, but not today! I’ve had an amazing week and wanted to share!

-Paul
Ps: my email is getting checked, about once every 2 days!