Past the midway point

I think the halfway point in my trip can be defined as the passing of the Mountain time zone. Two hours behind, we're really on the western half of the USA. Accents change, the land is less rolling, and mesas rise from the ground. You also see more UFO's during the night. I guess they don't like to wander out east. Maybe it's a sales tax thing.

Right now I'm in the lobby of the Hyatt in Albuquerque, New Mexico - try spelling that while drunk. Today's a leisurely drive through desert and scrubland through to Flagstaff, Arizona. If we can hit Flagstaff before sunset, we'll be able to get some awesome vistas of the Grand Canyon. I'm also looking forward to seeing a saguaro cactus.

ttyl.

Centre (Center) of America

Welcome to Oklahoma City, where tornadoes are actually something to put on postcards for tourists. It's been quite the drive coming down here, and I have to say, Route 66 is something to behold. It's hard to imagine Jeb & family back in the dustbowl years piling their worldly possessions into the back of their Model T and rolling off to California. That's a pretty good analogue for the modern trek that I'm taking down south. I've managed to literally pack my entire life possessions into the trunk and back seat of my car, and it's been quite the journey down. I imagine that when I finally cruise down the Santa Monica freeway, I'll truly feel like I've arrived home.

I'm looking forward to L.A.

See you there.

.54 cents a minute

Updating a blog for .54 cents a minute? Come on.

I'll catch you in OK city / Flagstaff. Maybe they have cheaper Internet.

Ciao.

Last night in T.O.

Well, this is it. I'm actually quite surprised at how much stuff one can fit, if packed properly. I was actually able to fit a snowboard, golf clubs, subwoofer, and my entire wardrobe into my car, with room to spare! Good thing I didn't buy that Mini last year. Although presumably, one can stuff tens of millions in gold bullion into the back of one of those.

P.S. Merry Christmas!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Quite the storm we had today. And of all days, I drove down to work, from Markham to Downtown.

It's been quite the comedy of errors lately, from Purolator / DHL losing my money order for rent, to needing my car downtown to get it registered back in my name (no, you can't import someone else's car - even if it's your dad's), to the snowstorm of the year. I believe that the Canadian government is actually conspiring to keep me in the country at all costs. It looks like I'll be getting good value for my snow tires though, since apparently there's snow all the way down to Amarillo, Texas.

My near-term concern, however, is trying to pack the entirety of my earthly possessions into 51.7 cubic feet of space.

The left side of the continent

So now I'm here in Cali, where walking outside with a sweater will actually make you sweat. I took the 405 from the Airport up to Santa Monica Boulevard to get to the hotel - right in the middle of rush hour. Actually It's not as bad as I thought. I guess legendary Los Angeles traffic compares pretty similarly to the less legendary but just as brutal Toronto traffic. Pollution was not too bad either. But once you've experienced Shanghai in August, it makes anything in North America seem like fresh Aspen air by comparison.
I'll be posting some pictures up from this trip, but it'll probably be a while until I get photo hosting set up. Until next time,
Adios amigos.

At Pearson International

I was about to extol the virtues of technology as I logged in to the Internet sitting in the boarding area using a cell modem, until I actually attempted to log on to Blogger. It took literally 5 minutes to log in and send a post. And now they are making the boarding call. Darn.

Anyway, catch you on the left coast.

The Mother Road

I'm moving to L.A., baby, and I'm planning the roadtrip of my life. As any American can tell you - or a Canadian into Americana like me - if you're planning to do a 2400 mile roadtrip, Route 66 is the way to go. Unfortunately, with only 6-7 days of driving available, I'll be doing it mostly on modern Interstates - small highways are pretty much out of the question if I'm looking to spend new year's eve in Las Vegas. I'm going to be accompanied by my old friend Mustafa, who will help keep me awake as I drive through the Midwest. If I end up really tired... well, I suppose I can let him touch my precious, precious transmission.

I'll be updating my itinerary later, but this is how it's shaping up:

• Dec. 26 - Border crossing at Sarnia, Ontario. Proceed south to Ann Arbor
• Dec. 27 - Chicagoland! Ok, it's too cold, keep going... until St. Louis, home of the Blues
• Dec. 29 - Welcome to Oklahoma. Stop and pay toll.
• Dec. 30 - Stop for some Texas beef in Amarillo, Texas; spend the night somewhere in New Mexico
• Dec. 31 - Grand Canyon in scenic Arizona. If we can make it - Viva Las Vegas!
• Jan. 1 - Recover from hangover. Happy New Year! Drop off Mustafa at LAX. :(
• Jan. 2 - Welcome to Los Angeles. Hooray!

Any ideas on good places to make a stop?

Wanted: Good pen, sharp wit

I think the best job would be that of the tabloid editor who's in charge of writing up headlines. The opportunities to demonstrate your pithy cleverness would only come second to that of Maxim caption writer, though I think the headline guy probably gets less wear & tear on his keyboard.

Oh by the way, in case you were wondering, Sing Tao Daily is the name of a Chinese daily newspaper, number one in the USA, or so they claim. Feel free to sing out my name as you wake up each morning though. I'll know it's you when I feel my ears burning.

Scott & Laci

So um, apparently you can be sentenced to death under circumstantial evidence, but only if you show no emotion. So the moral of the story is, cry like a crocodile and the jury will let you off easy.

First Things First

Ah the relentless progress of technology. This blog fad is just giving a new name to an old, old animal. I've tried it once, way back in '97. Kids, way back then, we used to etch the HTML code directly into clay tablets using a stylus. Then we'd have to bake it in a kiln, rush it to the server while still hot and feed it into the steam-powered VAX machine using cast-iron tongs.

Seriously though, blogger.com kicks ass. Less coding, more posting. It puts the log back into blog.

More to come...