So the day started off horribly. Well, not really, it was more a continuation of last night seaping into today. I had a meeting an hour after I got in and realized I had dried salsa from Dorians the night before(I figured noone at work would notice I had the same shirt on as the previous evening). Thankfully I discovered it while sitting in the conference room before anyone showed up(I'm always the first one in these meetings...I get self conscious enough just walking into a room with human beings in it, let alone late for a "meeting"), and I scratched it off of my shirt just in time. The meeting went well. This was the first meeting between us(labor), and them(management) since the union dispute that's been making news as of late, nationally as well as locally. I thought it would be rough, as I am now the senoir union steward there, and my views have always been a little more leaning towards management in a way. Everything went well though, and we met with the new Human Resources woman(what amazing lips!), as well as the Chief Operations Manager/CEO guy or something or another. He seemed pretty reasonable. It feels strange being in there with them after we all just ran the companies name through the mud in the media, etc. But, that's the power we have I guess. If they want to play games, we can be nasty....Blah Blah Blah...enough work talk, where was I? Oh the day...So after the meeting, I went back to my desk, and for the first time in weeks, I felt like working my ass off. So for the rest of the day I worked hard, and as I did my spirits lifted higher. I would go home, buy the modem, go out to dinner with some friends, and come home early to install this thing. The modem went in easy as pie(what the hell is so "easy" about pie?), and here I am back in the game an hour later. Next two things are 1) attempting the tickets to Phish-Antioch,TN, and Durham,NC. If I get them no problem, tomorrow evening I will start planning my route which will most likely go: Massachusetts->Connecticut->Pennsylvania->New York->New Jersey->Maryland->Virginia->Tennessee->North Carolina->home for a few days->New Jersey->Connecticut->home for rest of summer. I kind of like that it's early in the summer this time, as I still have a couple full months of summer time to hang out and be...summery.

So I sort of bought a car yesterday. The truck is now sounding more and more like a helicopter as the days go by. This morning I had to drive to work with the heat blaring on full blast so it would not overheat. That felt real good. I felt like I was still asleep when I walked in there today.I will get a phone call hopefully in the morning that will approve my loan, and I will have the thing early next week. I'm still contemplating taking it on the trip. I like to rent so as to not put so many miles on my car. The trip in 98, I put 4075 miles on the rent-a-car. I listened to Tennessee Jed by the Dead 3 times today.

Why one day you're happy, the next you have all of these feeling inside that are ugly as hell. I hate when these feeling come up. I'd like to be able to rid any of this shit from my head sometime this year. I think I'm depressed, but then when I sit back and look at the grand scheme of things, nothing is really that bad right now. I have friends, I have a job, I have a good band together. The petty things get to me though. I can't even imagine what that feels like right now, as I'm the complete opposite of anything like that right now. What does it feel like to be filled with so much confusion and self loathing? Who knows...this is good right now though. I had a nice dinner tonight at some seafood restaurant on the pier in Salem(right where I drank tea with Sarah and Ian last spring : ) )with Matt, Heather,Dorian, and Tracey. Salem is such a good place to be in the summer evening, especially down there, even if it is a little bit "Yuppie" at this point.

So I either want to take a) tape recorder b) laptop with me on the trip. I'm sorry, as traditional as it is, writing in a journal by hand is not something I want to do after 9 hours of driving, typing is a different story though...and speaking into a dictation recorder would be fun. Agent Cooper style. "Diane...". Either way, I look forward to the road ahead. I like the idea of travelling alone alot, it gives you more time to think, and you meet more people here and there that you would not otherwise talk to you. After a few days I can never wait to tell someone "I'm all the way from Boston".

An excerpt from last years trip:

July 5, 1999-Waynesboro, VA

Salt Peanuts- Charlie Parker

3 days into this trip and I�m already bored out of my brain. Today I slept, watched television, slept, and discovered a soda can had exploded in the parked car. Possibly because it was 104 degrees today. Watching television is such a trip, it�s funny that some of the people I know pretty well, and consider pretty intelligent folks watch a lot of television; even the shows that are supposedly �clever� or whatnot, it still falls into giving people what they want to see. Just because you put an obscure reference in here and there doesn�t make it any funnier when Homer Simpson falls down a flight of steps. Even the documentaries you see on these �specialty channels� are trite and all seem to follow the same formula. �When we return, our subject falls into a world of drugs and treachery��, or �When we return we will see why the monkey likes to climb trees�. It�s all to satisfy the masses, and again, I feel sorry for anyone who puts themselves through more than an hour of television a week.

There�s absolutely nowhere to get coffee in this town, and the woman at the hotel desk looked at me like I had eight heads when I asked where I could get coffee. Maybe because of the temperature�I�ve resorted to the gas station (who are �all out of covers honey� right now), and the market for those Starbucks in a bottle thingys�which aren�t very good I might add.

The highlight so far has been the Skyline Drive, which was basically 105 miles of winding roads through mountains and trees. I don�t think I�ve ever seen anything like it, and feel like I�ve now seen another one of the United States� most beautiful areas. I decided to shut off the air conditioner in the car, as it seemed ridiculous in the face of the awe inspiring surroundings to just see everything, and not smell and feel it. I�m sure I still wouldn�t have impressed Emerson though; as I was driving a car, and drinking Dr. Pepper out of the can. None of the ride got boring or tired, even if you were only allowed to go 35-45 mph.

Tomorrow I see friends from home in North Carolina; this is good because they�re two of the few people I actually enjoy seeing a lot.

July 6, 1999- Kannapolis, NC

Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles- Captain Beefheart

Thunder and tornado warnings in the afternoon called for a night stuck in the hotel after my friends left. I think I watched a movie but I can�t even remember at this point. Had a good time in the day when I got here, they met me, we went out for food, and then drove around the area in which the race car track was the highlight. We were stuck in a coffee place for a while, as the weather eased up. I really enjoy sitting in these random places and watching people. I�ve grown tired of this new hip thing going on where it�s the �in� thing to mock poor people, or �white trash� folks if you will. In my eyes people are the same no matter where you go, they all have the same hang ups, and same problems whether they are wearing Doc Marten shoes, or work boots. Anyway, the people down here are more real, there�s no stupid attitude, there�s no fashion show going on. If you�re judging people because of circumstantial things like where they grew up, or how they were raised then you�re no better yourself.

out-

before & after