It's like the song "Two Of Us," only by myself - or - I'm on my way home

So I'm back. Back in Iowa. Yes, Iowa. Things sort of fell apart in Texas, I ended up unemployed and homeless. Basically the place where I worked didn't let me have the days off that I needed for going home over the holidays, and didn't tell me about it until I had already missed a day, which they took as a no call, no show type of thing. Which was awesome. I went and talked with them and explained things, so they got over it. But then I wasn't going to be able to get the days off for my trip that I took this past weekend, so I had enough and just left. The best part is that I told them about both trips when I was hired, they said it wouldn't be a problem. Good business practices. It's no wonder they constantly have signs up looking for new hires. So, that was a determining factor in my move back north. There were other things, too, but not having a job and being really frustrated with things there anyways made up my mind.

I drove back in a couple of days, with a car full of stuff. Lots and lots of stuff.

I stopped along the way a few times. First, this rest-stop to call Captain Crab and tell him my sails were taking me north:

All I know is that this was somewhere in Kansas. I drove through Oklahoma while it was dark, so I didn't have many opportunities to take pictures. I was afraid I had taken a wrong turn when I came across this watertower:

I walked around a while to try to find Jad, but apparently, there's a different Ottawa!

I made it to Kansas City in the afternoon, where I stayed with Charczuk and Rhiannon. There will soon be video evidence of this. Should be exciting stuff!

The next morning I got back on my way, but not before stopping for a delicious breakfast:

And in case you were wondering, yes, that is my passenger seat, full of stuff. The XM Radio reciever, shown in the bottom right corner of the photo, was a life-saver on this trip. I heard so much good music, but that's a post for another time. It saved me the trouble of digging for CDs every hour, especially since the CD cases were somewhere on the passenger side floor area.

I made good time, made it back to the Iowa City area right in time for my mom's shift meeting (a.k.a. a bunch of paramedics get off of work and go get drunk). I stayed a night or two in Muscatine, before heading up to Cedar Rapids, where I'll be staying with my brother for the time being. I knew it was a good place to be when I saw this off of the front porch the first morning I was there:

Such a pretty sight. Then, later in the day, I was searching for something to eat for lunch, when I came across the ultra-rare cabinet dwelling cat!

I only had a few days at home before I left for my trip out east, but it was definitely a huge improvement in attitude (and lattitude, ha!) for me. And my trip was wonderful, but that'll wait for another day. Or later today. We'll see. I think I'll break it into a few parts: NYC/Conan, DC, and food (which includes the best gin and tonic I've ever had). It was a good time.

Just imagine the "Chariots of Fire" theme while reading this

I think these new shoes are going to work out. I've just been walking around in them to make sure I like the feel, but from now on they will be exclusively used for running. And in the past, that meant that I would wear them twice a year and forget about them, but since I actually spent the money on them this time, I feel obligated to used them more often. On days like today, it's hard not staying outside. It's absolutely perfect. Which works out well for me, I don't have to work until 5, so I've had most of the day to do whatever I'd like. This has involved getting some sushi for lunch, doing some laundry, walking downtown to the Java House, and very soon, going for a jog. I was planning on jogging this morning, but while I was sleeping, I got a massive cramp in my left calf, to which I woke up, screaming in pain. I think I was saying something like "damn this hurts," or maybe something with more swears. Then this morning it was still hurting when I tried to walk, so I decided to take it easy for a little while. It figures that I'd hurt myself while sleeping.

Anyways, the weather is too nice to not go for a run right now. I've got my headband on and everything, I mean business. I've got 2 weeks to break these shoes in and get in shape myself to run 7 miles.

Shit.

UPDATE!!!

Just got back from the run. The shoes and socks combine well to keep my feet very dry and well-ventilated. The sushi and cookie combine to keep my lungs not-well-ventilated. All in all I think I did about 2.5 miles in about 30-minutes. I need to step it up a little, but feel alright. I only slightly feel like puking!