Independence Road

46/52
Thar's a storm a'comin.
So Sandy is on her way - sort of already here. Plus NaNoWriMo is set to begin Thursday and I haven't wrapped up my blog posts. I suppose I'll just have to write more blog posts after October (that is still 2012 after all) until I get to 52. Being so close to my goal and just failing at it is difficult, so instead I'm granting leniency. No need to get stressed about self-imposed deadlines that don't affect anyone but you - not worth it.

I had planned on going cross country after graduation. See all I could see. But between all the parties and gifts, I lost my lust for travel. Instead I applied for graduate programs near home.

The only one that would take me I had sent in before graduation, when my plan was still ripe in my mind. Tenessee. Nashville and Belmont University. A small school in the middle of a big city. So now that I'd settled on staying, I was forced to go by my own pride.

Outside the Northeast walls of my world, and driving, nonetheless, I was naked in my dependence. I couldn't quite grasp hold of the cities I went through. My budgeting skills were nonexistent, so I quickly began hoarding it for a rainy day. It seemed to rain every day I drove through Delaware, Maryland, Virginia.

At the suggestion of a slimy mechanic I replaced my tires prematurely and had a full service brake inspection. When I talked to my father later that day, he told me in an exasperated tone that I overpaid.

More hoarding of cash. This meant no stops on the road for coffee or granola bars. I only ate the food that I brought with me, which was mostly chocolate and pretzels and tons of water bottles. No wonder I was falling asleep at the wheel and having to stop for pee breaks in the woods. I had brought toilet paper.

I was not above tailgating on the highway and cutting from lane to lane to go twenty over in the boring two lane roads between mountains. I had learned a more aggressive driving style living in the suburbs than these easy-driving folks.

On the way I would make phone calls from different apartment leasing offices making phone appointments to sign a lease. I would follow up with a call to my mother asking me what to ask. Then I would call internet, leasing, phone, and water companies to set up automatic payments. After a confirming call to my mom I would purchase rental insurance. Then I would call her back to check my bank balance.

I would painfully yawn in the darkness with headlights flashing at me, and listen to the music as loud as it went.