Tag Archives: travel

To SRQ

That’s Bradenton, BTW.

As work issues continue, and it’s been over three weeks at this point, I’m bouncing between the mindsets of "I need to take advantage of this free time" and "I need to be conserving cash and making contingency plans".  However, trying to be optimistic, I did break away on a Friday to go to on a thrift run.  I also had plans to go out of state on the weekend, but the success of this run put off that more-distant run for another week.

With my now routine procedure of building a list of starred places in Google maps for all the shops in the area to visit, I left the house right after the company’s weekly status meeting – around 9:30.  It will take me about 90 minutes to get to my first stop: an antique mall.  As I got closer, I realized I was really cutting it close on gas.  When my low fuel light comes on, I can pretty much count on over 30 miles left.  But still, once the needle moves below the E line, it gets a little nervous. 

Today I was taking the MX-5, so I did not have Android Auto to guide me.  I had a Garmin GPS, which didn’t have a lot of the stops in its POI database, so I had to manually enter addresses for most.  I tried setting up my phone in another window mount, but Google Maps was not giving me voice directions.  I tried using Android Auto on the phone, but Google has updated the software to only work when attached to a car screen.  That’s so lame.  So Garmin did what it could with the addresses I pulled from my phone.

I had to overshoot the first stop to get to a gas station, filled up and went back.  Traffic in this area is really stupid.  It’s a Friday morning, but it feels like a Saturday afternoon.  And anyway, nothing of note at the first stop.  The next two were "flea markets", which were really nothing of the sort.  The first was more like a vendor mall, which yielded one CD.  the other was just a hoarder.  But that was the intro to the city, and now I would be hitting proper thrifts.

It had been a while since I’d been to this area, so only a few places were familiar to me, many were new.  I can thank my pre-planning for the discovery of all the new places.  In summary, there were only two places that I really bought multiple CDs.  The first one I had been to before and it was a church thrift shop.  I got to hear a heated discussion between a Biden and a Trump supporter, which is always disheartening.  That got me to speed up my search and got me right out of there.

One shop that I hadn’t been to before was the crown jewel of my trip.  Usually, you can find one or two albums by an artist, but in this place, there was a large collection of early Neil Diamond.  He’s not one of my favorite artists, but I do have some albums of his and when I do have some of an artist, I try to complete the full discography.  Especially when I can do it cheaply and the CDs are early pressings.  And this was the case.  I picked out seven albums and actually left some behind.  Not much regret about leaving some, seven is plenty.  While pulling them out, I also spotted an early Olivia Newton-John disc, then another.  I grabbed three of those, one being a dupe of one I already had.  As it turns out, it was good I grabbed that dupe, because the disc inside was swapped with another, so I might’ve ended up with a mismatched case.  But the best news was that one of the ONJ albums was a highly desirable OOP album (out of print).  It sells on EBay for $50 (realistically priced) or $300 (unrealistically priced).  I left that shop with 13 discs.

By around 2:00, I was pretty hungry and tried going to a Wendy’s but they had a long line.  I then tried going to a Thai place, but it stunk so badly I wouldn’t have been able to sit there for any length of time.  I tried going to Jimmy John’s, but their lobby was closed.  I ended up at Chili’s for the first time in at least three years.  It was ok.  It made me sad that Chili’s used to have such incredible burgers and now they weren’t all that good.

And Chili’s was right near my last stop, which yielded three extra CDs, and I made my way home again.

So in summary, the whole trip was worth it for finding Olivia Newton-John – Totally Hot.  But overall, getting 22 CDs out of a run is pretty impressive.  Probably spent about $30 in gas, maybe $30 in discs.  I’ve been purchasing in cash when it’s under $10, so it’s kinda hard to track my total expenditures.  But it’s close enough.

To MEL

This week has been a not-so-good one with involuntary time off from work due to… problems.  I can’t really consider it time off, because it’s more like being on-call.  You can’t really relax and really take the day off because you don’t really know when you’re going to have to jump right back in.  Regardless, I did make a few half-hearted runs around the area and picked up a few CDs here and there.  But this weekend, I did want to make a concerted effort, and this time it was Melbourne.

Usually when I go to Melbourne, it’s at the tail end of going to Vero Beach, on the way back up north.  And Vero was my original idea, but I chose instead to make a shorter, closer run instead.  As it turns out, it was a very good run indeed.  I actually ran out of energy before I ran out of time or shops.

Performing my now-ritual of pre-mapping all the places to hit in Google Maps for Android Auto to utilize, I had a fair number of thrift shops and three music stores.  This time, I left earlier than usual, so I wouldn’t run out of time like I did last week.  I left the house around 8:00, hit DD for some breakfast and got on the highway.  I reached the first stop, a Goodwill, about 9:30.  I was like the second person there and when I was leaving, the cars were starting to come in.  But, nothing to be purchased there.

A lot of thrifts didn’t open until 10:00, so I drove around for more than I wanted to, wasting time.  But of the ones I did hit, I really only found one shop that had a number of CDs that were worth it.  I also found two antique malls that were not on my list.  I found a couple there.  Feeling a bit down by the lack of success at the thrifts, I pivoted and went to the first music store to hopefully get some positivity.

That music store didn’t have many CDs and the ones there were not that great.  But the owners were extremely helpful and went searching around their shop for more CDs for me.  The ones they found were better, but still not what I wanted.  But, then they found two MFSL gold CDs, one of which I already had and one I didn’t.  So I expressed interest in them and the owner went on Discogs to determine what price to charge.  Oh brother, here we go.

To my astonishment, she quoted me $30 for both, where I was mentally preparing for $50 each and prepared to walk away.  So, I made my first big score.  And they were happy, too.  They told me what other music stores had CDs (which were already on my list, but thanks).  And then they said to go to the flea market.  There’s a flea market?  Yes, with multiple CD vendors.  I couldn’t leave the shop quickly enough.

I got to the market and began tracing the rows.  Like the one last week, it had no directory and no map, but unlike the other, its layout was very simple: one long aisle with rows branching off it – no cross rows.  And I’ve not seen so many CDs at a flea market in a long time.  Daytona might not even have as many.  But for all that volume, the results were only ok, not excellent.  Probably 8 common CDs.  One shop had a coupled Glass Hammer CDs I had an interest in, but for some really weird reason, they priced them at $10 and $20.  No thanks.

It’s now 2:00 and I’m dying, dead on my feet, woozy, and stumbling.  I dig up a Carrabbas (which seems to be my new travel standard) and have a big lunch.  Then it’s off to another music store.  This store is much better than I expected.  I found one dupe target, one new target, and a few others of interest.  Maybe about $30 spent there.

I’m fading fast, so I decide to hit the one last music store and get back home.  This last place, I found three.  Two dupe targets.  I didn’t see everything, but what I didn’t see, the owner said is expensive stuff and he would look up prices for them.  And he was also waiting for me to leave as he was closing for the holiday weekend.  That was fine, I was pretty much done for the day anyway.

But then the guy wants to start talking.  Asks me if I’m interested in Santana.  I’m not, but he pulls out a sealed MFSL record box set from his showcase.  I think he said $4,000 for it.  Uh, no thanks.  He gets talking about how he closed on a local estate sale for a big local collector.  Not just big, massive.  Not just massive, unbelievable.  That sealed boxset was only one of many that the collector had.  The shop owner estimated the value of his collection at about $2M.  And he bought it for $380K.

Ok.  So.  I have thoughts.

First of all, how sad that the original collector had this incredible media and, as reported, an equally impressive stereo system, but never got to listen to some of the best recordings he owned.  He’s dead now.  He never got to hear them.  And for whatever he thought he was saving it for as an investment, he didn’t get that return.  He didn’t get anything, he’s dead.  His widow didn’t get the return on it either.

I’ve said in other posts that the size of a collection can negatively impact its total value, but there’s also a very small market for high-ticket items.  This shop owner is quite old himself.  Will he even sell those sealed box sets before he dies?  Will he see the return on his investment?  He surely won’t open the sets and listen to them, destroying the value of them.  The whole concept of investing in entertainment media is crazy to me.  Buy it and be entertained by it!

I definitely keep that in mind with my own collection.  The median value of my collection is about $16k.  Double that at the high-end and half that at the low end.  If someone going to pay me $30k for my CDs.  Of course not.  $8k?  Not likely.  $2k, possible.  I could add up all the gold CDs value and probably get $1000 just for them – sold individually.  But, my collection has been purchased cheaply and has been enjoyed at every stop of the way.  When I die, hopefully it will give someone one enjoyment instead of just sitting in a display cabinet.

Anyway, the tally for today: 30.  1 new gold, 1 dupe gold, 1 new target, 3 dupe targets, 1 dupe (potential upgrade), and 1 for its case.  The rest are new to me.

To RSW

RSW?  WTF is that?  Fort Myers.  Makes total sense.

So, to continue my shopping logs, today was a day to go to Ft. Myers, because I had found out there is a large flea market there.  In preparation, as I did with JAX, I went into google Maps and pinned all the thrift stores in the immediate area.  It’s been a little while since I’ve gone down that far, so I didn’t remember much of what was there.

I got on the road at around 8:30 and with a 2.5 hr drive time, I got into the area around 11:00.  As I got off the interstate, I saw a billboard for "huge flea market" at the next light.  It was not where my GPS was leading me, but I turned anyway.  The road took me to a different flea market.  Very interesting.  But it was not the market for me.  Not meaning any derision, this was a Hispanic flea market.  I was like the only white guy there.  There was only one booth that had CDs and they were all Latino artists.  So, while it was a huge flea market and if I needed produce or cowboy boots I would have been all set, there was nothing for me to buy there.

Back on track to the real flea market, FleaMasters.  It’s supposedly a very long-running market, so yay?  I arrive and park and make my way into the first building.  Within a few minutes, I find the "media" place.  It was a bookseller, but like many people who honor media, there were tapes, records, and CDs.

First off, everything was pretty disgusting, with a layer of dirt on it.  I can deal.  After maybe 50% review, I found one target CD.  The owner comes over to chat me up, says I must have an amazing collection if I’ve only found one CD so far.  He’s right.  We get talking about CDs and that’s pretty much the only thing he was right about.  Trying to tell me the target CD I had was a 2nd or 3rd pressing, probably from 1990.  Whatever.  He can be wrong, I’m just here to buy.  And everything is priced, so it’s not like he’s going to change the prices because I know what I’m finding.  In the end, I walked out with 6 CDs, only a couple of them dupes.  Probably about $5 each on average. 

Sadly though, that was it for the entire day.

I wandered around the sprawling market halls and got lost over and over.  It was beyond infuriating that they didn’t have a directory of vendors.  Even worse, they didn’t even have a map posted anywhere!  About 45 minutes later, I got back to my car with only the one shop to show for my effort.  Oh well, off to the thrifts.

Along with maybe half a dozen thrift stores, I also stopped at two record stores.  One had a sizable, but poor selection of CDs, and the other didn’t keep CDs at his store – he had a booth at FleaMasters.  Really, now.  I guess I’ll have to try harder next time.

I didn’t mention the sweating.  The market was HOT and the sweat was pouring down my back and filling my underwear.  Almost to the point I wondered if it looked like I was shitting myself.  And at one Goodwill, I found no CDs, but had to get a bottle of water ($2.50) and it was down in a flash.  That gave me a little more energy to go on.  But I think my body was in survival mode, because I wasn’t hungry, thirsty, tired, or angry.  I didn’t have a pressing need to go to the bathroom either.  That condition is probably dangerous for me.

I did stop soon after at Carrabbas and got soup and salad.  Downed a few glasses of liquid and got back on the road.  But still, by now, it’s after 2:00, my time is running short.

I made three more stops.  The Habitat ReStore was closed for the day, so really only two stops.  I tried to set the GPS for two more shops nearby and I was warned they would be closed before I got there.  Ok.  That’s the end of the day.

Set my course for home, hit a RaceTrac along the way, and cruised on back, with some rain showers along the way.  Arrived back home right at 6:00.  With the amount of gas I burnt today at the current gas prices, this trip was not worth the money.  Total outlay was about $30 and gas was probably about $50.  And a $20 lunch, yeah, definitely not worth the trip.

To JAX

This weekend, I took an overnight trip to Jacksonville.  On the drive out there, I remembered that I had made this trip before, and it wasn’t all that long ago, because on that trip I had seen another wagon on the road of the same make and model as mine.  Just so you know, my wagon is rare as golden shit.  In the entire time I’ve known of its existence, I’ve seen one – only one – on the road.

Yeah, so, when I had that memory, I started thinking about how my last trip went.  I couldn’t remember any of it.  None.  That pretty much told me the trip was uneventful and I wouldn’t want to do it again.  But here I was, going out there again.  Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.  Uh huh.

For this trip I was pretty prepared.  And now that it’s over, I think I now have a good protocol in place for my mega-runs.  I utilize Android Auto in the wagon with my phone for the GPS and music features.  The night before I left, I used Google Maps on my desktop computer and added all the stops I wanted to make as Starred locations.  This gave me a list of the places I wanted to hit, and more importantly, it showed star pushpins on the map, which allowed me to plan my next stop or group of stops.  When I was done with a place, I removed it from the list so I wouldn’t be confused as to where I’d been.  It was a pretty good system.

Then, as I was stopping at shops, I did remember some of them, but there were a lot that were new to me, so I don’t think I planned my previous trip very well and that was what led to disappointment.  Despite that, I still had a fair amount of disappointment on this trip.  The first half of my stops were productive, but the last part were not.  And I’ll dig into that in just a bit.  I was let down by the dining options I was offered and the hotel experience was a little on the annoying side.

But anyway, what I really want to get out involves the used music stores I saw.  I can sum this up in one statement: "Get your fucking shit together!"

A 2-store chain in Tampa that I frequent is the only one (outside of big businesses like 2nd & Charles or Barnes & Noble) that I’ve experienced that is doing things right.  And by that, I mean, their store is organized, fully inventoried, and priced fairly and accurately.  Now, I’m willing to let the guys that are running a shop in a flea market stall have a pass, because surely, they’re just hobbyists.  But if you have a storefront, or a semblance of a storefront, you need to act like a business.  Be clean, be organized.

The first place that left me infuriated was a guy operating essentially out of a warehouse.  He sold records, CDs, some equipment, and probably anything else musical.  I was only focused on the CDs.  When I reached the warehouse door entrance, there were some CDs in a metal rack, which seemed like a paltry amount.  But stepping in and looking around, I saw a literal wall of CDs in the back.  I made a beeline right for it.

Once at the wall, I sized up the level of effort I was going to make.  This is a wall of cubbies, probably 10 ft. tall (yes, well over my head – a stepstool was nearby) and probably 30 ft. wide.  CDs in many cubbies were double-deep.  The lighting was minimal, so you have to pull the CDs out to read anything.  ALL UNSORTED.  No sense in griping, just get to work.

After what felt like about 30 minutes, I had looked through 10% of what was there.  I was seeing the same garbage over and over in different places, none of it was interesting to me (I found one cd).  So I took a small break to rest my eyes.  I turned away from the wall and gave the whole place a once over. 

That wall… was a fraction of the CDs that were in that building.  There were CDs everywhere around me, literally piled up.  milk crates overflowing, U-Haul boxes filled and stacked, wire racks with small boxes stacked on top of each other.  An entire other wall of CDs.  An area you couldn’t even access with piles of U-Haul boxes, all full.  No mistake, this is hoarder-level shit.  I estimate there were probably 20k CDs in there.

I tried to work through it.  I took breaks and walked to the other sections, which had even worse lighting, and tried to find anything other than my lowly single CD.  I couldn’t do it.  I took my CD up to the counter and told the owner, there’s too much stuff.  His reply, "there’s another 15-16k in storage that we can’t even get in here." Holy. Shit.

I left the place furious.  In the way of people who have a reverence for media (especially book people), I was simply offended with what I saw.  The disregard for all those CDs.  I would like to believe that any rational businessperson would also be offended at the lack of care and accountability of the inventory.  This is what makes you money.  You have no idea what you have, what its value is, or any plan for how to move it.  It’s shitty business practice.  And from a consumer standpoint, you can’t tell me a CD of Lady Gaga, priced at $5, has the same market value as one priced the exact same with a title of "14 Biker Tunes".  The CD I bought was marked $5 (as I assume everything was), and I paid $4.  Tax accountability?  What’s that?

Enough of that hellhole.  I moved on to the next place, which was supposedly mostly records, but had some CDs.  I arrive there and it’s, well, sketchy.  I am loath to use the term ghetto, because it’s lazy shorthand for "the poor, run-down, black neighborhood", and because it carries a stigma of danger, which I did not feel, despite the sadness all around me and being the only white person in miles.  Maybe I’m stupid, blissfully aware, or maybe just not racist.

Anyway, when I entered this building, it was somehow worse than the warehouse.  In the warehouse, you had room to move.  In here, there was literally nowhere to go.  All pathways were "walk-sideways" width.  The primary one being blocked by a (fortunately for him) tall, thin black man.  I navigated around him with the only path available to me and ended up behind the counter at the cash register.  Well, no, this doesn’t seem right.  I backed out and kind of make confused gestures to the man blocking my way. He crams himself into a small area to the side to let me go forward.  I get past him and again, there’s nowhere to go.

So I’m stopped and seated in front of me is a harried black woman asking me what I want.  I stammer out a question as to how I can look at some CDs when there’s no visible aisles, lanes, walkways, nothing, in sight.  She replies that I can’t.  I have to tell her what I’m looking for and she’ll go and see if they have it.  Well, no, that doesn’t seem right, either.  I explain that my tastes are all over and I need to browse to see if there’s anything I’m interested in.  No, that doesn’t work for them.  Very well, thank you for your time.

On the way back to the car,another man calls out to me and asks if I found anything.  I was like, "Maaaannnn, I couldn’t even get in to see anything."  He apologized and said he was looking to move a lot of stuff out soon to give more space.  I said I’d keep him in mind and check back another time.  I assume he was the owner.  Sorry, bud, you have a lot more work ahead of you.

Those were the highlights (lowlights) of the trip.  It gave me a renewed sensation that I should open a CD shop, just to show people how it should be done.  but sadly, that’s probably not in the cards for me.  I have a lot more of my own life to live first.

And now, the trip log: ~12 thrift shops, 3 booths in a flea market, and 3 used music stores.  4 target CDs found at the flea market, 2 CD of interest, 4 CDs bought for their case.  5 issues of an interesting magazine to scan.  2 CDs of interest from Daytona flea market on drive home.  Total outlay was <$30

Post Travel Review

It’s been a week or so since I got back from my road trip through a few states.  I got to spend some time in a couple and just passed through another, but still, during death plague, travelling is a luxury, or at least it should be.

Anyway, a lot of my time was spent in TX.  I was in a somewhat smaller town surrounded by other smaller towns, but I did take one day to drive to Dallas.  My overall impressions of the state?  I don’t really like it.  It seemed more expensive, for one.  Sales tax was higher and the cost of things in general seemed higher as well.  Gas was cheaper, but not cheaper than other states I went through.

On dining.  It’s nothing I can really fault them for, but there was less for me to eat in TX.  I don’t eat Mexican, and well, TX has a lot of Mexican food for whatever reason.  I lot of the brands I enjoy also weren’t there (at least in the smaller towns I was in).  One other thing is that every restaurant was jam packed.  Actually that was a theme my entire trip.  I regularly found myself eating at my third or less favorite choice just because I couldn’t get in anywhere else.

On shopping.  I had plenty of time to hit all the stores I wanted.  I hit thrift stores, which were generally disappointing, pawn shops, which were universally, exceptionally depressing, and used CD stores, which were generally positive.

On driving.  I was warned beforehand that TX drivers drive fast.  This is true, but despite that, they are still courteous.  I’ll save my ranting for the end, but I will say, Dallas rush-hour traffic is heaps better than normal FL traffic.  For one, drivers choose a lane and stick with it.  They allow you to have a safety buffer in front of your vehicle without having an irrational need to fill that space.  TX drivers don’t ride in the passing lane (of course there are exceptions).  When you only have 2-lane highways, maybe this is more normal.  The one notable exception I recall is someone who rode the passing lane and varied his speed between 65 and 85.  He wouldn’t pass me, nor would he fall behind me.  He was building up a line of cars behind him.  So in an open stretch, I chose to accelerate to over 100 to build a gap between me and him so that the cars he blocked could pass him on the right and get around him.  As far as I know, he’s still driving in the left lane today.

Oddball observation: There are a lot of redheads in TX.

The next state I spent the most time in was LA, an hour away from where I was staying.  My general impression: a poor, sad state.  I hit some thrift shops, which had nothing of any value, some pawn shops, which also had nothing of value, and a record store.  I saw a dead dog in the street and no one seemed to be concerned by it.

When I was coming through LA into TX, I didn’t get a very good vibe from the state.  I mentioned this to my host who commented that her impression of LA people is that they were "crooked".  I thought that was sort of a unique observation, not one you usually make on a group of people.  Then I went to the used record store in LA and I learned.  I’ve heard about stores like this before, but this was the first one I’d experienced. 

When I got there, the building was sketchy as fuck.  There were no windows – none.  The signage was uninviting.  When I went in, the place was like a maze of boxes and rooms.  The first person I saw asked what I was looking for, then had to lead me through the maze to where the CDs were.  I’m not adverse to mess, after all, I shop at thrift and pawn shops and flea markets.  As I looked over every CD they had, there wasn’t anything of real interest, only mild interest.  The couple I did pull out to inspect closer, I noticed there were no price tags on them.  This gave me an uneasy feeling.  Like I said, I’ve heard of this before.  Against my expectations, I hoped they just had a flat price for CDs.

On my way from one section to another, a person I assume was the owner asked me if I was finding everything I was looking for.  I asked what the prices were for CDs and he confirmed my worries.  He said would look up the prices at checkout.  Uh huh.  I pretty much knew I wouldn’t be buying anything here.  But I still looked at everything.  In the end, the only thing in the entire shop that caught my eye was a gold Pink Floyd CD.  Knowing the store’s pricing policy, I looked up the price online.  It sells for an average of $75.  I mentally set my max price for $50.  I took it back to the owner and he saw it and said, "Oh that’s going to be an expensive one.  If you’re interested, I can look up the price, but I can tell you it’s going to be at least $60."  I replied, "Not if it’s going to be $60."  And he left the CD on the table and dismissed me.  So I left.  Crooked?  Maybe, but definitely not someone I want to do business with. 

So anyway, after a couple weeks away, I return to FL.  Immediately, as soon as I cross the state line, I mean, right then, traffic started acting differently.  The highway opened up to three lanes and it became a free for all.  Drivers switching lanes constantly, people weaving through traffic, driving 20 miles faster than the flow, just total insanity.  Then, later on, the density just grew and grew.  Three lanes fully packed with cars, which obviously left no room for passing, making those that wanted to speed and pass even more dangerous, swiping the small gaps between cars left and right to push themselves further ahead.  It was absolutely infuriating.

In the time since, I’ve been very critical of the driving in FL.  Although I haven’t been to CA yet to experience that driving environment, I can say FL has the worst driving of any state I’ve been in, and that does include MA, specifically, Boston.  My experience in Boston was that yes, it’s hectic and rude, but it’s not at 80 mph.  All that jostling happens in city environments at slower speeds.  Driving in FL is like a real-life Grand Theft Auto game.

On a positive note, I did get a lot of CDs.  It’s taking me days and days to give each a full listen.  I did have a great find of over a dozen new SACDs in a thrift store.  I bought them all for $1 each.  SACDs will sell for $40+ easily.  Because I am not of the LA mindset, I did sell off all the extra copies I had, but for $10 each including shipping.  Maybe I made $50 profit total.  But I kept a copy for myself, so my collection is $40 richer, too.  And the buyers (who were as knowledgeable as I) were understandably appreciative of the good price.  That gratitude is worth more than the money.

While I was gone, I had a sitter for the cats.  Unfortunately, Spock never warmed up to her and hid every time she was in the house.  Sky, on the other hand, developed a new language to talk to the sitter.  Sky tried using all her new words on me when I got home and I had no idea what she wanted.  Spock took a few days to get over his pain of abandonment.  My first night back in bed, he crawled up on my chest, which is something he’s never done before.  He’s back to his usual asshole self now.

Currently, I’m waiting and hoping for my turn for the COVID vaccine, so I can have more road trips like this on weekends.  As fun as that was, I’m sort of dreading it as well, because there are a lot of people travelling.  Right now, they shouldn’t be, but when we get safer, I’m afraid it’s just going to be madness on the roads and hotels.  The hotel I booked was sold out both times I was there.  Is it going to be like my dining options, having to go to my third best option for lodging?

Good To Go

As fate would have it, my passport expires this year.  On one hand, who’s going anywhere right now?  On the other hand, who wants to get the fuck out of here right now?

What seems like forever ago, I applied for my passport renewal.  Forever in this case is 4 months ago, to the day.  That would be February, prior to the world hitting the pause button on life.  A month or so into the process, I checked up on the status.  It’s actually kind of nice that you can check the status of your passport application online.  I doubt that feature was around when I first ordered my passport.  As expected, the status was "In progress".

Another nice feature is that you can submit your email to be notified of changes in the status.  Again, things you would take for granted with modern businesses seem completely astonishing when applied to government agencies.  So I submitted an email and waited.  And I kept waiting.  I checked up in another month and the status had not changed, which is consistent with me not getting any emails about a status change.

One thing that was different about the status page when I revisited it was that they said they were on limited staff thanks to COVID and there would be a delay of "several months" in processing applications.  This is fine and not fine.  I’m not going anywhere, but things are getting weird, so what if I did need to go anywhere?  It’s never a good feeling to have an answer of "you can’t", even with your most remote imaginations.  You grow up surrounded with the promises that "you can do anything", until you have a moment where the answer is "no, you can’t" and that’s made even worse by "you could have, but not right now".  Anyway, enough of the dystopia for the moment…

Then about a week ago, I did get an email.  Wow!  It said my application was "in progress".  Oh.  In hindsight, this should have been a good sign, meaning my application has been taken off the pile and into someone’s hands, but I didn’t know this at the time.  I just thought it was more of the same.  I’d been waiting 4 months, what’s another 4?

Today I got another email.  My application status was "approved"!  Yes, finally!  The email stated that when I applied, I chose routine service, so the processing time would be 6-8 weeks.  What?!  But then it said I would get my book around 6/24/2020.  What?  This doesn’t make any sense, but whatever.  I’m getting my passport soon!

I got another email from USPS, with my soon-to-be-in-my-mailbox notifications.  It was already aware of my passport and said it would arrive Monday.  I click on the tracking link and no, it’s going to arrive today – exactly 4 months from the day I mailed the application.

The only regret I have while I was waiting for those months is that I didn’t choose to get both the passport card and book.  I only chose the book.  The reason I want both now is for having a backup.  Of course, being involved in computers, I’m always thinking of backups and redundancy.  The secure plan would be to take both the book and the card on vacation and only travel outside with the card.  Let’s say you’re at a cruise port and you get robbed.  Your wallet is taken with the passport card in it.  In this case, you wouldn’t be able to pass back through security to get to the ship, but you could send someone to get your passport book from your room and recover.

That small regret aside, I mentioned that things are getting weird around here.  It’s actually in the back of my head that depending on how things turn out later this year, my passport might actually be utilized.  It’s a remote chance. but I need the reassurance that if that time comes, "I can".

Wasteland, 2020

Another undesired journey to the wasteland of my home town.  Have to keep up appearances with family and whatnot.  Really, it was just for my mom’s birthday and she’s old enough that she didn’t even remember me saying I was going to come up back when we talked on Christmas.

I left on a Friday with my flight scheduled for 8:00.  I figured I could leave my house at 6 and get to the airport by 7 and have plenty of time.  That is until traffic happened.  Friday morning commuter traffic, which occurs earlier than I expected.  Add to that stress was the realization that I had forgotten who I rented my car from, so I had to remotely connect to my home computer from a 7-11 parking lot to ease my mind.  That lost me about 15 minutes.  Add to that the realization that 8:00 is the flight departure time and boarding begins at 7:30.  With some aggressive driving, a bit of luck, and the decision to park at the terminal instead of the satellite lot, I made it into the airport at 7:15.

Now, security.  I never have any good luck with security because I don’t fly enough to remember all the bullshit.  So once again, I got felt up because I left my wallet and a handkerchief in my pocket.  One part of me just thinks, "whatever", but when I really think about it, this is really fucking incredible that we’ve allowed this to become normal.

The flight was uneventful and I was in my rental in short order.  I was very pleased to see that I could see lots of green as we were coming in to the airport.  No snow cover… yet.  The weather was planned to get much worse over the next couple of days while I was there.  My rental had GPS, so I put in my destination and let it guide me.

It guided me wrong.  Well, the route would have worked, but it wasn’t the path I wanted and I was expecting to pass by an outlet mall where I could pick up a gift for my mom and have a good meal.  Also, it routed me on a toll road and I wasn’t up for paying cash at toll booths – so 20th century.  So I pulled off the interstate and set a new destination for the outlet mall I wanted to visit.

The route I was then sent on took me through small towns and back routes I’d never seen or heard of.  And while I drove through these communities, I felt a strange sense of something, not melancholy, but more like disappointment.  I’d lived in that area for so many years and yet I’d never explored any of these places.  Granted, there wasn’t really much to see in these tiny places, but they were interesting in their own way.  I eventually reconciled the feeling with the understanding that in my youth, I drove places to get somewhere.  There wasn’t time for exploring – that would have been time wasted.  So it kind of struck me odd that I’m at a point in my life where I have more free time and ambition to do more things.

After an excellent and much-needed lunch, I walked through the outlet plaza.  It’s in the mid 20’s outside.  I have my leather jacket on over a t-shirt, and I put on my 180’s for extra warmth.  They performed well.  I had decided that I wanted to buy some decent gloves while in the cold region, and the first place I stopped, Timberland, had them.  $10 on sale.  Yes, gimme.  Then I walked onward and found the Columbia store.  I thought they might have a nice throw blanket for my mom and while browsing, I saw more gloves, better gloves.  $9 on sale.  Yes, gimme.  And behind the counter they had a special on fleece throws.  Yes, gimme.  My shopping was done.

Kinda done.  I was lamenting that I left my sunglasses in my car back at the airport, so I figured I’d at least look in Sunglass Hut to see if there’s anything that would suit me.  I am very particular about sunglass styles, despite that I was once told that there isn’t a pair of glasses that doesn’t look good on me.  I walked out of the store with a new pair of Ray Ban polarized glasses because, why not?  despite having 2 pairs of gloves, the glasses are the only purchase I regret from my trip because I never used them again, because the sun never came back.

The next day, I woke up to a fair covering of snow on the car and the roads.  It took me only a few minutes to get my snow feet back and remember how to accelerate and brake on slick roads.  And with the snow mixing with sleet and rain, I made my rounds to the thrift shops of the area.  I also picked up some candy and a birthday cake and card.  By lunchtime, I had acquired 6 new CDs and was enjoying a couple of hot dogs and pretzels at a local convenience store.

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True to my designated moniker, I made mental notes of the changes in the wasteland.  K-Mart closed.  A couple of fast food places opened or remodeled.  Still no chain restaurants.  The Salvation Army thrift store closed.  How bad does a place have to be for that to happen?

The birthday visit was pleasant and so then all that was left was to get back home.  Again, my flight was at 8:00.  Travel time to the airport was about 90 mins, but the roads would probably be frozen overnight.  I gave myself extra time and set my alarm for 4:30, to be on the road by 5 and to the airport by 7.

The drive to the airport was sort of surreal.  There’s not a lot of traffic up in that area anyway, but at 5 in the morning, there’s no one.  And the roads are completely snow covered, so it’s a game of "whose lane is it, anyway?"  45 mph in a 70 was pretty standard for the early drive, but as I got further south, everything improved until I was finally driving on dry, clear pavement.

Again, security.  I was assured this time I wasn’t going to mess anything up.  I was adamant I was going to pass right through.  I only had one concern:  I had a couple of open boxes of candy in my bag.  Like I said, I don’t fly enough to know all the bullshit, so it was my understanding you can’t take any open food through security.  So in the back of my head, I half-expected to get pulled aside and told to throw it away.  $20 of candy, gone.

When I got to the airport, not late, but pushing it, I got to the security line, which was much longer than I experienced when I came up.  The line was about 15 minutes and I checked and rechecked my pockets and everything, multiple times.  I tried asking one of the agents if my bin looked ok but he didn’t care.  And for all that preparation, I passed!  No touchy-feely this time, and I got to keep my candy.  I felt like I cheated the system.  It really is fucked up that this is what is normal.

Uneventful flights back south and I was met with typical bullshit traffic on the drive home from the airport.  A greeting I should have expected.  I’m good for a few more years.

Road Trip In ATL

Over the weekend, I made a road trip up north to Atlanta to see some friends and explore some shops for CDs.  Before I left, I did some research on places I wanted to visit.  As is my default, I used Bing.  A lot of people dismiss Bing as useless, but it’s probably for the same reason that I dismiss Google – I just don’t use it.

Bing Maps has a neat feature where you can save places into an itinerary, and it will create driving directions automatically from the list.  This is what I came up with for Saturday’s run.

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The downside to using Bing Maps is that it’s not part of Android Auto, which is how I do the navigation in my car.  In the interest of being fair about the routing capabilities of Google vs. Bing, I took a look at Google maps to see if I could have done the same thing there.  What I found was that you can make a custom list of places, but you can’t automagically turn that into a multi-waypoint drive.  I suppose you could keep the list open and work your way through the items, choosing each in turn as the next destination.  So, it’s just a different way of accomplishing the same goal.  I’m not going to say "Google sucks, Bing rules" because that’s just stupid and we should all be more adult about this.

On one of the stops at CD Warehouse – a chain store that has been bankrupt for almost two decades; I have no idea how these ones are open – I found a CD to purchase.  It was a Japan pressing of an Eagles compilation.  I identified it as purchase-worthy because of the smooth case that had "Patent Pending" embossed on it.  These are some of the first CDs manufactured, when the jewel case was still a new invention.

I took the CD to the counter, paid and left the store.  After leaving, I snuck a peek at the CD and realized it was a common US pressing.  I was disappointed but unsurprised.  CDs can certainly migrate between cases, especially in a store that probably has a dozen of each title at any time.  I chalked it up as a buyer-beware failure on my part and moved on.  Later in the evening, I was looking at my whole day’s spoils and realized that the Eagles album was not in a smooth case.  I had been given a totally different CD instead of what I chose from the rack.

So I began debating if it was worth the effort to go back and demand the item I had chosen.  Would it still be there?  Would the staff just roll their eyes and say, "fuck off"?  Would I get the replacement and have it be no better than what I already had?  Was it worth the drive anyway?

I decided it would be worth the effort, and planned to go before driving back home on Monday.  My friends convinced me it would be better to try on Sunday because of workday traffic and were willing to sacrifice some of our day together to accomplish this.  So, with the store’s closing time quickly approaching, we set out for the store with the replacement.  We made it in the last 15 minutes.

I went to the rack and quickly found the same smooth case I had originally picked – they had simply put it back after I left.  I went to the counter and plead my case.  I had been rehearsing how to explain that I wanted this specific CD and not just any CD and had planned to try and be technical without being condescending.  At the most extreme, I would have to show them my Relative Waves website that explained the difference in CD masterings.  In reality, I was pretty awkward about the whole explanation, saying that I got a different CD, but it was the same, but it wasn’t the same.  Good job, Dave.  Way to explain it.

The guy at the counter said, no problem.  He went to the computer and scanned the old CD and my purchased CD, then retrieved the actual disc that was supposed to be in the case.  As he placed the CD in the case on the counter, he said, "there you go, Japanese pressing."  And at that point, I knew that he understood.  I didn’t need to say anything more than thank you.  And I left with my early pressing album.

Also on the list were some antique malls.  In my area, people seem to treat antique malls as consignment shops and as such, you can find people selling their personal CD collections (which technically could be antiques).  However, in this area, antique malls are filled with actual antiques.  Not of any benefit for CD hunting, but still a fun and interesting experience.  I did find some tiny décor items for the house, so it wasn’t all bad.

And finally, the thrift stores.  This is actually my second round of thrifting in Atlanta.  The first time was a long series of disappointments and this one was generally a shorter version of the first.  It just makes me more grateful that the thrifts in my area have some decent selection of CDs.  Maybe there are more collectors in Atlanta keeping the thrifts bare, who knows.

But the trip was not supposed to be about me and my hobbies anyway.  It was about the company and the experience.  In that respect, it was top-notch.  There’s plenty to be grateful for in spite of any success or lack of success in my hobbies.

Wasteland Highlights

Two trips to the hometown in one year!  Wow!  I mean, wow.  I actually mean, meh.  No really, blah.  So, to summarize the best/worst highs/lows of the trip, here we go.

Before I even left for the airport, six hours before my flight, my flight was delayed.  The flight was already a late one at 7:00pm, now it was 7:30.  When I got to the airport, they announced, “your plane will not be arriving until 8:00.”  A very odd way to announce a delay, but that’s what they did.

The TSA experience on the way out wasn’t too bad (oh, just you wait for this one…).  A couple new regulations (aren’t there always?) to deal with.  Everything electronic larger than a cell phone must be taken out and all liquids must be out as well.  Ok, no big deal, a couple of Kindles and shampoo.  I went on with my life.

nerdcat-t-shirt-tn-258x2581At my destination, I went to pick up my rental car at the ungodly hour of 11:30.  When I went up to the counter, the agent just stared at me with a big smile on his face.  I said, “Hi, I have a reservation” which seemed to break his trace and he said, “that… is awesome.”  And I understood.  It was my shirt – “Quattro Gato”.  Basically, this image here on the right, colorized and duplicated four times over. The agent asked me if I liked cats, had a cat, what type of cat, etc.  Naturally, cat people are awesome.  And awesome cat people get… Mustangs!  Or at least that’s what he believed.  Me paying for the cheapest rental car, and wearing a cat shirt, means I get upgraded to the sports car category.  I guess I’m ok with that.

wp_20171015_13_42_02_proI got my car in the lot.  There are SO many goddamn buttons on the console and steering wheel.  What the fuck.  I don’t touch anything.  I try to get GPS directions out of the airport to a familiar highway (I always take the wrong route), but my phone has no signal.  Finally, I get a weak signal and a route.  I leave the airport and immediately get in the wrong lane and miss the proper exit.  GPS simply changes the route, without even scolding me with “ROUTE RECALCULATION!”.  Not sure exactly how much time I lost in that, but I made it to the motel and fell into bed at 1:30am.

I thought I had everything planned out well for this trip, which meant little to no personal time for me.  In the end, I had way too much personal time because my brother kept bailing on our plans.  So I saw and did everything I could think of.  That’s a very short list in a very small town.  And I ended up sitting in my upgraded rental, parked downtown for extended periods of time.

Everything’s closed in the wasteland.  The mall lost Sears and JCPenney anchor stores, leaving only The Bon Ton.  I asked a couple people I visited, “where do you buy clothing?”  The only options were KMart, WalMart, and the Bon Ton.  One said Amazon, the other said the outlets (a 45 min drive).  How can you live like that?

After only two days, I was ready to get back home.  My outbound flight was at 3:30, a time where you either get to the airport super-early, or risk being late.  I chose the former, since there was nothing else to do.  I got to the airport, returned the car, and chilled in the airport lobby for an extended time, reading.

When I got up to get some lunch, I found out all the food was behind security, so I guess I’m going through security now.  I was ready.  I remembered the changed regulations, even though none of the agents were making announcements about it.  Ha!  I was ahead of the game.  I put my laptop and kindle and shampoo in a tray and confirmed with the agent that was right.  He said the laptop had to go in a tray by itself.  Fine.  Anything else?  Shoes.  Oh crap.  How did I forget that?  Shoes on the conveyor.  Then over to the scanner.

I got chided last time about doing a body-building pose when they told me to lift my arms, so I kept it simple.  I got out and the guard stepped in front of me.  “Anything in your pockets?”  I patted my pockets.  Oh fuck.  My phone.  I usually put my watch and phone in my carryon while I’m in line.  I forgot.  I pulled out my phone and handed it to him.

“Anything else?”  I patted again.  I had my handkerchief, which I didn’t think was any big deal, my passport, which I sometimes have in my hand when I get scanned, and oh crap, coin change.  I pull the change out sheepishly and hand it to him.  “Anything else?”  Ok, I’m stressing now.  My passport?  He takes that too.  “Anything else.”  Uh, a handkerchief?  He has everything now.  He calls for a bowl from the other agents and sends everything off to get scanned.

“So, you want me to go through again?” I ask.  The agent replies in a very annoyed tone, “No.  Since you had so many things in your pockets, you’re going to have to be patted down.”  Ohhhh FUCK.  The agent then goes into a very long and detailed description of all the different ways he’s going to feel me up.  I’m somewhat in shock, so I don’t hear much of it.  He asks if I want a private room or just do it here.  I said here is fine, as if I give any sort of a shit right now.

I have to take off my belt (which should have come off earlier, I guess), and hold it.  Not much to say.  I got groped plenty around my balls and swiped and rubbed.  That might be bad, but hey, they gotta do their job.  But here’s the stupid thing.  They wiped my hands with some sort of device that probably was checking for explosive residue or similar.  Now, if I was a “t-word”, would I have been so stupid to leave my pockets full going through the scanner?  Bad guys are smarter than that.  I’m just an idiot, and you’re checking me for residue?

I pass with flying colors, gather my shit and get the fuck out of there.  The experience ruined my day completely.  I tried to eat lunch but ate very little.  I wasn’t upset or scarred or anything.  Just mad at myself that I was so focused on the details I totally forgot the basics.

The flight back was much less fun than the flight up.  Much more turbulence and many more passengers.  Two very large women in my row.  Idiot children in front of me, and a baby across the aisle.

But I did make it home safe and my cat was thrilled to see me.  That’s enough travel for a while, I think.

Driver Formula

I think I’ve come up with a formula to determine the assholosity of any driver on a highway.  The formula is simply:

x*abs(y-z)

Where x is the number of lane changes per mile, y is the average speed of the driver, and z is the average speed of the rest of traffic.  Spoken, the formula is: the number of lane changes per mile multiplied by the deviation in speed from the flow of traffic equals the level of asshole on the road.

This formula is a great step forward in the field of Asshology, of which I consider myself an expert.