January 11, 2005 5:03 AM - WU Lobby

Well, 2004-12-31 was my last day at RadioShack, and I'm planning a Road Trip (more of a Walkabout) to New Mexico ... talked to Mac on Xmas day, ad he sounded good ... he talked about coming to DC in late June with his Veterans group for their Annual this year ... HoJo called me a few days later to tell me that Mac was in the ICU at the Albuquerque VA hospital, with 24-36 hours to live.

HoJo is 35, unemployed, and living on public assistance with his wife and two year old daughter ... she works, and the have a 2­story crib, but no working car ... I was going to give HoJo some money for repairs and registration, but with his father's emergency, I got him a round-trip plane ticket out of Logan the next day (New Year's Eve) and wired him $500 by Western Union before he left so he'd have funds while out there.

The week before Xmas I had realized that I was a "Seasonal Temp (Full-time)", as were all hired after September 23rd ... that never-to-be-sufficiently-damned District Manager who hired me led me to believe that I was on a Career Path ... nobody said a word when I asked for the catalog with company-logo shirts ... like, maybe, "Why not wait a few weeks and see if you're still on the payroll?"

So, now that I'm gainfully unemployed, and I made that $5,000 sale last month, I took $3,500 and paid my coop fees until the end of June (six months) ... Richard said that if he was able to increase his head-count, it wouldn't be until February ... I'll be 55 on the 17th, and even though I put $1,100 on my $3K plastic I two phone calls, I've still got $1,000 and two empty credit cards, so it's the trip I was thinking about 2 years ago, when FurFace died, before I got Chiana ... I can put her in a kennel for a fortnight for $300 ... or take her with me on the road.

At first I was going to take the train, but a sleeper would cost more than plane tickets, so I though about driving ... I could take my telescope to clear, southwestern skies, stopping at mosques along the way and sleeping in the van on their lot, using their shower, etc.

I figure four days of driving 7-9 hours, with three overnights, in Knoxville, Little Rock, and Amarillo ... HoJo might share the ride back, and I could visit folks in Massachusetts, or just put him on Amtrak from DC ... we could bring stuff back that he wants to keep ... I plan to take two cases of halal MREs, and one of Mystery Meat ... that's 36 meals for me and a traveler for 14 days ... but I plan on doing a lot of McDonalds and IHOP along the way ... what I want to avoid is the $60 per night for a Motel 6, even with my AAA discount.

Well, I'm sitting out in the lobby because I wanted to upload some pictures I took of my marksmanship medals and supplies ... now I have to make a page explaining each of the 10 pictures.

And on that note, I'll stop for now.