Cue the Thin Lizzy guitar riff..
The Long Road Home
Clearwater to Atlanta is very doable in one day, as long as you don’t spend too long mucking around, or make many stops. When I finally reached I-275, which joins I-75 above Tampa, I was ready for the long haul home.
As I mentioned in a comment yesterday I stopped in Lake Park, Georgia; Exit 5 to be specific. In previous journeys to Florida I have left Atlanta after work (obviously when I had a job) and overnighted at a hotel off that exit. I’ve never had to do this on a return trip because I always leave Florida in the morning. At Exit 5 I ate Mexican food at a place I’ve been to before, and filled the M6 with gas for the remainder of the trip. Exit 5 is like too many exits which adorn the US interstates — chock full of buildings that once housed businesses and are now shuttered. I stopped there yesterday because the M6 needed gas at that time and I was familiar with the restaurant offerings.
People have teased me about my “Grandpa Paulie” style of driving, hovering near the posted speed limits, but let me tell you two things that I don’t like:
– having the fear of getting pulled over by a state trooper who is sitting awaiting speeders
– incurring the cost of speeding tickets
On this trip I saw about a dozen Georgia and Florida troopers lying in wait, and about five people pulled over by them. Yesterday I was passed by a Dodge Charger from Illinois that was flying up I-75. About an hour later I passed the Charger as it was on the side of the road with a state trooper near Adele, GA. The Charger passed me again somewhere south of Macon.
My approximately 475-mile trip took me over eight hours, this includes stopping for food as well as the first hour of stop-go-traffic getting to I-275. For me it felt good to have some time to myself again and it also afforded me plenty of time to catch up on podcasts that I had downloaded since Friday.
Postal Fail (Again)
Knowing I would be gone for five days, four of which the post office delivers mail, I requested a Hold Mail from Thursday until today. Every once in a while I receive non-junk mail and want to ensure that prying eyes don’t want to steal my identity.
Side note: one of the many mistakes I made at the ITP Estate was being bullied to put a mailbox at the curb, with the thread of no mail delivery, by the Post Office (for their convenience). For the first year (or so) mail was placed through the mail-slot in my front door. I never needed to request the post office to hold my mail because it accumulated inside the house, and not inside a mailbox.
Anyway, when I arrived home there was mail sitting in my mailbox. Given that this mail was not wrapped by the Mail Hold paperwork, means that it must have been delivered on Thursday and sat in my mailbox for the entire time that I was gone. Great…
Return To My Routine
I overslept this morning. While I’m not a fan of doing this it felt okay today, even though I have a ton of things to accomplish today.
Instead of eating a nice breakfast as I did all weekend I’ve returned to eating a protein bar, mostly so that I am not starving when I go to LA Fitness later this morning.
Post workout I will be going to hole-up somewhere to do my German homework, and hopefully a little preparation in anticipation of interviewing again.
Tonight I return to German class.
Happy Mardi Gras!
Paulie [eatl/ga]
no speeding tickets – always a good thing!
I do enjoy seeing someone that blew past me pulled over.
Me too! 🙂
As I ride to the Marta station, there are always a couple of A-holes moving at significantly more than the posted speed limit of 70. While I roll along at 76, I would guess they are cruising around 90 or better. Oh that the GSP or Coweta Sheriff could be hanging out and make their morning.
When we were kids, we were driving back to Birmingham after a trip to FLA and my dad got 2 speeding tickets. We laughed after the first one, but there wasn’t a sound after the second one.
Phinney continues to be a bad boy. Debbie took him back to Bear Creek yesterday for more remedial training and he now looks like he went 3 rounds with the champ. I wish I knew what was making him freak.
A delicious lunch with the lovely and charming Stacy yesterday. Our first choice of taco joints was closed- there were no times on the door, but it would certainly seem odd to be closed for lunch in their location.
Glad you’re back in one piece.
-FP
I just finished my workout and am considering ruining it with a meal outside. I am sure that I won’t be the only one with this idea today.
Workout “ruined” with great lunch at elmyriachi, which was fantastic!
Now to head home to hang up wet workout clothes and the start preparing for German class.
We came under similar pressure to install a mailbox on the curb. Once when we initially moving in and a handful of times over the course of the 30 years we lived in the house.
“You must have a mailbox at the curb to receive mail delivery.” Uh huh.
Each time I drove around the immediate neighborhood and noted other houses with no mailbox on the curb. Then a trip the Post Office for a brief meeting with the Post Master and case closed. A few times I got push back, usually when a new Post Master took over, but each time I responded with “So, you’re requiring *everybody* put a mailbox on the curb, right”?
All this came to an end when we moved (1 block away) and the “new” house already had a mailbox at the curb. Oh well.
Disclaimer: I get it’s a pain in the butt for the mail carrier to get out of his truck and walk up to the front porch. But I’m also all about consistency. If you’re going it make me do it, then make everybody do it. No exceptions.
BTW: I’ve experienced similar inconsistencies with “hold mail” requests. I usually request the hold a day sooner than actually needed, so I have a day to drop by and straighten things out if mail is delivered….”by mistake”.
Over the last 35 years, we’ve experienced good service and consistent delivery from our local (30030) Post Office. Knock wood.
JG/HamWithCam
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hamwithcam/
I wish I had the foresight to not install the mailbox, but I was a new homeowner who didn’t know better.
I usually start my mail hold a day early but waited too long to submit my request due to not knowing on which day I was headed southward. I will be interest to see if my delivery resumes today as requested.
my parents have always had their mailbox on the outside of the house, no one in the neighborhood has a mailbox on the curb. But – it is Cedar Rapids, IA – John is the mailman’s name – we send postcards to mom & dad sometimes – just to write Hi John on the card.
But I agree, EVERYONE had a mailbox on the curb, or you can’t make that rule.
omg that is just adorable – writing “Hi John!” to their postman. I love that.
I particularly feel bad for the post peeps in my hood. All the boxes are on the houses and most of the houses are up stairs (two flights up my front lawn to mine alone!). But, hey, that’s the job. And I make sure to treat well at Christmastime. 🙂
If you trust a neighbor…you should have them collect your mail. I hate letting the workers at the post office know I am out of town!