A Bittersweet Existence » road trip

On The Road Again, Part 2

Dawana — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 01:08:29 +0000

In the car, 7:08 pm, EST. We’re on that leg of the trip when at moments you want to kill all parties involved.

I think about five hours ago I tweeted that I may slit my husband’s throat.

All is forgiven, though, no worries.

We’ve resorted to watching videos on You Tube…All three History of Rap videos, and currently, we’re watching Saturday Night Live Clips. On a cell phone, with the audio jack hooked up to the car stereo.

And it’s kinda been like that. Sing-a-longs to music, listening to the comedy station on Satellite radio… rinse, repeat.

Lady G (the name I’ve given to the voice on my Garmin) says we’ll arrive at the Time Share at 9:50 pm… So, a little over 2 1/2 hours left in the Jeep.

She’s doing well, by the way (she being my Jeep). We got through ice in Raton, New Mexico and now some rain in Northern Florida. We think the bulb in the front left headlight may be going out soon, but between my husband and brother we will get that fixed easily.

I’ve been reading and trying hard to entertain the ~~baby~~… err, big girl. And she’s been workin’ my nerves today y’all. I know being in a car for 2 days is rough on a toddler, so I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt. And in all honesty, short temper aside (mine, of course), I think she is doing very well. There’s been minimal whining, only when she’s tired or like right now, she’s been whining for macaroni and cheese for about an hour. (Where do I find macaroni and cheese on the road anyway?

——–

Follow-up: Sonny’s BBQ serves mac and cheese. And when it is right off the interstate and in the same parking lot with a BP gas station, macaroni will be had. And it was delicious, too.

Yes. Pulled chicken sandwich, garlic bread & mac and cheese. Yum!

But, we’re trucking. Almost home y’all. Almost.

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On The Road Again…

Dawana — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:13:45 +0000

It’s no secret that here at the ABE Blog, we travel. Also, it’s no secret that my family is not really the flying kind. We road trip it a lot.

Currently blogging from the car, we just left Amarillo, Texas and we are headed out to Florida.

We left Colorado at about 3:30 pm yesterday. School let out at 3:10, my husband was at my school at like 2:45, he helped me clean up after our absolutely insane First Grade party and we hopped in the Jeep and peaced out.

Pea is doing okay… If I have learned one thing about my almost 3 year old daughter thus far on the trip it’s that holy SHIT can she talk!

“Daddy, Junior, are you boys or girls? Do you wear panties or underwear?”

“Mommy, are we going to Pwowida (Florida)?”

“Wook, Daddy, I see cows!”

“No! I don’t wanna watch that movie!”

I thought I was prepared. DVD player for the car, her favorite shows, a boat load of Capri Sun (thank you Rachel), snacks, coloring books, markers, crayons, Kindle Fire…

Uh no. There is no such thing as prepared for a road trip with a toddler. But we are pushing through with visions of sunshine, sand, Mickey Mouse, castles, Shamu and most importantly friends and that sense of HOME in our heads. They same home is where the heart is… Well, we’re headed home, if only for 2 weeks.

FLORIDA…

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AT&T “A Better 3G Experience”

Dawana — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:23:40 +0000

Seriously, there’s nothing that I hate more than false advertisement. It is SO not appropriate. Just tell the truth or better yet, don’t say anything at all! Let me find out on my own that your service is pretty shotty and I’ll take it up with your customer service reps who really can’t do anything to help me except tell me to do a “master reset” of my cell phone and then give me a credit probably because they are sick of hearing my voice.

I already have my issues with AT&T. Like the fact that I canceled my text messaging and then had to call back probably twice because not only was I still getting text messages, but I was getting charged per message for them. HELLO?! Asswipes, do you not know what cancel means?

I’m sure that you all know by now that my husband and I in our delusional state decided to drive 1,727 miles from our home in Desertland to Omaha, Nebraska to visit Hubby’s family. Me, Hubby, 11 month old and 65 pound lap dog. Add a winter blizzard to the mix and it was probably the best time of my life. (I hope that you can sense the sarcasm)

Besides the fact that our shitty ass 300 + dollar Garmin got us lost a few times along the way (Recalculating…), my iPhone would often display things like: “Searching…”

Or if I was lucky to have bars I wouldn’t have the internet. Not the 3G symbol, not an ‘E’ (which is AT&T speak for regular internet), not even an ’0′ (which is AT&T speak for- “you ain’t got no internet.”) I would just see:

Now when you are driving seventeen hundred miles in a car with a dog and a baby who doesn’t even like to be still when she is not constrained in a car safety device, you need the internet for your sanity. I mean, if I watched the Elmo’s World or So Smart! DVD with C one more time…. I think my education level has reverted to pre-school. It is an absolute tragedy and an abomination to not be able to have “the better 3G experience.” Especially when I pay damn near $200 a month for it. (**Note: When I say I pay I really mean I click ‘Submit’ on the AT&T online web pay page and the money comes out of my hard-working husband’s paycheck**)

Am I experiencing the better 3G when I see things like this:

NO SERVICE?! Are you fucking kidding me? And AT&T wonders why Verizon makes fun of their maps in the commercials. They put Luke Wilson’s ass in a few commercials throwing around postcards naming all of the cities that they have “service” in and they think that is supposed to convince me? Sorry, I have hardcore proof. And because it was so frequent, not only did I take screenshots, but I started writing down names of cities that we drove through where I lost “the better 3G” or my service entirely. Cities like:

Flagstaff, Arizona
Williams, Arizona
Edwards, California

and I could go on, but really- is it necessary? This shit is just ridiculous to be honest.

I think AT&T sucked so many of us in because they got the iPhone. They know it and we know it. We went to pick up my mother from the LAX airport and I couldn’t get signal in there to save my life. I was standing next to an older gentleman who also didn’t have service. He looked at me and said “AT&T?” Yep, I said. “They suck” is all he said. Check out this interesting article on the AT&T vs Verizon battle.

Did you know that AT&T tried to sue Verizon for their map commercials? What was Verizon’s response to the lawsuit?

“AT&T did not file this lawsuit because Verizon’s ‘There’s A Map For That’ advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon’s ads are true and the truth hurts.”

Hmmm and on that note:

Dear AT&T, you are LIARS. That’s all. I don’t care if you let me “speak on my phone and search the web at the same time.” La-di-da, I can’t do that if I CAN’T GET ON THE WEB GENIUSES! So, sad to say- Verizon is right: the maps speak for themselves.

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December Photo Challenge: Day 28

Dawana — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:50:02 +0000

Slipped on ice and almost fell while getting in the car. Hurt the HELL out of my shin, though. “Icing” it with C’s Gerber boxed drink. It was the closest thing to ice that I had…

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