green green leaves, fallin from the trees
holy crap. it's cold. really cold. i woke up this AM and it was 50 degrees. and guess what? i didn't bring any winter clothers to TX. oops. i have exactly 2 long sleeve dress shirts, 2 long sleeve cowboy shirts, 2 long sleeve t shirts, 1 flannel/shammy type shirt, and 1 lightweight jacket.
hopefully it won't get colder before i head home at Christmas.
it did feel like a nice fall morning though when i woke up.
that was really cool.
last night was a huge exciting night here in wimberley: at the Dollar General i bought 1 $5 universal remote control, and it works! (you never know w/ those things). this one controls the DVD player, the VCR, and the TV. ROCK! if only it controlled the stereo. oh well. i'll take 3 out of 4. i'm so excited to get back to my typical channel surfing self. i was so tired of having to sit thru commercials. i almost reverted back to the golden olden days of being a kid, when the one tv didn't have a remote, and we'd find a yard stick or broom handle and spend hours trying to make it change the channel. it would take FOREVER to get it lined up, but it was better than getting up and walking the 2 feet to get to the tv.
the sad thing i realized this AM as i was basking in the glow from my new remote was that i only have 15 channels. you change thru those really quick with a remote.
oh well. the moral of the story is that i love my remote control. best $5 i ever spent.
My new favorite shows on TV are "my name is earl" and "Extras" on HBO. funny funny stuff.
and now for a story:
i never wrote down the story of the last night we spent on the road trying to get here, and since i have absolutely nothing to do today, and mary has the truck down in austin, i'll quickly relay it here so i don't forget it.
for the drive out here, in my mind, i had mapped us out a perfect route, w/ free places to stay.
the plan was to drive 4-6 hours the first night and stay w/ mary's cousin or friend. then to drive 12 or so hours the next night and stay w/ some family friends. and then we'd have a 4 or 5 hour drive the last day. the middle day of driving would be long, but overall it shouldn't be that bad.
unfortunately, none of that materialized.
my mindplan was assuming an avg speed of 72mph for the trip.
the poor truck was weighted down way more than it was supposed to be.
the ass was draggin hard on the poor truck. but it made it here thank goodness.
but it had major problems going over 60mph.
SO.. after 11 hours of driving the second day we were nowhere close to the free place that we had to stay. we continued to drive.
i really didn't want to spend $$--- it's the mennonite in me i guess--- but i didn't want to sleep in the truck, and i knew there was no way i was awake enough to drive an additional 3 or so hours to get to our free place to stay.
sadly, i decided we'd have to waste $ and get a hotel. mary was glad to get one. i said i wouldn't pay much for a hotel though. i wanted to find one for $29. good luck, right? yeah...that's what i figured.
but i was going to try.
first smallish town we got to that had multiple hotels we decided to stop.
now 1 time, many years ago, at some conference or something that i was at, i heard the speaker talk about how to get a good rate at a hotel. he said that whatever rate they first tell you, you should just laugh and walk away, and that 90% of the time, they'll respond with a cheaper offer before you get to the door. it sounded nice, but i'd never had the cahones to try it. well, after 20 some hours on the road, i was feeling like tryin it if he didn't offer me a good price.
the night was sunday-- a slow night in the hotel industry. i know this from my extensive stints as front desk clerk at the Ramada Inn and the Seminole Trail Lodge back in the mid 90s. so, it was sunday night, after midnight, it's slow, i pull up to a comfort inn b/c i hear that they often accept pets. i go up to the door. door locked after 10pm. crap! it will be hard to laugh and walk towards the door when there's no door. that doesn't rattle me though. i plan to stick to my guns.
there's a little intercom on a window and you push a button, and this guy comes over.
do you accept dogs here? i say. they do
how much for a room?
$59.99 he says.
HA! no thanks i say. and walk back towards the truck.
(i didn't have to think about it. it just came naturally. his price was so ridiculous, that i just laughed spontaneously, and headed back to the truck).
"Wait!" he said.
(ahh.. i knew it. that motivational speaker guy was right)
"What if i could do $54.99 for you?" the idiot said.
HA! i laughed again.
no thanks, i said. i just want to sleep for a couple hours. i'll go down the road and find someplace else.
"Wait" he said. "What price would you stay here for?"
(now we're talking. but now i have to offer up far less than he has offered me. $29 sounds cheap. i quickly think in my head something to say, but i'm tired, and i don't want to spend $)
"Well, $30 is the most i'll spend tonight. i just want to sleep for a couple hours, and then get on the road. I'm not paying more than that to just sleep for a few hours".
i figure here is where he'll laugh, but he starts considering my offer.
"$30 huh? and just sleep? hmm......i can let you let you have the room for that price if you only stay a couple hours".
(What? what kind of bizarro hotel is this? $30 is nice, but this is a strange deal. i have to go talk it over w/ mary).
"Let me go check w/ the woman. what time would we have to be out of the room for this $30 deal?
"ummm... 4 o clock".
(yikes. that sounds early. but i'll go check w/ mary. she's too delirious to make any decent decision. i know it's up to me. i have to make a decision. dang. i like $30, but 4am sounds mighty early. i walk back to the intercom)
"thanks anyway" i say. "she says if she happens to still be sleeping at 4, she doesn't want to have to wake up".
"ok" he says. "it's a slow night. i'll just rent you the room for $30".
SCORE!
ha. i pay cash. there's not even any tax or anything. $30 total bucks. i hate to waste $, but that's not bad for a pretty nice hotel room.
we slept in til 8.
and we ate the free continental breakfast.
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