Monday
Started the day with a work call, then packed the car.
Did a little site seeing in Virginia Beach and Norfolk. Visited the house where Jeanie lived and where she went to High School.
Had lunch at the Olive Garden in Norfolk. All you can eat soup, salad and breadsticks.
Left Norfolk and headed to Clarksville. It still amazes me that I can be sitting in the passenger seat of a car driving down the highway at 70 MPH in the middle of nowhere Virginia, and be able to work on my computer that is connected via a VPN connection via a connection to my cell phone that acts as a cellular modem to my corporate network.
Drove to Tammy and Coop's where Jeanie visited while I leached off of their wireless Internet connection and participated in a teleconference and then drove to Bob and Wendy's.
Arrived at Bob and Wendy's around 5:00 PM. Had dinner, chatted a while, went to bed.
Tuesday
Had a teleconference, then drove into Clarksville for lunch. Had lunch at Gino's Italian Restaurant. Jeanie and I split a veggie grinder with fries, both of which were absolutely delicious. The grinder had grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms and was topped with melted cheese. The veggies were cooked just right - just al dente. Took a call for work, then left to drive to Apex. Had planned to stay at Andrew and Laura's, but Laura was sick, so we used some Hilton points to make a reservation at the Homewood Suites in Cary.
Met Andrew and Hannah at the Rockfish Seafood Grill at Southpoint for dinner. Food was fine, service was horrible. Andrew was really nice and gave us a coupon for 1/2 off on one of our entrees.
Wednesday
Went to start the RAV4 to head back home and the battery was dead. I figured I must have left the lights on. Unfortunately, we were just a few thousand miles over the three year, 36,000 mile warranty that included road service. Fortunately, Robby had not left for work yet, so he and Erin drove over to the hotel to give us a jump. It took allowing the battery to charge for about five minutes before the engine would crank, but then it did and started.
Jeanie wanted to go by the Fresh Market / Whole Foods before we left town, so we drove over to Waverly Place. Since we hadn't driven far and the battery hadn't had much time to charge, I decided to stay in the car and keep it slightly revved so the battery would charge. After a few minutes, the dash lights flickered a couple of times and then the engine died. Once again, the battery was as dead as a door nail. So dead, that I couldn't even get it out of Park. We called the closest Toyota dealer, Fred Anderson Toyota in Raleigh, and they were very accommodating, scheduling an appointment for "as soon as we could get there" and dispatching a tow truck. While I waited for the tow truck, I reviewed the towing section of the owner's manual, and found out how to override the "Park" lockout on the transmission. Fortunately, the tow truck that came was driven by a very nice man, and the truck happened to have a rear seat which he was willing to let us ride in.
Long story short, on the cosmic scale of relative fortune, we got lucky, and the problem turned out to only be a battery that had apparently developed an internal short or collapsed plate and thus had died a premature death. Since the car was out of warranty (I do think 3 years, 36,000 miles is way too short) we had to purchase a new battery, but Fred Anderson Toyota was very nice and waived the diagnosis fee and only charged us $10 for the installation. Since it turned out that we were due for an oil change, we had them do that while we were there, thus saving Jeanie from having to make a trip to Jacksonville to get the oil changed after we got home.
The nice folks at Fred Anderson had a very nice waiting area with free wireless Internet access and a cool coffee machine that ground and brewed a cup of Starbucks coffee on demand. Jeanie spent some time on the phone and on her laptop doing fun stuff, and I spent some time on my phone and my laptop doing work stuff.
We got on our way around 3:00 PM. I took the first shift of driving. Around Benson, we stopped to get gas and use the facilities. The station had a Quiznos, and we both got veggie subs that were quite tasty. Jeanie drove for a while and I worked, and then we switched off for the last leg home.
Thursday
Worked.
Friday
Worked.
Saturday
Went flying to renew night currency. Left the house around 6:30 PM so I could do a few touch and goes while it was still light to knock the rust off, then waited until 8:30 PM (1 hour after official sunset) to do my three landings to a full stop so I can carry passengers at night for the next three months.
Sunday
Coffee at the airport.
Ran errands with Jeanie - Lowe's to get a furnace filter, Wal-Mart to get various dry goods and some groceries, CVS to get wooden stick cotton swabs, and Publix to get some groceries.
Put together, and "installed," the Iron Gym pull-up bar by Pro Fit. Actually, quite cool. Requires no drilling into the door frame. Seems quite sturdy. Easy to "install" and remove.
Sad part is, I can't even do one pull-up or chin-up. Can't hardly even just hang. Jeanie can hang and do leg lifts!
Watched "The Astronaut Farmer" which Jeanie had DVRed IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes reviews. Somewhat slow at times, and totally improbable, but we still enjoyed it, as ultimately, it was a feel good movie. Possibly the first Billy Bob Thornton movie I've ever enjoyed.
Commentary
I made a decision about 20 months ago to try to attain better balance between work and life. I can't say that I've been as successful in that endeavor as I would have hoped, but I did take a step in the right direction last Sunday. And sometimes, things actually do work out right, when you make a leap of faith. Okay, maybe it wasn't a leap... maybe more of a hop, but still...
This, in regards to my decision to drive home with Jeanie rather than fly.
Turns out, that after the client meeting, the deal is in a bit of a lull, so I would have been sitting at home alone, with nothing pressing to do work wise, whereas, having made the decision to drive with Jeanie, I've been able to enjoy a few days with her, away from the routine and drudgery of home.
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Posted by David at September 21, 2009 12:28 AM | Categorized under: A day in the life, Flying, Movies