New Car and Road Trip!

I have a new friend for you to meet!  This is Dominick.  He's my new car and let me tell you, we bonded quickly.  Well, when you drive 700 miles together in the first two days of your acquaintance, you get to know each other very quickly.

I know, for example, that he gets almost 30 miles to the gallon.  That his radio is loud and his windscreen wipers good, but the air conditioning is never truly cold.  (Adequate, but never cold.)  That his gas tank is supposedly 12 gallons but if you drive until the "check gauges" light comes on, it actually holds 13.

He knows that I sing along with the radio whether I know the words or not.  That I nibble on snacks almost constantly on a long trip, to keep myself awake.  (Several varieties of bite-sized snacks were kept within reach!)  That I can do an 11-hour drive all by myself, but sometimes I need a brief nap in the middle.

Nice to know you, Dominick!  Here's to a long and happy relationship.

Conrad thought he would come along with me in my carry-on bag.  TSA would've had a field day!

The rest of my trip was lovely!  Once I got through security at the airport, anyway.  (I didn't take off my insulin pump - I've done this before with no trouble - and the TSA worker didn't inquire about medical devices.  So of course it showed up on the scan, and I got the full private-screening-room pat-down and questioning.  They were very professional about it, but it was still annoying.)  After that though I enjoyed the flight!  My seatmate on the first plane was a girl about my age, who read quietly and chatted a little.  (The ten-year-old boy behind me, flying for the first time and very vocally excited, was less charming, but I could mostly tune him out.)

I had a layover in Charlotte; I got breakfast at Starbucks and sat and wrote to my brother and watched people.  It was a pleasant break.  Then on the flight to Detroit I had two seats to myself!  Ah, legroom.  Those little city-hoppers never have enough of it, so I was glad enough to borrow from the space next to me.

It was lovely to spend a couple days with my family (and a family friend who is staying there for a week or so.)  I got to meet for the first time a friend I've known for a year online, and stopped on my way back yesterday to visit a friend I've known for 12 years.  And now I'm back, and I'm ready for this week!  My best friend is getting married on Friday, so I'll be busy with wedding activities on top of work.... which means you'll probably get more blogging than usual, because I seem to blog more when I have most to do.  Someone explain that logic to me....