North Carolina Adventure

So.... North Carolina.
Fuck North Carolina, I wanna talk about the drive here lol

Okay, so Jerremy and I left on Tuesday afternoon, around five. We were supposed to leave around twelve.. but Jerremy is a girl and took forever. So we leave, and head off toward Primary Childrens and the canyon leading to Park City. Jerremy is doing ninety, and my little car, full of luggage and just not as cool, was lagging behind, but stoically trying to keep up.
Once we got out of Utah, the driving got easier, mostly because Wyoming is a lot more flat. I was reminded of when we all drove Cameron out to Evanston..
Wyoming was okay. It was freaking cold, but I was really excited to finally be out, be on our way. We stopped in the late afternoon at some small city, already closing down, but found a gas station still open so we could buy some real food.
(I don't know what Jerremy was eating, probably mostly jerky, but as much as I love gushers and granola bars.. I wanted something a little more substantial.)
Filled up and took off again, running like hell from a snowstorm that had started moments after we walked inside the station.
Let me make this clear; I HATE driving in rain, or snow. Mostly because it fucks with my visibility. I'm also scared of sliding off the road, hydroplaning.. Okay, so I'm typical in the sense that anything less than sunshine is gross to drive in.
So, we scamper out of there and keep heading across Wyoming. Now, here's the thing. Wyoming is nice.. the weather just sucks. There was wind blowing snow everywhere across the road, and the snow coming toward my windshield made me feel like I was in warp drive (Star Trek).
We stopped in Cheyenne, I was tired and scared out of my mind from all the wind and snow, and the sun had been down for a while. The truck stop we found was really nice, it even had showered, albeit for ten bucks a pop.
We fell asleep in Jerr's car, and that night makes it on the top of the list for coldest nights ever spent anywhere, for any reason. Even with the massive fluffy blankets, it was all I could do not to curl up and shiver my bones loose.
(Popped some Nyquil at this point; we both really needed to sleep.)
Morning time, sunny.. effing freezing. We turned the car on around eight, just to get the heater going, and even with the sun beating down through the windshield, it didn't lend more than a couple much needed degrees to our atmosphere.
Back on the road again, ready to tackle Nebraska.
Now, Nebraska is horrible. It's a worthless state that has no particular use in our country, but for some reason, people still live there. The damn thing is a little bit shy of 500 miles across, and we did the whole thing that day, and more.
We stopped a few times, and once had to take this insane little detour through a couple towns outside Lincoln, and into Lincoln itself.
Now, I hated Nebraska until we hit Lincoln. But Lincoln is how I pictured Forks to be in Twilight.. small, tiny streets and so green it's almost disorienting.. and just an over all feeling of home.
By this time I had bought a book on CD because I had run out of music I wanted to listen to and was starting to fall asleep at the wheel, yet again. (I'm really terrible at driving long distances I've discovered.)
Now, go figure, I buy a book out of a random and bare assortment of books at a truck stop/gas station combo. I found one book by someone that I actually knew, Nora Roberts, but I read the back and it seemed uninteresting.. Jerremy was itching to get back on the road so I just grabbed a book and went for it.
It was called A Wallflower's Christmas (or something close to it) and lo and behold.. a few chapters in... yes, Jenessa bought a mild sex novel :) In my defense.. it was well written. Desperately predictable.. but isn't love like that anyway?

Okay, so, back to driving. Any of you see those pictures of fireworks on my facebook? Go look. Because Jerremy and I stopped yet again in this little canyon on the way to Kansas City, and it turned out to be a warehouse of sorts. And this warehouse.. was mostly dedicated to the housing of fireworks :)
We aren't talking sparklers and Piccolo Pete's either. We are talking 'illegal in Utah', two feet tall bonanzas of flammable explosives that could take your arm off, and your face along with it.
Jerremy and I plan to return with our final checks and buy at LEAST one of everything.
Excited, much?
Yes, I am, thank you.

So, still driving. To give you an idea of how the driving went.
Home, Utah to Cheyenne, Wyoming - six hours
Cheyenne, Wyoming to Columbia, Missouri - fourteen hours
Columbia, Missouri to Morrisville, North Carolina - sixteen hours
I know, I know, the hour division doesn't make any sense.

We made it just past Kansas City and stopped in Columbia, outside a Comfort Suites and just died in the parking lot. By this time we were perfecting the art of sleeping in a car, and had all Jerr's jackets strewn across the visors to block out the inevitable, early morning sun. 'Course, that doesn't ever work as well as it's supposed to, but we slept in until about nine thirty either way. Who'da thunk so much driving would knock you out like that?
I should probably mention that I was dying inside by this time and Jerr was perfectly alright, go figure. Him and his posh little car and loud music..

Get this, I 'took a shower' in the Comfort Suites Hotel. Locked myself in the bathroom and shoved my head under the sink, washed my face, etc. Two days in a car had reduced me to.. well, God knows what, but I have to say, I don't ever wish to feel quite that unclean again. I could have happily gone through six bottles of body wash and gallon upon gallon of hot scalding water just to wash that endless trip off of my skin..

We drove about nine hundred and fifty miles, give or take. It took us sixteen hours, again, in estimation, and we covered.. five states? Yeah, I think so. Most of it was just a hazy blur, St. Louis was hectic and it started raining buckets (literally, wipers on high, could not see) in Kentucky. Illinois was brief. West Virginia and Virginia, I couldn't tell you which one was which.. but instead of taking our way around the mountains in Virginia, Jerremy's GPS took us straight through this one or two hour long winding canyon.. I was holding my eyes open with toothpicks at this point, and still fighting off sleep with a razorblade.
I'd been downing 5 Hour Energy bottles like water, and was starting to keep myself on a 5 hour schedule, catch one drink dropping off with a new one. I wonder if there are bad health side affects of ingesting too much of that drink..
Either way, I was hopped up on God knows what, and dying to just pull over and take a nap.
Jerremy got pulled over after we finally got out of the endless, devilish canyon with all its twists and turns, but again, avoided the ticket.
Oh, did I mention? We got pulled over in Nebraska as well, but only got a written warning. Go us.

I don't know how I drove the rest of the way. It was two am in Utah, four am in North Carolina, by the time we pulled into the parking lot of the Marriot Residence Inn. I was downing food for the last hour and a half, doing ninety on fifty-five highways, nearly shooting myself off of a clover intersection turn because I took it too sharp, too fast, with not nearly enough warning. GPS is somewhat unreliable like that..

They didn't have our rooms ready, so we crashed in our new managers room for the night. I took the bed, I didn't even have the energy to be courteous and offer it to Jerremy. Once I settled and dragged a blanket over my over-taxed body, I found sleep briefly impossible.. then overwhelmingly inviting.
Let's hear it for unconscious.

That was Friday morning, part one. Fell asleep at four thirty..
Woke up at eleven thirty to Jerremy poking me to wake up. I felt like hell. I knew I looked like hell. But once they handed us our room keys, we settled in, showered, talked a bit.. Then Stephen was calling us to come downstairs and go out with him on an install.

I have to admit, I condsidered becoming a butch lesbian after my first few days here.. I mean, imagine me in baggy black shorts, a vibrant orange shirt, my hair all tied back, no make up, and Chucks. I looked just like one of the guys, just with breasts. Pathetic.
But in all honesty.. I don't know if I really had a choice. I haven't been able to go shopping, and I haven't made any money yet, so all that I have is going to car insurance and a speeding ticket that I got before I even left the state. I don't have anything to wear, uniform wise. Gotta get my hands on some damn khakis...
*sighs deeply*

Friday was spent in an exhausted daze, following Stephen from house to house, getting our first taste of what we would be doing. It largely consists of drilling holes and excessively large amounts of wiring.. nothing difficult, but it's nothing even close to easy, and something I can't say I have had any experience with. I mean, I've wired up my speakers in my room because they got angry and didn't work, but not once in living memory have I ever drilled anything into anything.. for any reason at all. And it takes effort..

My gender is against me out here, for sure. Won't be hard to conquer that, but it's still something to be self conscious about, which I never handle well.

Oh, another thing. I've never been scared of being white.. until I came out here. There are black people everywhere.. and we are talking, arguing in the streets, frightening glares, loud music, porch monkey blacks.
Nothing on their color, of course, I've never been racist, I don't even understand why someone would bother to discrimination determined on ethnicity.. we all have two arms, two legs and a head, beyond that.. anyway.
We did an install in a certain part of town that, come to find out from a fellow tech who came over to drop off some things for us, isn't white friendly, at all. It's actually a dangerous place for us to be, we simply aren't welcome. 'Course Jerremy and I were stuck in this 'hood for about four hours, just waiting for someone to come train us on a million and one things that had been negligently left aside..
But really. Tye said that if us techs keep going over to that neighborhood, one of us could get seriously injured.
Makes me happy, it really does.
So Saturday slowly passed away. Jerremy and I wandered Raleigh, looking for some acceptable food, and discovered a new delicacy of epically unhealthy, southern proportions.
Fried pickles.
Now, before you stick out your tongue and run screaming.. they were really, really good. Just like onion rings, but pickles instead. Dipped in ranch. Holy hell, was that ever the yummiest thing I have ever eaten.
We went home after that, hung out with some of the other techs that Jerr had already unleashed his charismatic self on and made friends out of..

Once again, my sex is against me. I'm the only girl out here, I'm sure I've mentioned this, so for an install job it's difficult.. and making friends is hard too. I'm naturally an introvert, I don't like going out of my way to meet people. And everyone out here is the... I don't know how to explain.
Long shorts, long shirt, baseball cap, tattooed, stoner, video-game, foul-mouthed, party-it-up, type.
I mean, they are cool.. the first guy we met, Tye, he was alright.. He came out with two of his friends, Colton and another. They get along fine with Jerremy but.. I'd truly prefer to hide in my room for the next four months, even though I can't afford to do that.

Oh well. Shit happens, I knowingly chose a job that is unintentionally sexist so.. I will deal. And become lesbian if needs be :P
(Joking about the lesbian part.)

Sunday was slow.. but no work. The one day of the week I can briefly not have a seizure. How I shall treasure those hours.. considering I slept in until ten today, I don't think I made the greatest use of the beginning of my day. We went out to Greenville with Tye to grab some stuff from an old friend of his, and the drive took up our afternoon. Jerr and I just came home and watched a handful of episodes of Californication (becoming a close runner up to Dexter as far as my favorite show).

So here I sit, in my little hotel room, missing home....

It's nice to have a smile back on my face. It's nice to feel like I'm moving forward, even with excessive obstacles in my way.

It's beautiful here too. Come visit, I miss you guys :)