Misty Mountain Hop
I went. I saw. I went home.
That, in a nutshell, was my experience in Boone, North Carolina Monday and Tuesday as Yes Dear interviewed to be their new fitness director (maybe it's fitness coordinator. Either way, it's some exercising job.)
While she was off teaching aerobics classes, meeting with the Appalachian State University recreation staff, touring the campus and generally being treated like royalty, I was a mere commoner left to navigate the strange land on my own.
Unfortunately, my sense of direction was severely damaged by the tragic Mountain Dew
overdose of 1994, so the idea of driving around a new town, even one as small as Boone, was nothing something I was looking forward to doing.
We got to ASU around 2:15 p.m. and checked in. Yes Dear then proceeded to practice her aerobics routine one more time while I flipped though the channels and remembered why I'm glad I have a day job. Around 4ish, she gets whisked away to teach her class and then go to dinner.
(Quick side note: App. State's transit system is called the AppalCART. I thought that was clever)
I, meanwhile, am left to fend for myself. Since I fear getting lost and dying in the streets of Boone with a map at my feet, I figure I'd better go get something to eat before it gets dark. Unfortunately, that's fairly early and I spend the rest of the night watching TV, grateful for Cable and a cable listings guide in the room.
Around 10 p.m., Yes Dear returns, excited about how things went and looking forward to the next day. Unfortunately, she's got to get up at 7 a.m. to be ready for her 8 a.m. breakfast interview. I, on the other hand, am hoping to sleep as late as possible since I've got another day to kill and have to be out of the hotel by 11 a.m.
After driving around downtown Boone for a little while Tuesday morning, I head up to the ASU football stadium (I'm a sports geek, but you should know that by now.) After realizing there's no parking near the stadium, I figure I'll drive around and look at some houses. After all, there's a chance I could be moving there soon. (Actually, unless you're only parking for an hour, there's nowhere to park in Boone at all. If you're a visitor, you're screwed if you just want to walk around.)
Well, after about 10 minutes, I realize I'm lost and I'm cursing that fateful night in 1994. After a short while, I see a highway I recognize from the map. I'm not sure which way I need to turn on this highway to get me back where I want to go, but I figure I've got a 50/50 shot of picking the right way.
I picked incorrectly.
After driving about five miles out of my way, I realize "hey, I'm going the wrong way." I find a place to turn around and head back to the hotel.
By the way, I should mention that the hotel is at the top of a very, large mountain. But, I'm young. I'm in shape. I figure it'll be no problem to walk from there to the bottom and tour campus (about six-tenths of a mile.)
About halfway down the mountain (DOWN), I realize I'm going to be screwed in my attempt to
climb back up it. I'm not that young. And I'm definitely not in shape. But, at this point, it's either continue down the mountain to find something to do for five hours or sit in a hotel lobby watching FOX News for six hours.
For the next five hours, I wander around ASU, reading their student newspaper, watching their students throw the football around on their field, killing hours in their bookstore (and if it wasn't for my Mom's "you can't buy anything for yourself after Halloween" rule, - she's fearful I'll buy myself something she's buying me for Christmas - I'd have bought a book and been entertained.)
After exhausting every possible thing to do on campus, I proceeded to head back to the hotel. A 25-minute walk up the mountain left me breathless, sore and begging to be put out of my misery.
About 5:30, Yes Dear arrives back at the hotel. Sadly, this is about the same time the fog rolled in. I'm not talking about a light fog that causes you to slow down to five miles over the speed limit. I'm talking about I-can't-see-five-feet-in-front-of-me type fog. Yes Dear drives about five miles-per-hour down whatever mountain we were on, trying (and I stress "trying" to focus on the white line on the right of the road. Sometimes we could see it. Other times, we hoped we didn't drive off the side of the mountain.
Eventually we get out of the fog and decide if it's like that on a regular basis, maybe Boone's not for us.
(By the way, since we're talking about the weather here, I figure now's as good a time as any to tell you I feel cheated in my trip to Boone. Watching the weather Monday night, they said the city was experiencing near-record highs. That's not a true indication of what the city's like. Tuesday, the low was in the mid-50s. Wednesday morning, the lows were to be in the mid-20s. That's like being told you can date Lindsay Lohan, but instead of getting the "Mean Girls" version of Lohan, you get the crack addict version.)
Weekend update: GSU football on Saturday, NFL and laundry on Sunday. God I'm boring. Why are you reading again?
Fantasy update: Speaking of Lindsay Lohan, let's remember when she was pretty as the Fantasy Update girl this week. In other Fantasy News, the Fighting Squirrels are leading a charmed life, winning 47-45 in one league to improve to 8-2 while in the other league, I won 80-77 to improve to 4-6.
Work Update: As you may recall, last Friday was supposed to be the last Friday night I would
be working. As you can probably tell from the fact that I used the word "supposed," there's been a change of plans. I feel like the guy from Office Space.
Ahh, I'm going to have to go ahead and ask you to come in on Sunday, too...
Not good times.
See you Friday for my Christmas list.
That, in a nutshell, was my experience in Boone, North Carolina Monday and Tuesday as Yes Dear interviewed to be their new fitness director (maybe it's fitness coordinator. Either way, it's some exercising job.)
While she was off teaching aerobics classes, meeting with the Appalachian State University recreation staff, touring the campus and generally being treated like royalty, I was a mere commoner left to navigate the strange land on my own.
Unfortunately, my sense of direction was severely damaged by the tragic Mountain Dew
overdose of 1994, so the idea of driving around a new town, even one as small as Boone, was nothing something I was looking forward to doing.We got to ASU around 2:15 p.m. and checked in. Yes Dear then proceeded to practice her aerobics routine one more time while I flipped though the channels and remembered why I'm glad I have a day job. Around 4ish, she gets whisked away to teach her class and then go to dinner.
(Quick side note: App. State's transit system is called the AppalCART. I thought that was clever)
I, meanwhile, am left to fend for myself. Since I fear getting lost and dying in the streets of Boone with a map at my feet, I figure I'd better go get something to eat before it gets dark. Unfortunately, that's fairly early and I spend the rest of the night watching TV, grateful for Cable and a cable listings guide in the room.
Around 10 p.m., Yes Dear returns, excited about how things went and looking forward to the next day. Unfortunately, she's got to get up at 7 a.m. to be ready for her 8 a.m. breakfast interview. I, on the other hand, am hoping to sleep as late as possible since I've got another day to kill and have to be out of the hotel by 11 a.m.
After driving around downtown Boone for a little while Tuesday morning, I head up to the ASU football stadium (I'm a sports geek, but you should know that by now.) After realizing there's no parking near the stadium, I figure I'll drive around and look at some houses. After all, there's a chance I could be moving there soon. (Actually, unless you're only parking for an hour, there's nowhere to park in Boone at all. If you're a visitor, you're screwed if you just want to walk around.)
Well, after about 10 minutes, I realize I'm lost and I'm cursing that fateful night in 1994. After a short while, I see a highway I recognize from the map. I'm not sure which way I need to turn on this highway to get me back where I want to go, but I figure I've got a 50/50 shot of picking the right way.
I picked incorrectly.
After driving about five miles out of my way, I realize "hey, I'm going the wrong way." I find a place to turn around and head back to the hotel.
By the way, I should mention that the hotel is at the top of a very, large mountain. But, I'm young. I'm in shape. I figure it'll be no problem to walk from there to the bottom and tour campus (about six-tenths of a mile.)
About halfway down the mountain (DOWN), I realize I'm going to be screwed in my attempt to
climb back up it. I'm not that young. And I'm definitely not in shape. But, at this point, it's either continue down the mountain to find something to do for five hours or sit in a hotel lobby watching FOX News for six hours.For the next five hours, I wander around ASU, reading their student newspaper, watching their students throw the football around on their field, killing hours in their bookstore (and if it wasn't for my Mom's "you can't buy anything for yourself after Halloween" rule, - she's fearful I'll buy myself something she's buying me for Christmas - I'd have bought a book and been entertained.)
After exhausting every possible thing to do on campus, I proceeded to head back to the hotel. A 25-minute walk up the mountain left me breathless, sore and begging to be put out of my misery.
About 5:30, Yes Dear arrives back at the hotel. Sadly, this is about the same time the fog rolled in. I'm not talking about a light fog that causes you to slow down to five miles over the speed limit. I'm talking about I-can't-see-five-feet-in-front-of-me type fog. Yes Dear drives about five miles-per-hour down whatever mountain we were on, trying (and I stress "trying" to focus on the white line on the right of the road. Sometimes we could see it. Other times, we hoped we didn't drive off the side of the mountain.
Eventually we get out of the fog and decide if it's like that on a regular basis, maybe Boone's not for us.
(By the way, since we're talking about the weather here, I figure now's as good a time as any to tell you I feel cheated in my trip to Boone. Watching the weather Monday night, they said the city was experiencing near-record highs. That's not a true indication of what the city's like. Tuesday, the low was in the mid-50s. Wednesday morning, the lows were to be in the mid-20s. That's like being told you can date Lindsay Lohan, but instead of getting the "Mean Girls" version of Lohan, you get the crack addict version.)
Weekend update: GSU football on Saturday, NFL and laundry on Sunday. God I'm boring. Why are you reading again?
Fantasy update: Speaking of Lindsay Lohan, let's remember when she was pretty as the Fantasy Update girl this week. In other Fantasy News, the Fighting Squirrels are leading a charmed life, winning 47-45 in one league to improve to 8-2 while in the other league, I won 80-77 to improve to 4-6.Work Update: As you may recall, last Friday was supposed to be the last Friday night I would
be working. As you can probably tell from the fact that I used the word "supposed," there's been a change of plans. I feel like the guy from Office Space.Ahh, I'm going to have to go ahead and ask you to come in on Sunday, too...
Not good times.
See you Friday for my Christmas list.
posted by Luke at 6:00 PM
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