Mayberry Y2K14

It was like having our own personal Wilderness Lodge

Wow, it has been five days since I blogged. I am not sure I have gone that long without blogging in the 1023 times I have done this. We were in Southern Illinois for four days without wifi. I could have blogged when we went to Pixley or Hooterville because they have plenty of places that have wifi access (Starbucks, Panera...) but I thought this would be a challenge. We did not record a new Dirty Laundry Podcast and I did not write a blog. We could have recorded a new podcast without wifi and just waited to upload it when we got back but I just wanted to see how addicted I really am. I brought my metal case full of all of the recording equipment but never used it to do the show. We will record a new show in a couple of days and get back on schedule and, as you probably have guessed, I am blogging now.

We went down to Carbondale, IL to visit Splenda for Easter. I took a couple of vacation days (comp. days more precisely) and added them to my "weekend." I go back to work tonight and it will be my Wednesday already. Jeff went with us this time. Jeff is our 11-month old Border Collie in case you are unaware. We rented a house in the MIDDLE of nowhere (a town called DeSoto, IL) that allowed dogs. It was only six miles from Carbondale. We had our own private lake and we were surrounded by hundreds of acres of woods (not to be confused with Hundred Acre Wood from Winnie The Pooh). We did have some of the modern conveniences like satellite television (they had Dish Network - I much prefer our DirecTv but that may be because that is what I have grown accustom to). We didn't watch much television but it was nice to have on while cooking... I also got to see some St. Louis Cardinals' baseball and watch portions of a couple of the Chicago Blackhawks games. Driving down I listened to Cardinal baseball on the radio. I am so easily amused. Anyway, we could not believe how good of a traveller Jeff is. No problems in the car all the way down and back (sixish hours each way) and no problems at all while we were down south. I just went to DeSoto's website which talks about the Congress of the Confederation. It also says that shortly after the Civil War a large portion of the north side of town was burned to the ground and then in 1891 a great fire did damage to the southern portion of town. Then, in 1925, most of the town was destroyed by the Great Tri-State Tornado of 1925. This place is hexed. At least they have Club Coyote now and Granny's ReSale and Laundry. Next to Club Coyote is an old mobile home that has been converted into a drive-up liquor store. I also heard tell that this town is now the meth capital of Southern Illinois. There is some really cool old architecture there. If you get a chance check out their website. There are several beauty shops and they are just photos of people's houses and Shirley's Deer Processing which I have to believe is also Shirley's house. DeSoto is kind of like the Mayberry with meth labs instead of moonshine stills (Mayberry Y2K14).

I wonder if this was from the fires or the tornado

I was just petting Jeff and found a tick on him. We had found several ticks on us throughout the weekend and thought we had gotten them all but this little parasite had a short vacation before dying far from home. I am sure he will be touted as a war hero or the tick that went off to explore the world. They will honor him/her with parades and build a statue in his/her honor in the tick town square.

The whole time we were down there, when I could get a signal on my phone. I wondered why so many people had decided not to play Words with Friends for four days. I thought. "self, maybe everybody is not playing because of Easter weekend." Every now and then one would come through. I looked this morning and I guess I was the one with the issue. I had like 12 games I was behind on going back four days. Damn you T-Mobile and your spotty coverage in the ultra-religious meth-filled southern Illinois.

While walking around our private lake through the brush getting chiggers and ticks Jeff and I saw turtles and fish and woodpeckers and lots of birds and bugs (like ticks) and deer tracks and quite a bit of evidence of beavers. All the cartoons that have had beavers chewing through logs have taught me to know when beavers are near. We were like Mattiel Boone and Jeffy Crockett. Why are turtles so shy? As soon as we'd walk up they would jump from the fallen trees they were sunny themselves on into the drink. Do I look like a guy who eats soup?

Definately the work of beavers!

I have to get quite a bit done before bed and work so I am gonna call this a wrap. I cannot wait to go back to work tonight he blogged sarcastically; at least it is my hump day already. I have not missed one bit of work. Does anybody actually miss their work when they are gone? "I wouldn't say I've been missing it Bob." Thanks for remembering to come back after my brief hiatus. I don't think my next trip is until August when I will be doing a podcast tour of the East Coast. I am pretty sure they have wifi out that way. Mark your calendars Right Coasters! Have a great night and I am fairly sure I will blog again tomorrow. TTTT... MITM (out) TA!