Travel Recap
Sunday. We flew to NOLA without many issues. While I do like the direct to MSY from DCA, the ride from New Orleans seems a lot longer these days, even if the rides are remarkably smooth. I would say that the roads are actually the summation of all the things that have been done since Katrina, but it’s something I’ve noticed all over the place. Check-in at the hotel was generally uneventful. Room wasn’t great, but it did work. Dinner at the place across the place across the parking lot.
Monday: We went over to see my mom for a bit. Installed the rails to help her get in and out of bed. She’s in a thoracic brace after her last fall. Figured out her phone, but she’s still mainly at the point where she can’t use it. The chargers were missing. Thankfully, I still had one in my laptop bag that we could use to charge it once the staff finally located it. Tried to show her how to use Siri for voice command, but she still has problems seeing well enough to do much of anything, or hold down the button to activate much of anything. Her TV isn’t working. This is the flat screen my brother and I got in something like 2009. I think it’s like 32 inches, which was the biggest thing that would fit inside the giant cabinet that my parents had bought for their big CRT. My wife was bothered by the disarray in her closets, and set out to buying organizaers. Back to the hotel a bit, then out for my grandfather’s birthday dinner. My wife had some sort of stuffed fish that was absolutely amazing. I wasn’t terribly hungry, so I got the Cajun shrimp tacos. Fried pickles, etc. But it was nice having a nine-person party there to celebrate my grandfather’s birthday.
Tuesday: W0w-oh-wow. I was kind of keeping my thumb on the pulse of what was going on with the election results using X and various websites. After a nap, we went to Gen Z’s favorite fast casual restaurant, Chili’s. As with the situation the night before, I couldn’t come close to finishing what I’d ordered. Draft Bud Light, shot of Fireball. When we got back to the hotel, in to watching the election results roll in. While there was a TV in the room, I watched pretty much of all of it at first on The Free Press‘s livestream, and trying to follow the results in Virginia. Obviously, I knew that there was basically no chance of winning. Jerry Torres for the House in a district that’s been “blue” since the Northern Aggressors finally left in 1877. Hung Cao in the Senate. With the endorsement of Trump from some of the people who’ve destroyed the Libertarian Party jumping over to endorse Trump, I decided to vote for the candidate they’d ended up with after their Jersey Dave replacement was too stoned to speak even halfway coherently during the convention. After the TheFP livestreams ended with it appearing Trump had won, I went to BlazeTV for a few more hours.
Wednesday: I went to my mom’s house so I could do landlord tasks. Generally in good shape, and the the guy who’s been doing the lawn. My wife was really suffering from the effects of whatever allergy/sinus issue she was having. The arrangement can continue as it currently is. Back to the hotel room to spend some time with the girls. Dinner delivered to the hotel.
Thursday: Over to the home to have lunch with my mom for her birthday. The dog was a hit among the staff and other residents. My wife installed the closet organizers, and my mom got to hold the leash to keep the dog from investigating furniture assembly too closely. Had lunch delivered from a local Po’Boy shop run by one of my parents’ high school classmates.
Friday: Trip home. There was a traffic issue on I-10 in New Orleans. The nav app my wife was trying to get her to get off the Interstate, and take back roads to get around….because staying on the Interstate was going to have about a seven minute delay. Stay on 10, or go through stop-and-go local traffic. The logistics of returning rental cars at MSY is not good. If you’re looking for how COVID really fucked an industry, look no further than the rental car industry.
Overall impression? In so many aspects of life, things are much better today than they’ve ever been. The Intertubes at my mom’s house in Biloxi, Mississippi are actually a bit better than what I get inside the Beltway. Highways are in amazingly-good shape. I will probably write more about my mom’s health, but that’s not going to be for general consumption; check OD.