21: A whole new world

The story all starts on Wednesday, the 29th of November. I was still at home in Minnesota waiting for my best friend, Sarah, to come pick me up. I was talking to BOOT online as usual and at 11:50 pm Sarah showed up to start our 7-8 hour drive from Minneapolis to Chicago. Now, there were a few factors that made this trip challenging.

A) Freezing Rain
B) Time constraint (I had until 10 am to make it to my Art History Class or I would fail)
C) The "lack of sleep" issue
D) The car is not something I would usually trust with my life for more than 10 minutes or so.

And so...at 11:57 pm on Tuesday, November 28th, Sarah and I hit the road. (having been lovingly informed by BOOT that I would surely fail--and he thinks he knows me)

Stop #1

Every car needs gas. The gas that first filled the Geo's tank was the first purchase on my credit card. In the future, it may be referred to as "mistake #1." While at the gas station it came to our attention that the price of batteries was greatly inflated and that we needed to get them in another place. Conviently, there was a Cub Foods across the street. Inconviently, Sarah didn't see it and went the other way. After turning around and driving passed a closed Walgreens we arrived at...

Stop #2

Cub. Open 24 hours. We were in a hurry, so the only natural thing to do was stroll about at our leisure. The first thing we came to were those little black boxes marked 'Trojan.' We commented on the various pros and cons related to each box of contraceptive fun before moving on to what we really wanted--the batteries. We needed 6 D sized batteries in order for the boombox Sarah had in her car to work. As well as a few AAs for the CD player. Music is a must on a journey such as ours. Amazingly, there was a sale on batteries and we got ten for the price of two at the gas station. Obviously, we were pleased about the slight backtracking to the 24 hr wonderland that is Cub Foods. Additionally, we felt it necessary to purchase French Onion Sun Chips, the road tripping chips of choice. They are an essential for all road trips Sarah and I are involved in. Tradition must hold. At the counter, I pulled out my VISA card yet again to make the second in a long series of purchases. It was one of those rare places that they actually wanted to hold on to my credity card to make sure that the signatures match. I started saying things like, "uh-oh" and "I can't really remember how I signed it..." "I hate all this pressure..." The cashier lady eyed us with amusement as I anxiously signed the slip and she gave me back my card. "I PASSED!!! I PASSED!!!" I jumped up and down a few times and the cashier lady laughed. I am pretty sure no one else that night was quite like us. I'd like to think we made her night.

A few minutes later...Sarah broke her boombox in an attempt to get better sound. I intelligently suggested that perhaps I should drive while she tried to fix it. I think that saved us at least an hour. Finally, we were able to hear music, and sampled a great deal of variety from Eminem, to Queen, and even the Dixie Chicks. (the last wil be mentioned again) We had a merry old time cruising down 94 toward Chi-town. We talked about your average subjects: sex, memories and funny stuff. After a few minutes Sarah had to pee. When we finally...

made Stop #3

Finally arriving at my apartment we needed to take about 3 trips to get all of our stuff (and the plant my mother insisted I bring to my roommate) up to the third floor. After the unpacking job that included Sarah claiming her very own spot on the dining room floor we sat back, cracked open a couple of mountain dews, ate toast...and carried on a very funny and very random conversation that only makes sense to people who haven't slept for a day.

It was finally time for us to leave for my class. Ten minutes later we actually left. So I was in a hurry, as always. The L never comes when I want it to. In keeping with tradition...it came about 15 or 20 minutes after we got to the platform. Lovely. This never fails when I am in a hurry.

Once on the train Sarah and I had to stand...which was good because we would have fallen asleep otherwise...that is pretty much guaranteed. Halfway down the line we switched trains, though...and then we both got to sit down. Needless to say, we didn't have that much conversation going on...if you don't count "uhh"..."huh?..."ehh...uh-huh...ehna...uh."

Sarah went out for coffee and some sort of half-sleep while I went to class. It was Art History--needless to say, I don't remember anything because I was asleep the whole time.

We met for lunch and discussed our immediate need for sleep. Unfortunately, I couldn't have it--I needed to make it to my next class. So Sarah went back to my apartment to sleep--and I went to 2D Design. It isn't any better with no sleep and a mountain dew, sadly.

I am afraid the rest of the evening is something of a blur...so I will let you continue on to the next commentary...which, I assure you...is hilarious.