Carpetbagging

I am in the Madison Public Library, part of the Metro Libraries, just outside of Nashville. It is 10 am CDT (uh, I think that is the time zone). The night was cool and humid, and the day is already sunny as heck and getting warm.

The car is fine, transmission and all.

The drive down was eventful. Well, I mean, after I left Indiana. All I can say about Indiana is that it was the longest trip I have ever made without having to pop my ears. Everytime I thought I saw a hill, it was an overpass. I imagine they trucked in the dirt to avoid disturbing that perfect plane: or, God forbid, creating a lake.

I took I-94, I-69, I-65. Well, almost. I had to travel around Indianapolis via I-465. It only took me about three or four tries to actually get on it in the right direction.

Go me.

I listened to odd stuff on my way through there: Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville and Whip-smart, Ride's nowhere (which has one great song and a lot more cat torturing than I remember; maybe I'm getting old), the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers.

Louisville, KY was pretty. The Ohio River is GINORMOUS there; it looks like the Mississippi. I was seriously considering turning and staying there, it was so pretty, but Kentucky has been a bit soft in the job market, and I saw a number of unoccupied, older buildings, so I decided to continue. Also, I remember Randy B. complaining about never having anything to do down there on his job trips, so I drove straight through.

Kentucky is seriously pretty. I went through Louisville at about 6 or 6:30 pm, so I ended up going through it in the mostly dark. I decided to stop in Bowling Green for food and water. Trolling through their So. Westnedge, I hit upon the promised land: White Castle! Sliders! The hamburger that is not a sandwich, but a meaty, steamy, oniony confection!

I ordered ten.

Then things got interesting.

Apparently, something EXPLODED on I-65 South. Apparently, this interfered with traffic. Apparently, this interfered with traffic so much that:

1. A woman gave birth under a bridge ahead of us (information courtesy of the guy riding his bike up and down the stopped cars),
2. I listened to Bob Dylan's Live 1976: Rolling Thunder two CD live album... with repeats for favorite songs... with time to spare,
3. After the birth, they opened up a way to the emergency turn-around and sent us all NORTH. Even the tractor-double trailers: it was fun watching them swing through the turn-around, trailers swaying violently side-to-side as the wheels left and returned to the pavement... hey, I think I know what caused the explosion now. :-)

That last was the real... expletive deleted, expletive deleted. My special favorite was the SUV with Michigan plates (apparently a would be Nashvegas tourist) who stopped to ask the emergency workers waving cars around for directions...

...and brought the entire freakin' line to a complete halt!

We reserve the comfy chair in Hell for that guy. And he wasn't the only one without the testicular fortitude to actually take responsibility for himself to FIND ANOTHER WAY TO NASHVILLE.

My second favorite was the guy driving the $50,000 Lexus (KY plates) who was incapable of nudging his car through actual, you know, dirt, and who prevented me from driving around the SUV. GAH!

Anyway... to be continued.