My daily work commute requires me to drive a fairly uneventful (most of the time) 64 miles. 32 miles from my house to work, and 32 miles back. Approximately 14 of those miles (28 if you count both ways) are on good ol’ I-64. I drive a ’92 Toyota Celica that gets about 36 miles to the gallon so all of you environmental freaks just keep your mouths shut.
This certain stretch of I-64 has roadsigns that call it the “Nick Joe Rahall, II High Technology Corridor.” Unless rusty old bridges and fields full of cattle are considered high tech, I have a feeling they put that sign in the wrong place.
As I said, most of these miles are fairly uneventful. I have hit a deer or two, seen a few wrecks, and ran out of gas once. Not to shabby considering I have been driving this same stretch of highway for close to twelve years now. (Time for a math break. 260 working days in a year. Subtract vac. time, holidays, sick time, etc.. let’s say that I worked on average 240 days per year. 240 days multiplied by 12 years is 2880 days. 2880 days at 64 miles each day is 184,320 miles. HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT.)
Back to the subject at hand. Let me talk a bit more about this certain stretch of I-64. There is hardly a flat stretch anywhere on it. There are several very steep and fairly long hills. The speed limit is 70mph. There are a lot of tractor trailers on this stretch of road. After all, it does connect the West side of the state to the East.
These tractor trailers, box trucks, and moving trucks can’t quite go 70mph up these hills. In fact, by the time they get to the top, they are barely going 30mph. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem because they could easily be passed. But sometimes, while one truck is going 30mph up the hill, another truck comes along going 30-1/2 maybe even 31 mph and decides that he should pull out and pass the “slow” truck which really messes things up for everyone.
Once they get to the top of the hill, it’s a fucking race to the bottom with neither truck giving an inch. By the time they get to the bottom, they are going what I would estimate to be about 912mph. Any vehicles in their way have been shoved over in the median or lay flat in their wake.
As they start up the next hill, they are still side by side. They begin at a fairly good speed, but the farther up they get, the slower they go… until they reach the top.
( I really expected this post to go somewhere, but it just kinda died right there. Damn. )
I have always thought those high tech corridor signs were a bit of a misnomer as well. I mean we are talking about a state that has one of the lowest percentage of people who are connected to the internet in the country, not too mention the fact that there are still large swaths of the state were it is impossible to get DSL or Cable.
Doesn’t that truck shit just piss you off? Jennifer has gotten so pissed off that she has passed them on the berm once or twice.
The DSL and Cable thing really bother me due to the fact that this is where most people get breaking news, and dial-up is just a pain in the ass to have to fool with.
That truck shit does piss me off. It seems that there favorite time to hog both lanes is when I am just about to go around them.
We have thought about moving back once or twice, but virtually anywhere we want to live (my farm, up toward Snowshoe, etc.) is in a DSL/Cable dead zone, and we have to have it so Jennifer could do her job from home. We thought about getting internet via satellite, but it is ridicously expensive and not too reliable.
About $60 per month…not counting the initial hardware fees. I know a couple of people that have it.
Is it really that cheap now?
Julian was telling me that they had to get it because they live in Pluto (no not on Puto), and his mother needed it so she could work from home sometimes. Anyhow, he said it was something like $195 month, but that figure could have included their tv package as well. He also said they had some issues with it especially in the winter. I guess maybe it is more sensitive to atmospheric conditions and such.
They are sensitive as a satellite TV is to “rain fade.” If a heavy storm comes through, you will lose service until the thick clouds pass on through.