Adventures with Speedball
or
Of Travel, Turkeys, and Time Off

Fri, 17th of November

So it Begins

After going to my two morning classes, and being assigned homework over break in one of them (Curse you Prof. Schwarts) I packed and got ready to go. But first...

The Quest of The Hess

Every Christmas my Grandfather (from my Dad's side) gives the yearly Hess Truck (Hess Gas Stations sell a collectable toy truck every year, complete with flashing lights and sound FXs, this year it is a Fire Truck) to all four of his kids. But the Hess stations in Williamsport PA have all closed. There are, however, some Hess stations here in Elmira. So I was told to get four. They went on sale on the 17th, so I had to buy them before I left.

First I go to the gas station, fill up my tank for the trip, then go stand in line, a line that went out the door. Finally I got to the front, ordered up four trucks, only to find out they were only accepting cash on the first day of selling them. So it was back to campus.

After a trip to the campus ATM machine (were I had to withdraw 80 bucks) I returned to the gas station and the line. Hooray, this time I was able to get the trucks.

Then I went back to my dorm room, grabbed my bags, and got on the road just as it stated to flurry. Fortunately it didn't snow hard on my way down and the trip from Elmira to Williamsport in around an hour and a half.

Prior to arriving at my Grandparents I chose to stop at the Comic Castle, a comic book store in Williamsport PA and one of my favorite places to pick up comics. After spending another 80 bucks or so (60 actually, I had 20 bucks left off of a 100 gift certificate my Grandparents gave me for my Birthday over the summer), I left the Comic Castle and made my way to my Grandparents house.

I arrived, something of a hero since I had the Hess Trucks, and got to dump my stuff up stairs in the extra bedroom. The house seemed a little quieter, due to the fact that my Grandparents Terrier Frisky had died a little over a month ago. Frisky was very old (they got her when I was 6 years old) and very sick at the end.

My Grandparents then took my to dinner in a restaurant that caters mainly to senior citizens, they were there with some of their friends, which was weird for me. I was one of only two people there who weren't on the wait staff and not allowed to order off of the Senior Citizens menu. The décor seemed to be trying to look elegant, it looked corny and over done to me, but my Grandparents liked it, and they were the target audience any way. I had the pasta, good, not great, but good.

Sat. 18th of November

A Long and Winding Road

The next day we got up, packed the van and set off on the 12-hour drive from Williamsport PA to Mebane NC. My Grandfather and I shared the driving chore and I got to do most of the navigating. We followed 81 most of the way down, crossed the Blue Ridge at Roanoke VA (and got a bit lost there in) and eventually made it home. My Grandparents don't like to stop at fast food joints to we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner, I wasn't thrilled with this, I wanted to get home not wait half an hour for food. I kept my opinion to myself though.

When we arrived at the house my sister was home, waiting to great us before she went back to her dorm at UNC Chapel Hill. I arrived to see that my Mom had mostly finished my room, but several boxes still stand unsorted. Also one of the TV's had been moved into my room, which is nice. I also have cable and a VCR in my room, very nice.

I also found out my sister had become Anemic, she never did eat much and now she had been both working to hard and working out to much at college. Doctors orders: Eat more foods containing iron (a.k.a. Red Meat), stay hydrated, don't do any thing to the point of sweating, and get lots of sleep. While I'm sorry for my sister I'm jealous of the cure. When I get sick I get hay fever and the flu. She gets to eat steak, watch TV, and sleep in.

Sun. 19th of November

After being awoken by my father I got up and had some breakfast.

And then, um, we, uh, huh, I have no idea what I did on Sunday, oh well. It did snow though, all day, 3 inches. I travel from Elmira NY south to North Carolina and see more snow than I have so far all season. It all melted my noon on Monday.

Mon. 20th of November

My Mom had work (she teaches 4th grade), my sister had classes, and my Dad had work (at the purchasing dept. for UNC). My Grandparents let my sleep in, but the cat (Noel) decided to jump into bed with me, which woke me up. So I went down stairs. There wasn't much to do. I made myself some lunch (buttered noodles), reread some comics, watched some TV. The day was boring but quite restful, a nice break after a long term of classes. Then my parents came home and we went out to dinner and the Longbranch, a steak house that serves complementary peanuts.

Tues. 21st of November

Much the same as above, except my mom made dinner and I had to stack wood my dad ordered. Columbus the family dog enjoyed this since it meant he got to be out side most of the day with someone else. Home cooked fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. My mom makes THE BEST fried chicken and her home cooked macaroni and cheese is exquisite. I also watched Buffy and Angel.

Wed. 22nd of November

Hey, my Mom's Thanksgiving break finally started. What do we do? We do errands. I got a hair cut (long over due) and was dropped off on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill to get my passport photo taken. I then stopped briefly at the Second Foundation Science Fiction Bookstore. Second Foundation also sells comic books and Wednesday is New Comic Day. I then got a ride home with my dad. That night my sister, Sara, abducted me and took me into Chapel Hill again to go to dinner at the Ram's Head Ratskeller (sp? It is German and spell checker can't help me and I can't find my dictionary). I succeeded in eating an entire Triple Gambler (a Gambler is a 5-oz skirt streak served sizzling on a skillet with fries and sautéed onions, and Triple Gambler is 15 oz of beef). I talked my sister into getting a small steak since it would be high in iron. We then tried to find something to do in Chapel Hill, but since almost all the other students on UNC had gone home for break we were at a loss. We stopped at Blockbuster on the way home. My sister bought a copy of Mystery Alaska and I rented both Austin Powers movies. We then went home and my sister proceeded to fall asleep half way through, so I sent her to bed, finished the movie and went to bed myself.

Thurs. 23rd of November

Turkey Day

After sleeping in (and missing all the parades) I poked around the house while I mom cooked up the feast. I am sorry to say I didn't actually eat a lot at dinner. I don't know why I just wasn't hungry. There was football on TV all day, but not being a fan of the sport I didn't watch it. That night I introduced my parents and grandparents to Austin Powers. They were not amused. Actually my dad was, but he didn't think it merited all the hype it got. I had to explain the "Random Task" joke.
Fri. 24th of November

My last full day at home, I got up and my Mom and I went to do more errands (what fun). We registered me for a passport, did some banking, some shopping, and then went home. My sister and me then went to the mall. I bought myself some comic books (Let me guess, your shocked right?) and then I did something bad. This was the day after Thanksgiving, the first official day of the Christmas shopping season and what do I do? I buy myself a movie. I know. I'm evil, bad Speedball. But, come on, it is the X-Men!

Also instead of getting to bed early to rest up for the trip back north I stayed up to watch the last two episodes in the Junkyard Wars Marathon on TLC. That show rules, two teams square off to build original machine using the supplies they dig out of a very well stocked dumb. It is a very cool show. New episodes car coming TLC starting Dec. 6.

Sat. 25th of November

The Long Road North

Remember the trip south, well we went home by another way, didn't get lost at all, again ate at a Cracker Barrel (this time for lunch) and had dinner at the Bonanza in Williamsport. If you have never eaten at a Bonanza the deal with the place is that the meals are small but they all come with the salad bar, the desert bar, the bread nook, and the buffet line. I REALLY don't get the buffet/salad bar concept. It I want to make my own salad I'll eat at home. Oh well.

Sun. 26th of November

A.K.A. Today

Since I only had an hour and a half drive today I was allowed to sleep in. My Grandparents insisted in taking me out to eat for lunch at another place that caters mainly to senior citizens. It was on my way so I didn't protest. I also didn't eat much. I wasn't hungry. The drive was all in the rain, but not bad. I arrived, unpacked, went through a week of back e-mail, sorted my comics, checked out the free CD with bonus footage that came with the X-Men movie, read some web-comics (can't believe I missed the Caption Contest at Sluggy) and wrote up this while watching TV. Does any one know why there is a female Zorro calling herself the Queen of Swords? I don't get it.

Speed'I'm only Qusi-Evil. the Diet Coke of Evil. Just one Calorie, not Evil enough'ball