The Blog » Travel

You Know You’re a Geek When . . .

Derek Park — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 21:32:51 +0000

Talking with some guys from the office about a Mercury Grand Marquis we rented for our latest trip to Florida, the following conversation transpired:

It was ridiculous trying to make a U-turn in that thing. You could turn the wheel all the way to the left, and you’d still cross all three lanes and hit the curb on the other side.

That boat had a turning radius the size of Utah.

*Laughter*

The turning radius is measured in AUs.

*Louder laughter*

Yes, we are geeks. Thank you for asking.

Two Weeks of Tampa is Too Much

Derek Park — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 16:24:53 +0000

I’ve been in Tampa for the past two weeks with Andy, Courtney, and Tobin. Well, technically, we’ve been mostly in Largo and Clearwater, but there’s enough tiny towns crowded around that it’s easier just to say Tampa.

Okay. They just called for me to board. So I’ll be cutting this short. I’m actually in first class (I got bumped up), so that’s a plus, at least.

I’m going to be glad to be home.

Columbia, MO

Derek Park — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:12:52 +0000

I went to Columbia this past weekend with Kristen. She’ll be moving there in August. The main reason for our trip was to check out a few apartments. It looks like she’s happiest with one that she found online during a roommate search. Her potential roommate seems friendly, and the apartment was definitely one of the nicest we looked at. Since her internship next year will be paying her peanuts, she pretty much needs a roommate to split expenses anyway.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do much else in Columbia. It turns out that it’s a 7 hour trip once you factor in the mandatory refueling, restroom breaks, and meal break. If you could drive straight through without needing gas (and perhaps wearing a diaper), you might be able to reduce the drive to 6.5 hours, but that’s pretty much the minimum.

So basically, that trip is going to suck next year. We’re planning on seeing each other about twice a month, once in Oxford and once in Columbia. We’re pretty much going to have to take vacation in order to spend much time together. Or get used to driving at night. It could be worse. Josie’s going to be in Albuquerque, 16 hours from Oxford.