As I posted in the Pit last night, Mr. Rilch and I are heading to Pittsburgh, either tomorrow night or Saturday. He’s out right now, and I’m here…having a panic attack.
I have everything packed, except for last-minute stuff like my toothbrush.
I just feel terrible. The only reason…the ONLY reason I’m doing this is because I can’t bear to be apart from Mr. Rilch for so long. The only way this could be worse is if he was going alone. I can’t bear the thought of that…
…but I also can’t bear the thought that I spent the last three months not accomplishing much of anything, except carefully planning for this trip so that if it did happen, it would be as little of an upheaval as possible. I didn’t start anything because I didn’t know if I could finish. I feel terrible.
I didn’t read your thread in the Pit, so I don’t know the whole situation, but here’s my advice anyway: Forget about the last three months. There’s no sense worrying about the past. If you start thinking about that, just force yourself to think about something else. Maybe you can make plans for things you want to do when you get to Pittsburgh. Specific plans, though, not just “Oh this is going to be so horrible.” Try to think of little things you can do to make it less unpleasant than you expect. Maybe it will be better than you think. At least now you won’t be spending all your time planning for your trip, right?
I don’t know if that was even marginally helpful, but hey, I tried.
But one specific thing worries me. One of the conditions of my going was that we have to take the computer. What if it gets damaged while we’re driving? (I won’t think of “stolen”, because we do everything we can to protect our stuff while we’re traveling, and nothing’s happened yet.) But what if I get there and the hard disk is broken or something?
Rilch-one thing: it is best NOT to worry about something until you actually face that possibility. Did you back up everything on your computer? Did you pack it safely? It should be all right.
My old computer recently survived a car trip from Pittsburgh to Greensburg, and then from Greensburg to Lancaster (PA), and back again.
And everything was all right.
Don’t think about it. You’ll drive yourself nuts if you do.
Now DEEEP breaths. (Imagine all the yummy Pittsburgh food you’ll be able to eat)
Well, we didn’t pack the computer yet, Guin, since I’m posting from it! But yes, I have made backups.
One thing I have possibly to look forward to is that I might be able to see the AmIdol concert after all. They’re performing at Mellon Arena on September 9th, and we will be there by then. If I can get tickets, that would be a great way to make the transition!
And don’t forget the Vote for Change concerts occurring in those midwest swing states at the start of October!! I’ve got tix to see some California rockers, Bonnie Raitt and jax Browne and keb Mo’!
Road Trips are tons of FUn! Dont worry about the trailer, just use the truck stops for fuel and good eats because it’s easy to pull your load in and out. Are there brakes on your trailer? just don’t overheat the truck brakes heading down the other side of the Divide.
And you’ll arrive Penn. just in time for beautiful Fall color too!
We don’t have a trailer. Mr. Rilch had a camper shell put on his truck. And we’re going to shotgun most of the trip, with only one motel stop.
Right now I’m waiting for Mr. Rilch to get back to me about the concert. It depends on how much cash I’ll need to contribute when we’re on the road. I could order tickets tonight and print them out, but I hesitate to do so until I’m sure I can afford to. Wish I’d decided on this earlier, so I could have made plans to hook up with other Redheads! But as I’ve said, I didn’t want to make any ironclad plans, either for here or for in P’bgh. If I’d bought tickets weeks ago, that would have practically guaranteed we wouldn’t be going!