You Can Dress Me Up ....
Sep. 21st, 2007 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrdreamjeansAs the sayin' goes, you really "can't take me no place nice". I like to pretend that my choices on road trips or vacations are made from the font of necessity. In reality, I'm frugal by nature when it comes to spending money on certain things ... hotels ... car rentals ... flights ... dining ... Save your money or your breath if you're trying to impress me with fancy restaurants or trendy places. I will focus more on the cost, than the company, and find it irksome.
Fine dining is wasted on me. I like well-prepared, reasonably-priced, simple food, especially home-cooked. Waxing philosphopically about a to-die-for sauce or debating the merits of a certain vintage aren't parts of my culinary vocabulary. In fact, the whole smelling the wine, tasting it, raising an eyebrow, nodding your head in approval after a precise moment of consideration, just makes me want to roll my eyes or giggle. I won't enjoy chatting desultorily over a lengthy multi-course meal that takes my entire week's meal allowance, even if I adore you. Eating is just something I have to do on the way to something else .. like a movie ... or a show ... or shopping:)
For example ... I've spent three nights in a hotel during this 16-day trip. I've chosen La Quinta Inns. I've used roadside coupons to keep the cost under $60 a night. La Quinta has free wireless, though I had to use the newly installed roadside rest stop wireless internet in Kansas and Iowa on this trip when email didn't work. My hotel last night was in an industrial area of Kansas City. My dining choices were Denny's or The Waffle House. I chose Denny's. Tonight, I'm in Ardmore, OK and the choices were Ryan's Buffet or IHop. I chose the buffet and was able to hold myself to one run through the starches and carbs ... which means the whole buffet was open to me:)
I will spend hours finding the lowest airfare with the most perks. I will drive a few extra miles to discover the cheapest priced gas (no matter how illogical that may be). I will stock up on bottled water and soft drinks from the grocery, rather than give my money to a vending machine.
In other instances, I am very generous. I will spend money on theatre tickets or flowers, gifts or clothing for my friends. I'll go out of my way to find the perfect birthday gift, take time to write and send a card or drive hours to see someone special; but call it a quirk or whatever, I will not waste money on things I consider fussy or unnecessary. You can dress me up .... but ...
Odd Sightings and Observations from the Road:
1. I passed a town in Iowa named "What Cheer".
2. It's weird to be at a rest area in Kansas just to use the wireless internet; on the other hand, truckers just aren't as hot as they used to be, so why not? :)
3. Taxes on hotel rooms in Kansas City, MO are over 14%! There's an arena tax, a city occupancy tax and a state occupancy tax. And yet, they probably wonder why convention business is off.
4. The reading on my trip odometer this morning was 2727.7.
5. I passed through the Flint Hills area of Oklahoma today. Mile after mile of nothing but rock, brush, roadkill and the hypnotic asphalt before me. The high today - 94 degrees. The temps have been jumping by 20s.
6. I've developed a fondness for Blue Collar Radio on Sirius. They may be redneck - but Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Ron White, Larry the Cable Guy, Kathleen Madigan and Chonda Pierce can make me howl with laughter.
7. I turn to Blue Collar Radio when the Broadway channel plays Patti Lupone, Liza Minelli or anything from "West Side Story", "Phantom of the Opera" or "Mama Mia". For a variety of reasons, I can't listen to them anymore.
8. It's Friday night in Ardmore. It's a draw as to whether most of the city is at the high school football game or at Wal-Mart. I can see the stadium lights blazing from my room. One thing's for sure ... There are many examples of first cousins marrying first cousins if you stroll down the aisles of Ardmore's big W! I know. I strolled. (Oh well, I wasn't dressed up, so I guess I fit right in:)
Tomorrow, I'll be back in Brenham.
Fine dining is wasted on me. I like well-prepared, reasonably-priced, simple food, especially home-cooked. Waxing philosphopically about a to-die-for sauce or debating the merits of a certain vintage aren't parts of my culinary vocabulary. In fact, the whole smelling the wine, tasting it, raising an eyebrow, nodding your head in approval after a precise moment of consideration, just makes me want to roll my eyes or giggle. I won't enjoy chatting desultorily over a lengthy multi-course meal that takes my entire week's meal allowance, even if I adore you. Eating is just something I have to do on the way to something else .. like a movie ... or a show ... or shopping:)
For example ... I've spent three nights in a hotel during this 16-day trip. I've chosen La Quinta Inns. I've used roadside coupons to keep the cost under $60 a night. La Quinta has free wireless, though I had to use the newly installed roadside rest stop wireless internet in Kansas and Iowa on this trip when email didn't work. My hotel last night was in an industrial area of Kansas City. My dining choices were Denny's or The Waffle House. I chose Denny's. Tonight, I'm in Ardmore, OK and the choices were Ryan's Buffet or IHop. I chose the buffet and was able to hold myself to one run through the starches and carbs ... which means the whole buffet was open to me:)
I will spend hours finding the lowest airfare with the most perks. I will drive a few extra miles to discover the cheapest priced gas (no matter how illogical that may be). I will stock up on bottled water and soft drinks from the grocery, rather than give my money to a vending machine.
In other instances, I am very generous. I will spend money on theatre tickets or flowers, gifts or clothing for my friends. I'll go out of my way to find the perfect birthday gift, take time to write and send a card or drive hours to see someone special; but call it a quirk or whatever, I will not waste money on things I consider fussy or unnecessary. You can dress me up .... but ...
Odd Sightings and Observations from the Road:
1. I passed a town in Iowa named "What Cheer".
2. It's weird to be at a rest area in Kansas just to use the wireless internet; on the other hand, truckers just aren't as hot as they used to be, so why not? :)
3. Taxes on hotel rooms in Kansas City, MO are over 14%! There's an arena tax, a city occupancy tax and a state occupancy tax. And yet, they probably wonder why convention business is off.
4. The reading on my trip odometer this morning was 2727.7.
5. I passed through the Flint Hills area of Oklahoma today. Mile after mile of nothing but rock, brush, roadkill and the hypnotic asphalt before me. The high today - 94 degrees. The temps have been jumping by 20s.
6. I've developed a fondness for Blue Collar Radio on Sirius. They may be redneck - but Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Ron White, Larry the Cable Guy, Kathleen Madigan and Chonda Pierce can make me howl with laughter.
7. I turn to Blue Collar Radio when the Broadway channel plays Patti Lupone, Liza Minelli or anything from "West Side Story", "Phantom of the Opera" or "Mama Mia". For a variety of reasons, I can't listen to them anymore.
8. It's Friday night in Ardmore. It's a draw as to whether most of the city is at the high school football game or at Wal-Mart. I can see the stadium lights blazing from my room. One thing's for sure ... There are many examples of first cousins marrying first cousins if you stroll down the aisles of Ardmore's big W! I know. I strolled. (Oh well, I wasn't dressed up, so I guess I fit right in:)
Tomorrow, I'll be back in Brenham.
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