I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass

No coffee yet (and that's a crime) "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" by Nick Lowe on iTunes. It's neither random chance nor indicative of the set-up yesterday. Instead, it's a gift from Ren, a kind of a break-your-leg-good-wishes song (and perky! I LIKE perky.).

It's 6:20 am, I sit on the tiny balcony of our room and bask in the sunrise. Bask is an appropriate term as it probably already in the 70's. I love the west. It's glorious out here! I cross the Continental Divide and I'm home--except for the whole being-three-hours-behind-everyone-else thing. I woke at 6:00 and my first thought was I need to call Dave to tell him to play the message I left last night on the answering machine for Jessie before she goes to school. But it was already 9:00 in Atlanta, Dave was at his desk at work and J was probably sitting in circle time.

Last night Bill and Elaine from Elliott Metal Works dropped by my booth at 7:00 and Elaine was talking to their kids on the phone as they got ready for bed. I panicked when I remembered that it was 10:00 in Atlanta and I had promised to call Jessie every night at 8:30 to tell her good night. Bill and Elaine lent me their phone to call, but Dave was apparently on the treadmill and didn't hear it. J heard it and went in to tell him it was ringing, but she came up behind him and startled him. Ever tried to turn around on a moving treadmill? All I'll say is it's a good thing they have emergency shut-down cords on those things.

One more thing about the drive that I forgot to put yesterday: I can't wait till they have the new alternate route from Phoenix (and also from Interstate 40) up to Las Vegas done that does not include going over Hoover Dam. It's not actually an alternate route, it's just an incredibly high over pass that goes over the canyon beside the dam. It's enough that there are security check points that all vehicles must exit the road and pass through before crossing the dam now (all of that glass and stuff in the back of the minivan *could* have been plastique, I suppose), and that it's one twisty lane in both directions, but it's really beyond the pale that there are crosswalks filled with dawdling, gawking tourists every 15 feet as you traverse the dam proper.

Pedestrians in cities know how to cross streets (quickly), and you would think they would cross a highway that much faster. But there must be an I'm-on-vacation-the-world-must-move-slowly thing that hits them just before they lollygag over to look down at Lake Mead from the top of the dam. I finally bellowed at the woman in the last cross walk to thank her for taking her own sweet time as she finally made it to the other side. She would have made a nice hood ornament. For the return trip I don't care if I am at a bachelorette party ogling the Thunder Down Under the entire previous night; we are leaving at 6:00 am and I am missing the whole tourists-as-potential-road-kill experience.

Guess I should close with how the unload and set-up went yesterday, but it was so trivially easy there's almost nothing to say. Today (for other people) will, I'm sure, be another story, as will breakdown and load out. But those are not for me to worry about now. Now it's time to read my book before heading to the show to finish setting up, maybe after hunting down some coffee!!!