Got up early on Saturday and had my car checked out by the dealer in Chicago where I bought my car. Unfortunately they weren't able to really diagnose the "check transmission" issue I was seeing, but they told me I would be ok and to go to the nearest dealer when I got somewhere that allowed me more time. Hmmm - ok? Figured I would get the car checked out when I got to my mom's place in NJ on Sunday, because I would be staying with her until Wednesday and then going into NYC (so I could potentially just leave it while I'm in NYC too). So I shoved off from Chicago around 10am in the absolute pouring rain, heading east towards Akron, Ohio. One of my best friends from SF, Michael, grew up in Akron and I've become close with his parents, Mitch and Andi, who still live there. From Chicago to NJ is about 12 hours, so Akron was a good midway point at 5.5 hours. When I'm driving I get very into either my thoughts, the scenery, my music, or just spacing out, and unfortunately I didn't notice that at one point I was almost at empty. No, I didn't notice the warning light that comes on when you are low on gas, nor did I notice the beeping sound that occurs as a warning device either. By the time I looked at the gas level it was below the red, and the next gas station wasn't even in sight. No exit ramps that even had gas stations in sight. Nothing in sight. Damn. Ok - turn off the A/C. That should help. Turn off the radio? Yeah - sure. That's gotta help. So now I'm sweating profusely and trying to think of what I'll do when I run out of gas. Good news is that I have my bike in my car, so I can ride to the next station and get gas and bring it back. Not ideal but better than nothing. I sweat it out (literally) for about another 12 miles until I come upon a service station, which might as well have been heaven itself as far as I was concerned. I drift into the station and fill it up, and as I'm pulling out I vow to never let that happen again (of course it happened again). I am meeting Mitch and Andi and a few of their friends for dinner at this mall in Cleveland, which is about 35 minutes from Akron. Easy enough. I get there and it's the ultimate suburban nightmare - huge outdoor mall with no parking - tons of families around with cars they probably can't afford - generic restaurants - a local band playing cover songs to a crowd of happy families that consider this one of the best musical events of the summer. I drive around for a bit and then find parking on the other side of the planet. Walk for about 15 minutes and then find out where the restaurant is - meet up with my crew, and actually have a great dinner. Mitch and Andi are both very positive and fun people, and their friends are great as well. We talk a lot about family and careers and passions and what it means to be happy. I'm reinvigorated by the time dinner is over, but not enough to drive the rest of the way to NJ, so I head back to Mitch and Andi's house and crash for the night.
Oh - first I was taken on a quick tour of Lebron James house, which is less than a mile from where I was sleeping. Pretty random, but fun nonetheless. And of course I had to take a bunch of pictures of my friend Michael as a kid (pics which were covering the walls of his parent's house still)…these will be used against him many times moving forward :)
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| Apparently the photographer liked Michael and his sister enough that he created a story to go along with their book…amazing!! |
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