I’m calling it that because we walked ~ 7 miles between the East and West sides of the Southern Illinois University campus – I can only estimate between the buildings visited and the walking tour. Providing trams or golf carts or even tickets for the free-to-students campus shuttle buses would have been a nice touch, especially since the cold winds were fierce enough that Pita was glad of her winter coat and I had a zipped jacket and hood pulled up.  I’ve unofficially gotten in my steps for the next few years I believe – maybe I should list them on Marketplace 🙂

Being sent to eat at a dining hall (each campus has almost identical ones) on the opposite side of our next appointment is a hard fail imo, especially since a 1 pm slot for lunch at Trueblood dining hall (no joke on the name!) meant we had to walk the 1.2 miles there and back for the 2 pm slot…then back for the 3 pm dorm tour. And this wasn’t even the dorm Pita would be applying for, since most of her classes would be on the other side.  Should also point out that after the first campus tour of about 15 people, these were self-guided, following a highlighted map provided, not a large group needing special transportation.

So today I just want to be home.  If it’s gonna be cold and partly sunny, I’d prefer Dr. Who in the living room with my pets.  Not to say this isn’t a very nice hotel, because it is and my vents will be pared down “somewhat” for the email survey that’s already been sent us 🙂  Pita was very happy with our meeting at Horticulture and that’s the most important part.

Pita graduated – finally! – from COD with an Associate Degree in Sustainable Urban Agriculture, but we didn’t get the mailed paperwork until December (Canadian wild fires interrupted a summer internship, certain classes were only offered once a year at conflicting times, advisor had a series of strokes/heart attacks and was in a coma, etc.), so even though we originally thought Spring might be a good transfer time, reality rapped sharply on our heads and we changed the start date for Fall semester at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.  Hence the road trip, which we planned to coincide with the COD Spring Break week.  Hence the drive yesterday through hail, heavy thunderstorms with almost-zero visibility.  Yeah, we know how to plan things for maximum amusement.

At times the downpour was so heavy we joined fellow smart drivers under overpasses while future organ donors sped past.  Seriously, if you can’t see at 40 mph, is it smart to double that?  One break came about 200 miles into the drive, when we stopped for gas (using a gas pump was one of the things I had to relearn after years of electric) amid a blue sky; bathroom break and a hot dog later and it started getting dark again, so back on the road.  Here are a couple of photos: the two fallen semis are self-explanatory, but the car was a shock: MAJOR parts were missing (you can’t tell from photo) from possible run-in  with semi parked on right shoulder, but I’ve never seen every air bag inflated like this – looked like the Amazon box where your 2-inch item is in a giant box filled with air bladders!  Two ambulances on the right shoulder and another coming from the opposite direction, but there was no attempt to stop traffic, so who knows?  And I know the pictures aren’t great, but it turns out yelling “Take a picture” at Pita doesn’t improve photo quality – who know?

I had her take the cross picture just because it looked so weird out there on the highway – I’d have chosen the wind turbine model myself, but what do I know 🙂

In a move that has taken way too long a time to come to fruition, Dollar Tree’s CEO announced it was selling Family Dollar to a couple of private equity firms – good luck with that one – for $1B, or only $7.7B less than they paid a decade ago.  I’ve only been in a couple of their stores and the older ones were dirty and seemed staffed and shopped by some very sketchy people.  Never saw the sense of the purchase in the first place, especially when the word synergy gets tossed around like a golden orb – more like a Magic Eight Ball in terms of future profits!  Here’s the article from Coupons in the News.