Except on the roads of Huntsville.

Question for Huntsvillians: Why no thank-you waves in traffic? I slow down, let you merger easily, you just drive on like I HAD to do it. I didn’t. So, give me the wave, huh?

Back in Jax, a full-blown NFL city with 1M+ residents, thank-you waves were taken for granted; you let someone in, you get the wave, you give a you’re-welcome wave back, and we all go on our merry way. Here in this less-congested, more laid-back small city, it’s bad enough we all drive like we’re at Talledega but the lack of common courtesy is disconcerting. Think of my blood pressure, will ya’?

Personally, I blame it on the Yankees that move here. They’re a rude people. So let’s do what we can to educate them, shall we?

Give us a wave!

“The only thing wrong with Huntsville is that it is surrounded by Alabama”

- Something I read in some newspaper

I’m missing my kids. You never realize how much you need physical contact like a hug until there’s no one around to give you one.

Ah well, slowly but surely I’m getting back in my routines. Spending the weekend doing laundry and cleaning and organizing and getting set to move into a real apartment at the end of the month was a big weight off my shoulders.

Some observations about Huntsville;

• The worst. drivers. ever. And I’ve lived in Orlando, with tourists. I mean, I’m a guy that drives 80 mph as a rule, but this place is like the training grounds for Talledega. And everyone has a cell phone in their ear while driving. The faster they drive, the more they talk. Weird. But it’s not just the speed, it’s the weaving and cutting in and out. If there ain’t rubbing, it ain’t racin’ right?
• There’s a morning news anchor that holds up various local and national newspapers and reads from them. WTF? I could do THAT.
• I ate breakfast at a restaurant called “Waffle King”. It’s exactly like Waffle House, but cleaner. I mean, every single bit is exactly like Waffle House. The whole time all I could think of was Coming to America.

“Look… me and the McDonald’s people got this little misunderstanding. See, they’re McDonald’s… I’m McDowell’s. They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick. We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds.”
-Cleo McDowell

• Being in the Central Time Zone sucks. Who wants to watch Lost at 8 p.m.?
• Oh, the big news on the morning and evening news today is there’s a Bass Pro Shop being built over in Decatur!
• Old-school Publix, a mile away. Floridians know what I’m talking about.
• I’ve been watching way too much TMZ.
• I’m pretty sure Huntsville has the most Walmarts per capita in the world.
• I saw Bill Clinton having breakfast with a Brunette at the Waffle King yesterday. I think.
• The number of Meth-Treatment billboards around town was unexpected.
• But, in the ten days I’ve been here, I haven’t seen a single report of a murder. Jacksonville can’t made it 24 hrs without one.
• For someone that once owned a 4 bedroom home, it’s shocking to see how little of what I own is actually mine, and how little of my “things” I really need. It’s all here in one room.

My wife and daughter took a bunch of pictures of the leaves. Some of my daughter’s are quite good and she plans to enter them in an art contest. I’ll probably drop a couple into some of my upcoming posts just to spice things up here in the next few weeks. Hope you enjoy!