I did get through Ohio, obviously, and into Michigan, but how?
- 7:59. 450.1 miles (81.2 miles since refill). Stop at the Portage Service Plaza on the Ohio Turnpike. I tweet, ``So, Ohio ... we meet again''. The place has a Monopoly pinball with a free credit on it. I play and score 881,700, and match the last two digits for a free game. I play again and score 4,289,000, and win a replay. I warn in tweets that I might be here all night. My father answers my ``So, Ohio'' tweet with a note that I should go to Tony Packo's in Toledo. (I'll pass Toledo around 11:00.) I get a slice of pizza from Sbarro in the moments when the cashier isn't dealing with some extremely complicated problem where two guys just want to buy the pepperoni pizza that's on display for single slices and rules demand he make them a fresh pizza instead. I don't see how this drama ends. I instead enacted my own drama with the Sbarro cashier by giving something like $12.45 for the bill of $6.20, and started out reassuring him that yes, I know I gave more than ten dollars before finally giving in to exhaustion and saying, ``Just trust me.'' He did and the change came out in a neat little pile with a five-dollar bill leading the way.
- 9:02. 84 degrees Fahrenheit. I feel very refreshed but at this rate I'll never arrive.
- 11:32. 607.3 miles (238.4 miles since refill). Enter into Michigan, and stop at the rest area by the International Speedway exits. I wander back and forth between the McDonald's and the convenience store, mostly as I got a soda and then a doughnut from the convenience store but the McDonald's is the only place with seats. No pinballs.
- 12:14. 71 degrees Fahrenheit. I set out for what I dearly hope is the last leg of this journey, even if I'm getting more tired. I don't want to have to check into a motel in Fowlerville.
- 1:42. 706.9 miles (338.0 since refill). Arrive at new home. 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, the car odometer hits 50,000 miles on the dot.
Let me be perfectly clear here: I have no idea what combination of subconscious obsessive-compulsive quirks managed to have the car reach 50,000 miles exactly as it pulls into bunny_hugger's driveway for the first time. But, wow, what a moment.
Trivia: The card game Flinch, which would outsell Parker Brother's bestseller Pit in 1905, was created by the Flinch Card Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan; the company was bought out entirely by Parker Brothers after a sales test. The game was based on getting rid of the ten cards, numbered from 1 to 15, received in a deal by putting them on piles in ascending order. Source: The Game Makers: The Story Of Parker Brothers From Tiddledy Winks To Trivial Pursuit, Philip E Orbanes.
Currently Reading: Opus 300, Isaac Asimov.