2009-04-22 A couple days ago I went to Wal-mart and purchased a big plastic bin and lid. After paying, I informed the cashier that I was only interested in the lid. I left the bin with her. I cut the lid down and created a support for my rear left pannier. No more sag. The rear right was always held rigid by my laptop case, and it bugged me that they were so asymmetrical. I am used to being stared at, but the folks waiting for the Social Security office to open were freaking me out a little. I needed to get a new card for work. An upcoming customer is making us jump through one bureaucratic loop after another. I had several people comment today that they would like to do a trip like mine but weren't in good enough shape. Believe me, that is the least of your concerns. Take it slow and after two weeks you will be in adequate shape. Then everything else starts getting harder. A local informed me of a possible pack of wild dogs in the area. Now that is a critter I'm scared of. After two months on the road, I experienced my first real bit of road rage. An old white guy honked and flipped me off while glaring at me. In his defense, I had my headphones on and the road was narrow and hilly, so I'm not sure how long he was behind me. He gave me lots of space when he finally passed me, which, oddly enough, puts him in a much more courteous class of driver than the average yahoo who likes to play how-close-can-I-get-to-the-guy-on-the-bike. I saw a lot of horses today. At one point I came around a corner and totally freaked one out. It was pretty funny, but I bet it was bugged that it wasted a perfectly good panic attack what with no rider to kill and all. I stopped for a late lunch at a small seafood joint in Philadelphia. The girl working there was a talker. At one point she was talking about their shrimp, so I asked where they came from. Some were frozen and some were fresh. She then started shuffling crates around. "Wanna see our fresh shrimp? I think they're bad, though." I must admit, those shrimp were huge. I didn't know shrimp got that big. She also didn't know where their crayfish came from, but they were often bagged up with turtles and water moccasins. It hit almost ninety degrees today. With the heat, the sun and the hills I was a little wore out. I think I only did sixty-some miles.

the pavement ends here field of something yellow baby got symmetrical back