[Mishmash] I Survived And Arrived

[Fred Atkinson]

    I arrived in Las Cruces about an hour or so ago.  Got my computer
set up right away.  The place I am staying has fantastic high speed
wireless Internet.  I'm glad I had the foresight to put a dual band
wireless card in my PC quite some time back.  So I'm good to go.

    I did stop at Emma Sansom's grave and photographed it.  My camera
battery died after two shots (curse).  So I got some new batteries on
the way to the courthouse where the marker to honor her was out on the
courthouse lawn.  Due to the angle of the sun and the way it was
imprinted, I am not sure how those shots turned out and won't know until
I develop them.

    But I can give details to help others who want to visit Emma in
Gilmer exactly how to find it (they are not online.  I was lucky to find
a Spanish couple walking down the side of the road that knew where it
was).  The road directions are a little tricky if you don't know where
you are going.

    I got very sick on the road.  After the second stopover (when I
checked out on Saturday morning to go see Emma), the hotel found a
doctor's office that was open and I went there.  He injected me with a
powerful antibiotic and gave me a prescription which I got filled right
there in Longview.  I started driving west from Longview and within a
few hours, I was feeling much better.  I have a mild cough left but it
is not one tenth as bad as it was yesterday morning.  If I stay on the
medication, he said I should be back to normal in a few days.  If not,
he told me to get with a doctor in Las Cruces this week.

    I stopped today in Fort Hancock, Texas to get gas and to see the
place (did you see 'The Shawshank Redemption'?  That's where Andy passed
over the border into Mexico).  It was a small, one horse town.  But when
I was driving down their main street, I though I heard something
dragging under the vehicle.  I got out and looked.  My exhaust piple was
loose from the manifold and dragging the ground.  I don't know how long
it had been like that.

    The gas station attendant got someone to come help me.  He wanted to
get me to someone who could weld it, but both persons (his father and
the other welder in the town) were not available.  So he tied wired it
back together so I could make it to Las Cruces.  I'll have to get it
welded here.

    On top of that, I developed a crack in my windshield (I just noticed
it today, too).

    So it has been an adventurous and eventful trip.

    But I arrived safely.  I start work tomorrow morning at 8:00.

    With apologies to Elvis Presley, Viva Las Cruces,





Fred