Day Three to MA – 960 Miles
940 Miles
( Click here to read Day One to MA – 260 Miles )
( Click here to read Day Two to MA – 760 Miles )
As I write this post, I cannot help but feel both saddened, joy, excited, and just about every other emotion possible. The trip out to Massachusetts with my Father was wonderful, it was very difficult to leave Chicago where I have met and befriended so many great 
people, it’s exciting to start a new chapter in my life, and I am looking forward to spreading the social media love on the Nichols Campus.
There is only one answer to the above. Grab another cup of coffee and poke some friends on Facebook.
Last night my Dad fooled with the alarm clock for about 10 minutes, making sure it would not wake him up in the morning (as it did on Day Two). He was semi-successful; I forgot to turn my cell phone alarm off. Needless to say, we woke up early and I had to make up some excuse (rather than admit I forgot to turn it off) and referenced technology, the internet, and twitter in my long drawn-out reason why it went off. I think he believed it, or took the same road as I – smile and nod.
Either way, we were up early. I turned on my laptop to post Day Two, check Twitter and email and all of a sudden, I hear the shower turn on – remember we have not purchased flip-flops (see Day One for that story) to this point. Ready? The reason was that it did not matter when he is around everybody else, but since he is going to see my Mother today he wanted to smell nice and look good. After more than 30 years of marriage, he still wants to look good for my Mom, and his eyes light up when he talks about her. From the age of 12 to 18, I thought this was gross but now as an adult (or self-proclaimed adult) I think it’s truly a blessing when two people remain so much in love as these two (this trip was also the longest they have been apart in a long time).
I know, you might be thinking this is not the same Father I have been writing about. To that I say, you are correct but it is the same man; the same man who cracks me up and makes me ponder, is also a loving human being.
Our travels today took us through the rest of New York, into Massachusetts, through some mountains, past frozen ice (well, I suppose all ice is frozen) and into Western, MA ending in Wilbraham. Home of Friendly’s, the Peach Festival, and a Stop Light. Wait; there is a general store too.
When I turned off the highway (we took Route 90 the entire way), I realized that my Father had not slammed his foot down thinking there was a brake on the passenger side of the truck. If you have ever driven with a parent, you know what I am talking about; if you do not know what I am talking about, then you are the parent that does this. As usual, I realized too early. 920 miles of easy riding led us into 20 miles of comments such as:
“You know, there could be cops out.”
“I think the speed limit is 30, but remember that is just the limit.”
And such motions as:
Taking a deep breath in when somebody taps his or her brakes half a mile away and I do not.
Slamming his right foot on the floor.
Perhaps Dad thought I wanted to lose more hair out of stress? Maybe he thought a good way to end the trip was to remind me of when I was 16 and he was teaching me how to drive?
Either way, I did not have to pay any fees for the damage his foot made to the floor.
We pull into the driveway and open the back door. Phew, nothing broke, nothing fell out, but not much had shifted forward (there was not much space for anything to move). We unpacked the truck under supervision of my
Mother who unfortunately thought I had to return it that night and was slave-driving us. Not a bad thing, however, since she got us to unpack the entire truck (slash dump it in the garage) and return the truck in just 3 hours. Thanks, Mom!
All said, again, it was a wonderful trip and I am glad I opted to move myself and happy my father came out to drive with me. It was an extremely peaceful and relaxing [920 miles, not 940] trip where the opportunity to have quiet time, thinking time, planning my next move time, and a lot of laughs and learning was amazing. I almost wish I moved from California to Massachusetts just to make the trip last longer.
Day Two to MA – 760 Miles
760 Miles
( If you have not read Day One to MA post, click here! )
Tonight marks the end of Day 2 on my journey to Massachusetts. For those of you just tuning in, I was offered a position and accepted with Nichols College in Dudley, MA as their [first] Director of Social Media. Among the typical social media activities, I will also be working with staff and faculty in training each department to work together online in spreading the word about the Nichols brand, reaching out to the online world, and ensuring we can all be found online. Additionally, I will begin working with students, teaching them the intricacies of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, online branding, social media and marketing strategies.
Onto the day. Well, I slept in a bit and woke up at about 9am, then again, I went to bed after 2am (yes, there were a lot of updated profiles with new pictures – don’t shake your head, we know you do the same thing – and tweets that had some great advice and articles on social media programs and measurable.
Within 15 minutes, I was laughing. Guess at whom. Dad.
We ordered breakfast, for him was pancakes and sausage links and for me was the continental breakfast (just give me coffee and a 
bagel). When the pancakes came, they came with whipped butter. Granted we all know and have seen whipped butter, but a certain somebody went into a 3-minute rant about what does whipped butter mean. Then he looks on the package and discovers it is 52% whipped butter and asks me what the other 48% is. Before I could answer, which leads me to believe this was a rhetorical question; he told me that he thinks the 48% is made with truck grease.
First lesson – check the butter on Dad’s plate before he sees it.
Pancake meal went well; Dad was happy because there were a couple of huge pancakes so it passed his professional inspection. With only three bites left to go, Dad stopped because (a man who is skinny and in shape) he was concerned about his weight. Only three more bites…..after slathering it with real butter and maple syrup.
We set out on the road, making our way through the rest of Ohio, right across the top tip of Pennsylvania, and into New York.
Quite a few people commented on my last post (through comments, private messages on Facebook, and tweets on twitter) on the Day One story about the gas level (check it out here if you have not already). Well, in response to these remarks, I decided to see how far I could push this (aka – use my pokin’ stick); my good friend Maura Wall-Hernandez will appreciate this.
I let the gas level get real close to empty; we were at the line right above empty. I swear he lost more hair right in front of me. Sorry, Mom.
Eventually I did get gas, and I found out my father does not close the door to the truck completely when I get out of the truck, just in case I left the keys in the ignition, manually locked mine and his doors (without him seeing), and closed them. At first, you might laugh and wonder (as I did) why pretend to close the door, but I thought it was a classic parental move. It’s not that he does not trust me, or think I have common sense but more so he is looking after me and has the knowledge of how I get when I multi-task (looking at my phone and texting, tweeting, talking, and pumping gas), I can multi-task, just not well.
As I type this, I realize that tomorrow we will be landing in Wilbraham, MA, both my hometown and where my parents continue to live. I will be unloading the truck into their garage, and will eventually take clothes and essentials towards Nichols towards the end of next week, to my best friend Coley’s house (he was so gracious to let me stay there until I find an apartment).
Tomorrow marks the end of the road trip to Massachusetts and begins the last week before being on Campus.
Tomorrow marks the end of the road trip with my father; I feel extremely lucky that I do not need a road trip to feel or get close to him.
Don’t worry, his quotes and sayings will never end, and since I have committed to keeping this blog alive with different happenings in my life, projects I am working on, programs we are writing (social media related – both ROI related and relationship measurable), and other thoughts and tips, I just know you’ll see more!
I’ll leave you with a few final notes:
- My dad can go to bed with the lights on – his eyelids turn the lights off.
- We did not get flip-flops. Nuff said.
- Dad is a “rubber neck” like me. He has to always be looking at everything on the road, side of the road, and in other cars that are passing or being passed.
- We both check the alarm clock multiple times, both the time set and to make sure we turned the alarm on.
(I will write about the drive tomorrow, in the night. Stay tuned!)
Day One to MA – 260 Miles
260 Miles West
Sitting here in a hotel in Fremont, OH. It’s quiet. One of those, sigh of relief, let me think about things, where are the taxi cabs beeping but I am so glad they are not here, kind of quiet.
My day started at 8am (yes, I set the alarm clock) after a full night of tossing and turning wondering if the 16’ Truck was large enough and how I was going to tetris-move and fit everything.
Rewind a bit…..
Southwest Airlines flew into Chicago at 7:05pm with a certain passenger who has not flown in over 25 years, a passenger who
wondered why the bags of peanuts still look the same, a passenger who called a “few” times to go over what do to at the airport (walk to security, do not look suspicious, everything in the bin, walk through, go to gate, get on plane, sit down, get up when land, walk to baggage number 1), and a passenger who I call Dad. This was his first time to Chicago as well; to help me move and he really wanted to see my condominium before it sold.
At 7:06pm, I arrived at Midway Airport to pick up said father at the agreed upon location (baggage #1). I waited. Then I waited some more. Dad went to baggage # 7; but don’t worry there was a pay phone nearby (he is the last person I know who still uses a pay phone), allowing him to call my mother to tell her where he was, and she told him (again) where to go.
Finally we get on the Orange Line and head to Clark and Lake, where we walk a few blocks (in what I would consider warmer weather for Chicago, but Dad tended to disagree) to Smith & Wollensky for a few steaks and French fries (courtesy of a gift card I received from a former client – Thank You again, Terry).
After dinner, we take the train (this killed me – the restaurant was only a bit over 2 miles away – we could/should have walked) back home, where Dad walked around to “professionally assess the situation” of my packing, organizing and amount of “things” I have decided to bring with me (everything).
Fast forward back to the morning….
We wake up, take Frank The Tank (the dog) out for a quick morning walk, then off to get the Truck with many thanks to Evan for driving us (I wanted to walk, of course, the 3ish miles there) us to the Budget Rental location. Start loading at 10am and end at about 3pm. We held the contents inside as we shut the door, it is packed to the max. Sorry, no pictures of the inside available right now, but will post when I arrive in Wilbraham.
In the middle here, I did receive a very generous lunch from Ramon DeLeon of Dominos, there was Pizza, Coke, and Lava Cakes (delivered right when I needed it the most too!). Nobody does it like Ramon, period.
On the highway by 3:30.
Now, for the next 260 miles, I got to know a bit about my father, and I will highlight some of the funnier sayings (no, I am not trying to compete with that guy who runs a twitter account all about “stuff” his Dad say’s) and lessons learned thus far (these are in no particular order):
- My father, for some reason, needs flip-flops for the bath tub/shower. I asked why, and about 7 minutes later, I regretted that question. Good thing I mastered the smile and nod at such an early age.
- My father thinks eating three Filet O’ Fish sandwiches is a complete meal. From a fast food joint.
- My father thinks 68mph in a 70mph zone is excessively fast. He then told me that the Speed Limit meant it was just the limit and I could drive anywhere below that. Again, read the first bullet here – smile and nod.
- When my gas tank hits ½ full – he thinks it means ½ empty and we should get gas asap. When I pass a service station, he lets me know about it; even 5 miles later, he reminds me that I had passed it. 7 minutes later, he says there is a chance we could run out of gas. 8 minutes later, I voted myself to walk to get gas and leave Dad with the truck. 11 minutes later, I was praying for the truck to run out of gas.
- Truckers are the nicest people on the road – as long as you are also driving a truck over 16 feet
- Folks – when driving on the highway, be aware of whom you slam on your breaks in front of to sneak in last-minute on an off ramp: 16’ Truck packed full does not stop that fast. You are lucky I have cat-like reflexes Mr. I-Want-To-Cut-In-Line-At-The-Off-Ramp.
Well, I think that will be all for now. Nevertheless, I want to leave you with a few last thoughts:
I love my Father, no matter what I said above; he is extremely supportive, always there for me when I need it (and when I think I do not), and a kind and gentle person.
I will miss Chicago more than you will ever know. However, I am looking forward to returning to MA for many reasons. Luckily, for those who are still reading, we can all communicate online.
Tomorrow I hope to cover 500 miles; I would go for 650 miles, but my Father also thought it was strange that I drive for 5 hours without needing to get out of the car, stretch, move, etc. I told him that when something needs to get done, gosh darn it, I will get ‘er done. (seriously, 4 minutes after that, I regretted even suggesting this)
(I will write about the drive tomorrow, in the night. Stay tuned!)
Some things we all say and do everyday..
I received an email from a good friend with the following quotes – which, of course, I thought were worth sharing…..
I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.
More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.
Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
I don’t understand the purpose of the line, “I don’t need to drink to have fun.” Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they’ve invented the lighter?
Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you’re going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you’re crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.
The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase “Regards” again.
Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn’t work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ’s. We just figured it out. Today’s kids are soft.
There is a great need for sarcasm font.
Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it.
I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I’ll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone’s laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I’m still the only one who really, really gets it.
How are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
Was learning cursive really necessary?
Lol has gone from meaning, “laugh out loud” to “I have nothing else to say”.
I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.
How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?
Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using ‘as in’ examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss’s last name to an attorney and said “Yes that’s G as in…(10 second lapse)..ummm…Goonies”
What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it…thanks Mario Kart.
MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.
Bad decisions make good stories
Whenever I’m Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don’t mind if I do!
If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I’m from, this shouldn’t be a problem….
You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you’ve made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.
There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
“Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this ever.
I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There’s so much pressure. ‘I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It’s only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?’
I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What’d you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?
I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it’s on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
I think that if, years down the road when I’m trying to have a kid, I find out that I’m sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.
Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time…
My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day “Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?” How the hell do I respond to that?
I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.
The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There’s nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.
Good Bye Chicago – Hello Mass!
News Flash
It might come to a surprise to many of you, and some already know. I was offered a position as Director of Social Media at Nichols College in Massachusetts a few weeks ago, and officially accepted right before the Holidays.
With this new position, I will be relocating to Massachusetts in a couple of weeks. I know it seems extremely sudden, and it might be, but I have been lucky enough to trust some of my projects with stellar folks, charity work with some great new and existing groups here in Chicago, and my condo to the real estate market.
(photo by NeitherFanboy CC-BY)
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everybody who I have met in the past 3 ½ years here in Chicago; it has been a blessing and I will cherish the friendships made. Luckily, we all have facebook, twitter, email, and the telephone to communicate and I hope you all keep in touch.
I will be communicating under my normal justingroy name in addition to working with all the departments at Nichols College and assisting them with getting online and creating their presence. As these accounts are set up, I will announce them and their specific purpose (you will be surprised at our approach to social media and the information we plan on sharing…..).
All in all said, I am very excited for the opportunity to work with Nichols College on getting them into the social media marketing word, work with the staff, faculty and students.
I wish you all a prosperous 2010, see some of you in April (I am slated to talk at KA Connect 2010) in Chicago.
For you MA folks: see you all very soon!
- Justin G. Roy
