an iPod dock...

Just make sure the car has an Aux In line and a cheap cable.

It's really my only must have for rental cars when I have to do more driving than from the airport to the 'rents house.

I am pretty sure workers have laughed at me when I came back in to swap cars. Dude, I was driving out to the desert, I needed 'Trick the iPod to make it there sane.

The idea of a road trip is kind of appealing to me. Clear my mind, be away from the hoomons. Listen to My Chem and the Souls and some Fall Out Boy. Sneak my dog into my hotel room at South of the Border and go for a swim...

Dude, we should TOTALLY F2F at South of the Border.

I'm sorry about your aunt, Trudy. Good luck with the travels, however you break them up.

I added a bunch of new stuff to my iPhone before my trip to MI, and then managed to lose all the music. So my little widget to make the music play through the radio was useless. When I got back to NC I was able to put the music back, but still, disappointing.

If you'd be driving by way of I-75, you could stay here, Trudy, depending on the timing. Dallas could run around in the back yard. Mr Peabody would be torn between his suspicion of the humans and his love for other dogs.

Really depressed this morning. I should do something, like plan a vacation.

So, texas requires proof of citizenship to transfer my current/non-expired license from ny. Is that normal?

I had no problems when I transferred my license from NJ to NY. Pretty much handed them my old license, got a new one.

First, Trudy, good luck with your aunt.

I know a little (but only a little) about long-distance drives. When Rigatoni was hospitalized in NYC last year, we did the round trip drive to NYC three times, or about 10 hours for each trip. In my younger days, I also drove to Wisconsin a couple of times (2 9-hour days each way), as well as from Atlanta to DC in one day (about 12 hours).

It isn't bad with a little planning. A thought -- you might want to time your exit from NYC to avoid traffic. If you can leave obscenely early, you can miss a lot of traffic. Say you leave at 4:00 a.m. That should get you to the other side of Philadelphia by 6:30 or so (I assume you're heading down 95 -- if not, ignore most of the rest of this). You can break for breakfast while traffic builds up everywhere and, with luck, be driving through (more or less rural) northeastern Maryland during the worst of rush hour. You might hit the latter part of Baltimore's and DC's rush hours, or you might miss them. (There's a rest stop between the Baltimore and DC Beltways on 95, and another one at around mile 155+/- on 95 in VA.) Gets you past Richmond/Petersburg (which can have some traffic problems) probably around 11:00 or noon. After which there's lots of rural road on both 85 and 95, whichever route you go.

You can still keep your 10-hour day, just end it around 2:00 p.m. or so. That gives you time for an afternoon nap or other rest, a nice relaxed dinner, and a good night's sleep.

texas requires proof of citizenship to transfer my current/non-expired license from ny. Is that normal?

Well, obviously I've never presented it.