a little off the top....

One of the more stressful things about moving to a new city is the issue of a barber. It's reassuring to have a regular barber. After years of visiting the same barber, he or she goes "the usual?" No fuss. No muss. The haircut always looks the same. When finding a new barber, it is totally a shot in the dark. When they ask how you would like your hair cut, you try to explain something that you've never had to explain before and hope for the best. Today was my day.

I discovered that barber shops don't have websites. I went by name and location out of the phone book. Bo's Barbershop across the street from Fort Campbell sounded like an old school shop so off I went. I walked in and there were a total of 12 chairs - 6 on each side. I took my number (#54) and I noticed that they were on #40. Yikes. I hunkered down for a long wait but the assembly line was pretty efficient. I asked my barber not to cut it too short - just clean me up and it came out perfect. $11 and a $4 tip. Cool. One less worry associated with the relocation!

here's mud in your eye....

My job is kind of fun because I get to spend a few hours of each day walking around the construction site. However, there are some challenges. It's a huge construction site so it involves a lot of walking. It's been cold and wet since I got here and my blood has thinned out after years in Texas. I can only attest for this part of Tennessee but the topsoil is a thick, sticky, red clay. By the time I get done each day, my boots are big blocks of red muck. It's tons of fun - no pun intended.

i'm dreaming of a white christmas...

Merry Christmas! It started to snow last night so this is what I woke up to on this Christmas morning. The temperature is expected to stay around 30 degrees all day and the snow is supposed to continue throughout the day. I went for a run and with the exception of a few ice patches, the footing was good. The sad news is that I don't think that there is enough snow for a snow angel. nuts...

The safety department at work handed out ice scrapers for our cars. It's been a long time since I had one of those. I hope I remember how to use it.

My plan for today is to see True Grit. I read the book a couple of weeks ago so I'm looking forward to seeing the movie.

650 on your am dial....

It's been a week since I left Austin but it feels longer. I think I have finally recovered from the drive. It took awhile to straighten out those old joints that were in a sitting position for 17 hours. I was successful yesterday in finding the Amish bakery that is just over the border in Kentucky. It was about 15 minutes from work so I plan on going there frequently. Work is good. It's good to be back on a normal schedule again and wearing a badge. giggle.

I have a co-worker that started the same day as I did that has been in Clarksville for 20 years. He's been a great source for all things local. He'll be a great source for finding the cool parts of Clarksville.

I had heard about The Nashville radio station WSM recently from a story on Bob Edward's public radio show. It's been around since the 1920's and it is designated as a clear channel radio station which means that its frequency is guarded from interference. Legend has it that most of the country can pick up the signal late at night. I tuned it in while I was driving through Arkansas and I listened to it the rest of the way through Tennessee. It's the only AM station that I have preset on my Bose Wave. Yahoo.

the area.....

Clarksville is northwest of Nashville and it is very close to the Kentucky border. I have already been warned to ignore barns with smoke pouring out of them - it's just tobacco being smoked and cured after it's been harvested. Apparently it is common for non-natives to drive up in a panic and call 911. The plant that I work at is actually north of the city so we drive into Kentucky for lunch. I have already had some Tennessee / Kentucky BBQ and I give it high marks.

The southwestern part of Kentucky has a large Amish population. My goal this Thursday is to take a road trip in search of an Amish bakery. We have a half day of work on Thursday. Rumor has it that there is one just over the border. Lucky me.

oops.....

Day 1 was an all day safety training class. The class was for construction workers, contractors and company folks like me. The ratio of construction workers to regular employees is about 20:1 at this point. On Monday, my first day or work, I wore a pair of khakis and a long sleeved oxford shirt with a button down collar. I topped it off with a pair of topsiders. There were 80 people in the class and obviously the majority of the attendees were construction workers. The majority of the class didn't dress like I did. I don't think anyone mistook me for a skilled laborer. I wonder if Polo makes overalls?

arrived....

I loaded up the family car yesterday and made my trek to Clarksville. I left Austin around 9:30am. The original plan was to drive half way, find a hotel, spend the night and finish the trip on Saturday. After 30 minutes on the road, I decided to drive straight through. I stopped a few times for gas. Between gas stops, I would drive for awhile and then stop for food. It doubled the number of stops but I haven't been on a long road since the Carter administration. I needed the breaks. 850 miles later, I pulled into Clarksville. I arrived at 3:00am which was later than I thought it would be. I unloaded the car, set up my computer and passed out around 4:00am

take the last train to clarksville...

I can no longer say that I'm between jobs. If it had been a few more weeks, I would have been able to say that I've been out of work for years (plural). yikes. I leave the dust bowl of Texas on Friday and head to the promised land of Tennessee. I'm a modern day Tom Joad. I hope my car performs better than the Joad truck.

Here are some statistics to illustrate how great this great recession has been... I estimate that I applied for 600 jobs over the 23 months. I had about 15 phone screens. I had 8 face to face interviews and I got one job offer. The job is in Clarksville, TN which is about 50 miles northwest of Nashville. It's right on the Kentucky border.

The time off hasn't been all bad. I went to pastry school while I was looking for a job. I got a lot of chores done. However.... I'm looking forward to working again.

easy rider.....

In kind of a reverse middle age crisis, I'm selling my motorcycle. sniff. This was my 3rd bike and I have owned this particular bike for over 8 years. It's actually going to my dental work monetary fund. I still don't have anything cosmetic to show for my efforts. All of the prep work is expensive.

Note to self... close the garage door when posing the motorcycle for a picture. No one wants to see my washer and dryer.

as american as apple pie...

I've been in a pie mood since Thanksgiving. A pumpkin pie is baking as I write this. I actually got the apple pie recipe from a running buddy. The fun part is that the apples are mixed with sugar and cinnamon and then soaked in Amaretto. Rather than using an upper crust, the pie is covered in a thick streusel. For the picture of the pie slice, I kept the big glob of whipped cream off. I didn't want to make anyone hungry.

By the way...the crust is made fresh and not from a box. In case you were wondering...