The un-vacation

In a few short hours I'll be off on "vacation" -- rather,what passes for vacation with my mom. We're going to visit my grandmother in the middle of West Virginia for a week. A hal-fbusted computer with no Net access, a cranky old fart for a grandmother, and nothing much to do in the area. For an entire week. I'm not sure what we'll be doing there. I've heard things like,"Well, we won't be doing much anyway" (when it was believed I would have to go to work that week) to, "Oh, we'll find soemthing." Various plans have been tossed up.

I've heard all this before, though -- all these plans involving day trips to Cedar Point (theme park in Ohio) or the Pittsburgh Zoo. Then, when we get there, Mom or Grandma decides that it's not worth the effort driving there, and we all end up stiing at the house for a week. It happens every year, and I'm sick of it. For once, I'd like to do something fun. Hell, for half the amount Mom spent on the rental car for the week (she doesn't trust her car outside of Charlottesville), we could've gone to two different theme parks, all located within 3 hours of home.

But nooooo, we have to ride 5 hours to Devil's Asshole, West Virginia, to be cut off from the Internet and listen to her gab with Grandma about everything. You'd think they'd never heard of a telephone before. But they have, gods help me, and they talk frequently at length about the most boring and inane subjects. Meanwhile, my options for recreation are 1) go to the bedroom and read a book and thus be labeled antisocial by Grandma and friends, who don't think much of me anyway, or 2) fight with my sister over who gets to watch whatever's on basic cable.

All things considered, I'd rather be somewhere else. But my only other option is work, and I've already put in the time off, so I'll be going. Have fun at Origins, for those of you going, and I'll see you when I get back. Sooner, if I can find a decent net connection.