Friday, June 02, 2006

This internet connection is slooooooooow...


I’m in Dallas tonight (at a hotel with sloth-speed internet access), which always seems to be our first stopover on any road trip out of Texas. All roads lead through Dallas… actually, that’s not true – last year, we drove to San Diego by way of El Paso. There is pretty much absolutely nothing between Austin and El Paso, except for a large quantity of windmills. Driving to El Paso gives you an exhausting picture of just how big this state is. There is an inevitable point where you scan the dusty horizon, searching for some sort of civilization – or at least a “Welcome to New Mexico” sign – and, upon realizing there is nothing there except the same landscape you’ve grown painfully accustomed to over the last six hours, exclaim, “how is it possible that we’re STILL in Texas??”

But driving to the north through Dallas gives you a populated stopping point to break up the monotony of a passage through Texas. So we’ve set up camp for the night (in a manner of speaking… I haven’t literally been camping since I was a kid…). We met dad for dinner at the Antares restaurant, which is one of my favorite places to eat in Dallas. It’s a revolving restaurant in a tower, so every hour you have a complete view of the city. You can eat dinner and fight vertigo at the same time. I tried to take a few pictures, but most of them came out a little blurry – I guess even the slight movement of the rotation made it difficult to hold the camera steady. But I did get a cool shot of the reflection of our dinner table candle in the window.

Nothing too interesting to talk about otherwise – except that Rick invented a new word on the drive up from Austin. We were stuck behind a frustratingly slow truck towing a trailer in the left lane, and Rick finally passed him on the right (since the driver was obviously not interested in following that “slow vehicles keep right” rule…). It’s fine if you need to drive more slowly than everyone else, but it seems like the polite thing to do is to allow other drivers to pass. Once we were finally clear of the truck, we had the following exchange:

Rick: I understand if you have to drive slower because you’re towing something. I have no quabble with that.

Me: Did you just say “quabble”??

Apparently “quabble” is one of those expressions formed when your brain is mulling over two or three different words and your mouth can’t decide which one to choose. In this case, I’d say a mix of “quarrel,” “problem,” and “trouble.” Quabble. Seems like a reasonable linguistic creation… maybe…

So tomorrow we head toward Albuquerque, hopefully after fueling up on a plentiful amount of Starbucks coffee. Because if I don’t get my morning dose of caffeine, I’ll definitely have a quabble…

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Quabble"?? Thanks for giving me a good laugh! Drive carefully. I love you both!

Anonymous said...

What was for dinner? Last time I was there I had the Quabble. Most places I order it serve it chilled, but they serve it warm with a side of au jus.

Anonymous said...

But the waitresses there dawdle and wobble with the quabble, so you have to gobble up the quabble before it gets cold. Also goes well with corn on the cobble.

Anonymous said...

...ah yes, Quabble, that Southeast Asian delicacy. I've been to S.F. They have many great Sushi restaurants there, with some of the most talented and experienced Sushi Chefs, who come from all over Asia to WOW travelers with their culinary creations. I recommend "The Emporor's Lair" down on 31st Street, across the street from the historic trolly car museum. Ask Sushi Chef Hiro to make you his world famous Quabble Hand Roll. BUT DO NOT DIP IT IN SOY SAUCE, as the saltiness of the soy sauce and spiciness of the wasabi will certainly overpower the fresh sweetness of the tender and delicate Quabble, not to mention the fact that Hiro may take this as an insult and sever one of your digits (Lisa, this warning is especially meant for you...you know, in light of your most recent run in with flying umbrellas)

Anonymous said...

Lisa, I just learned what Quabble really means - "Quidditch Union for the Administration and Betterment of the British League and its Endeavours" (Harry Potter)

Lisa said...

Really? Quabble is a Harry Potter word? Rick will be dismayed to learn he's begun to quote Harry Potter... it took years to convince him to read those books in the first place...

You guys are all funny. :) And Eric, just FYI -- I had the chicken when we ate at the restaurant in Dallas... and some kind of REALLY good chocolate thing for dessert. I like to save Quabble for special occasions...