No Sleep 'til Texas

It is usually not worth noting in travel-related materials that I am very pious person and, out of respect for other peoples' beliefs, I tend to keep my own to myself. It is only proper, however, that I start this post by sincerely thanking God for watching over me and my six cats and bringing us in safely on our non-stop journey from Virginia to Texas.

This trip was, in short, a 1,580-mile trek that I made straight through in 26 1/2 hours, moving at an average speed of 60 mph and stopping only to refuel, use the restroom, and buy more coffee, caffeinated soda, and energy drinks.

Under normal conditions, I would say that it was unnecessary and maybe even a little foolhardy to try to cover so much ground without a backup driver, at least one overnight stay, or both. The purpose of the trip, however, was to relocate our six cats and to get them out of the house the night before the packers came to our house. My original plan was to have a co-pilot and to spend one overnight in Memphis, just past the halfway point. My travelling companion dropped out at the last minute, however, citing a "miscommunication" and leaving me without enough time to create an alternate plan. To say that I set off from Virginia with at least a little sense of doom hanging over me would not be inaccurate.

...

As I added to this post my third night in the house, I was still physically exhausted. That old saying that “The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long” would seem to apply to micro-instances and not just whole lifetimes; for just over the span of a day I burned as brightly as I ever have but it took a toll on me, to be sure. As I wrote this over a strong cup on green tea, I had been up only a little more than 12 hours and was struggling to stay awake and focused. I was not able to keep going much longer then in any event and, after writing a few paragraphs for a handful of other projects, read a few more pages on The Knight and Knave of Swords, a book I have deferred reading for almost two decades, and then passed out for awhile.