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The Joy of Techs
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Volume 10, Issue 9
Mr. Mendez – Principal Mr. Zamarripa TransporterI spent the second week of our vacationas
The Transporter 
. I drove over two thousandmiles, from Cleveland Ohio to Placentia Cali-fornia. I had a good time. The trip was madevastly easier than I would have expected, be-cause of the navigation system provided in theCamry 2007. The technology of the modernautomobile is something that I have mixedfeelings about. On the one hand an auto is alazy way to travel, compared to a motorcycleand yet the amenities provided make for acomfortable way to travel in unknown territo-ries. Without the use of the navigation systemI am sure I would have taken many wrongturns, wasting both gas and time. Gas mileagein this hybrid vehicle was 40 mpg. I used thecruise control, usually three miles over thespeed limit. 70 -80 mph was the most commonspeed. I could depend on getting 500 milesper tank with enough still in the tank to notworry.I flew out of John Wayne airport Satur-day afternoon and arrived in Columbus Ohioaround midnight local time. There was a brieflayover in Las Vegas. I haven’t flown since be-
The Rock N Roll Pilgrimage Digitized
I knew that I would someday visit this museum after reading about it in several ofmy motorcycle magazines. It is the equivalent of Mecca to riders. Good fortune smiledupon me and placed it closely to my arrival in Columbus. This new building houses cyclesof historical significance. They let me in for free, ignoring the $10.00 admission charge…hmmm? This road trip was getting off to a good start. One famous movie, “On Any Sun-day” stars Malcolm Smith; a southern California hero has a special display there. Therewere at least ten of his motorcycles there with autographs and placards explaining theirrole in his status as one of motorcycling’s icons. I was glad to see it. Husqvarna “Husky”made his motorcycle of choice.fore 9-11. It’s not that I have a fear of flyingthat has kept me off airplanes for so long. Mypreferred method of travel all that time hasbeen on motorcycle, where I can see, smelland enjoy the trip up close. I enjoyed themovie, listened to my iPod and generally wasglad it was a one-way flight for me.My hotels, meals and gas were paidfor, by the car’s owner, I’d email my nextdestination and she’d reserve a room for meat the next city. I just had to deliver it un-scathed and hopefully without me gettingany tickets. The last seems easy enough, butin truth I’ve gotten five tickets in a period of13 months. Governor Arnold had his minionsat the DMV sent me two letters clearly stat-ing that I am one of California’s worst driv-ers, and yet Sylvia trusted me to bring thecar home to her. I wonder what she knowsthat Arnold and the DMV don’t?I handed the keys over to her on thefollowing Thursday. There was a crack in thewindshield from a rock kicked up by a truck.No tickets for me.
 
 
The Joy of TechsPage 2 of 4
I input the address intothe navigation system of theCamry for my hotel in Cleveland,which is within walking distanceto the Rock and Roll Hall ofFame. The morning weatherforecast in Columbus for Ohiothreatened the possibility ofsnow along my route. I’ve neverdriven in snow before. If thetemperatures dropped further I’dsee snow on the road. I didn’twant to drive in the snow, but Iwas on a mission to RocknRollheaven. The gawds of Rock had
The Drive to The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame
I remember being able toplay the AM radio at my grandfa-ther’s house when I’d spend al-most every weekend there fromthe age of 11 to 15. He livedalone and for me it was an es-cape from my two younger sis-ters. Playing the radio, choosingthe stations and music was apower I didn’t have at home. Icould groove to Rock n Roll, inthe early 60’s, instead of my par-ent’s usual offerings of Sinatra,Beethoven and Rancheras.Now I was going to visitthe museum that housed the arti-facts of my childhood heroes. Iwas disappointed to see a signoutside of the glass pyramidstructure that informed me, “Nophotography is allowed.” I wasnot disappointed in anything elseI saw or heard in there. I was ajoy and a nostalgic trip into mypast. There was a wide assort-ment of relics: guitars, clothing,playbills, photographs, newsfootage, videos and other memo-
The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame – Cleveland Rocks!
summoned me and I couldn’t re-sist. I was too close not drive thefinal miles. My heavy metal wasbeing tested. Would I meet thechallenge?I put the 45s on the turn-table and let them play out.Whatever tunes the weatherplayed, I was going to dance onthe highway until I reached mydestination. It was a slow dancethat ended in Cleveland at theEmbassy Suite’s free cocktailhour.rabilia. There was a theater thatplayed various Rock n Roll mov-ies. The Beatles’ Help was play-ing, so I sat and watched a bit ofit. There is so much to see. Ifyou’re intention is to read every-thing posted, you’ll be there fortwo days.Eddie Cochran graduatedfrom BGI and he has a spot in themuseum. You may recall one ofhis hits from the 50’s, “Summer-time Blues”. Other artists cov-ered several of his songs. The El-vis section was good but wouldpale in comparison to my nextstop.In the gift shop, I found amotorcycle in the shape of aFender guitar to add to my col-lection of motorcycles at home.When the clerk ask me where Iwas going next, I couldn’t resistsing songy impression of PaulSimon, “I’m going to Graceland,Graceland in Memphis Tennes-see.”
 
 
Page 3 of 4The Joy of Techs
Graceland, Elvis Presley’shome in Memphis is decorated asthe King directed, proof that hewas not an interior designer anddidn’t care. It was comfortable,quaint, multi-level, a time-capsule of his time and at timesodd, but overall impressive in it’scontents.The number of gold andplatinum 45’s, LP albums, andCD’s that filled rooms was evi-dence of his financial success andimpact on RocknRoll. The Jungleroom with its floor, walls andceiling carpeted in green shagrug, furnished in burl furnituredoubled as a recording studio be-
The King of Rock n Roll
When I left Memphis tunedthe Sirius radio to channel 13 theElvis station which broadcastfrom Graceland. Did I mentionthe car came with Sirius radio?What a pleasure to listen to theirwide offerings of niche music andnot have to worry about it fadingout as I traveled from state tostate. Seth Tadesky rules!The ride from Memphis toDallas was just over 425 milesand the vistas were pretty. A fewdays later there would be a 4.5earthquake in the area. Honest, Ihad nothing to do with it.The longest leg of myjourney was from Dallas to Tuc-son, over 950 miles. I would onlyeat at fast food stops after fillingthe tank, twice. I left early from
Memphis, Dallas, Tucson
cause of its good acoustic quali-ties. One could imagine the vari-ous rooms filled with him and hisbuddies hanging out, drinking,making music as told on the self-guided tour recording. The col-lection of items besides the re-cords, included: clothing, post-ers, plaques, videos, news foot-age, and playbills. The Gracelandcemetery has Elvis, his mother,father and grandmother with aneternal flame.The red brick posts outsidethe mansion are covered in graf-fiti by adoring fans with messagesof love and quotes from his mu-sic. My RocknRoll pilgrimageended there. Thank you, thankyou very much!Dallas and braced myself for thelong ride, belt loosened, shoes off,destination in the navigator, and nocaffeine. I love coffee but on sucha long journey I don’t like the in-evitable crash that often comes be-fore the end of the trip. Water is abetter drink for me. The strongwinds along the way resulted inheavy rains the day after I passedthrough. Again I dodged an envi-ronmental event.My friend in Tucson offeredto let me drive his new Harley Da-vidson. Now for those of you unfa-miliar with the anxiousness of amotorcyclist in lending out his ride,trust is primary between them. Itwould be like letting somebodytake your lover out for the night.Sound silly? I knew you wouldn’tunderstand.I put overseventy miles on herthe next afternoon,I thanked him droveoff to home. Thatnight I slept in mybed.
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