I've never been this old before

It’s been a very busy last few days. In fact, this is the first time I’ve taken a breath in six days. Here’s why…
Exactly one year ago, I started off an amazing adventure by celebrating my birthday in Washington at the Sasquatch music festival. This year it seems I’ve done the same thing. I trekked westward to the Gorge Amphitheater with a gang of good friends to hear twelve hours of music by the Cold War Kids, Death Cab for Cutie, the Presidents of the United States of America, Tegan and Sarah, and THE CURE!! As expected, the Cure put on an amazing show that outlasted most of the audience. In fact I’m not sure how deep they rocked into the night because by 1:am I was too danced out to go on. They were a wonderful way to celebrate my 30th birthday.
Immediately following the concert, I embarked on a marathon road trip to Texas. People who know how I feel about Texas will think I’m joking, but indeed I’m here. I visited Nick and Chris in Denver along the way, but the reunion was brief because I arrived at midnight and left before they woke up the next day for another 14 hours of driving.
My reason for being in Texas is related to work. That means the road trip is free, the gas and hotels are paid for.
I work for a wind prospecting company that sets up meteorological towers and instruments for collecting data about wind speed and direction. Our company isn’t erecting this particular tower, we’re just outfitting it with lights, sensors, and data collecting equipment. This is really the best case scenario; I get to be the technical guy while I watch a bunch of laborers do the hard work. And what’s better is that I asked the installers if they’d train me to climb and they said it would be no problem. I’ll be ONE HUNDRED METERS above the flat expanse of Texas mesquite trees clinging to a two foot wide swaying tower like an ant on a wheat stalk. I’m pretty excited about this (exclamation point)

It’s good that I have something exciting to look forward to because I will be here awhile. The installation crew is about a week behind schedule, in other words it will be a week before they have a use for me. In Texas, the wind spits grains of dirt into your mouth every time you gasp from the smell of pig shit and the sun pounds down on your skin until it stings. Being outside is painful, and even if you choose to bear it there’s nothing to do outside anyway. All the plants have thorns, and all the buildings are run down to ghetto-like conditions, and the people who live here are too.

I’m not usually one to complain about motels, but the one I stayed in last night was a crack house. The bathroom had one bar of soap, which was already half used. My room smelled the way a bar does after closing time. And in the lobby, above the television that was displaying scratchy images of face-painted ultimate fighting matches (in Spanish) was a sign that read “No Refunds After 10 Minutes”. Which confirmed my belief that this is the motel for hookers and affairs. The hotel I’m in tonight doesn’t have shampoo but that’s just fine in comparison.

It is here I wait…

this will be a non-illustrated Blog because I left my camera cable at home. If I had it with me, you'd see a picture of a horny-toad, a roadrunner, and oil pump-jacks.