Menomenie (Deet Deeeeee de Dee-Dee)

[filkertom]

Lovely time at MarsCon. Many, many thanks to everyone involved. Good fun, good music, silly folks, secondary concert last night till about 1:00 local.

Got up this morning at 7:15. Too frickin' tired; couldn't get back to sleep. Had the improv set at noon (which I thought went okay, and again a good crowd -- you're all very nice up here in the Northern Midwest).

Got on the road precisely at 1:00 pm local. The snow had already begun, but it didn't look too bad.

It was.

Everything began to get nicely glazed, and the traffic on the interstate slowed down to 55, and then to 50, and then 45.

And then came Mile Marker 19 on the I-94 in Wisconsin.

Seven accidents within two miles.

A jackknifed truck (thankfully on the shoulder), another truck that had slid into the median and taken a car with it, a pick-up being towed out of a ditch with cables.... There were emergency vehicles all over the place. Not enough to actually get to everything.

For awhile, we were all coasting at about 10 mph. Someone braked ahead of me, and the antilock brakes kicked in. At 10 mph.

We finally got away from that area, but it was not improving. And still there were some doofuses tailgating me at 50 mph.

I pulled off at exit 41, Menomenie, to gas up and go to the restroom... and suddenly realized that I was exhausted. (Can't imagine why -- all day at the table, my concert, the nap which didn't happen, twenty minutes at the masquerade, and then an hour up on the thirteenth floor.)

So I've pulled into a motel, and I ain't movin' until I get some sleep. I could likely handle the road conditions with no problem if I wasn't ready to keel over. But I am, so I won't try.

Everybody who gets out of MarsCon today, sound off here so we know you're all right..

Comments

[gypsy1969.livejournal.com]

I wasn't there, but I'm glad you are wise and safe. Stay put until you've gotten rest and they've fixed up the roads.

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

So the weather sucks all over Wisconsin right now? I can vouch for the Madison area. It stinks.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Good decision Tom. Thanks for getting yourself off that road and into a bed.

[jss]

Yeesh. Glad you stopped. Hopefully the roads'll improve once they can be salted and/or sanded.

[joshuwain.livejournal.com]

On my way back from Duluth I hit -for about an hour- the same storm system: it was nasty. It lasted for about an hour and a half of driving but -soon- I was able to drive through it into merely "sloppy" weather. I got home about an hour and a half ago. I wish you the best, Tom; I know what it's like on those roads!

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

Sleep well, rest up, and resume travel refreshed!
Safe journey!

[sylverwolfe.livejournal.com]

good thinking. *hugs* rest well, and safe travel to you.

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

Thank you for being sensible and a Jewish Mother's Delight.

Also, Gratuitous Icon.

[shadowriderhope.livejournal.com]

Good on you for stopping. I've finally gotten to the point where I've learnt my lessons, and have opted for cheap motel rather than over-exhausted driving, and always been glad for it.

I hope the roads treat you better tomorrow.

[joecoustic.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you got off the road and I'm glad you're okay!!

[ericcoleman]

I head straight south ... took me an hour or more longer than normal. The roads were fine, just terrible terrible fog till about 30 miles from home. I made better time than I should have just because there was no one on the road, it looked like the truckers were holed up somewhere till the fog cleared.

Glad you stopped, you looked beat when you left ...

Oh, Luke has some of your CDs and some cash from the sales table ...

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Alredy talked to Luke. And, again, thanks, Eric, for the help getting out of there. I was beat, but I thought I'd be okay. I'm just glad my body and my common sense outvoted my machiso.

[ericcoleman]

I saw the CDs about a half hour after you left, talked to some of the MI folks, Bill talked to Luke ... who handled it ... Fandom is such a silly place ...

[lukeski.livejournal.com]

Does this mean Tom is my filk pimp now?

WHERE'S MY MONEY, B**CH?!?! *SMACK!*

[ericcoleman]

You are SO your own pimp dude ...

[jss]

And given how lukeski opened his post-Masquerade set, he can dress the part, too. :)

[louisadkins.livejournal.com]

Woof. Better since than a lot of people. If you were that exhausted, thanks for pulling over.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

Especially good plan to stop and sleep when you're tired and the roads are bad. My experience suggests that once it stops snowing Wisconsin gets the roads clear pretty efficiently, unlike Illinois, so you should be fine tomorrow unless the weather keeps crapping on you.

[pooh27bear.livejournal.com]

Drove some of the same roads you did, until Madison. The fog was spotty, and dense in some areas, but the roads were much better than you described. The salters must have made it through, and the rising temperatures helped some. Made it home in about 6 hours, where if I drove normally would have been about 5-5:15. So about an hour more. I am glad you gave us the heads up, so we could be more cautious on the roads. I am also very glad you made it where you are, safe. Tom rocked the Con! The comments of listeners afterward was awesome. There is a group of sight impaired people who attend MarsCon each year, and this was the first time they heard Tom and asked if he was coming back next year, because they loved his quick wittiness and everything he did. The Con people gave him wonderful "props" during closing ceremonies. I had to give out Tom's website to several people cause they couldn't afford the CDs at the Con but wanted to know where to get them. Let's hope he does come back to MarsCon in the future.

[ericcoleman]

There is a group of sight impaired people who attend MarsCon each year

I love that bunch, they are the best audience anyone could want. When I was so nervous at the first Smackdown, they got me through it because they started laughing at the first line of Marie Provost. It turns out that one of them is a major Nick Lowe fan and they all knew the song.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you didn't have as bad a time driving. As I said, I think a lot of mine was that I was just frickin' exhausted, and I didn't trust myself on the at-that-point-unsalted road.

Thanks for the web site mentions, and I have to go into more detail in the next day or two about how nice the con was (and the hotel staff as well). Dunno about next year... but I absolutely will be back.

[druidsfire.livejournal.com]

We not only stopped in Menomenie, we also sang the song. :)

The Dementia Party Van gang all apparently got home safely, although Bill's still at Ken's and will be going home tomorrow. By the time we left, it was actually quite nice. You shoulda stayed and crashed somewhere for a nap and then took off later on.

As for me, I left Ken's not long after we arrived, and I took my time getting home. The fog was nasty all throughout Indiana, and I was really tired, but the power naps at every single rest stop on the way definitely helped.

As for the Con... you guys all /rocked/. I haven't laughed myself silly that badly in years. And your improv filking was da /bomb/. I am in awe, sir.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

[bows deeply] Thanks for the kind words, and I'm glad you're all home safe.

[lukeski.livejournal.com]

Just got all the way home a little while ago. Catchin' up on the LJ, thanks for the call earlier! :)