Odd behaviors

My meeting with Mrs. Hess went pretty well and she gave me some good advice on how to spruce up my resume and cover letter. I’m still not sure how I will incorporate all the suggestions but I’ll fiddle with it latter tonight and tomorrow. I was hoping to get it out by Saturday, but that’s a little too optimistic. Instead of going back home after the meeting, I drove into Niles to browse through Wal-Mart (probably my future employer.) While I was driving, it struck me that I do have an odd behavior.

Let’s back up…

When I was over in the Philippines in the fall of 2003, I was talking with my friend John. When I first got there, I was the only American there. After a couple of weeks I got really, really nervous and I just had to go find my people. I had to go find some Americans. I was all set to pack my bags and head into Manila… maybe try to storm the American embassy there. I don’t care! I’ll put on my horribly fake Filipino accent and try to ask for a visa just so I can talk to someone. It was so bad. But about a month after I arrived, I noticed a white guy hanging around the dorm where I was staying. I just assumed that he was one of those elusive French guys that I heard about. Later, I figured that he had to be from the U.S. when I saw him wearing a high school football (as in American football) shirt.

He, Lee, and I hung out with a couple others for a little over a month before he had to leave. That month was probably the best time I had while I was there. We had some… unusual… conversations, usually when we went out to drink. In some respects, I know more about him than some of my own friends. Although it’s not an exciting topic, my driving through Niles reminded me of something we got to talking about over some drinks. It was about weird or perhaps obsessive compulsive behaviors.

At the time, I told him that I didn’t have any. Honestly, I don’t think that I exhibit anything that peculiar. Yet today, I realized that I do. Driving! I have an obsession about how I plan my routes from point A to point B. Now, this might not be so bad. I mean, there are plenty of people who will pull out a map and figure these things out for their long distance trips. Well for me, I do it for local trips. I have to drive a certain way while I am in town and only in town. I don’t do this if I go to other cities. But when I am in Galien, Niles, or Mishawaka, I:

1. Avoid four way stops.
2. Refuse to make left hand turns at four way stops that I do have to use.
3. Will attempt to make any left hand turn only with the assistance of a traffic light.
4. Will not exit U.S. 12 at the Business 31 exit. Instead, I will use the back road (3rd Street.)
5. Will only enter Indiana by way of Gumwood Road (to Mishawaka).
6. But will never go back to Michigan by that same road.
7. Will never make a left turn out of a business located on Business 31 from the US 12 overpass to Main Street in Niles.

This probably means nothing to you. After all, to get it, you pretty much have to live here. But if you are extra curious, I would recommend that you go to mapquest.com. Click on [Get Directions]. Enter the following:

1st Address:
1011 Broadway St
Niles, MI 49120

2nd Adress:
1903 S. 11th St
Niles, MI 49120

That will give you a map that will highlight most of the road that I am talking about (Business 31 also known as 11th Street.) You can make the map interactive and be able to find Gumwood which lies off to the east, the city of Mishawaka which is off to the south-east, and the village of Galien which is off to the west.