Austin or Bust

Yesterday, (see below) I mentioned that I left my small town for Austin when I went to college in the fall of '97. One hot day in August me and my roommate, Tommy, who was a highschool friend, packed up our vehicles and drove the 100 mile trip to Austin.

I was really green and naive. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it is bad to be naive but I didn't even know how to get to Austin even though it was fairly close, the capital of the state, and on a major highway. I didn't really even know which direction it was either. I just followed my buddy Tommy in my truck the whole way there.

We were directed into a parking lot on UT campus since it was moving day and what seemed like all 50,000 students were there with their mom, dad, siblings, and pets moving into the dorms. My own parents would have gladly helped me move in but I insisted that I could handle it on my own. So did Tommy. I think we were both itching to get out on our own and experience the freedom that so many college movies promised us. "Yes! I can finally do what I want." I thought, although in reality I could have before.

Well, UT has a serious parking problem even when people are not moving into the dorms. So we were waved into parking spots that were about 1/2 mile from the dorm that we would be staying in. As we started walking with a few bags towards the dorm it might as well have been 5 miles away. The sun was baking us and you could almost feel the heat from the concrete through your shoes. Also, UT is several square miles of hills that are paved over with buildings so the gentle grade of the hills would sap away any remaining energy the heat hadn't gotten.

We checked into the dorm and were given a key and a tote bag of promotional stuff. It seemed that every business in town wanted a piece of our money. After we threw our bags in our 8 x 8 dorm room we realized that it would be a couple of more trips to our vehicles before everything would be moved in. So we got the bright idea of checking out some moving dollies that the dorms had available.

Now, using a dolly is a good idea. I mean if you placed a box on a skateboard and rolled it then it would be a lot easier than carrying the box. However, these things were smooth, slick square boards with 4 shopping cart wheels--only the wheels were smaller and one of the wheels would make a vibrating, squeaking sound so loud that you could not have even a yelling conversation with a person 2 feet from you. I know, because I would say something to Tommy like, "Which way?" and he would yell, "What?" and the board would have to grind to a halt before we could continue talking. You would pull the board by a loop of nylon string that I swear was specially woven to cut into you hand.

So we walked a half mile to our vehicles and loaded these boards down with boxes and stuff. I had a guitar in a case on my back, two bags in my left hand and my right hand pulling a dolly. Tommy put everything on his dolly so it was stacked pretty high. Then we began to trudge toward the dorm still in good spirits because, hey, we were college students now.

There is a steep hill right behind the dorm. We waited at the corner of an intersection until it was clear to cross the street and continue up the hill. In the middle of the street I heard all of Tommy's boxes come sliding off his board. I looked back and sure enough there they were making a successful blockade of the road. Cars continued to drive by through the clear side. I began to laugh hysterically while Tommy was cussing and stooping to pick up boxes. I never felt so helpless in my life. My hands were absolutely full and I was tired and the cord was cutting me and my own dolly was trying to roll backwards. Already I felt like such an out-of-place rube in a big city.

Well, we did manage to get all that stuff into the dorm and we promptly returned the dollys and just pack-muled the rest of the stuff to our room (we were the mules). I remember Tommy bear-hugging his computer tower and carrying it from the car and collapsing in the middle of our dorm room floor.

A few weeks later we found out by talking to other people that temporary parking was available right by the dorm during move-in.

Alas, sometimes you are alone because of circumstance and sometimes because of your own choosing, but either way it is tough being alone. Many times I should not be so self-reliant or independent.