I'm home, after a long drive back from Florida to return Emily and Joe. I took a slightly different route back, traveling through Dothan, Alabama and Columbus, Georgia. I took I-77 from I-85 to I-81, and stopped in Christiansburg, Virginia for a little auto repair work before returning home very early this morning.
There's nothing like a long road trip to provide plenty of thoughts for short essays. Driving the old U.S. routes and stops in many small towns provide lots of fodder. I plan to get around to writing these essays, but need to interleave that work with more important things (like dissertation writing!). Here's a partial list of topics:
Bandannas as fashion statements?
Regional influences of headwear in eating establishments (closely related to the bandanna topic, above)
On variations in road debris density (inspired by a AAA study report)
Freeway and highway signage density, quality, accuracy, and topics (inspired, in part, by Missouri's HS HCS SB 870, "Prohibits locating sexually-oriented billboards within one mile of a state highway", signed into law on 17 June 2004).
In-room phones, free cable television, and now "Free High Speed Internet" coming soon to a motel or hotel near you
Money management (inspired by the number of "title loan", "check to cash", and related businesses that dot the landscape)
Anyway, more to follow....
