oHIo and back again.

Twenty one years ago on the 12th of September the world was blessed (or cursed depends on who you are I guess) with the birth of one Richard Henninger. His family was happy, he was happy and his new friends at college were sure to make sure he properly celebrated this milestone birthday. All it meant to me was that this kid was finally of age....it took him, well 21 long years! The last four, seemed never ending to me! So in order to join in this revelry, Andrew and I drove to visit Richard at his school in Ohio. It was a grueling 9 hour drive in the rain and through the most disgusting of all states, Pennsylvania! (kidding!) Who would have thought that Pennsylvania would be sooo wide! I think I've filled my year's quota for driving on Interstate 80. I can drive 400 miles in europe and be in another country....in the US, I'm still in Pennsylvania!!

Anyway, the ride wasn't as boring as I thought. I made two bracelets, I took some decent pictures, I took even more horrid ones. I got excited when we got to Ohio. I think I might be the only person excited about going to Ohio, who isn't from Ohio. My excitement came in the form of shouting "in Ohio!" after every action I was doing. It was the first time I've ever been that west in the United States.

We get to Ashland...it's the tiniest little city. Not tiny like Surry,VA tiny, but tiny compared to anything I've seen. Let's just say that Buttzville is larger. In fact most of the towns that had IPM farms that I've worked on, are larger. I think the only reason Ashland wasn't Surry-ish was because it has a University and that attracts sometype of people. I mean...Surry, Va didn't even have a Wal-mart....Ashland had a Wal-mart Supercenter, a CVS two Wendy's and the number 12 best ranked Taco Bell in the US. Still, there were people there on horse and buggy, but they were Amish/Menonite. I'm not entirely sure if they were Amish...because I don't think Amish people go to Wal-mart. But maybe the rules changed....I'm not exactly that involved in the Amish community. And yes, knowing that there were Amish at the Wal-mart means that I went to Wal-mart. But jeez, this Wal-mart was like the mall. It was clean, it had decent things in it and it sold EVERYTHING. I also don't think they were Amish because there was a sign in the CVS saying Horse and Buggy parking only. (there's something you'll never seen in the city...and this place says it has it all!) I even saw them on their horse and buggy and I got an evil/strange look from an Amish-ish lady at the Wal-mart. I'm not sure if that's just how they all look, or if she smelled the Jersey on me.

The University is very pretty. Well lit, all new buildings, rather nice. The lowerclassmen dorms are like the ones in Pell and Hardenburg. Well...somewhere in the middle, but nothign to really right home about, more like somethign to take you back to times that were better. They are more like suites though. You get a common room in the middle, which is pretty cool because the rooms are actually small. Richard's roommates are all pretty cool. None of them are from Ohio. They're all pretty much regular college guys. The girls we met were pretty cool too. They showed us a good time.

The senior apartments at this place put Easton Ave to shame. In fact, they put my sister's apartment to shame. They came furnished with leather couches, and the bedrooms were slightly smaller if not the same size as my sister's master bedroom. It was the only thing I feel like I missed out on, because I don't really like the small school environment. I like going somewhere where no one knows my name. But the school is excellent for Richard, I think and he's having a good time.

Apart from being in a small town and being a tiny school, it still feels like Rutgers. Why? Because ultimately college is the same anywhere you go. Regardless of the fact that this place has ridiculous rules ( like no members of the opposite sex in your room past 2am) it's still like rutgers. The kids drink, they go out and have fun, they complain about homework, these kids complain about swim practice too, but I am sure most athletes complain about practice.

I am going to edit this.

Later.