Cam, I had someone flip out like that on one of my cashiers once. The cashier didn't know that an ID was not required for a CC by our company. The customer got mighty pissed, but I put it to them like this: "You should be glad that the cashier was concerned enough to ask...what if someone were to steal your card?" That calmed them down pretty quick.

When I worked for CVS, I specifically told the cashiers to ask for ID on a CC (it was required, but not regularly enforced). I told the cashiers that if any customer had an issue with it, they could talk to me...never had a problem.

On a similar tip, I never EVER get pissed off when a cashier asks me for ID for cigarettes or alcohol. I see people get all hot about it...shit, at this point, I consider it a compliment.

Hey...I completely forgot to discuss the road trip at hand...

St. Louis: Sometimes, there's no place like home. Some things have changed since the last time I was home (2 years ago), but a lot of it is still the same. It's like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes...you know where everything is, and how to get there, and all the shortcuts to get you there.

The biggest problem I had was trying to adjust to the drivers there. Things are more laid back there...and people tend to drive less aggressively. I had to calm myself down a couple of times when I came across people driving "too slow."

Chicago: Driving to Chicago from St. Louis is boring as fuck. Once you move into central Illinois, the land gets flat...and stays that way. Lots of endless fields and farms...enough to drive you nuts. I've driven the route so many times though that it's a breeze.

The metro area of Chicago starts about 60 miles from the city proper...and you can tell. The aggressiveness steps up as well as the volume of cars. Traffic jams 24 hours a day are not uncommon, though not on the levels of Los Angeles or New York. The Tri-State Tollway (I-294, which loops around the city) is probably the busiest highway in the area, along with I-90/94 through the city (Kennedy Expwy. north of I-290, Dan Ryan Expwy. S of 290). The one thing that sucks about Chicago is that all the highways are toll roads, except for 90/94, and the Eisenhower Expwy (I-290) within the city. Although, it must be noted that the tolls are fairly reasonable, with the exception of the Chicago Skyway (I-90, from the 94 split in S Chicago to the IN border).

Oh, that's another thing...every interstate hwy in the area is referred to by name, except for I-57 (officially the Calumet Expwy.).

The gas prices weren't too terribly bad. About $1.70 in the city, $1.55 beyond the city. Of course, drive across the border to Indiana, and you pay about $1.30.

In spite of the traffic, Chicago just has such a great energy about it. The people are pretty decent, and it's very pedestrian friendly. And the public transportation system (CTA, Pace, Metra) goes pretty much everywhere. And even though this trip wasn't so great, that positive vibe didn't dim. If you've never been there, I highly recommend that you take your sorry ass out there. Fly Southwest Airlines to Midway Airport for cheap. Go to all the great museums, see the architectural creations of Frank Lloyd Wright, go up to the Sears Tower Skydeck or Hancock Tower Observation Center, and eat at all the great restaurants.

And if you don't need a lot from a hotel, just head over to The Cass Hotel at 640 N. Wabash. A nice clean room for $74 a night (incl. tax) on a weekend. In downtown Chicago, that is a steal. And the staff is pretty cool for the most part...after all, the one guy gave me $25!

But if you do want a lot from your hotel, I highly recommend going to the Doubletree Suites, just off the Magnificent Mile. My friends and I stayed there during one road trip: $230 a night, but so worth it.

Okay, so this turned out to be more of a plug than a report. Cut me some slack...I was only there for 12 hours, 5 of them sleeping. :)

I'll stop for now. I'm going to break it down into a few posts, otherwise it'll get rather long, and Dave will feel that it is not worth his time to read it.

I used to read everything on the Cellar, but if it's beyond about a page (at 1600x1200 and a fully maximized window, which is a lot)... I'm just like "yep, too fuckin' long."

It helps a lot of the text is broken up. I can't stand reading one long paragraph. Jeez, people!

Also, Whit's indenting drives me insane and I find his posts difficult to read. It wouldn't be a big deal, but he doesn't double-return for his new paragraphs, which means that you sometimes have stuff looking like this.

  Hi, I'm Whit.
  I really like to eat corndogs, because corndogs are delicious. Who doesn't like corndogs? There are two types of people in this world: those who like corndogs and those who do not. And to the latter type, I must say: who do you think you're kidding? Corndogs are delicious!
  That's all.

His posts aren't long usually, but I strain to read them. Whit, if you're reading, put in extra returns!

But yeah. If it's really long, forget about it.

I try to read everything, but haven't done so recently...it depends on whether 1) the subject grabs me, 2) I give a shit about the person posting it, and 3) how much other shit I have to do.

Of course, anything I write is worth reading...that's obvious.

I have a Visa from First Bank that I use exclusively for online purchases. At least every other month it'll be refused because they froze the card. If a suspect charge comes in they freeze the card but don't tell me. I don't find out until the next time I try to use it. I then have to call an office in Canada (First Bank is in Delaware) and go through the, my mother's maiden name and town I was born, routine. I've had the card refused online from Switzerland, called Canada then completed the online transaction without breaking the link to the order page. I guess it's a good idea but annoying as hell.

That was Rho's last job...she would contact Fleet customers regarding "suspicious activity" on their CCs.

I could see how that would be annoying though (your situation, Bruce). I imagine that the standards vary from bank to bank, but the two biggest criteria I would use are 1) a large purchase (over $1000-2000) and 2) a high number of charges at one place in a short amount of time.

More about my road trip...

Illinois, along I-70: Driving along I-70 is much like driving along I-55...lots of fields and farms, and incredibly boring. There are interesting little towns along the way though.

Indiana: Indiana is rather quirky. First off, the majority of the state does not observe daylight savings time (only the suburbs of Chicago and Louisville do, as I understand it). So, if you are traveling east along I-70 during DST, you do not adjust your clock.

Indiana is much like most of Illinois...boring. It feels like it takes forever to cross the state, even though it takes about 2 1/2 hours.

I bypassed Indianapolis this time around, but I've been there several times. It's a very nice city...definitely visit the Indy 500 Museum.

Ohio: There should be a sign when you enter Ohio that says, "Please note that we are on Eastern Time." I know this, but some folks may not remember to push their clock up an hour. Beyond that, Ohio is blecch. Not much to say about the western half of Ohio. It's boring. Though things start getting interesting once you get past Columbus. You start hitting the mountains, and the scenery becomes more pleasant.

Columbus is a rather large city--over 700,000 residents. Indianapolis is a bit bigger. Unlike Indpls., Columbus can become rather unpleasant, once you go outside the downtown area.

And the weird thing about both cities is this: Though the cities themselves are large, their metro areas are rather small. You can blow through Columbus in about 20 minutes. Indpls., about a half-hour. Not much in the way of suburbs. It's not like Philadelphia or Chicago, where you get a feeling that you're in a large area once you hit the outer suburbs...Indianapolis and Columbus sorta sneak up on you.

West Virginia: It only takes about 15 minutes to cross the northern tip of the state, but the scenery is awesome...and the speed limit is 70. Be careful of the large incline on I-70 East once outside Wheeling...it's a rather steep grade.

I'll save Pennsylvania for another post.