100,000

100,000

Well it’s been quite some time, hasn’t it?  Three weeks since my last entry.  Shame on me.  Back in high school my track coach explained to us the difference between reasons and excuses.  In my case, I think I have some legitimate reasons for my tardiness on this latest entry.  I wrapped up Fall semester at Ohio State with some exams and final group work.  I got in a car accident (everyone was fine, and it was not my fault) and have been dealing with the insurance company on and off the last few weeks (still don’t have my car fixed).  Also, wedding planning has kicked into high gear.  We made some big strides the past few weeks and hopefully we are on to less time-sensitive and more enjoyable planning like the honeymoon, favors for our guests, and music for the reception.  Okay, so enough “reasons” – on to the latest number in my blogging journey.

A week or two ago I hit the 100,000 mile mark on my Honda Accord. 

 

There it is - big moment!

 

I got the car just over 6 years ago which means I’ve put almost 17,000 miles/year on my car.  Ouch.  If I drove 20 miles to work one way each work day for the last six years, that only accounts for 60,000 of my 100,000 miles.  So where did I rack up the other 40,000!?  And then my mind began to race and think back to all the long stretches of highway I’ve driven.  So I thought I’d take you along for this ride and fill you in on some of those “extra” 40,000 miles the last 6 years.

To start, I purchased my car back in September 2007.  My car at the time had failed me and the repair would have cost me more than the fair value of the entire vehicle (riddle me that).  So I traded it in and bought a Honda Accord knowing I needed something very practical and durable.  In hindsight, that was a great decision.  Well done 22-year-old Jeff.  My first two years with the car were in Columbus.  I can’t recall any major trips, but I definitely racked up some miles living far from work.  Also, I was an auditor and often traveled outside the metro area to various client sites.  Overall, though, I can’t really blame those 2 years for putting on all those miles.

In the Fall of 2009 I was offered a job transfer with my employer to our Charlotte office.  It turns out that office had won a bunch of new (and big) clients, requiring additional staff for the long run.  I didn’t have anything keeping me in Columbus at the time.  No lease (thanks to my sister Maureen!), and no girlfriend.  So, off to Charlotte I went. 

I loved my apartment - right in the thick of it!

 

The first few months were kind of crazy.  I had already planned a lot in Columbus for that Fall so I spent many weekends driving back to Columbus.  For the record, it’s about 425 miles from Columbus to Charlotte, or a 6.5 hour drive.  In my opinion, it’s just long enough to make a weekend trip doable.  Any further and I’d say fly.  One major trip I remember being excited to make back to Columbus was for Christmas.  My job was awesome because even as an entry-level staff I was given 5 weeks of paid vacation.  Yeah, 5!  I always saved 2 of those for Christmas/New Year’s.  After a rough start in Charlotte I was desperate to go home to some familiar faces and just relax.  Enter the weather.  A brutal winter storm literally paralyzed I-77 through West Virginia.  As in, it was not passable no matter how awesome you think your 4-wheel drive is.  Determined to get to Columbus I drove to Columbus through Atlanta, Knoxville, Lexington and Cincinnati.  What is normally a 6.5 hour trip took almost 12 hours (the weather in Tennessee and Kentucky was rough as well).  After the holidays passed and I was starting to set some roots in Charlotte, I was assigned to a major client in the Jacksonville, FL office.  I was pretty upset that I was forced to work there for 4 months after being asked recruited to work in Charlotte.  The Charlotte airport is pretty big and often my flights were delayed so I actually drove to Jacksonville many of those weeks (I also liked having my own car there).  That trip was about 375 miles each way, or 5.5 hours.  And it was dull and boring.  This is where I learned to like stand-up comedy.  I gained some favor with the audit teams in Jacksonville and therefore they retained me for a special engagement for one of their clients.  However, this required me to work in Pittsburgh for a month (go figure – why did I leave Columbus?!).  Again, flight complications and the desire to hit up Columbus “on the way” led me to drive to and from Pittsburgh.  More miles.  Many more miles.  All the while, working out of town forced me to miss some crucial training in my Charlotte office.  When I finally got back to Charlotte in the middle of Summer 2010, I had to drive to and from Raleigh, NC to make up those missed trainings.  Great, more time in the car.  By the time August 2010 hit, I knew I needed to find a new job.  So I did, and also decided to move back to Columbus.  At the time, there was also this girl I really liked and she lived in Cincinnati.  Charlotte to Cincinnati was not working for us very well so the 100 miles between Columbus and Cincinnati seemed really attractive.  (As it turns out, this girl’s name was Anissa and I am marrying her in July next year!). 

Okay, so clearly 2009/2010 was a big mileage period for my trusty Accord.  Also in 2010, my parents moved from Columbus to Syracuse, NY (almost 500 miles apart).  With holidays and other visits, my car continued to pile on the mileage the next few years.  But as you might remember from my first blog, I love snow.  So my parents being in Syracuse wasn’t all bad.

Four feet of snow made for some great sledding!

 

Also, Syracuse is situated near some awesome things.  I drove my car to the eastern part of NY to go zip-lining on North America’s tallest, fastest zip-line up in the Catskills.  I also drove my car across the border to do Niagara Falls with Anissa.  We got to see Cooperstown, something I have always wanted to do!  Additionally, we toured the Finger Lakes and enjoyed some of the best wines I’ve ever had.  In the end, all those Syracuse miles were totally worth it!

The base of one of the mountains we zip-lined to/from.

 

 

Looking back on what those 100,000 miles mean to me, I am a happy guy.  They mean I’ve had good, steady work my entire young career.  They mean I am committed to being where I need to be, whether that’s going home for the holidays, making my way up and down I-71 to see a special lady, or just taking some time to step away from my day-to-day routine and enjoy some of what life has to offer.  I’m looking forward to what my next 100,000 miles have in store.  And Lord knows my Honda Accord is ready for them!