I left Norton at 9:30 this morning and drove straight back to Russell, choosing to bypass Hays.

The McDonald’s in Norton closed earlier this year, leaving no Golden Arches along US 36 from at least the Colorado state line–probably farther–to Seneca. The only Mickey D’s on 36 in Kansas are in Seneca and Hiawatha. At least Norton still has a Dairy Queen, as does Belleville, while Marysville has Hardee’s, Sonic and Taco Bell.

Got back home by 11:20, visited with my parents for half an hour, and got back on the road. I would have driven straight from Norton to Kansas City had I not forgotten my insulin pen at my house yesterday. However, you don’t gain any time going 36, because the speed limit is slower (65 vs. 75 on I-70) and there are stops in the small towns along the way–Phillipsburg, Smith Center, Belleville, Seneca, Hiawatha, et. al–that makes it slower than just speeding along the interstate.

I found myself locked out of my office today. I wanted to pick up something inside, but it turns out there was a new lock placed on the outer door. I decided I would live. I’ll get a key from Frank when I get back to town.

I got to Kansas City in record time, all because I wanted to see Brittany Davidson before she ended her shift as the bartender at Buffalo Wild Wings. Mission accomplished. She was ecstatic to see me, as were a few more people who had not seen in at least a month and a half, including Shannon Swanson, who encouraged me to get help for my depression.

Lisa and Liz are working tonight, and they’re very happy to see me too. I also saw two of my trivia buddies, Jane and Mark, and gave them one of my many $5 discount coupons. I also saw Rondo, who was playing when I got there. I was surprised the 12,989 I posted on Dec. 4 held up as the high score for the month until Rondo hit 13,000+ twice today. I just posted 13,286.

This keyboard for my iPhone has everyone jealous. Larry Bernard was the first to notice Thursday at the wrestling meet in Lincoln, Peggy Cox, Mason Buckmaster and Taylor Zabel all noticed last night at basketball, and now I’ve gotten raves from Liz, Lisa and Chris Smith at Buffalo Wild Wings. Sounds like a great gift idea. The best thing about the keybaord is I don’t have to lug my 30-pound laptop everywhere if I want to work. The only time I now really need the laptop is to download things from the Main Street Media FTP site. I have Word on here, so I can write the articles, save them to my Sky Drive, then transfer them to Quark when I get the computer set up.

Lisa was so nice to get me a stool with a back to sit down. I really feel welcome when she’s my server. But I’m very happy to hear both she and her man, Jeff Daniels, recently got new jobs. I know as a young couple they’re probably struggling a bit, and this is good news.