The Weekly Meat

How to Road Trip

In my teens and twenties, I managed to put in a lot of time on the open roads between jobs. I've driven cross country and back several times; twice, solo; been up and down the East Coast; done the Canadian route through Quebec and Ontario and back down through Michigan's U.P..; hit every state in the continental U.S. but for Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama. Hell, just two weeks ago I did the 16-hour drive from Chicago to Boston.

Mostly, my time on the road was before cellphones and the interwebs and WIFI and, yes, even before widespread ATMs — and so I developed my own "best practices" (as these sorts of things would come to be called later in my professional life). Since Memorial Day weekend marks the official start of road trip season, here are the hits:

• Plan a route. Out are the days of grandma's AAA Trip-Tick, and in are the days of the ubiquitous GPS system. Still, you need context, and it's incredibly helpful to have a decent map. That said, skip the fold-out state maps in favor of an atlas that you can actually balance on the steering wheel and study while eating truckstop jerky and doing 85+ across Montana.
  
  Interstates in the U.S. are laid out in a logical manner that one would not expect of the U.S. Department of Anything. Odd-numbered roads run north/south, while even-numbered ones run east/west. Further, the road numbering goes up from west (where you can drive I-5 from San Diego to Seattle) to east (I-95 from Miami to Bangor, Maine) and from south (I-10 from LA to Jacksonville, Florida) to north (I-90 from Seattle to Boston). So when you wake up groggy at the intersection of routes I-70 and I-35 (Kansas City), you'll know to order the ribs.


• Be prepared. Nothing worse than locking your keys in your car. Take it from someone who has asked a bush pilot, a mechanic, and a cop (all successfully) to break into his locked car, and save yourself the aggravation by keeping an extra set in your pocket or in the pocket of whomever else is in the car. Door locks are much more problematic for the keyless than they once were, and car windows are not as easy to break as Hollywood would make it seem.
  
  Don't trust your gas gauge. Figure out what your average cruising distance (a full tank of gas) is on the open road. And remember, in stop and go traffic, or if you are driving with your air conditioner on, it will wind up being considerably less.
  
  Keep change for tollbooths, or better yet, get an EZ-Pass transponder (see also, I-Pass, I-Zoom, Fast Lane, etc.) — which, on my recent Chicago-Boston jaunt was accepted in every state but Ohio, and which saved me much hassle, and at least a half hour at the tollbooths.

  Know where you're headed, and who else is headed there. Passing through Boston on your way to Cape Cod on a Friday afternoon in July? Bring some reading and a bottle to pee in, because you'll be sitting in traffic. Just happen to be in South Dakota during the first week in August (as I have)? Well, drop on in to Sturgis (as I have). Camping in central Maine in the next few weeks? So are the black flies. Bring DEET.

• Sleep for cheap. A road trip is about the road, about quests, about destinations. With that in mind, stay on the cheap for any intermediate stops. Once you get to your destination, relax, put your feet up, drop a bit of cash. I'm not a big fan of sleeping in the car — even for a night or two — mainly because there are far better alternatives. Camping is my go-to M.O. (though I have a soft spot for the sort of national chain motels that leave the light on for you and advertise their prices on billboards by the side of the interstates). A few thoughts on camping:
  
  • Get a tent you can set up alone, within minutes, while it's raining. Because it will rain.
  • If you'll be near two or more national parks, buy a year pass.
  • Favor national forests over state parks — especially on weekends, when locals take over state parks.
  
  
• Prepare for the worst. If you roll in a 15-year-old hoopty-ass Camry, like I have until recently, any mechanic worth their salt can fix it, as long as there's a place nearby for parts. But if your car is a hybrid — or was manufactured in, say, Sweden — print out a list of dealers so you'll know where to get it serviced. Because in middle America, few are gonna know how to do anything but change the oil on that rig.
  
  Also, two things will happen — as they inevitably do — at some point during your travels:
  
  1. Your battery will die. Take jumper cables and know how to use them. If you have a manual transmission, know that you can do a rolling jump-start in second gear.
  2. You will get a flat tire. Take a full-size spare, and know how to change it. Know where your jack is hidden, and forgo the car's standard tire iron for one sturdy enough to stand on — because there are few things more stubborn than lug nuts that have been tightened with a torque gun.


• Pack smart. Use the car's storage space to its full potential. An extra blanket or two stowed under the trunk are manna to the wet and weary. Put a roll of toilet paper under the front seat and I promise you it will someday be needed (and soon after that day, thank me with beer). You'll get stale from being on the road long before a brick of packaged peanut butter crackers, and they're instant energy in a pinch. And it's always good to have bottled water around. At summer car temperatures, it may not satisfy, but it will certainly keep you (or even your car) hydrated. And money; a ragged twenty in the glovebox will go just far enough on a Sunday when you're in a dustbowl town with only one cash machine in town, and it is FUBAR.


• Eat well. Fast food is bullshit. Get off the highway and talk to real locals over real food that you can't get back home. Trust Roadfood, Chowhound, and your instincts. And if you are feeling bold, pick up a copy of the brilliantly titled Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only! Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine! and cook while you drive.
  


• Don't get dead. If you're planning on driving alone, try to drink liquids often enough that you'll need to pull over for a rest stop every couple of hours. Pace yourself. Caffeinate, but not overly. Know your car's limits as well as your own. Check your tires and fluid levels. Service your car when it needs it. And don't fall asleep.

Happy trails, y'all.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

As summer rolls in, it's important we all brush up on the amateur musicianship that used to get us laid back in college.

You did play guitar in college, right?

Well, get the led out. Literally. Brain dump all those musty Led Zeppelin bits you learned back in high school. No one wants to hear your masterly picking on "Over the Hills and Far Away." There has only ever been one good use for Zeppelin (see Damone, Five-Point Plan), and even that is dated.

Alright. It's festival/backyard barbecue/family reunion season and you will be called upon to rally the troops, young and old. You'll need 45 minutes worth of tunes you can play and sing well. If you're lousy with lyrics, keep a sheaf of cheat sheets in your guitar case. The key is a varied repertoire in your vocal range, with no alternate tunings, and no more than a half-dozen chords.

Important!  Do not cater to children. Kids need to learn grown-up songs, not vice versa. Barney can go screw.

In compiling a solid playlist, you'll need at least one tune from the following dozen well-established musical genres:

Country: Let me be clear that I mean old-school country, not some nouveau radio-friendly crap sung by anyone remotely hot. The following are solid picks: Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried," Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho & Lefty," Jeff Walker's "I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight," or the daddy of 'em all, Steve Goodman's David Allan Coe vehicle: "You Never Even Call Me By My Name." 

Folk: First, understand that folks were more patient for six- and seven-minute epics back in the coffee house days, but that dog don't hunt anymore. No one wants to hear you go prattling on about "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" or sit for all of "Tangled up in Blue," so keep it short. Dylan, John Prine, Gillian Welch, Josh Ritter, all fine choices.

Blues: You don't need to solo, but you do need to know your basic 12-bar 1-4-5. Rufus Thomas' "Walkin' the Dog" and Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin'" are brilliant tunes to get the house rocking.

Classic Rock: I've got a few, but (done well, mind you, not like this) nothing is easier or goes over better than AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long." (But for god's sake, if you insist on playing Led Zeppelin, do something like "Tangerine," because if I hear "Stairway to Heaven" I will break your guitar like Belushi.)

Indie Rock: Easy crowd-pleasers for the post-punk slacker moms and dads. "The Concept" by Teenage Fanclub, "Tennessee" by the Silver Jews, and the Pixies' "Here Comes Your Man."

Punk: No party is complete without some well-timed punk. Black Flag's version of "Louie, Louie," The Clash's "Death or Glory," Cock Sparrer's "England Belongs to Me." With the proper venom and snarl, these'll make them cough up a deviled egg.

Oldies: Gotta have a couple the AARP crowd knows the words to. Ricky Nelson's "Hello Mary Lou," Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man," Buddy Holly's "Well... All Right."

A Capella: I know. But trust me — it's critical. It's the musical equivalent of golf's sand wedge. You've gotta have it in your bag for those times when you break a string, or are too drunk to keep time, or have to prove you actually can sing, or when you're night fishing for great whites. In fact, sea shanteys work like a charm in most instances, and at these trying times, give a nod to Quint and go with either "Show Me the Way to Go Home" or "Spanish Ladies" (incidentally, an excellent lullaby for kids). Another rollicking, sea-faring song with some teeth (and a "goddamn them all" chorus) is Stan Rogers' great "Barrett's Privateers," which I learned over a campfire ages ago at the Philadelphia Folk Festival.

Bluegrass: You need at least one tune to play with a banjo- or fiddle-toting friend. And if you don't have any friends who tote said instruments, you need to take a hard look at who you're hanging out with. I can't do a lick of real fingerpicking, but I can comp chords, and tunes like Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" or the Stanley Brothers' "Man of Constant Sorrow" work well.

Johnny Cash: You're damn skippy JC's a genre unto himself, and you best know a handful. "Folsom Prison Blues," "Ring of Fire," and "Tennessee Stud" for starters.

Songs about trains: No self-respecting musical hack can have a train-free repertoire — and not just so they can satisfy my train-crazed 4-year-old nephew (who is already familiar with the rail-heavy catalogs of Hank Snow and Jimmie Rodgers). I know maybe a dozen, but in a pinch, I'll take REM's "Driver 8," Roger Miller's "King of the Road," and Leadbelly's "Rock Island Line."

Songs about drinking: Give someone their first listen to Sonny Boy Williamson's classic "Sloppy Drunk Blues," or try to do justice to The Pogues' "Streams of Whiskey." It has a built-in party chorus and still sounds hella good after many rounds. For plenty more help with this genre, fumble your way over to the brilliant and encyclopedic Barstool Mountain.

Now, beyond all that, you've got to have a single go-to song — something short that you can do in any key, for any occasion, and at a moment's notice. That song should be a genre-buster; hitting several at once. The little banjo ditty Newman does in Cool Hand Luke ("Plastic Jesus") is a great place to start.

Dust off those fingers, boys and girls. It's time to go make an ass of yourself.

Mama Tried — Merle Haggard
Hello Mary Lou — Ricky Nelson
Barrett's Privateers — Stan Rogers
Streams of Whiskey — The Pogues

How to Get Ahead in Business

Introduction
Open with a joke followed by a mixed sports metaphor. If you can do both at the same time, you'll be batting a thousand right out of the gate!

(Note: Exclamation points are generally for admins and the folks in MarCom. But what the heck, break the rules occasionally!)

PowerPoint
Always use PowerPoint. It's the greatest tool of all time for prolonging a meeting. And nothing is more business-y than a good long self-important meeting. PowerPoint enables you to project your notes onto a big screen so you can then read them verbatim to attendees. It allows you to waste time, money, and create 1970s-style "fly-in" animation at the same time you're wasting time and money. (How's that for synergy!?) So do it. Baffle them with bullshit. Above all, remember, nothing generates buzz like buzzwords.

Buzzwords
Repeat whichever buzzwords and acronyms you've heard in the latest meeting, especially from those one to two levels above you. When possible, try to be wordy (remember: four words good, two words bad) without actually being substantive. In lieu of content, use clichés, big words, and jargon. If you don't know any jargon, make up an acronym.

Acronyms
Everyone loves acronyms. From CEOs to CIOs and CMOs, all the way down the line to VPs. Also, there are some terrific jargon-generators out here if you know where to look. When you are forced to be substantive, be obtuse, and tell folks what they already know. People love re-learning what they already know. It makes them feel smart.

Bullet Lists
At around this point in any newsletter article or presentation, you'll want to include some bullet points:

• People love bullets
• They're like headlines
• That call attention to themselves
• So non-bulleted text can be ignored

There's No "i" in Team
Agree with your boss. They like that. And when your boss asks you to do something, turn around and assign the task to your subordinates. It'll make them feel special, and show your boss what a good designator you are. Designator is a new word. It's like decider.

Troubleshooting
If you're ever asked a question that requires actual thought, have a mental list of go-to words that you feel comfortable with: strategy, function, and execute are great ones to start with. You'll want words that are pretty much interchangeable and can be used to mean anything in any situation. Use them as needed. (Note: They can be especially effective in conjunction with one another.)

Conclusion
So get out there in 2008 and be all you can be — drive the car you aspire to be able to afford. Remember, everyone loves you — especially your boss's assistant. (You could run this whole shebang if you had an assistant like that.) So ramp up your game a notch, execute on strategy, and generate competitive value by leveraging technology to maximize customer take-away.

That said, I'd hate to leave you without an invaluable take-away. So here it is — the PowerPoint presentation....

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How to Travel with Your Significant Other and Not Break Up

Editorial Note: This post was co-written with my wife, AKL.

Please — before it’s too late — reconsider that romantic getaway you’ve been planning.

Traveling is devastating for relationships. If you love each other, stay home. Even perfectly functional, happy relationships can be ruined by the wedge issues travel creates for couples. Long-festering personality quirks can suddenly look like deal-breaking character flaws in the bright light of the Caribbean. Or the dingy light of a hotel bar.

We assure you, you’ll be much happier just staying at home and watching other people break up on TV.

Now, if you absolutely must leave home, please take with you our five time-tested survival techniques:

Rule #1: Prepare.

Seasoned Euro-traveler Ben Franklin said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” So prepare. Know your itinerary, bring your passport, extra socks, Scooby Snacks with which you can bribe your significant other…. Every trip has its hassles, and the fewer hassles you have, the fewer passive-aggressive “discussions” you’ll have about those hassles.

Also, buy good maps. Nothing can create tension faster than a stupid argument over how to find some hard-to-find landmark.

Rule #2: Avoid landmarks.

Landmarks are public places where couples are meant to have “moments.” Do not underestimate the importance of these moments. Try to gauge — or even (gasp!) ask — what the expected highlights of the trip are for your partner. And then try very hard not to screw up those highlights.

There’s a time and a place for everything, and the time and place for a state of the union chat is not at the Louvre or on the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower.

In fact, guys, do not under any circumstances go to Paris. Paris is like a wedding (or a funeral); you will never be forgiven for screwing up Paris.

Rule #3: Don’t go to bed angry.

This seems simple, but it’s not. Sort out little issues as they pop up during the day rather than giving them a chance to boil over when you’re tired and belligerent with mini-bar purchases.

We call this the “Brady Bunch rule.” No matter how bad things got for the Brady family — be it a surfing accident, a broken nose, or the everyday indignities of being the middle child (“Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!”) — by the end of the episode, all had been worked out and even Jan was happy again. Make bedtime the end of any “episodes.”

Rule #4: You’re not connected at the hip.

If you love art and are dying to see Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, but your partner can’t tell a Giotto from a grotto, ditch them for the day. You’ll see and do things on your own that you wouldn’t together (CAUTION! Skip this rule when in Vegas!) and even have something to talk about when you meet up later.

Being apart can also help you put your relationship in perspective. Are you enjoying yourself? Is this really a person with whom you could see yourself growing old? Living without? Is that hot bartender really giving you the eye?

Rule #5: The grass is never greener.

On every trip, you will meet exactly one person with whom you would fall madly in love, if not for your significant other. Do not fall in love with this new person.

It will be difficult. You will meet this person on a plane, or a bus, or a trek, or in a bar, or through a friend. The man or woman will come from Australia, or Iceland — an island country full of outgoing people with fabulous hair and supermodel cheekbones. They will be mysterious and have an interesting name and some odd talent. Their name will be Jada or Sven, and they’ll play bass for Bjork. You’ll have fantasies about living in their perfect world, and having transcendent sex and uncomplicated communication.

Remember, like internet Vi@gra! or 99-cent shrimp cocktail, if it looks too good to be true, it is.

Of course, if none of this helps and traveling does destroy your relationship and you ultimately find yourself single, well don’t just sit there and think, “They told me so,” get off your couch and see the world. You can start with Australia or Iceland.