Published: August 09, 2008 08:17 pm         

Trip to Fort Worth included Six Flags, golf and Rangers

College 301 column

Last weekend, I went to Fort Worth to visit some friends from school who live there for a few days of fun. Since I’m too lazy to come up with a clever way to tie together everything we did, I’ll use the trusty list format to fill you in on what went down.

● I put an extra five hours worth of mileage on my rental car before taking it back. Due to a continuous succession of events, the three days it was supposed to take to repair the damage to my car turned into two weeks, leaving me cruising around in a 2007 Dodge Charger. That’s not near as good as it sounds, because the particular car they gave me was a low-end, fairly junky model, with a V-6 engine and I’m guessing about three and half horsepower. Seriously, when it came time to pass someone in the thing, the gap between mashing the pedal to the floor and the car actually accelerating was around five seconds. It got the job done though, and when it was all said and done, the insurance company of the driver that crossed the intersection in front of me got saddled with a $300 rental bill and a $2,200 repair bill for my Grand Prix, which I finally am driving again.

● I found out what else is allowed in Six Flags. I’m sure you all remember the infamous Six Flags Fiesta Texas incident where I was refused entrance into the park because of the shirt I was wearing. In the column I wrote about the situation, I listed off things that are allowed in the park as opposed to cartoon baby-eating t-shirts. You can now add ‘young lust’ to that list. Amusement parks are a hot spot for couples, as they provide a nice, fun atmosphere for a date. However, it seems that most of the couples who date there are still in junior high. This was evidenced by the tons of 15-year-olds hanging all over each other, making me wonder just what in the world they’re showing on Nickelodeon nowadays. All the while, I stood in line, a girlfriendless 20-year-old watching kids in Hannah Montana shirts doing things they won’t even show on television. Something just seems wrong there.

● I braved the heat. No clever one-liner about that one, just know that it was friggin’ hot as the sun and I’m quite positive I excreted about 30 pounds worth of sweat.

● I tried to golf. On Sunday we went to a driving range with some hand-me-down clubs my buddy got from his neighbor. There were three of us there, and not a one had ever golfed, aside from the putt-putt variety, that is. I quickly learned that it is much harder than it looks on TV. I mean, what’s so difficult about swinging a metal club at a little white ball? Many things, that’s what. We hit balls for about thirty minutes, and the next day, I felt it in my legs, arms AND abs. I definitely have a newfound respect for golfers.

● I remembered how difficult it is to hit a baseball. After playing intramural softball for so long, I’ve gotten spoiled by a huge ball coming in very slowly. But after the driving range we went to the batting cages and I decided to hit off a 45 mph machine. It was not easy. 45 mph, about half of what major leaguers deal with, and that ball seemed to be coming out of a cannon on its way to the plate. Needless to say, I did not do so hot

● I watched the Rangers win. I haven’t been to a game in quite a while, but luckily my friend’s mom works at the ballpark and was able to get us awesome seats. So, I watched Michael Young and company take it to the Blue Jays in an 8-4 win. It was awesome.

● I saw a high speed chase. In person. On my way home from Fort Worth, as I was traveling down Interstate 45, a silver Honda came flying by me at what had to be at least 90 miles an hour. In pursuit was a line of around 10 cop cars, who all came speeding around me as well. It was a bit unsettling, and quite frankly it scared the mess out of me. I’m just thankful that the road was fairly clear when the chase went by, otherwise it could’ve gotten out of hand. About 10 minutes later I caught up to the end of the pursuit, and the Honda was parked in a field with all the cars around it. And yes, it was a silver Honda that caused my crash a few weeks back.

So, all in all, it was a fun weekend, and a nice way to get ready to head back to school for the fall semester. The only downside is that I seem to be developing an irrational fear of silver Hondas.

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Robert Rich is a junior journalism major at the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated from Westwood High School in 2006. He can be reached via e-mail at robert.rich@mail.utexas.edu

     

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