[LMB] OT: Driving long distance, was: Airlines was: Handbags

[Mark Allums]

Somebody said:
>> Greenie caps keep you awake for a normal day's driving (8-10 hours),
>> but I wouldn't trust them for anything longer.  I tend to fall asleep
>> driving, anyway.

Only being familiar with the drugs I actually have taken, what are 
"greenie caps"?

This is another unsolicited testimonial:  I can attest that modafinil 
(Provigil) is a very helpful and beneficial product for this 
application. I don't recommend trying to drive for more than about 10 
hours a day.  For those 10 hours, modafinil is a very good alertness 
promoting agent.  Yes, it is a stimulant, but a bit different from 
caffeine/amphetamine/Ritalin/etc.

The farthest I have driven is from south of Dallas to Denver.  I did it 
in two legs:  Dallas to Amarillo, and Amarillo to Denver.  I remember 
that trip vividly.  At the hotel in Amarillo, I read Drew Carey's _Dirty 
Jokes and Beer_.  I bought a bicycle in Denver at the Denver Spoke (My 
cousin was running the place at the time, he gave me the employee 
discount.  He's in Iraq now.)  I recommend the trip.  It's a good 
variety of geology and biology one goes through on the way, and you pass 
the helium plant near Amarillo on the way.  (A landmark, of a sort, and 
there's only the one.)

--Mark Allums