Unexpected Thanksgiving

We were meant to be in Phoenix right now, celebrating my aunt's 70th birthday on T'giving day with all our family. The airlines had other ideas, and as we watched our flight get delayed yet again and learned we would miss our connecting flight and there were no others available at all, I was really bummed about the holiday. I really wanted to be with them all, to go around the table sharing what we're thankful for, and have the chance to catch up with everyone. Instead I was on the phone with the airline confirming our tickets would be refunded and trying to decide what to do about dinner on Thursday. But it's turned out to be a really delightful holiday.

It was only 9:30am when we left the airport (although being up for 6 hours already made it feel much later). D needed a new coat, so we headed over to the stores and enjoyed having fully stocked racks and shelves everywhere we turned. We decided that rather than try to create a traditional turkey dinner at home, I'd grill steaks with mushrooms and onions, grilled asparagus, and mashed potatoes. We stopped at Fresh Market and they had chanterelle mushrooms - so far my favorite fungus and not one you see fresh in stores this time of year. I picked some up and sauteed them with cippolini onions from our garden, a nice holiday-level treat.

I had thought about running a Turkey Trot 5k out in Phoenix, I figured it'd be warm enough I could do it barefoot. I decided the night before T'giving to head to town and run in our local one. Although it was cold enough I did wear shoes:

It was a fun event, and the race organizers said over 14,000 people and 700 dogs had registered! The shirts had big turkeys on them, and the dogs got matching bandannas with bones on them. I have no idea what my time was. With that many people the start was really sluggish and for some reason I'm not listed in the chip timing results :(. Not that it really matters. I ran at an even pace the whole time and had fun doing it.

The weather warmed up in the afternoon and we went outside for a game of catch. We were a bit rusty, including our outfielder Kayla, who kept losing the ball in the leaves. Kayla was a riot. She kept running back and forth between us each throw, rather than stand still and wait to see where the ball was headed. When one of us missed a catch she'd crank into high gear and chase after the ball no matter how tired she was.

So overall, despite the change in plans, it turned into a very nice holiday with a lot of the features I had hoped for. And since it seems incorrect to end a T'giving post without a mention of thankfulness - my heart overflows with gratitude at the life I have and the people I get to share it with. I love you all!

From cool to disturbing

Recent trips have laid me over in Detroit - wait that sounds really wrong. Ahem, recent trips have been routed through Detroit as my connecting airport rather than Atlanta. Now before you uggh in sympathetic dismay, let me say that the Detroit airport is relatively new, clean, and fairly easy to navigate. And closer to the Northeast as a layover than Atlanta. Plus they have a super cool walkway between the main terminals. It has continually changing muted lights and synth music playing. Which is nice, because without that it would be a painfully long hallway to traverse underground. Also an interesting bit about Detroit is the Delta SkyClub lounge has an open bar. And by open I mean you walk up to the shelves of liquor and pour your own drink, or pull a beer from the tap.

 

However, not everything is cool in the airports. I noticed this incredibly disturbing sign in Atlanta in very highly trafficked area.

"Did you SEE something suspicious commuting 

to work or grabbing a bite to eat?

Then SAY something to local authorities

to make it right.

Report suspicious activity. Call 9-1-1"

Now, I'm not one to jump on the Nazi bandwagon, but really in this case I think you can't help see the similarity. How many Hitler Youth turned in neighbors and community members to the authorities for "something suspicious"? Let's all spy on our neighbors! Turn them in and "make it right"! Classic 1984. Also, did you notice the phone number to use? My first thought was oh, they have a 9/11 phone number for this. Then I realized it's the freakin emergency number they're telling you to call!! Like 911 Emergency Response has the time to handle every overzealous person who calls in because they think someone is behaving suspiciously while they're grabbing a bite to eat. I'm also disturbed that the motto is trademarked.

And to go from the seriously disturbing and trademarked to the mildly disturbing and slightly trademark infringing:

What in the hell is this? No, it's not Splenda. It's not even a generic form of Splenda's ingredients. I know the color yellow can't be trademarked, but I was about to put this in my tea when I saw the name and then the ingredient list. Which would have sucked, as this is essentially the pink packet sweetener with some extra chemicals added. If I use artificial sweetener at all, I want real yellow packets. Or blue if I have to. Never pink. And don't be putting pink stuff in a yellow packet and pulling the wool over our eyes.

Louisville - a nice surprise

When traveling for work I rarely get to really experience the city I'm in, but usually can get a feel if it's "my kind of town". I almost always flip through the city guide magazine or book that's in most hotel rooms to see what's big. Some cities are exactly like you expect - Orlando is pretty disappointing with extra-high humidity, very cookie-cutter and touristy. Philadelphia has so many things to see and do you can't begin to pick your options. But sometimes a town really surprises you. 

I just got back from Louisville, KY and heading in was very bland about the idea, sort of a "whatever, I go where I'm needed, not like I'm there for vacation anyway". I was only there for a day, but the town really impressed me to the point I'd like to take a trip there for a visit sometime. And not many places I've been to have been added to my re-visit list, so that's saying something. There's a big art scene and lots of museums, and a very cool sounding downtown shopping area. It's also home to pretty much all the major bourbon distilleries there are (Maker's Mark, Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve, etc). Bourbon is only made in Kentucky, and they take it VERY seriously. Speaking of drinking, whenever I have a beer while traveling I always ask what local brews they have - it's an interesting way to experience a bit of the local flavor, so to speak. I was lucky enough to have a glass of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale while walking by the Ohio River one evening in perfect summer weather. The ale is matured in freshly decanted bourbon barrels from the local distilleries. It was really excellent, the aroma and flavor of the bourbon was unmistakable, but it complemented the ale rather than detracting or seeming gimmicky. Distribution sounds pretty limited, so I might not get to taste this again until I go back to Kentucky.

Hiking in Phoenix

I just got back from Phoenix, AZ for our company annual sales meeting. Except we couldn’t call it that, it was the North American Business Conference – apparently business meetings have some tax advantage that sales meetings don’t qualify for. Plus it was in Phoenix, during the summer solstice, and was 114 degrees out, with 5% humidity. Y’know the adage “it’s not the heat it’s the humidity”? They’re not kidding, it wasn’t the 114 searing heat that drove us inside, it was the soul-sucking lack of moisture. By the end I sounded like a long-term smoker, as the dryness made my voice raspy. Perfect for delivering 4 presentations!

Our hotel was at the base of Camelback Mountain, and I got up early one morning to hike it before work (and before it got too hot). 

The front desk guy gave me a 30 SPF lip balm, checked I had a bottle of water, and pointed me towards the trail head.  Based on everyone's admonitions to wear shoes because of the rocky gravel surface and big rocks of the trail, I started out in my Five Fingers toe shoes. And while I hike in the VA forests and run on asphalt barefoot, I've never been on the crushed rock of the southwest and thought I should play it safe. After about 5 min I thought - this sucks, my feet are sweaty and the finely crushed rock shifting underfoot makes me feel unsteady. I decided to see if being barefoot on the trail was on option. I peeled off my shoes, an effort not unlike slithering out of a wet swimsuit, and gingerly stood on the gravel, then took a few steps. A big smile broke out and I really started to have fun. Feeling my toes curl around big rocks for stability, the quiet barefootfall, and the pleasant warmth of the ground was fantastic. Plus it made me really proud that my feet could handle it, it was by far the most challenging surface I’ve attempted.

A couple people stopped me to ask about being barefoot, particularly how I was able to do it. A few just said wow, barefoot as they passed by, and one warned me about snakes. My response to that was that snakes out there make noise, and I'm used to copperheads and water moccasins. Plus, is really having my feet covered going to save my life? Like it might not just bite my ankle if I was stupid enough to provoke it? The best wildlife encounter was hearing an unfamiliar rapid birdsong that had a touch of frantic static to it. I looked up and there was a broad-tailed hummingbird sitting on a branch nearby singing his little heart out. After a while he flew a few humming circles around my head and took off.

I’d love to go on hikes like that again. It was such a great part of my trip. If…when…if… my parents retire to the southwest, I’m totally going to scope out the hiking opportunities.

New Orleans

I'm not much for taking pictures, and find it funny when I get home from a trip and the photos I have are not at all the things that were truly memorable. Because when I'm in the middle of living life, I forget to take a photo. I was in New Orleans last month, right when the river was feared to crest in the city, and before it got disgustingly hot. The first day, all I could do was marvel and how dirty and smelly it was. Seriously, even with my prior job and a dog with a penchant for rolling in small mammal corpses, I never encountered such a grotesque array of smells as I did on Bourbon St. And cockroaches roamed the sidewalks in the good part of town!

But there is something about NOLA. It really gets under your skin, and you can't help but want to return and experience more of it. My friend and I went shopping one afternoon on Magazine St. and stumbled into a movie set - Bruce Willis was in town filming a new movie called Lay the Favorite. He wasn't on site just then, but it was still cool. There's also so many neat old houses and unique sights.

The chimney tops on this house were fascinating. Speaking of beautiful places, we were lucky enough to stay at The Roosevelt Hotel, a newly restored turn of the century hotel. It's the best hotel I've ever stayed in, and had a lot of character that added to its charm. It even had a working brass letterbox. You could drop a letter in the slot on any floor and watch it fall to the lobby letterbox through the glass chute.

So many memories are jumbled - The Sazerac Bar, home of the official cocktail of New Orleans, which changed my view of classic cocktails forever. Riding the trolley, perhaps my favorite way to get around town. People watching was definitely high on the list. The unusual accents from many of the native people. This tree seemed so classic Louisiana to me, I had to stop for a photo.

Barefoot in Chicago

I’m really starting to see the variability of TSA screening at different airports. At one airport the metal detectors were so sensitive it picked up the underwires in my bra. I will never forget the TSA agent asking “Ma’am, do you have any metal in your…chest area?” Whereas I walked through another airport’s metal detectors cleanly and only on the other side noticed just how much metal I had on my person. I had wondered if the pendant would set it off, as it’s a blacksmithed piece of solid iron. But apparently not. 

 

I was in Chicago recently and our hotel was right on the river. It was a great view from my room, with some famous landmarks visible. There’s a river walk path that people walked their dogs and run on during the day. I found enough time to run up to Lake Michigan and back. The wind coming off the lake was strong enough it made the run more challenging than expected, but at least it was pushing me along on the run back. It was interesting to note that each bridge is different underneath, it gave the run even more personality.

Walking down the street we passed a block-long Macy’s without much thought. Then at the corner I saw the old Marshall Fields cornerstone plaques and realized where I was. I remember as a kid we’d come to the city at Christmastime to see the Marshall Fields window displays. The entire block of windows was converted into sparkling animatronic Christmas windows. The whole block told a long story, but each window was unique. Street vendors sold hot roasted chestnuts in paper sacks to the crowds that stared at the windows. I’d probably love them now, but my kid palate wasn’t too impressed when my dad shared one with me. But even as a kid my mouth knew that Marshall Field’s Frango Mints were something special. So many childhood presents involved boxes of Frango Mints after mom gave me that first one from the small 15-piece box she bought herself. I know you can buy them at Macy’s now across the country, but seeing them in the window in the original Marshall Fields meant so much.

One good thing about going barefoot is it opens you up to a lot of entertainment that other people can only sit and jealously watch. Take these fountains for example. They were built seamlessly into the walkways of the lobby, and if you weren’t paying attention you could easily walk into one. Which in my mind means they were designed for exactly that. Off came the shoes and I happily splashed my feet in the half-inch of water while waiting for my colleague after the close of the exhibit hall at the convention center. The cold water felt really good after a full day on my feet. I sat alone along the back side of the benches so my feet plaffed in the water while everyone else crowded together on the dry side. 

I finally got groped!

You know I've been waiting for my chance at a groping. But the majority of airports I fly from are small enough they just have metal detectors not the advanced body scanners, and hence no opportunity to opt out and get a TSA pat down instead. I did go through a body scanner once before, but that's because I was running late and really didn't have the extra time to spare. And I will admit the scanners are very fast - provided people understand that "Take everything out of your pockets" means EVERYTHING including a boarding pass or tissue. I'm not afraid of the scanners themselves nor embarrassed by the near-naked image someone will see. I just hate that we've accepted such a degradation of our privacy and 4th amendment rights for the sake of convenience and laughable idea of perceived security. So I decided a while back that I'd opt out of the scanners and make a point by getting the patdown. And I finally got my chance.

It was 5am in San Diego when I saw the scanners. I remembered my plan to opt out, and knew I had the time to spare. Then I was a bit worried about what might happen, and the thought even crossed my mind that it might hold up the entire security line as I only saw one female TSA agent, and maybe I should just do the scanner so I didn't inconvenience everyone else. No one else was refusing the scan. As soon as that thought was finished I knew I had to opt out, since it's exactly that kind of thinking that perpetuates these things. So as I approached the scanner I said I didn't want to do it. The TSA agent asked if I was opting out and I said yes. She had me step aside to wait for an agent to do the pat down. Ironically, she told me to stand where the 2 security lines converged, so it really disrupted the flow and I had to keep telling people to go ahead of me, which a shocking number of people initially refused to do. I smiled insouciantly at everyone, looking calm and carefree, purposely making eye contact with every TSA agent who glanced my way. After about 3-4 minutes a 50-something female TSA agent approached and asked me to follow her to the other side of the security area. She offered a private room but I said I was fine in the open. I really just wanted to see the thoroughness of the pat down, and to let everyone see it.

So I stood with my arms out and feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart. She started at my collar and went down my back, then arms and legs, very rapid and perfunct. The bra area was funny, as she used the back of her hand and ran it down each side, under the bottom, and straight down the middle. I asked why it was the back of the hand and she straightened up, palmed her own ponderous breast, and bobbled it making it shimmy like Jello as an explanation. "The back of the hand makes it less intrusive." I laughed, the image of her jiggling her breast in front of everyone still stuck in my head. Afterwards she checked her gloves for ions/residues that might've been picked up from my clothes and then let me on my way.

Final thoughts? The TSA patdown hit about 70% of my body. My neck and head above the collar weren't touched. The area between my breastbone and bra, which is actually a decent sized area, was bypassed. I don't remember the front of my pelvis or butt as part of the pat-down. I could probably have carried my cell phone in my bra without it being caught. Certainly something the size of a 35mm film canister. It took less than 5 minutes and was not unpleasant at all. I actually enjoyed chatting with the TSA agent. I like that it made everyone in line who saw it happen uncomfortable and nervous, wondering why I (the nice-looking white girl in a college T-shirt) was getting a patdown and worrying if they'd be selected randomly for one too.

Flat Adventures

Are you familiar with Flat Stanley? The little paper cutout of a boy named Stanley who travels around on adventures with people? And teachers have their students do the same thing as a project? I once had my photo taken with a Flat Stanley at a wine tasting. I think he got some red wine on him. Or maybe you saw that George Clooney movie Up in the Air, where he had that photo cutout of his sister? Well, a friend of mine has a daughter whose class made their own Flat Kids, and she asked if I could take Flat Kid with me on a trip. I did feel slightly like George when I had all my travel work stuff packed and then saw the Flat Kid and had to figure out where it was going to fit without getting hurt. It was actually kind of fun, and made me take photos of things I otherwise might not have.  So here goes - my Flat Kid adventures, as written for real-life Kid's 2nd grade class, with adult interpretation after each section.

Flat Kid and I flew in an airplane up to Maine. We saw the Atlantic Ocean, which is very big! Everybody eats a lot of lobster in Maine. We went to a famous candy store that has a life-size moose made of chocolate! Here is a picture of us with the Chocolate Moose. He weighs as much as a car. Can you imagine how much chocolate that is? At home it is spring, but it is still winter in Maine. We had to leave early because of a very big snow storm that was coming. [You know that icky green stuff under a lobster's thorax? I totally ate some of it, and was flabbergasted to learn it's the best part! So sweet and rich you couldn't eat more than a small bite. A Nor'easter was due April 1st, so I had to fly out early, along with the entire visiting population of Maine. The flights were delayed and I was going to miss my connection. They couldn't get me home for the night, but could get me to DC. I called my parents and they happily picked me up at the airport that night. I spent the night at their house and it helped inject some relief & normalcy in that long weird week.]
 
 Next Flat Kid and I flew to Dallas, Texas. The plane was high up over the clouds. One school-day is enough time to fly all the way from Maine to Texas. [I find it amazing you can leave here at 6 am and land in California at 10am, yet if you leave CA at 6 am you won't make it home until almost 6 pm.]

The land is very small when you are up so high. We saw a brown twisted river, and wondered what it was. We knew only one river is that big up in a plane – the Mississippi River. Do you see where the river almost touches itself? One day the two parts of the river will touch. The loop will turn into a special lake, called an oxbow lake. Can you see the town next to the river? [I'm not normally much of a window sight-seer, but I found it super cool to catch the Mississippi and to recognize it. On one trip I actually saw our house as we were leaving the airport - I saw the interstate and started looking for landmarks, and then saw our house. Neato!]

In Texas we went to a museum with a lot of statues from India. There were statues everywhere – even in the bathroom! Here is a statue of an Indian Elephant. It was taller than an adult man. Two of these statues guarded the door. It was fun to see them so close. [This is not quite true, but it was too hard to explain to kids that we were in a really weird hotel done in Indian art. The rooms had really creepy alien-like heads on pedestals that freaked us all out.  And everywhere you turned were giant buddha statues or other things. most of them were really beautiful, but egads not what you want to be sleeping in the midst of.] 

After Texas we flew home. It was a fun trip, but our hometown is the best place to be! [This was a tough trip. Wed, Thurs, Fri, and Sun were all flying travel days. 75% of my work is done on email/internet, so all the blackout time really made it hard to keep up with things. But we all survived and I made it home!]

Travel Update: Driving & Safety

So my plan to post more frequently, and with photos, has clearly not held up.  But there’s always hope! It’s a new season, and I’ve started carrying my camera cable with me on trips, so I could actually upload some of the photos I take.

By now you know how I feel about driving in New Jersey. Every time I have to drive up there I try to come up with more succinct and pithy ways to explain just how ridiculous the traffic laws are. And in the “A picture is worth 1000 words” category, please view my GPS directions one night. 

No, this is not a traffic circle, it’s a normal 4-way intersection with a light. I particularly like how the suggested route looks like a question mark. And if the directions don’t bake your noodle, look out the windshield and see if that helps clarify where they hell I’m supposed to be driving.

Speaking of ridiculous directions, how about this caution sign in front of a hospital I was visiting during the winter. Now, warning elderly and infirm patients that the sidewalks and streets can be icy is important, but this is just a bit too wordy in my opinion. And they were at the curbs, which meant people were stopping in the lane to read them.

I’m on a plane right now, headed back up to my favorite driving location. It’s been 3 weeks since I’ve had to travel anywhere, and it feels like forever. The first leg of my flight had a great flight attendant, his lighthearted joking safety speech made me think I was on a Southwest flight for a minute. We were behind schedule, and he asked “at the request of the pilot” that we all lean forward during takeoff and lean into any turns. He said it was simple physics and would help us get to our destination faster. He also pointed out that anyone who has been in a car made after 1962 probably knows how to use a seatbelt, but just in case we didn’t he did a super slo-mo demonstration complete with Batman-like sound effects. It was great, and he had a lot more attention from us than the typical recitation does. I don’t know why more airlines don’t encourage their attendants to mix it up. This safety speech makes me wish I flew in the Southwest more frequently:

Finally returned

I know it's been a while. The travel schedule and ongoing corporate restructuring has left me little time to do much else. I might start designating my outgoing flights to my hub as "blog update time". It's only about 40 min. of usable laptop time, but that should be plenty of time. I also have to say that in my mind I plan on writing something later today or tomorrow, but in my reality that might be a week or more.

What the hell happened to February? Why is yet another month almost over?

So most of you know I'm into barefoot running and tend not to wear shoes unless I have to. One of the perks of working from home, and no - wooly felted slippers don't count as shoes. One of the most entertaining public places to go shoe-less is the airport. I take them off at security and don't put them on again until I'm about to step out into the real world at my destination. You really notice your surroundings more in socks. For instance, looks at this amazing mosaic that spans the entire corridor floor of Concourse B of Atlanta:

I felt it instantly and looked down, but no one else walking by even noticed it.

I have a pack of fluorescent rainbow socks that I wear traveling. I puff-painted the soles for traction, and like my unapologetic I'M NOT WEARING ANY SHOES! DOES THAT MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE?? blazing neon feet. They make me smile. Ironically, despite the many glances from people, the only ones who ever point out I don't have shoes on are the flight attendants when I'm deplaning. (I think a lot of folks take their shoes off on planes and forget them). Last trip I wondered if my shoelessness was an affectation and decided to wear my Merrell's through the airport. About halfway through I stopped and pulled them off and my feet went aaaahhh!

Traveling ToMorrow

I hope my travels never get as complicated as this. Morrow isn't that far from Atlanta, so maybe one day I'll be able to sing this and have it make perfect sense.  I love Jim Henson, and it's cool to see him "in person".

When the going gets tough...

When the going gets tough, the tough take on a slightly hysterical giggly edge. Here is my favorite image for high-stress times (if you read this blog you've seen it before):

Yep, that says it all. Laugh at the picture. Then really look at it and try to figure out why someone in a full Darth Vader costume is at the beach. Laugh some more. Then wonder why he's filtering water into a non-beverage-container bottle - that shape looks like a vinegar or ammonia bottle to me. Not ridiculous enough? Did I mention it's Darth Vader? Standing in the ocean? Did anyone tell him that Brita filters don't remove salt? Is the person in the photo doing this out of necessity or were they inventive enough to think this was a good photo op? I'm always laughing out loud by this point and whatever my problems are seem farther away.

So what's my problem that made me pull out my Sense picture? My company is "restructuring" the entire Marketing department. For anyone who's worked in a big corporation, you know what that means. Because the new positions don't quite align with our current ones (some are eliminated, some are meldings of 2 current positions) they decided the best way to handle it was to "eliminate" all of us and have us apply for the open positions. I updated my resume today, always an embarrassing thing to summarize your current job for your current employer. Interviews are next week. Everyone has told me not to worry, that I'll be hired for the position I apply for. What has me stressed is that the new position is one of the melded ones, so I'll have a much higher workload. And the threat of more travel looming. My current rate of travel is 2 weeks traveling, 1 week home. I'm trying to get it shifted to alternating travel weeks, but stuff keeps popping up at the last minute. I'm still home for most weekends, but not sure how much longer I can keep this pace.  Think I'll just stare at my Sense picture some more.

Maybe the snow slowed down the zombies

I traveled to Atlanta this week for work, the week after their Snowpocalypse that shut down the city for 3 days. This is shocking when you think that ATL is the busiest airport in the world, and when you know this disaster was caused by all of 6" of snow. There were still HUGE piles of snow a week later.  Well, huge for them, rather modest in more northern eyes. Thankfully there was no snow or bad weather while I was down there to delay things.


Do you like zombie films? I love them! My favorite has long been 28 Days Later, which introduced the modern fast-twitch zombies (as opposed to slow plodding Land of the Dead type), and the idea that zombification starts from a highly contagious virus. And if you like silly zombie movies I highly recommend Dead Alive, a Peter Jackson film from New Zealand, where the main character tries to hide the fact that his mum is a zombie with hilarious results.

But my new favorite is the series The Walking Dead which recently aired on AMC. It had great zombie effects and did a really good job creating the zombie storyline without any holes. It also had several shocking twists that kept us guessing. And by this point I'm sure you're wondering how this ties in to my trip. Well, it's filmed in Atlanta and in the previews they head down an empty highway into the city, and it turns out it's the highway we were driving on. I also drove past the CDC to see if I could get a pic from the same view as an episode, but the front entrance is kind of behind another building.

We went to a variety of hospitals in the city, including the famous Northside Hospital, where every Atlanta native is born. I was shocked to see a McDonald's in the main hospital. Not only is it there, but the overhead directions signs to find places like radiology and cardiology always included the McDonald's too, and you knew you were nearby when you could smell the fries in the waiting rooms. We stopped in to get a bottle of water and kill some time, and there were signs up indicating the Weight Watcher's meetings take place in the McD's dining room.  Here I am at one of the entrances:

Busier than I expected

Wow, life has been ZOOMING by the last few months. My new job has kept me very busy. I'm trying to stay in better contact with my friends now that I don't get to fall back on seeing them at work everyday. D and I have been doing a lot more together in the evenings. I'm trying to squeeze in the last bit of outdoor adventures before winter sets in. I've been dying to write some new blog entries, but for a while lately I'm happy if I can even update my facebook status regularly. But I just downloaded a bunch of photos from my phone and figure it's the impetus I need to actually write some posts.

The travel hasn't been as bad as they said, right now I'm going once every 3 weeks. It would be great if that's how it stayed, but I'm worried it might have to pick up sometime next year. I was all over NC last week, and my next trip is up to NJ. So far getting into the field has been great. I'm learning a lot from the reps and everyone seems really happy with how I'm doing. The odd thing about the travel I do is that I never get to stay anywhere longer than about 30 hours. My record was 1:20 in Raleigh. I drove 3.5 hours there, ate lunch, had a 20 min. meeting, then drove 4 hours west to the next stop. I'm learning how to unpack in the hotel and immediately repack everything I can to speed up the next morning. Did you watch Up in the Air, that George Clooney movie? Whenever it's on I always stop what I'm doing to watch him pack each time. I usually have time to workout in the evening, and sometimes a few hours free to check out some quirky shop I found online and marked to visit. Mealtimes also tend to be really skewed - too-early breakfast, late lunch, ridiculously late dinner. I've found that I pretty much lose track of not only what day it is, but even what time of day. It's all driven by where I have to be next. Wow, that sounds kind of weird and sad, but really it's not. So far I've adapted really well. And D has been wonderfully supportive. I know he hates it when I'm gone, but he doesn't gripe about it at all. He keeps threatening to kill the dogs if they don't calm down, but honestly I'm with them all day long so I know where he's coming from. I'm sure there's some Freudian reason I'm worried you all might be concerned with the tone of this post, but I don't think I need to start exploring that right now.

Googlemaps has a great feature I highly recommend. You can search for shops, restaurants, yoga studios, etc on googlemaps and it'll pinpoint all of them in an area. You can then save the ones you want to a map for reference later. Anytime someone suggests a spot I save it to a map for that city.

And, since all the blogs I follow use lots of photos, here's one of the hostess stand at the Tupelo Honey Cafe in Asheville. Brilliant!

Something new I learned about myself

I'm indecisive. No, really! But I've learned tricks to overcome it, like noting the first thing on the menu that catches my attention and ordering that if the waitress comes back before I make a real decision. It's all part of a method to not annoy everyone around me. Of course when I'm by myself it's a bit harder. I'm also impulsive. When I was in CA decided to get sushi and was walking to the restaurant, then saw a Sprouts store and decided to pop in. Lots of tasty whole food things, bought a few snacks (dark chocolate covered berries & nuts - OMG!). Ok, back to finding the sushi restaurant.

So what I learned is that my indecisiveness is WAY WAY worse when I'm tired. I was trying to figure out if I really wanted sushi (and when do I say no to good sushi?) or did I want to go back to Sprouts and get a random assortment of stuff - like the Icelandic skyr yogurt I saw - for dinner instead. I'm not kidding it took me about 20 minutes to decide. Like even pretending someone was waiting for me I still was paralyzed with indecision. I kept going back and forth (physically!) trying to figure out what I wanted. I finally gave up and went back to Sprouts. It was really tired after an early flight and busy day and 3 hour time change, and figured that maybe yogurt and strawberries and some spanakopita was all I could really handle.

It turned out to be a good dinner, and now I know that my friend makes better yogurt than even the pricey Icelandic kind, and I brew better Kombucha than the pro stuff that's finally back on the shelves. I wonder if the returned Kombucha is different than before - maybe the FDA made them get new scobys. It's not much more flavorful than water and is uncomfortably fizzy. Speaking of scobys, mine grew exponentially while I was gone. Seriously, it's almost an inch thick right now. I'm kind of afraid to taste the brew.

My first official trip

In preparation for my travels I splurged on several packing aids for carry-ons -- clothes envelopes, a universal charging amt for all my electronic gadgetry, a bag tether to hold my 2 bags together as one.  I also watched some videos on efficient business trip packing and was excited to try out what I learned.  I was very impressed how well everything fit in my bag, so well in fact that I was able to squish my pillow in too.  I'm so thankful to my chiropractor for recommending the contoured neck pillow to ease my neck/shoulder strain, but equally frustrated because now I can't bear to sleep on anything else.  So not only am I the twat at the airport with a laptop and 2 smartphones, but I'm also the tweed carrying a bed pillow too.  Still, I was really excited how easily everything fit in my bag.  Until I unpacked and really started thinking about the next few days.

Turns out I forgot to pack a few items.  Like shorts, pants, or any casual bottoms except for the capris I was wearing and running shorts.  I also forgot my pajimmyjams (PJs) and handknit wool bed socks.  This simply will not do.  I'm going to designate a pair of bedsocks for travel, and never take them out of my suitcase.  Luckily I found an awesome Lululemon yoga shop and got some new pants.  I had to get the regular length, since the talls were WAY too long for me.  I also got a beautiful purple tank top that I can wear without a bra.  Wow, I was so excited I rushed out of the dressing room to show the girl helping me.

On the flight up there was a 2 year old kid a row ahead of me who screamed nonstop from the moment she sat down until they opened the doors again.  Not cried, but that attention-seeking shriek that rattles the eardrums.  I kept expecting her to fall asleep from the sheer physical effort of yelling that long.  You could feel the tension throughout the cabin, and her mother didn't do anything to shush her.  I made up a story where the girl was on a game show and had to hit a certain unobtainably high frequency and volume in order to win the grand prize, and the continued screams were all attempts at winning.  It suddenly made the ordeal funny an somewhat sad, as she kept trying to hit that note but never succeeded.  At least it took away the frustration I felt towards her and her mother.

One last thing - what the hell is wrong with New Jersey roads?  When you pass signs that read "Left Turn Keep Right", what the hell is an out-of-stater supposed to do?  When all you want is to make a U turn and go back the way you came, why would you possibly think you should be in the rightmost lane instead of the left lane, and how in the name of Christ are you supposed ot get over 3 lanes of traffic at rush hour to make a right hand U turn at a light because YOU CAN'T TURN LEFT AT ANY STOPLIGHT??  There should be warnings about that plastered to the rental cars.  And the poor Garmin telling me it was recalculating was like that scene from Austin Powers:  Evacuation compl...comp...com...evacuation com..com...com...

Maine Meal

One thing I love about traveling is finding unusual places to eat with foods out of the ordinary.  So we're up in Portland, Maine for work.  I've had lobster, and clam cakes.  Maine blueberries and blueberry soda.  Sampled several microbreweries (yay beer flights!).  Had a great lunch sandwich of smoked turkey, brie, smoked bacon, and granny smith apple slices all toasted together with a microbrewery fresh root beer.  But I never expected to have one of the best meals of my life here.  Someone recommended a funky out-of-the-way restaurant called The Pepper Club.  The menu was a slate with the day's entrees written in colored chalk.  They brought a cute baseball-sized loaf of molasses-oatmeal bread to the table and told us they were having an anniversary 4-course special that essentially was "pick 4 courses off the menu" for 2 bucks more than an entree alone.  I started with baked brie with apricots and almonds (shared with my friend).  Then a wonderfully diverse salad with the kind of dressing you want to drink by the bottle.
But it was the entree - fresh seared scallops in thai coconut curry with jasmine rice and vegetables - that took my breath away. The vegetables were absolutely perfect - fresh and juicy with just the right amount of tooth, firm yet tender.  The sauce was well balanced, enough heat without overpowering the flavors.  But the scallops, oh my.  They were beyond description.  I can still recall the sublime taste and texture.  The dish was so good it wasn't possible to talk while eating, as it might distract from the enjoyment of the food.  I'm really at a loss for words thinking about this dish, it's truly stunning.
The meal ended with their signature chocolate pepper cake, a dark chocolate cake that had a quick hint of pepper on the first taste and a lingering heat in your throat as you ate.  Dark dark chocolate ganache was swirled over the plate and the cake was dusted with a spicy cocoa powder. 

MDSW Roundup

I had such a good time at Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival (MDSW).  I stopped for amazingly good donuts on the way up.  I also stopped by a MAC store (no, not the Apple store, although they are side by side at that particular mall) and picked up a new ridiculous shade of bright blue/purple eyeshadow.  They still don't have a good green, but did find an emerald green cream eye pencil that will do nicely.  My rainbow is nearly complete! 

As I drove up my brother's street I saw several people having fun painting a pull-behind trailer.  I wondered about it, then realized it was parked in my brother's driveway!  I did a quick U-turn, grabbed the donuts, and walked up to join in.  A few hours of paint and turpentine fumes later, check out the awesomeness they will be hauling across the country. 

We cleaned the paint off ourselves as best as we could (fingernail beds are apparently a permanent paint location) and had tasty sushi for dinner.  I've never been so full from sushi before that I thought I might burst.  Well, there were bento box goodies and ice cream too.  Mmm...mango, red bean, ginger, green tea, mochi...why do Americans only believe in chocolate and more chocolate?  Thankfully the filling dinner saved the donuts so we were able to slice them up into little wedges and enjoy them with our otherwise healthy breakfast of eggs, turkey bacon, turkey sausage, and oatmeal-applesauce pancakes.  Sure, they roll out the healthy goodness, and my contributions are donuts and mimosas.

It was a fun drive up to MDSW, until the last couple miles that added nearly an hour onto our travel time.  Gads they needed a cop at the intersection!  Once we got near enough we all piled out of the van and started walking to the festival rather than sit in traffic anymore (Thanks Daven!).  Ever had a dandelion fight?  It's really fun, although hard to attack someone if you have to run up to catch them.  Here we are at the climax of our battle - I wish the camera captured the cloud of dandelion fluff we're standing in.  I also learned a dandelion in the ear is shriek-worthy no matter who the victim is. 

I haven't been to MDSW in 8 years or so.  It was great, but less overwhelming than it felt back in those days.  I think I've learned so much in the intervening years I don't need to see/touch/do everything (oops, I mistyped 'everyone' at first).  I did learn a few things that are handy. 
1. Kilts are great as they totally replace a shoulder bag or purse and leave your hands completely free.  I wasn't sure about it at first (my brother handed out kilts left and right when we were all leaving that morning) but by the end of the day I was glad to have it.  Seriously, I had my wallet, camera, phone, notepad, pen, and snack in my pockets and then clipped all my purchases into the convenient belt clip.  There were quite a lot of kilt wearers there that day, which brought questions from some confused folks who thought we were in a dance troupe or something.
2. Golding Ring Spindles really do spin longer than any other, and are totally gorgeous.  But after using them I lost my decade-old desire to have one.  All the extra spin time is meaningless since you have to stop once you near the ground.  And the shafts are kind of tacky feeling.  It might have been because of the heat melting the wood wax, but they had a feel reminiscent of the Mongolian Grill wooden platters you put your bowl on.  It's kind of like losing a crush.

Oh, you'd rather see the haul of stuff I bought?  Special thanks to my husband for demanding that I buy whatever I wanted.  Here's the pretty yarns:

Top: Mountain Colors sock yarn.
Left to Right: Zauberball laceweight, 2 balls of Mini Mochi for alternate colorway striping, 2 skeins of Claudia's Handpaint for striped socks, maybe the Jaywalker Pattern.
I didn't photograph the blue faced leicester wools, since a camera can't capture the feel of them.  I also got a supremely awesome pendant I'll post later.

We stayed to the end of the festival and by that point were trudging along after a day of dizzingly hot weather.  I knew how hot it was when I realized I'd drank 3 quart-sized lemonades and a bottle of water and never had to pee.  Here's part of our band heading out.

I'm so glad I got to go with such a fun group of people.  Maybe we can all meet at Estes one year...

Resistance is Futile

I rented a car to attend a training session on using a graphical statistical software package being held in a nearby state. Ooh, let's hear it for sexy business trips! I was driving down with one other person and we both started laughing when they brought out our "mid-size sedan like a Chevy Malibu" and it was a Nissan Cube. First off, is this really a sedan? I think I was giddy with embarassment over it, especially when I noticed heads turning in nearby cars to stare at our crazy ride (complete with Alabama plates).We laughed over some of the ridiculous features, like the "ripples in a pond" roof.The Disney-trademark-infringement cup holders.I wondered over some of the oddments inside, trying to figure out what intended use they had. For instance, the shelf in the passenger side dash is a great place to plunk your knitting when you run into a store. That's the Nutkin socks done on 2 circs, if you were wondering.
It also was a handy spot to stand the driving directions. I suppose a GPS or iPhone would fit there equally well.A funny thing about this picture is that we tossed the directions when we got there, and didn't have any for the return trip. That area has many overlapping roads and is very confusing. After buying a map and being lost a bit, I was browsing my photos and discovered the photo of the directions that we could have been following!

The Cube also had the perfect place to hold an extra biscuit and jelly leftover from Bojangles. I'm so glad for such specific features in a car! Really, heated seats are one thing, but a biscuit and jelly holder? How can you ask for more!
By the end of the trip I was fairly impressed with the Cube's handling. It has the sharpest turning radius of any car I've ever driven. It feels more roomy up front (the "cockpit" according to the owner's manual) than a lot of SUVs. Everyone else notices you, so you're probably pretty safe on the highway. BUT it's just so goofy. Every time we walked out of a store and found it in the parking lot we had to make fun of it. Yet once we were inside, we were glad to have it. In the end, I'd recommend it to anyone who likes this type of car - it really is a good car. If you live with someone sarcastic, it might be hard to own an asymmetric cube-shaped car, no matter how great it is inside.

I love this hotel

More photos from my recent trip. The sun started to rise while waiting at the gate to board on my way there. This picture is special for more than just the sunrise. For those of you who fly out of the same airport -- Look! A jetway! Can you believe it? Made me feel all high-dollar not having to go out on the tarmac to board. I always do an extensive yoga routine at the gate before boarding. It helps get the blood flowing and keep limber during many hours of sitting. I really wanted to get a photo in Warrior II (my fav. pose) at the gate but just couldn't bring myself to ask a stranger to take a pic. Esp. since most of them were staring at me surreptitiously over the rim of their coffee cups that early in the morning. Even knowing that no amount of embarrassment is worse than regret/failure, I still couldn't get the nerve to ask. Maybe next time.

The hotel is famous for its "View from the tub". It has plantation shutters that you can open to see into the room, and since my room overlooked the ocean it was possible to sit in the tub and see the water. Very cool, and I made sure to take a bath one day to experience it. Actually, the shutters were a great feature. I kept them open the whole time, and it made the room feel really big, plus kept the bathroom from steaming up. It was easy to keep my iPod dock on the ledge separating the rooms and access my music wherever I was.

Stepping out onto the balcony, this was the view:The rectangular pool bridged the lower one with waterfalls sheeting down on each side into the bottom pool. The "hole" in the middle is actually glass, so you could see people swimming in the other pool. It was fun to be in the bottom pool and have someone swim down to the glass from the top. The ocean was great too, warm enough so long as you stayed in the water. No waves though, which was disappointing. And the water wasn't nearly as salty as I had expected (my last ocean experience was the Pacific, which was really salty tasting). So many people went from the ocean to the heated hotel pools that the pool water was slightly salty instead of chlorine-tasting.

Stepping back into the room, you had to step over this 5" lip on the door frame. I don't know why it was so high, it's not like the floor had a flood hazard that high up. Now, given you knowledge of me, why do you think I'm including this in my post? Could it be that I tripped so mightily over the lip the first few min. in my room that I went almost 10 ft. before landing? See where the bed and my shoes are? That's where my shoulders impacted. I hoped the scuffs on the carpet from my fall would show in the photo, but alas they don't. And I neglected to take a photo of my carpet burned, bruised, slightly bloody knees. Though I'm sure they looked great the rest of the week with my skirts.

One final thing that was a nice touch. The in-room coffee maker was pretty neat. No steamed milk or froth, but far better than the dreck one normally gets as in-room coffee. Until next time...