Had a Birthday

Yeah, I had a birthday, whoop-de-doo. I spent the week in San Marcos, my pre-birthday dinner was held in CS for those that were able to come. My birthday party was held in our clients' office in San Marcos, I had cake and everything. Very hospitable people! Dinner was in Austin with my two Aggie friends, Lindsay and Clayton. I ate at Hula Hut and then had Amy's Ice Cream for the first time. For Free! It was a good birthday, unfortunately someone tried to ruin it right off the bat by stealing my morning paper from the hotel. The bad birthday streak is finally broken!

Lubbock Life

I made it safely. Flew in the little plane, wandered the Medical Science Center on tech's campus, drove North 45 minutes to a land that still had snow on it, and most notably hit my 2nd tumbleweed in the rental car (PT Cruiser).

And now the pay off, I'm sitting in my hotel room eating the Fatty Cakes Special. That's right, a combination of Taco Bueno and Krispy Kreme. Can life get better? I submit that it can.... If I was planted firmly in College Station.

Headed West

As I sit in IAH waiting for a flight to Lubbock, allow me to share
another story from DC. One afternoon we ate at the Metro Station.
There was fast food as far as the eye could see. As I walked past the
endless line of shops, one woman reached out and forced a sample upon
me. It was some sort of chinese chicken (chickety china...), terriaki
perhaps. I tried it, looked up at the sign that read 'Cajun Food,'
shrugged and continued on. As I made my way back down the line, she
offered me another sample. I stopped her and said, 'This sign says
cajun food...but there's no cajun food,' pointing at the fried rice
and eggrolls she had on display. 'Yes it is,' she said in an Asian
accent, 'we have spicy chicken.' I shrugged again and continued onto
'Bland Burritos,' the place I ate at and renamed to suit it better. I
saw no Mexican food in my time there and the cajun food was oddly
chinese looking. Food outside of Texas just isn't the same.

So, I am at the very end of the airport waiting for a bus to pull up
to my gate to take me to my teeny, tiny airplane. This will be
exciting. Almost as exciting as getting up at 6am this morning. Last
night's game against LSU was a tough one to watch. While I don't
often blame officiating for a loss, last night's refs certainly didn't
help. With Jones getting bogus fouls within the first 2 minutes, we
were severely handicapped the rest of the night. And the nonsensical
calls didn't stop there. Did Big Baby have a halo around him I don't
know about...?

There is spanish coming out of the ceiling above me right now.
'Quince y dose milion!' 'Que?' 'Dose milion!' The loud speaker has
drowned them out now reminding me not to make jokes about the security
or else I'll be arrested. Such a pleasant voice for such a harsh
threat...

15 minutes till I board now. What am I doing in Lubbock you may ask.
Well, I am taking some clients to lunch and then going 45 minutes
north to Plainview to pick up some of our equipment. I was also
notified yesterday that I'll be doing some unexpected training for an
employee there that was hired out of the blue.

There is a punk looking kid behid me. Black shirt, black hoodie,
black pen in hand drawing on his arm. When I came in he was staring
at a small knit blanket that had some sort of Germanish words
embroidered on it. Security threat? He wishes....

Come Back To Texas

Well, I'm headed back to Conreezy now. Quite the opposite of the
flight we had coming into DC. This flight is packed, no open seats. No elbow room.

I just got back from the airplane bathroom. Now that's a small
bathroom. And I've now retaken my window seat next to Brad and Baird.
I'm done reading my Sports Illustrated and Baird has my book 'The
Tipping Point' so now I'm just sitting here, glancing up every once in
a while to see what scene Angela is on as she watches Dumb and Dumber.
I'm not quite sure where we are as I cannot see any state lines from
where I am... I'm ready to get home, not because I miss my own bed
(Ive been sleeping better in hotels), but because I miss setting my
own sleeping hours. These people have worn me out. I also miss CST.

Overall, the trip was better than expected. I really did enjoy
hanging out with the coworkers and their significant others. DC was
surprisingly multi-dimensional. Seeing the government and historical
stuff was cool. Whenever I watch CSpan now (I like watching the
people in the background fall asleep) I can say 'That's congress!
I've been in there!' We also went to the other attractions;
washington monument, the big abe lincoln, changing of the guard at the
tomb of the unknown soldier, etc. There are also many Smithsonians.
The others went to the air and space one while I visited the museum of
the American Indian. It was well done and was very artistic, but with
an hour to spend there, I had to rush through. There were also great
restraunts and we dined well.there was shopping in Georgetown and many
universities. And then of course the city stuff. Multi-dimensional.

The traffic there was amazing. Everyone was in a hurry and rude. If
you weren't easing into the intersection by the time the light was
green, you would get an instant honk. Blinkers and speed limits
weren't necessary and neither were manners. The drivers there were
the worst I've ever witnessed, but what was impressive is the fact
that their cursing could be heard over blaring horns. And if you
couldn't hear them, well, they also knew sign language.

The subway was my favorite part of the trip. The mass transit in DC
is a breeze. The subway was so efficient and easy to use. The only
part that was troublesome were the homeless peole outside that would
yell at you. Friday night we came across a crazy man in a rage,
yelling and threatening passerbys. The next night another man begin
yelling at us about 'Hoyas' and while everyone became uneasy, I was
able to make him happy by yelling 'Beat Duke, Go Hoyas.' Of course
the Hoyas lost to Duke later that night and therefore we did our best
to avoid that man on the way home in fear he was in a rage...

We seem to be over some small green rural town now with a few rivers
flowing through them. So we could be anywhere between DC and Houston.
I'm ready to get home, eat some Lenny's, watch some ESPN News, and
pack for Wednesday...

Just to reassure all of you, this was typed on my phone while it's in
'Airplane Mode' so we weren't in any danger. I'll be posting this
upon landing.