The Burlap Soulmate

I've closed all of the comments and trackbacks for both staz and my blogs for all of our most recent entries. I'm not sure if it's what I'm supposed to do, or if it will accomplish anything, but I had to do something...As I sometimes say, better to get in trouble for doing something than for doing nothing. Currently there are 1300 spam posts in Staz's email. She hasn't seen it yet. I know when she does it will nearly break her heart and make her want to give up blogging entirely. I had to stop the hemorraging somehow. Lousy f&*%ing spammers We did absolutely nothing today. Well, not completely nothing. We picked out some new glasses for myself with the help of an obnoxious and impatient OD, and had lunch. After that we slept...all day. And it was great. I haven't slept that much in a 24 hour period in a while and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We'll pay for it tomorrow of course. The dog is bored off her a$$. She'll need some serious park play time. Staz has a suitcase FULL of laundry. The cats boxes need changed. Theres no food in the house...NONE. So do I feel guilty about sleeping all day? Nope. Cool huh?

Because I know you're all dying to know what transgressed during my business trip last week: Wednesday:
Was picked up by my co-worker Mark in the company van, which turned out to not be all that nice. The windows don't roll down and there is an intermittent buzzing somewhere in the back, like an electric motor that is seized up or something. I packed about a dozen CD's for the trip. The van doesn't have a CD player... I thought a 6 hour drive with Mark would suck, since he never says ANYTHING. Turns out it's ok being with someone who is comfortable with silence. I could sleep, listen to music, ponder the state of the world, and not feel like I was being rude. Our route passes through Indianapolis, Indiana. I thought nothing was more boring and empty than the Dayton-Toldeo stretch of I-75. I was wrong. Indy to Chicago on I-65 is the new champ. I can't travel a stretch like this without thinking of Rasee, who when she came to see us, was heard to remark, "You Americans just farm to damn much." Amen sister. I drop off mark at the hotel, which is downtown. He has no interest in attending the department meeting that I am on my way to, and his attendance really isn't required anyway. So I'm off to the suburbs by myself. Chicago drivers aren't as bad as Detroit drivers, but they're damn close. They're just as rude and impatient, they're just not ALL in Dualie Diesel Dodge Rams. The meeting goes well. I do a quick 10 minute dog-and-pony show about our facility, who works there, what we do, etc. I think a good many people leave knowing both my name and the name of my department, which they didn't know coming in. My apparatus included a headset, collar mic, and battery pack atached to my belt. I looked like one of those aerobics trainers, or at least a BK window guy. I generally don't do well in public speaking, but I was pleased with how it went. I give several colleagues a ride downtown to their hotel. They don't have a car. Their hotel is just across the street from mine. We agree to meet up for dinner. We find what's called a 'Brazillian style' steakhouse. They might as well call it cardiac mountain. They bring the meat out to you on skewers, and slice it for you at your table. There is no limit. Beef, chicken, lamb, pork, anything and everything and as much as you want. The bill? for 3 people? $200.00. Thank God for corporate expense accounts. Despite being stuffed with meat, cheesecake and beer, I allow myself to be talked into going to a bar next door. I really want to get back to the hotel and call Staz. But I go anyway. The beers have loosened the toungues of my Minnesota colleagues and it's fun to listen to them go on an on about whatever. We take a cab back to the hotel. I call Staz at what I think is 10pm. I'm in Chicago. She's in Cleveland, where it is 11pm. Her fiance is a moron. She is not amused. Thursday:
The Tradeshow doesn't start until noon. We're meeting a whole bunch of people for lunch. That still leaves several hours free in the morning, since I can never sleep past 7am anyway. I decide to hoof it to the Sear tower, several blocks away. I neglected to bring not only a coat, but ANYTHING long sleeve on this trip. During my trek, I am heard to comment, "Why is it so damn windy?" which brings me amused glances from several passer-by. I get to the tower only to find that the observation deck doesn't open until 10am. I am annoyed, and take a cab back, where I promptly fall asleep. We go to lunch, and give several more people rides to the show, being held at Mccormick Place. The show itself is pretty cool, if you know where to look. There some nifty new gizmos and gadgets to check out. There is also a lot of eye candy in spandex to take in. It IS a fitness show after all. Mostly I am struck by the sheer redundancy. Everyone's products look like ours. Or do ours look like everyone else's? I'm not really sure. It's a little unnerving though, and I can see why this field is so competitive. We leave before 2 hours have passed. Mark wants to beat the traffic. I dawdle, but he was right. We get stuck for at least 45 minutes just trying to leave downtown. Once we get out, it's an uneventful trip home. Or should I say, freakin boring trip home? I'm traveling again this week. I think. My reservations have all gone boom. We'll see what happens Monday.

I have a question: If you really enjoy a song, does that imply some similarity between you and what the song is about? Let me explain. While riding with Mark, a song came on the radio. It was a song about cheating on your wife. Now this co-worker of mine, who never says anything unnecessary, turns up the radio, begins singing along. Does this mean anything? I think it does. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. If you suspect your spouse, just play a cheating song and watch their reaction. What do you think? Doesn't have to apply to just cheating either bt any song about any subject.

Chicago last week. Minneapolis this week. You'd think I was important or something... To borrow from a favorite movie: Airport time is slow time. Once you reach the gate, there is little to do prior to boarding the plane, other than watch the activity around you and ponder the mysteries of life. For example: I used to be in awe of suit flyers, people all dressed up in business suits on the plane. I used to think they were really important, off to close some deal or other. Now I know better. I'm flying off to close deals and review new products and hob nob with vice presidents too. I'm just smart enough to bring comfy clothes and to change into them before I fly, so my good clothes don't get all stinky and wrinkled. Is there anyone out there who has NOT heard about the liquid thing when flying? I'm no globetrotter. I fly MAYBE once a year. But as much as the news has been saturated with it, I knew not to bother bringing liquids on the plane. It's hair gel after all. I'm sure they sell it in Minneapolis too. Funny thing when you follow the rules, the security people don't bother you. They seem so gratified to see SOMEONE who gets it. Nevertheless, the security line is full of people wo either don't know the rule, don't know what is in their bag, or are simply too clueless to see the problem. Let the delays begin. The trip itself was pretty mundane. Review new products. Take lots of criticism...er, helpful suggestions. Take notes. Go home and implement suggestions. Wash, rinse, repeat. I flew into town too late to go to the Mall of America. I intend to do that on my next trip. I was also a little wary since I had to rely on my backup glasses. I lost my best pair in Chicago. grrr... My backups are a pair of HUGE square lenses that were SO in style back in 1992. They're better than nothing, but my vision has definitely worsened since then, and driving at night turned out to be an adventure. Glad to be home. Glad that I made the trip. Now instead of nothing to do, we have no less than 4 new products to redesign and build prototypes ASAP. My boss is back this week. I feel proud of myself to have covered for him those 4-5 weeks and done a pretty good job. I think others in the company noticed. But I'm glad to have him back too. Now HE can go to all of those meetings.