Great White North

July 8, 2003

   

    I'm in Minneapolis. I'm in the Twin Cities metro hub. This place is so big, some employees ride Tricycles around to save time and energy as they move about the facility.

    I got to my hotel at about 1 AM last night and will be leaving here shortly in order to see some of the town before it's too late. I'm actually done for the day. I need to be back here tomorrow at 7 AM to meet with the network guy. I don't know where I can plug in my computer system, so that it can talk to the mail processing equipment.

    I met some guy named Joe, he was a very open guy who began to tell me of his relationship problems. I gathered that he was looking to make a decision about his current girlfriend. We talked mostly in generalities about the nature of men and women, and I had to admit several times that I didn't have any answers for him, since I was not married either.

    These days, I'm not normally too far away from e-mail, but I won't be able to check it today. I may not be able to check tomorrow either, depending on the network guy. It's odd to not be able to check to see if anyone loves me. On the upside, this is the first business trip that I've taken with my cell phone. I've already used it several times and saved my company money in the process. I ordered a meatball sub from a local Italian pizza shop and if I had used the hotel phone, I would have been charged 75 cents for that extremely brief conversation.

    I'm going to attempt to take some pictures while I'm out here. I figure that it will punch up my diary entries a little bit. I wished that I would have been able to get a picture of a half dozen elder men wearing fez's. They were a part of some lodge and it would have been interesting to capture that image. Unfortunately, I was on my way to work and couldn't stop for the shot.

    I would like to find some good record stores while I'm out here, but it may be somewhat difficult without the internet.

    I don't usually do this, but I'm editing this entry on 26-Jun-2004, because I found a few pictures from Minneapolis. Here they are:

 

 

 

Oldies: Alone Again Or - The Damned

I heard a funny thing that someone said to me

That you could be in love with almost anyone

 

Grounded!

July 10, 2003

   

    I'm a victim of my own stupidity and lack of planning. I'm currently stuck in the airport because I missed my flight this morning. This bone-headed move was my fault alone. I looked at my itinerary earlier this week and got it into my head that my flight was leaving today at 2:16 PM. As it turns out, I was about 3 1/2 hours too late. Now, I'm flying standby and the flight I'm trying to get has been delayed out of Atlanta. So, even if I get out of Minneapolis tonight, I might get stuck in Atlanta. Because it was my bone-headed maneuver, I'm going to have to be the one who pays to sleep in a hotel. I'm trying to keep up a good attitude despite the circumstances I've put myself in. It's not easy because I'm a bit anxious about whether or not I'm going to be able to sleep in my own bed tonight. Some of this could  be a reaping and sowing principal, but mostly it's just a lack of attention when it comes to travel plans. I've been lucky that I haven't been bit by this mistake in the past. I think my breezy way of traveling has finally paid me back. Even though my mood is darkening internally, I want to be sure that I don't take it out on others. This predicament is mine alone and so I have no one to blame but me.

    Now that I've set the scene, I'll recap all the things that I've seen and done while in Minneapolis. I'll pick up from where I left off on Tuesday. I probably went to three or four different cd and record stores in the area and was only able to find a few things that I didn't have. One of my acquisitions was a UK version of Staring At The Sun by U2. I already had all the songs on other discs, but for $3 it was worth it to have it in a different case. (I know, silly waste of money. I agree, but I'm a collector) I also found some vinyl singles for James and will record the B-Sides to my computer in the next couple of weeks. After doing the CD shopping, I went off searching for the Mall of America. I eventually found it and walked round and round checking out all the stores they had to offer. It was terrific exercise! It's about 4 1/2 levels in a roughly circular shape. In the center of it, there is a small amusement park with a few roller coaster type rides. I sort of expected the mall to be better lit, but then again, I went at night. All in all, it was pretty neat to see, but I wouldn't really want to accomplish all of my shopping there. They had a large Lego store which included a 5 foot tall Lego model of Boba Fett (or was that Jango Fett?) One girl had her picture taken with it and in it, she's holding his hand, as if they were friends. I want one where I'm holding Darth Vader's hand. It would make more sense for me to put Darth Vader in a headlock and give him a noogie on his shiny noggin. After marveling at the crass commercialism that surrounded me. (Hint: That was a joke) I left to find somewhere to eat where I would feel ok to eat alone, so I went back to the hotel and found that the restaurant was closed. Fortunately, my hotel was right on Nicollete Mall which is pretty much in the heart of the downtown section (to my knowledge). I walked a few blocks and stopped at the News Room. I had some Italian dish and otherwise ate alone. I think I went to bed at about midnight.

    I awoke the next morning early enough to get to work by 7 AM. The network guy was nice and we were able to quickly accomplish...

The flight was just pushed back another half an hour. Boy, I'm really paying for my mistakes today aren't I? But still I retain my good attitude :-) Arrgh. in honor of this new development , I've plugged my laptop in to the wall socket nearby to preserve my batteries.

Oldies: One Of These Days- Camper Van Beethoven

One of these days we're gonna to get into it way on over our heads

And you'll find that there's no place to hide

But if you fight and if you fail, don't fall back into yourself

You can fall back on me

   

The Kindness of Strangers

July 14, 2003

    Minutes after my last diary entry I met K. As you can tell, I didn't write another word until I was back home. The conversation started inauspiciously enough. I asked her if the new Patterson book Beach House was worth reading. I'm not sure that I remember what we talked about anymore, all I know is that after seven hours you're initial defenses are rendered useless. After 7 hours, it's pretty clear who you are talking to. Sitting in an airport for that amount of time allows you to really get to know someone. It goes without saying that the seven hours passed more quickly then they would have if I had read my book. In truth, I asked about her book, because I fully expected to finish my book before the trip was done, and needed to know if Patterson delivered another thriller.

Oldies: In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel

Accepting all I've done and said, I want to stand and stare again.

Until there's nothing left out. Oh it remains there in your eyes

Whatever comes and goes, oh it's in your eyes.

 

Interrupted Again

July 19, 2003

  I haven't been able to finish this diary entry!!! Each day of the week, I've had something different come up. On a few occasions, I've had phone calls interrupt my work, although I have to admit that they are welcome phone calls. It's just that they take some time out of my day. Hmm, where I did leave off...

    Flashback: Minneapolis Airport. My new flight was supposed to depart at 3:38 PM. Sometime around 3:00 PM the first delay was announced. Atlanta was having trouble with thunderstorms and we were traveling through there on our way home. Fortunately, I had someone to talk to as the minutes turned into hours. After several hours, I did something that I've never done at an airport before. I let a complete stranger watch my stuff while I went to use the bathroom. Typically I would grab all of my stuff and hope that my seat remains mine. I think it must have after five PM when I did that. We had been talking for the better part of 3 hours by that point. Most of it is a blur, so I really don't know what I revealed to this person. It's safe to say that after all that time, you begin to talk from the top of your head and since I'm pretty open about what I talk about, I was at least as revealing as I am in this site. Probably more so actually.

    The delays continued throughout the day. I kept asking myself if I should try to take another airline and pay for the cost myself. I thought it might be cheaper to do that than it would be for me to stay in a hotel. Sometime before 9 PM, a spokesman for the airline gave us the low down. The good news was that our flight to Atlanta would be arriving shortly. The bad news was that our connection would be canceled. They left us with the unenviable position of having to choose between going to Atlanta and finding a hotel, or staying in Minneapolis and finding a hotel. Neither option was all that appealing. I wanted to be home. After the news I checked to see if Northwest had any more direct flights to Washington D.C. They didn't. So, I accepted a hotel voucher from the airline which would allow me to take 10% off the cost of a hotel in Atlanta. They gave us an 800 number to call for a list of hotels supporting this policy. I called the number and they had no hotels available. It seems that along with the numerous people who were waiting in the Minneapolis area for lodging, there were also a plethora of folks who decided to sit tight amongst the thunderstorms.

    As I began to seethe under my skin. My new traveling companion made an offer that would be ill advised in most circumstances. She bit her lip as she sheepishly offered a futon in her brother's basement. I was taken aback (and touched) by the offer, but was concerned about getting home at the most decent hour possible. I took a walk around to clear my head and in the end, decided to accept her offer. I could tell that when she made the offer she did it warily.  I think she was wondering if I was going to be axe murderer or something. If I were a psycho, she wouldn't have really had anyone else to blame but herself for putting herself in danger. Luckily for all of us, I'm not that kind of nut-case. By the time that we made our travel arrangements for the next day, we were both exhausted and hungry. Her brother was nice enough to take us to Old Chicago's on the way to his house. It has been many years since I've been to Old Chicago's.

    Her brother manages a large pet store and as a result he has adopted 5 ferrets. They are cute, but I'm glad that I don't own any. They can stink if you don't clean up their cages. They also had a rottweiler. This was the biggest rottweiler I've ever seen, yet probably the least intimidating. It too, needed a bath. Fortunately, I had a door to keep the ferrets and the dog out. Still I didn't sleep well. New house, strange house. You understand. As strange as it was to stay in a complete stranger's home, I was grateful that I had a place to stay. It probably saved me $200 in hotel & taxi costs. And, because of this ordeal, I gained a pen pal. So all in all I can't / shouldn't complain. It's either a good time or a good story and once in a great while; it's both.

    The next day was uneventful and I made it home by 6:30 PM. I was in bed by 7:30 PM and slept until 7:00 AM the next morning. Sometimes I think I'm still recovering from the trip. Traveling typically throws off my equilibrium. Well that's my trip in a nutshell. Too many details have now been lost to my diminishing memory. It's amazing how quickly a week passes by.

    In other news. Fritz loves the Bunny Rabbits. There are a ton of rabbits around here and Fritz wants to hunt. He's a beagle and hunting rabbits would be second nature for him. I'm tempted to let him go, but I'm afraid that I'll lose him. Honey is still banished to the basement. I have to do something about it soon. I'm strongly leaning toward declawing her. I can hear the protests already. I've held off as long as I can, and I think a declawed cat that gets my attention, is better than a fully clawed cat who sees me every three or four days.

    Gotta go. Time to publish.

Now Playing: Killing Moon (All Night Version) - Echo & The Bunnymen

Fate up against your will

Through the thick and thin

He will wait until

You give yourself to him

 

Doing what a spider can

July 25, 2003

  I turned on the TV tonight and found that Spiderman was playing on MTV. I've been pretty soured on MTV ever since they stopped playing videos back in 1994. Still, I was intrigued by the title on the guide and discovered that MTV is broadcasting an updated cartoon of Spiderman. It's a modern version, with a PG-13 type of style. Still, it retains one of the more entertaining parts of Spiderman. The awkwardness with girls. The voice actors aren't bad once you get used to them. Marvel comics is definitely enjoying a renaissance with Spiderman, X-Men, Daredevil & The Hulk movies. I still have a number of comic books that my brother and I collected when we were young. Now they just spend time in the closet. My future wife will love holding onto them until they are worth selling. Which will be at least 25 years down the road, maybe longer. It's been over 20 years since we bought our first packs of cards.

    I just found out that the voice of Peter Parker in the new Spiderman is Neil Patrick Harris. For those of you who were alive and kicking in the 80's; he was Doogie Howser. It took me a few minutes to identify his voice, but it's distinctive and is appropriately nervous for Peter Parker. In this show Mary Jane seems to be on the prowl for Peter. Meanwhile Peter seems to be going after other girls. Oh well... now who's playing Harry Osbourn? It's somebody else familiar, that's for sure. I'll give the show huge style points btw.

    Other news... Is there other news to report? I talked to the Animal Hospital here near my home. I inquired about the cost of declawing my cat. They promptly told me that they didn't believe in it and don't perform the procedure. At that moment I felt like a colossal jerk. I don't relish the idea of removing my cats nails, but it's either that, or I see her every 72 hours or so. I think that she'll be happier being around me and the dog.

    I made a mix CD this week. It was pretty cool to make a full on mix. It was tons easier than making mix tapes back in the day. I used to have to sit for hours with CD's and tapes around me while I had to wait for the exact right second to hit stop on the tape. Now, I just bring it all onto my hard drive and then manipulate the tracks from there. I was able to quickly make a demo disc and bring it to work so that I could preview the song order before dropping a track here and adding a track there. There are other differences as well. One is that I used to have to design my track listing based on an A and a B side. This required 45 to 50 minutes of songs on each side, so all you had to do was find 9 or 10 compatible songs. Now when you make a mix CD you can pack 15 - 20 songs on an 80 minute disc. I packed 18 songs on mine and as  I got close to the end, I was struggling to figure out the exact order. All in all it's a pretty damn good disc. I would only flip the song order of 2 songs and it would be perfect to my ears. I'm looking forward to making a master set of U2 discs. Back during the Popmart tour (1997) I made a six pack of U2 mix tapes. I'd also like to do the same with James.

    Well, my story is becoming tiresome. Time to watch Phone Booth.

     

Now Playing: Spiderman