Terminally Ill

Mexico City has a brand new terminal (Terminal 2) at the airport. It is very pretty and everything is still under construction. The first spanish word I added to my vocabulary when I arrived on Monday was "Proximamente" which means 'Coming Soon'. The terminal is very cold in the morning, and if you are in the public area before security everything is made of stone. Notice the luxurious seating;



I spent a good hour sleeping on the floor by the Delta counter and ate at the same resturaunt twice. The most exciting thing was being interviewed about the new terminal, but I have no idea what the interview was being used for or where it would be seen.



After waiting three hours in the public area to check in for my flight I finally made it to the gate. The seats were padded and plenteful, but there were no AC outlets anywhere. I happened to walk back behind the bathrooms following a sign for telephones and I found this;



Twenty AC outlets in a row with no tables or chairs. Connection before comfort, so I'm back to sitting on the floor.

Last Consumption of the Mini-Bar

This is shaping up to be a stellar travel day. I woke up at 3:30am to catch a taxi to the airport. My flight was at 3pm, but I was hoping to get on the 7:25am flight to Atlanta. While there is space on the flight, it would have cost me almost $350 due to a fare difference and other things beyond my comprehension. I now have a fun filled day at the airport which I will try to make as productive as possible.

On the taxi ride in this morning Lav was in the back seat singing 'Bed of Roses' as it played on the radio. "Do you know how long we have been waiting for a Bon Jovi concert in Israel?" he asks. "Forever". He thinks it is politics, while I think it is just good taste on the part of the Israeli people.

El Deuce

Today on the drive from the hotel in Mexico City to the customer in Toluca we passed this:



I didn't go in, but I have to assume it was awesome.

Solved with Science

On my 4 hour flight to Mexico City I had the opportunity to work on some programming. I think this is written clearly enough that even the non-programmers in the audience will appreciate it.

if(babyVolume >> jetVolume){
(buyNoiseCancelingHeadphones = True)
}
else
{wrapHeadInJacket}

I am Smokey

Over the weekend Gage and I decided to check out 'I am Legend' as he is a big Will Smith fan and the trailer looked really good. I'm happy to report that it was a lot of fun, but pretty scary. The movie was followed by a deep discussion of what Darkseekers would order at McDonalds (McSpleens), Darkseeker holiday songs (Bloody the Darkseeker) and how the movie might have been different if they had cast Chris Tucker instead of Will Smith.

I think that movie studios might consider taking the approach that they could cast both of them for the same movie role, and shoot each scene twice and release both movies at the same time. It would save a lot of money and make for two completely different movie going experiences.

Back at home we turned on each and every light in the house and did full recon missions of the bathroom before peeing. Darkseekers are a tricky bunch.

40 Below Troopers

Due to some less than stellar planning, I had a 5 hour drive from Detroit to Traverse City. The day was bright and clear and the roads were good, so I can certainly think of worse ways to spend a day. Earlier in the day I met up with Eran and Lahav, both just in from Israel. They could not get over how cold it was (upper 20's) and all the snow.

The trip with them started out by getting some food. "Vegetables!" Eran said. "I need vegetables." Apparently in Israel 'vegetables' covers a range of food from carrots to pretzels based on the shopping that followed. I am learning so much.



Next week will take me to Mexico City and there is talk again about a trip to Israel for a week or so. It all makes me wonder what the next year will bring. 2007 has definitely been a step in the right direction.

Don't forget the motor city

By the time I landed in Detroit, got my rental car and made it to the hotel it was after 11pm and very, very dark. Here is the view I woke up to from my hotel window.

My day has to get better from here.

Everything, all the time.

Just a quick rundown of the day;

• Up at 4am for a drive to the airport


• Carry a coat


• Tip the curbside guy only to find out that I don't have a seat assignment and have to stand in line anyway


• Have to get the seat assigned at the gate (after standing in line)


• 85% of the plane boards Medallion


• I board zone 6


• No overhead space


• Nobody in the middle seat next to me


• Amazon back orders 80% of my gifts


• 28 degrees in Chicago (High for the day)


• The Reverend Al Sharpton is in baggage claim


• Packed rental car shuttle bus


• Guy spills coffee on my laptop bag (I hate coffee)


• Rental car is new and warm


• My company announces that it is buying one of our biggest competitors


• Off to Detroit

So at this point in my day I'm sitting at the gate waiting for the plane to Detroit to board. The flight before is for Dusseldorf, so I am playing "Dusseldorf or Detroit" and guessing which people in the gate are going where.

And my foot is asleep.

Smote the notes

My brother made a heartfelt post on his blog about how he wanted nothing but music for the holidays. And I read the post, and I understand his feelings, but but I'm still not buying him music for Jebusmas. This is a longstanding holiday tradition where he asks for CDs and I don't get them. It's not a spiteful thing, it's all about principal. Or something.

For me the fun of buying gifts at the holidays is to get people things that they would not normally get themselves. I just don't like the idea of getting a shopping list and then going out and checking off items. Now if someone asks for something really cool that I know they would not just pick up if they had a couple extra bucks, I'm all for that. I am also in favor of buying gifts for people that I can later borrow and enjoy myself.

I read the list and I'm sure that were this not the holiday season those CDs would be in his collection in short order anyway. Music books? Maybe. The cool shirt? Also maybe. CDs? Nope. Not gonna do it. Happy Holidays, and hope you understand.

Chuck Amuck.

Chucky P. is one of my favorite authors. Sometimes I like what he says, and sometimes I just like the way he says it. Either way he keeps me interested. I had just finished re-reading one of his best - Invisible Monsters, shortly followed by Fight Club. In some airport somewhere I ran out of book and needed a new one so I picked up Diary: A Novel. I won't go into the details of the book - you can hit up the Amazon link, but I will say that it was ok. It kept me interested and had some truly original ideas in it, but I just never really cared for anyone all that much in the book. Plus, I'm not sure that I got it. I might have gotten it, but if I did there was not much to get. So in conclusion, I give it a rousing 'meh'.

Edit: I just read the above post and had images of my mom and brother scribbling all over their monitors with red pen correcting my grammar. Mr. Miksic would just be happy that I am typing.

A drain in vain

I'm in Chicago this week, staying at the Westin O'Hare hotel which is very nice. I like Westin hotels because they tend to have a bit more style than most, sometimes too much. Take my bathroom at this hotel; the shower is not separated from the rest of the bathroom by anything other than a shower curtain. There are two drains in the floor - one in the center of the shower area and one in the center of the bathroom as a whole.

I originally thought this was pretty clever until I had to actually use the shower. While the water was warming up, all the water on the floor ran over to the sink and puddled up there. By the time I was done with my shower and ready to shave at the sink I was standing in a half inch of cold water. As it turns out, shaving with cold wet feet is a less than fantastic way to start the day.

(sorry about the photo, my camera lens is not wide enough to get the whole thing in one shot)

Here is the view from my room this evening: