Category: travel

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let’s get to vacating

10:22pm on vacation eve and I’m just now sitting down to write.

What? You already thought I left for vacation?

I know, you guys get confused with the times on this here blog. It’s easy: I write at nights, usually the night before I post. However, being cheeky, I adjust words like “today,” “yesterday,” and “tomorrow” for the time when you’ll actually be reading the post. So, even though it’s Monday night while I write this, I’d refer to Tuesday as “today” when I write. Unless, that is, I’m writing about something I’m doing in real-time, in which case I’ll usually say something explicit like “Monday night.” See, simple?

Anyway, I’m pretty much all done getting things together… I’m bed-packed (which means everything I intend to take with me is laid out neatly in stacks on the bed, waiting to go into a suitcase). Sharaun just got home from her MOPS thing (that’s the mother’s group thing she does I always talk about, she runs the one for the teen girls – what a humanitarian I married, eh?), and she’s yet to get packing. And, with an early 5am departure planned from here tomorrow, she better get going. Ahem, I also cleaned up the joint and did dishes while she was gone – I can’t stand coming home to a messy house, kills me. So, in a word I am: ready. Let’s do this, let’s get to vacating.

I haven’t mentioned it much here on the b-to-the-l-to-the-o-to-the-g, but some friends of ours are actually joining us in Florida this time around. That’s right, we’re bringing some California folk into the sticky South. For me, this is unique collision of circumstances, and I’m not ashamed to admit I’m a little excited about showing someone the place that holds such a special place in my heart. I want to take them drinking with my Florida friends, want to show them my old haunts, tell stories with immediate context as we drive down the road. I know, it’s not that special of place to go visit… maybe even looks broken-down and busted to high-falootin’ west-coasters… but I’m still excited.

Besides, the prospect of bringing your “now” friends to your “then” place is a concept I think I could get on board with. In fact, the close group of thugs we run with out here has even floated the idea of a rotating “hometown vacation series” thing a few times. Each of us in turn inviting the other friends to come visit our hometowns, staying in various family-held cabins and properties, experiencing the local color, and witnessing firsthand the loins which birthed those who are now seem so attached to us it’s hard to remember they led other lives before the clique. Personally I think it’s a great idea, I eat culture like Asians do rice, and a vacation series like that would serve it by the heaping plateful. Maybe one day…

Before I go, a funny story: Sharaun’s home with Keaton this week when Keaton alerts her that she has to pee. She takes her into the bathroom, as usual, and removes her pants and diaper, as usual. But, instead of sitting down on her little potty like she always does, she instead moves in front of it, standing up, and just stares down at it. “What are you doing?,” asks Sharaun. “I wanna make a peepee,” she answers. “But you have to sit down to make a peepee,” Sharaun notes. “I wanna make a peepee like a big girl, like Daddy does!” Ha, I liked that. Yeah, I know, maybe it’s a little “Chicken Soup for the Whatever,” but I liked it. Suck on it.

And, because I’m way behind on posting new pictures of Keaton, here’s a small set from Bill and Susie to keep you going. Heave a sigh of relief though, as I dumped the last unsorted batch to the laptop before leaving for Florida with intent of weeding through and posting a new set while there. Look for it, OK?

Goodnight, until the sunny soupy Florida air is in my lungs.

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pull up those blinds

Ahhh… pull up those blinds and let’s open some windows in here, it’s dark and stuffy. I’m gonna go check on the garden, see what’s growing and what’s not. Yeah, the lawn does look good… must be that fertilizing I gave it before we left – I’ll have to mow it again before the week’s out.

No, I’m not going into the sawmill – I’m gonna work from here instead, the flight getting in late would make it a waste to drive down there for two hours now.

See, doesn’t the breeze blowing through and the sunlight make this place feel better? It’s a gorgeous day outside, I think I’ll take Keaton for a walk later.

I’m gonna go grab the stuff out of the car and unpack a little, then I have to run up and get my new suit fitted. OK, love you too.

Home again. Had fun away.

Hello from back in California guys (and girls). Hope you all had good mom’s days, and that someone did something nice for you (providing you deserved it). As mentioned in my soliloquy above, it truly was a beautiful day we returned to here today – warm and sunny and slightly breezy. And I did end up taking Keaton for a walk around the block, she pushed her doll in her Keaton-sized stroller and picked flowers (which are really tall weeds gone to seed in peoples’ lawns) along the way.

Anyway, this house is familiar, and I like being here.

And yes, the picture that goes along with this post is Keaton watching the “Volcano Sisters” episode of The Backyardigans (her absolute favorite episode of her absolute favorite show, thanks Mike and Tricia) on Daddy’s iPod whilst flying home from Oregon. She looks so grown up with her little headphones on.

Thanks for hanging in there for another week friends. Stick around, maybe you’ll like it around here – I’m even gonna do another poll next week. Wheee!

Goodnight.

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done good with the snappies

A Tuesday night and Sharaun’s at volleyball.

I had a work-related dinner tonight, a congratulatory kind of thing for finishing up a recent project. I seriously considering bailing, not going at all, as I just wasn’t in the mood. Earlier in the day, however, I’d given my word that I’d be there, and, contrary to my typical modus-operandi, I felt compelled to keep that promise and show up. It was fine, after all, free wings and pizza and beer and I got to talk business. All-told not a bad evening, and it wrapped up early enough for me to get home and sing Keaton a couple songs before putting her down. Can’t ask for much more than that anyway, eh?

Tomorrow (as I write), or today (as you read), we leave for Oregon. I’ve been e-mailing Grammy to try and figure out what we might do while we’re up there (aside from the Mother’s Day dinner and family get-togehters already planned). Maybe a picnic-lunch day out, providing the Oregon weather supports us. I’m sure we’ll have a good time, and I’m going to use sales-tax-free Oregon to buy a suit for a wedding we’re going to next weekend. Getting out of town for a few days sounds good right about now, let’s do it.

Can I post something I wrote? OK.

Can you imagine the thrill as I followed you, as you led me? Do you realize I was in some dream? Off in my own head in a world that can never, will never, exist. Still though, I pranced on behind you, leaving bags of gold abandoned behind me to moulder to dust. I never did know your mind, never did find out if anything was behind those smiles and giggles, never dared. I just followed. Breathed deep the “air” of you passing by, inhaling your scent, your hair and your skin; on par with angels. I think it was an allowance, something permitted, deigned so by the Gods on high. Given to us, as long as we took care to step lightly – no hug too tight, no whisper too incendiary, eyes-into-eyes for no more than ten-count. We scared us a little, didn’t we? Better go scoop up that gold and put it in the bank.

OK enough of that. Sounds stupid. Should I delete it? Oops.

Before I go, I’d like to note that I posted a new batch of pictures to Keaton’s gallery tonight. There are a handful from our weekend camping trip a while back, and some general randomness from April (honestly, there are some awesome pictures in there… Sharaun done good with the snappies this month). PS – Thanks Megan for this entry’s post-accompanying image!

Goodnight peoples.

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to know, and maybe even love

Hi folks. I had planned this Monday’s entry to be some kind of triumphant return to blogging, what with us being on vacation all last week and my expectations that I’d not blog much at all.

Turns out I was able to throw something together for four of the five “regular” bloggin’ days – which either is or isn’t bad, depending on your view of getting online whilst on vacation. For me, it’s as natural as reading a book or watching TV, just another vice of the modern-world… so it didn’t detract from me properly vacating. Here, then, is a normal ho-hum Monday post on sounds familiar, the kind you’ve come to know, and maybe even love. For my part, this intro is finished.

On our first day back from Mexico and I had all sorts of things planned: I was gonna finish fixing the fence that blew down eons ago; was gonna go get a haircut; was gonna maybe mow the lawn; unpack; sort through the mail… all kinds of things. Instead, I sat around playing with Keaton and watching TiVo’d episodes of Saturday Night Live. What a waste of a fine day to be outside. (I’ll tell you a secret… if I really wanted to get that stuff done today, I’d’ve done it. The fact that I didn’t get it done just means I never really planned to.)

With the new week, I’m going to do another You Decide Friday poll, where you, my dearest readers, get to cast your vote and let me know what I should write about come week’s end. The rules are simple, vote for your top choice, with the understanding that just because something wins doesn’t mean the other topics are cast away for good – they’re all just binned ideas from my running list anyway. What are you waiting for? Flex your democracy people:

[poll=3]

Wow, a few paragraphs… a poll… not bad for getting a late Sunday night start, eh?

Oh, and guess what? Whipped topping!

I managed to get a respectable collection of images from our Mexico trip up online today, and only one day back from the vacation. I deserve some kudos for that, right? Yeah, I do. Give it up. You can surf over to the aforementioned gallery by clicking right here. Enjoy.

Gonna tack on something that doesn’t really fit, deal.

While we were flying there-and-back for vacation this past week, and in light of all the recent airlines folding and facing delays in financial problems, I’ve come up with what I think is a pretty solid airline bailout or recover plan. Most MBA students know the story about Delta and the three olives, and I think my cost-saving idea may be even more revolutionary than that. Here goes: You know those plastic bags attached to the oxygen masks? The ones that the airline tells you every time you fly “will not inflate, but oxygen will be flowing?” Brace yourself: Get rid of those bags.

Dudes, really. You’re equipping each of your passengers’ oxygen lines with little plastic bags that only cause confusion, as evidenced by the fact that your flight attendants have to explain that, while it’s obvious they aren’t doing anything, they are “working” anyway.

You’re welcome. I just saved you millions on bag-costs.

Oh, nevermind.

Goodnight then.

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good to be home

A happy Friday to you, friends and enemies alike. I wrote some stuff again today, and you’re about to read it, I think. Enjoy.

My time in Chicago was short. Not that I wanted it to be at all, let along long… but I had hoped we’d have landed earlier, as we were planning on making the most of the overnight delay and taking the train downtown for some pizza or something. We got in too late, though, and ended up eating a horrible and overpriced dinner at the hotel bar. After which neither of us had the will or determination to stay up and chat, so we retired to our respective rooms (cramped little odd-shaped holes off the main floor that must be reserved for airline comps).

In the end, I made it home and am glad to be back here in the 75° Californian weather with my two favorite girls. Keaton gave me a hero’s welcome, and even colored me a picture as a homecoming gift. Sharaun appreciated the authentic South Carolina grits I brought her, and I was more than happy to change into a fresh pair of boxers. Good to be home.

Now then, let’s close the week “In Pictures” with snaps from my Thursday. You’ll have to live without Friday shots, as my night-before blogging schedule makes that impossible. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and I’ll be sure to do it again sometime sooner than four years from now. For now though, here are some highlights from today (yesterday, as you’re reading):

Well, almost time for me to sign off. I’ll take this chance to remind you that it’ll likely be a bit slow around here next week while we’re all on a family vacation in Mexico. But, however strange it may seem, I am taking the laptop with me – so I could end up posting once or twice if I feel up to it (it’s hard for me not to, being perfectly honest).

Oh, and, just quickly before I go – I wanted to note that I broke 200,000 pieces of blocked comment spam sometime in the past couple days. Incredible.

Goodnight.

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kinda like a wolverine

Happy Thursday folks. I’m writing from a cramped table in an airport terminal (crowded with two laptops, two cellphones charging, and two beers). You’ll find out why as you read on.

Since I won’t be home in sunny California until sometime around midnight tonight, I figured I should go ahead and write when I can. So, here I am, a lull in the second day of this two-day all-day meeting, writing a bit. I have time, actually… at lunch United sent me a text message saying the flight leaving here was delayed by more than an hour, which puts me right up against the connection in Chicago. Looks like I’ll most certainly miss that, and a couple calls to the airline and the company travel agent bore no fruit. So, I’m stuck hopping the flight to Chi-town and hoping for the best on the connection. Since I’m relatively sure I’ll end up missing the connection, I’ve been looking at what there is to do in Chicago. I’m traveling with my boss, so I would at least have an companion to bum around downtown with. We have enough time to get downtown, have some dinner and maybe walk around a bit.

Wait… wait a minute folks… this just in… the BlackBerry buzzed in my pocket. The text message tells me that our flight has been delayed again and missing the connection is now a certainty (I think I know why). Bummer. Now it’s so late it’s not even worth making the flight to spend an evening in Chicago… so it sounds like another evening in South Carolina. Yippee…

Today we had some free time that we used to grab a southern-style lunch and do some walking around downtown Columbia. I had sweet tea, shrimp and grits, and collard greens with pepper sauce to eat. Was delicious, and when I was done I spoke like Foghorn Leghorn for a full half hour. Afterward we walked into the only grits-mill that’s still active in South Carolina (apparently there were forty-one of them at a time). Finally, we drove over to the capital building and walked around the grounds a bit. And, last night on the way to dinner, one of the locals drove me around USC campus a bit. So, at least I got some culture out of the trip. And, being that this paragraph is the perfect lead-in for the Wednesday edition of “In Pictures.” Enjoy:

Transition: I’m going to change styles drastically, one of the negatives of not writing all in one sitting.

On a plane with a full bladder and the seatbelt light won’t go off. Thumb-typing on the BlackBerry, I’m pretty fast now. Finally I break down and just go, I don’t care if my singular rebellion is a catalyst for all-out anarchy or not – I have to pee. Decided to listen to the Wrens album from some years back, don’t know why, other than that it almost always sounds perfect to me. The clouds below is look like a frothy ocean, they often do. They look all pillowy and soft, like we could bounce to a safe landing were we to plummet through them. Guess clouds are a little misleading, kinda like a wolverine (for some reason they look non-threatening to me).

I wonder how many other humans are in the air right now… thousands? Yeah, maybe tens of.

I think can smell my own feet; maybe it means I need new sneakers. Not a stinky smell, something more like sweet; maybe only I smell it. It makes me aware that I only brought enough clean underwear for a three day trip, didn’t expect the extra night in Chicago. I hate reusing underwear.

The clouds broke. I see a big river down there, a factory alongside it, smoke coming from its smokestacks, and some mountains and roads. Wonder where we are? I hate that I’m so bad at geography. Makes me feel ignorant. Like I’m contributing to the stereotype of the dumb American who thinks he doesn’t care about what he can’t see.

From another hotel room, this time in Chicago – goodnight.

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that’s all i’ve really got

Hi Tuesday folks, or Wednesday folks, as the case may be.

It’s just after 9pm here and I’m already back at the hotel room for the night. The iPod has its heart set on jazz for some reason, and it’s doing OK at setting a mood. Maybe not the most exciting mood, but certainly one that makes me want to sip whiskey and smoke. Too bad I’m doing neither. In fact, I’ve had this bugger of an itch in my throat all day long, and my sinuses were giving me trouble too. I’m hoping it’s just a reaction to the thick dusting of yellow pine pollen that clings to everything around here, and not some illness which might take root and decide to blossom south of the border next week while we’re on vacation.

Hey, while I’ve still got that “just started the post” momentum, I’m going to go ahead and jump to today’s installment of “In Pictures.” Not a whole heck of a lot to document today, just a long meeting and a fairly uneventful group meal afterward, but I managed to take a fair amount of snapshots anyway. I did take a quick tour of some of the highpoints of USC campus – but totally forgot to take pictures. Sometime after I got home I switched the little phone camera into “superfine” mode, so some images might look better than others. Here we are then, my Tuesday in brief:

Hope you enjoyed ’em.

The meeting today was long. I couldn’t get to sleep at a decent hour last night, and I seem to react to a three-hour time-change more than tend to do going oversees on a long haul, so I was actively trying not to nod off after lunch. Eventually I just got up and stood by the wall, which is a tactic I use when those afternoon doldrums take the wind from my sails. It works well – it’s much harder to fall asleep on your feet. The meeting itself was good, lots of good networking and handshaking and strategy-exchanging… all that wanna-be high-power business-school crap.

I miss Sharaun, and Keaton.  Keaton most of all.  Every time I hear her little voice in the background when I call Sharaun I just wish I could be there to scoop her up and kiss her.  I’m really looking forward to next week when I have them all to myself in Mexico.  Can’t wait to get home and leave again, in fact.

Now then, that’s all I’ve really got. Goodnight.