Okay, I’m really off to Winnipeg, but I’m hoping that the interrupted eating schedule that I’ll encounter in conjunction with the amount of walking that I will be doing will help me shed a pound or two.
Look Who Has A Three-Hour Layover…
I know that I didn’t plan to have three hours at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, but United Airlines seemed determine to keep me in their hub as long as they could so my flight this morning left at 6:45am EDT instead of at 7:30am EDT as I had initially selected.
Luckily for me I sprung to life as my alarm sounded at 4:00am as I needed virtually every minute this morning. At first there was the typical last-minute arrangements of clothing gathering and packing. Then, I was convinced that I failed to turn off a ceiling fan that I seldomly use so minutes into my drive to the airport I turned around to satisfy the nagging feeling the uncertainty provided (OCD much?). Then, inexplicably I missed the turnoff for the airport and wasted minutes trying to turn around and figure out how to get to the park-and-ride lot that I normally patronize. And finally, I was the first one onto the park-and-ride bus, but even with five busses queued awaiting passengers we managed to circle the lot looking for more passengers. One such passenger was a lovely, and married, young lady who I noticed was toting a fairly decent tripod. I struck up a short and knowingly useless conversation with the award-winning conversation started “What do you shoot?” (I’m such a smoooth operator.) It turned out that she was headed to New York for a day-trip, and seemed mildly impressed when I explained the trip on which I was embarking.
I Really Should Learn To Learn How To Use My iPhone As A Modem
I know that AT&T has yet to bless iPhone tethering, but WiFi at O’Hare costs $7 for twenty-four hours of access, although I’m considering signing up for their $10 per month option. [update: I just bit on the $10/month option. Hell, I can always cancel later.]
Seriously O’Hare?
For those who knock Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport need only attempt to make a connection at O’Hare to see how easy it is to get around Hartsfield. Even if your gate is the furthest one away, as mine always seem to by, it’s easy to understand how to get from one gate to another. The trek that I just took led me down a long gate to a tunnel to a walking-sidewalk, up an escalator to another long corridor and around a curve which led me to my concourse which is shared by two lettered gates. By the time I found my gate I felt like I had walked from O’Hare to Chicago’s other airport, Midway. And to make matters worse, it’s uncomfortably warm in here.
ITP Flickr Pic
Last non-vacation shot for the week…
I have my camera with me right now but I’m always worried about shooting in airports.
Dear USPS, Would It Kill You To Do Your Job?
For the second trip in a row it appears as if the US Postal Service is making me nervous. Any time I take a trip longer than two days I put a hold on my mail so that I don’t inform everyone of my absence. I have also been known to start the “hold” a day earlier than necessary to make sure that the Postal Service has gotten my request. Yesterday there was mail in my mailbox… Dangen!. I’m sure that the Postal Service has made a mistake that they’ll certainly correct today. Right? Oh well, I suppose that there’s nothing I can do about this now so I should just stop fretting about it.
The Fruit Of My Labor Was Quite Tasty
Last night I ate the lone jalapeño that my plant has produced. Just the jalapeño? Yeah, I cut it apart and ate it to get a feel for its heat (which was medium) before I headed out to the Midway Pub for dinner. The initial plan I had concocted consisted of make a salsa of the jalapeño, tomato, and cherry hot pepper, which were on my plants but the latter two were just not far enough along for consumption. Oh well, if the plants aren’t completely dead when I return perhaps the vegetables left behind can provide seeds.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – good, hoping to settle down and start relaxing soon
Current Music – listening to a new audiobook “Outliers” that O downloaded from Audible
Website Of The Day – Boingo Wireless because without them you would not be reading this blog entry right now.
Mode Of Transportation To Work Vacation -my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 25 (25) [and holding until I return from vacation]
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 23
Marta Rides – 0
June Goals
– lose four pounds… plain and simple (not going to happen)
2009 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
РEarn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalape̱o Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
Paulie, first have a great trip, relax and enjoy yourself. Second, I’ll swing by tonight after work and check your mail box.
Thanks on both accounts. My nerves are settling as I suck down a cold Sam Adams in O’Hare (they didn’t have Old Style). Sure, it’s only 10am but my body is on Easter Time and I’m not the only one drinking.
You really wanted to drink an Old Style? What is wrong with you?
Have fun, and let us know if the Molson is really that different in Canada.
I like to drink the local beer, regardless of it’s quality. If I don’t back out of my later Chicago/Milwaukee trip I’ll drink locals then too.
My Canadian friend Tamara tried to remind me that Canadian beers are “stronger.” LOL!
Dangen! Maintenance problems, flight to Winnipeg delayed.
I thought Old Style was brewed in LaCrosse (home town of our buddy Public Enema). So – I think you are safe to not be drinking it in Chicago.
Hey Paulie,
Outliers is on my “to read” list after watching this:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html
Interesting guy!
Have a good trip!
Yeah, I understand the OCD thing. I turned around today on my way home to Alabama because I realized that I had forgotten to turn off my coffee pot. It has an automatic shutoff. But I can’t handle that. And oh yeah, I had two freaking out kitties in the car. Let’s prolong that.
Yes, I truly believe that Hartsfield is the easiest airport in the world. I know, the security there is ghetto at best, but it’s no Helga at Frankfurt who can make even me cry, or Sulieman at Attaturk in Instanbul freaking me out, making me think I’m gonna have to go to the “special” line. Hartsfield is easily navigated and well marked. It’s just big. Bring your running shoes. Plus, there’s the Budweiser restaurant in concourse A where you can always get a pretty decent cup of coffee, an okay beer, or smoke a cigarette without having to go into the “aquarium”.
Enjoy your trip! Keep us updated on twitter.
Paulie, have a great trip. And thanks, the term “walking-sidewalk” gave me a chuckle to start my Friday (yes, I missed reading ITP yesterday – another busy day at work).
You completely understand, Holly.
Glad I could provide the chuckle, I guess what I meant was “moving-sidewalk” which is, let’s be honest, nothing more than a flat escalator.