Category: Travel

Posted on by John

Christine, Jack and I flew to Dallas this past weekend to visit with the grandparents and see Jack’s Uncle Steve on his 27th birthday.

We flew up Saturday morning. Jack and Christine got to fly first class to Dallas for their first time ever… fun! Jack fell asleep while the plane was coming down to land and stayed asleep in my arms all the way out of the gate, into the terminal. He woke up as we walked into the baggage claim area.

Mary picked us up, and we headed to their house.

On Saturday evening, Christine and I let Mary take care of Jack for the night, and we headed to a movie. We ended up seeing “In Her Shoes” with Cameron Diaz. It’s a sappy girly movie about two sisters growing up without a mother (dear old mom killed herself when they were 6 and 8) and finally rediscovering their grandmother after they got into a fight. Sappy movie, but Cameron Diaz appears quite a bit wearing little more than her underwear and a pair of high heels, so it’s not a bad movie for the fellas to go see. In fact, we both enjoyed it a lot.

Baa BaaOn Sunday, we slept in (Mary got up early with Jack) and then hung out with the family. Christine made a trip to an Oshkosh retail store that was going out of business. She spent about $100 on clothes for Jack, but came home with probably 20 items, which ain’t bad for Oshkosh clothes… gotta love that thrifty streak in that wife of mine ;). She also picked up a second Baa Baa (by Boyds, order online here, pictured on the right) for Jack – so that we have a second one, just in case we lose the one Kim gave us.

Steven and Michael came over for dinner, and we all enjoyed a good meal, and then home made cheesecake before Steven opened his presents. Mmmmm that cheesecake was good!

This morning, we got up, said our goodbyes and Michael picked us up for the return trip to the airport. We boarded as soon as we got there, and we were sitting in row 3, seats E&F, which happens to be the first row on the airplane, with easy access to the first class lavatory…

Jack drank a bottle during take-off, and proceeded to giggle and play all the way to Austin. About 2/3 of the way to Austin, Christine decided she needed to pee. So, she got up, and went into the lavatory.

As soon as she closed the door, and latched it, we hit a little turbulence. I laughed a little to myself, as I knew Christine wasn’t enjoying that. She’s usually pretty clausterphobic and hates flying, especially take-off, landing and turbulence. Think of the last time you used the toilet in an airplane… small space, doesn’t smell great, and combine that with a fear of flying and a hatred for turbulence.

Anyways, as soon as we hit the turbulence, I started giggling. Then the stewardesses came running back up the aisle with the drink cart. The were storing it, when I noticed the “occupied” sign on the lavatory door changing to “vacant” which meant Christine was coming right back out. But there was a stewardess standing in the way (remember Christine hates flying and turbulence).

Then we hit a little more turbulence. At this point, I was trying not to roll into the aisle laughing, and Jack was just having a good old time bouncing in my lap.

The stewardess moved out of the way, right as Christine opened the door to the lav, she looked out at me… saw me laughing and starting laughing at herself too. As she tried to cross the aisle, I told her to close the bathroom door. She pushed it and tried to sit down again.

I had to point out that the door wasn’t closed. She pushed it again, and tried to sit down.

I cracked at that point, and pointed to the door. She lost it too and was laughing hysterically as she shoved the lav door shut and finally plopped into her seat.

We both laughed so hard at that point that I thought I was going to need to pee too.

Then, after we calmed down a bit, Christine laid back in her seat and started zipping her pants up. Turns out, she was so freaked out by the turbulence that started right after she unzipped her pants that she decided to hold it, and then tried to get back to her seat with her pants still unzipped, and then the damned bathroom door wouldn’t close.

We proceeded to laugh until we had tears streaming down our cheeks.

We landed uneventfully about 10 minutes later, taxied to the terminal and got off the plane. What fun!

We went to baggage claim to get our suitcase and Jack’s carseat, and American had lost Jack’s carseat. Great.

They let us borrow one of theirs, and we drove home, stopping at Sonic for a super heathy lunch before getting home.

Jack took a nap from 3:30 – 6:00, and a guy from American showed up with Jack’s carseat around 4:30.

All in all, a great trip! It’s always fun to see the Grandparents.

Next big trip up — the Austin County Fair this weekend!

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 202 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

On September 9th, Christine, Jack and I boarded a plane headed for Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Christine’s Father’s mother, and Jack’s great-grandmother, Oma, was turning 90 years old this year on September 10th, so her family planned a surprise 90th birthday party with all of the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in attendance.

We arrived in Tulsa on Friday morning, around 10:30 in the morning… got our rental car, and headed out for our hotel. We were staying at the Doubletree that happens to be about 5 blocks from Ben and Gale Overton’s (Gale is Frank’s sister) house, where most of the festivities for the weekend were taking place.

After checking in, we ate lunch, and I worked a few hours, while Christine and Jack headed to a park to play. Jack took a nap, and then we all headed over to Ben and Gale’s house and just hung out for a few hours.

On Saturday morning, we got up early, and Mary went to breakfast with us (Jack loved eating breakfast with his Grandmother) at the hotel breakfast buffet. Then after a nap, we all headed over to the Overton’s again, where the rest of the family was gathered to wish Oma a happy birthday. Jack had lots of fun playing with his Uncle Mike and Steven and letting his cousin Elizabeth walk him around the house.

While the family was singing Oma happy birthday, Jack was playing with the balloons in the room, while sitting on my shoulders. He was having a blast.

Jack got to meet more of his extended family, and even got to meet his long distance cousin, Benjamin. Benjamin is Angela’s (Ben and Gale’s youngest daughter) son. He’s such a good little boy… he was so quick to share his toys with Jack and enjoyed playing with him in the living room on the floor… Too bad Benjamin and his family live on Long Island, because I know those two would love to see each other as often as they could.

After the birthday party, we headed back to the hotel with Mary, and she put Jack to sleep while the kids headed to a sushi restaurant for dinner, and then to the bar to enjoy ourselves with a few of Christopher’s (Elizabeth’s brother) friends.

Mary and Frank ended up sleeping in our hotel room for the night, thankfully giving Christine and I a night, and a morning, off from taking care of Jack… so, we maybe partied a little too hard with our cousins, but it was fun… lots of fun.

On Sunday morning, we all headed back over to the Overton’s house to play a little more before we said our goodbyes. We got one more photo of Jack and Benjamin, and then headed to the airport.

We almost missed our flight, but Southwest was great, and made sure we got to it in time (we weren’t late or anything, but getting gas, turning in the car, finding the ticket counter, changing a diaper, and the like… all take time).

Jack enjoyed playing with the napkins, plastic cups and tray tables on the flights home.

All in all, this was one of the best trips I’ve ever had to Tulsa (thank God we didn’t have to drive… Spencer (Lisa’s husband – Lisa is Ben and Gale’s oldest daughter) had to drive from Austin because he did miss his flight).

Click here to go through all of the photos from Tulsa

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 162 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

I flew to Washington, D.C. last night, so that I could visit a new potential client that asked us to come see them on short notice.

So, last night I checked into the hotel around 10:00 p.m., and I checked my email.

I had an email from Mauricio Zuazua (who I’ve written about before). Mauricio had just returned from spending the summer in Brazil on a consulting gig, and was letting us know that he’d finally settled in D.C. with his long-time girlfriend Kristina.

So, I shot him back an email, and told him to call me, so we could get together for lunch today, if it worked out.

Turns out he doesn’t start work until next week, so he had time to come meet me.

Mauricio picked me up at the client’s office… we dropped my co-worker off at the airport (his flight was leaving earlier than mine) and we headed off to find somewhere to eat.

We enjoyed each other’s company for about an hour at a Japanese steak house that had a sushi buffet… mmmmm… sushi!

It was too cool to be in the same town as Mauricio even if only for a little while…

Anyways, we chatted about many things: life, liberty and the pursuit of Brazilian women happiness. We also promised to try and see each other at least every 3-6 months… and to stay in touch.

Traveling for work isn’t so bad, if you can mix some personal time into it.

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 211 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

Last week, found me in Knoxville, Tennesee on Wednesday/Thursday to see a client that I’d really like to convince to use the stuff I’m selling now. Knoxville is a gorgeous little town that reminds me of Austin 15 years ago. Obviously, I have no idea what Austin was really like 15 year ago, but I imagine it was a lot like Knoxville. Small college town with a bustling little business sector and a certain charm that makes it attractive.

I met my future client at the Downtown Grill and Brewery for lunch. Good food and great atmosphere.

Then on Thursday night/Friday morning of last week, I was in Nashville to talk to another future client. I was actually in Brentwood, and I have to say, that is some beautiful country there… I stayed in a Hilton Suites hotel in downtown Brentwood, and when I woke up on Friday morning, I was greeted by a beautiful smoky mountain sun, peaking over three little foothill peaks that I could see surrounding the town out of my hotel window. Just gorgeous.

Oh, and the Tennessee barbeque isn’t bad folks. I ate pulled pork, ribs, and brisket at Porky’s on Thursday night. The pork and ribs were wonderful … much better than I’ve ever had in Texas. The brisket wasn’t done right (that meaning we still do it better in Texas) but it wasn’t bad either. And who can pass up “sweet tea” as it’s called in the south. Loved that trip (and I’ll close one of those two clients this quarter which makes the trip worth it).

Then this week, I flew to Dallas Tuesday to meet with two clients and to attend a industry meeting. The two client meetings were great… don’t know that I’ll sell anything there soon, but it’s always good to have the conversations.

I stayed on the DFW airpoty Tuesday night at the new Hyatt Grand. Wow! What a great hotel. Loved it… would stay there again if it’s convenient.

I got up a the butt crack of dawn on Wednesday and flew to Detroit for a few client meetings. I was dead tired… jet lagged and ugly. I found my hotel, rested a bit, and met a client for dinner on Wednesday night. Great dinner… learned a lot and look forward to working with them more in the future.

Then on Thursday, I met with two current clients and one potential client. All of my meetings were good, and I’ve decided I like Detroit. Granted I was only there for 30 hours, but it was a good trip. I had dinner on Thursday night at Fishbones and lunch on Friday at Sindbads (ummmmm). Beautiful yards out in the suburbs, all of the roads seem to be big divided boulevards and the trees are amazing.

Overall the last two weeks have been profitable from a business standpoint, but they’ve been tough. Being away from Jack and Christine sucks, but it’s a neccessary evil. I’m sure I’ll look back on this time in the future and think that I’m really glad I did it because of where it gets us all. I’m just glad that Christine is as supportive as she is, because without her I couldn’t do this.

And since I’m writing this on the plane listening to the iPod, I’ve got to point out some new/old artists I totally dig: Spongle is the bomb – totally new music to me, that I completely dig. I can’t wait until Jack gets to see the Texas Aggie Band (I’ve got the CD I played on on my iPod). U2 just rocks!

I should also point out that I’m now a First Class whore. I’ve flown First Class (free upgrades because I fly too darned much) the last 8 times I’ve flown, and I’m spolied now (I write this as I sit in an exit row on a 1/2 full flight with plenty of room … the little desks just don’t work as well in coach as they work in First Class (that and the liquor ain’t free back here)).

I’m back in Austin all week next week, and Aunt Murrell, Jon and Hannah are here this weekend visiting, woohoo!

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 229 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

Last Monday, I flew to Cleveland to visit with a new potential client. This potential client produces a magazine for highschool athletes. It was a good meeting, and I’m glad I went. Downtown Cleveland is a lot nicer looking than the airport area, and the power didn’t go out in my hotel overnight this time.

I flew home from Cleveland Tuesday night, then got up and flew to Chicago and back on Wednesday to meet with two more companies: one in the financial research and advice field, and another in the online auction business. Both meetings went well.

Then Friday morning, Christine, Jack and I got up before the sun and boarded an airplane headed for Raleigh, North Carolina.

I had two clients to meet in North Carolina (one in Raleigh and the other in Charlotte) and I figured what better excuse do we need to go visit Aunt Murrell and the rest of the Helmke family?

We arrived in Raleigh around 10:30 a.m., met Aunt Murrell and Karen at the airport, and then headed to downtown Raleigh for lunch. We ate lunch at the cafeteria at Exploris, which is where Karen teaches at the charter school and Karen’s son Tim works as an IMAX projectionist and certified technician. Tim joined us for lunch. The highlight of lunch (for me) was the sweet potato french fries… ummmm.

After lunch, the girls and Jack headed back to Aunt Murrell’s house to get settled. I headed to a meeting with my client in Raleigh. My meeting went really well.

I drove down a back road from downtown out to Aunt Murrell’s house in Clayton, which is about 20 minutes from downtown Raleigh. Let me say this: driving anywhere in North Carolina is amazing. I don’t care if you’re in the best neighborhood in town or the worst, just driving through is fun… All of the buildings are old, or are built to look old. You’ll see lots of old brick warehouse type structures, or old southern houses with large wrap around porches. Even the little shotgun houses have big porches (proportional to the house). The trailers all have porches as well, and if there isn’t a porch out front, you can be guaranteed there’s one out back.

The trees in North Carolina are all wonderful to take in. Towering pines are the dominant tree, interspersed with smaller magnolias and oaks. Kudzu is a problem in the southeast, and that includes North Carolina. It’s pretty, but it’s also not pretty … depends on your perspective I guess. There was a lot more Kudzu in North Carolina than last time we visited… but the landscape is still gorgeous.

Back to the story: on Friday night, Karen cooked us Barbeque Chicken with a home-made barbeque sauce, sweet corn-on-the-cob, fresh cantaloupe, and salad. Karen said that she was inspired by her sister Gretchen (Karen had visited Gretchen earlier that day and Gretchen was making a barbeque sauce) to make the barbeque sauce.

Jack was fed dinner by Aunt Murrell while sitting in the same high-chair that Carl, Tim, and all of the other kids in the family, ate out of at some point. Aunt Murrell told us that the high-chair came from Spain some 30 years ago.

After putting Jack to bed, we all stayed up really late just talking and catching up with each other. I think we stayed up ’till at least 1:00 a.m. Friday night.

On Saturday, we just enjoyed our weekend and relaxed most of the day… we sat around chatting, enjoyed the great outdoors in the backyard (they have a state forest that starts at the edge of their backyard), and waited for the family to come over. We also visited Patsy Aikens Designs’ Summer Closet Sale. We bought Jack some great Chez Ami clothes at a good discount and I’ve just about got Christine talked into becoming a Chez Ami consultant this fall.

Then, Saturday evening, the family came over to visit with Jack and us. We really enjoyed seeing Helen and Brad, Terry and Gretchen, and Jon and Hanna. Oh, my gosh… Jon and Hanna are so big now. It’s been 7 years since we’ve seen them, and they’re almost adults now. Jon is 17 and Hanna is 13. Jon will be a senior in highschool next year, and the editor of his school paper. Hanna is going to be a freshman at the same highschool (which she’s not 100% thrilled about, but she’ll push through that challenge I’m sure). Brad and Helen were wonderful with Jack… helping him walk and brining him his very own North Carolina bluebird stuffed animal.

Karen grilled bratwurst, hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner and we enjoyed eating out on the patio with everyone. We also had home made peach cobbler for dinner… ummmm, good.

On Sunday, Aunt Murrell and Karen taught Jack to pull up consistently, and helped him learn how to push his support across the room while walking with it. I can’t believe how fast this kid is learning new things, folks… he learned to pull up, crawl on his hands and knees, and cluck his toungue this weekend while in North Carolina.

Jon and Hanna joined us in the afternoon and we visited the Raleigh flea market at the North Carolina state fair grounds before heading to the pool. After Jon and Hanna left, Jack crawled around outside on the porch, and we all determined that the porch was a little dirty after we looked a how dirty Jack’s outfit was afterwards… here is a photo of Jack about to eat a mint leaf… you can see how dirty he is in this photo.

On Monday, I drove to Charlotte to visit a client (4 hours one way folks… bad idea, next time I’ll fly there). Christine stayed in Raleigh and learned how to make home made cards from Aunt Murrell. For dinner we ate pork tenderloin and sauteed new potatos with rosemary that Karen cooked, and we sampled a squash casserole for Aunt Murrell that she was considering making for a family that she has to cook dinner for this week. All of the food was good.

On Tuesday Gretchen and Hanna came over to visit a little more, I headed to work, and that night we met Tim out for dinner at The Irregardless Cafe. The Irregardless was really a fine place to eat. We were treated to live music while we enjoyed the light middle eastern cuisine. Jack really enjoyed the fish tank that Aunt Murrell showed him at the restaurant. Aunt Murrell and Karen gave us a little bag of North Carolina stuffs that we brough home with us… lots of little goodies that’ll help us remember our trip, and let us bring a little of North Carolina home with us.

This morning, we got up, packed, and got on a plane to come home [sidebar: cool photo from the plane]. It was a bittersweet farewell. We didn’t want to come home, but we knew we had to. We really had a good time in Raleigh with the Helmke clan.

A full set of photos from Raleigh is available here.

And here’s a video from a few clips we had on our camera:

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 204 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

or …

“Beneath the Sky of Mexico” …

That’s where your humble narrator found himself last Friday night through Monday morning. We spent our Memorial day weekend in Mexico. Not in some crummy border town where the rest of you that can claim to have been to Mexico have been, but rather deep in Central Mexico, up in the mountains, in a picturesque little town that’s barely been touched by the tourism industry.

Christine and I found ourselves surrounded by friends and family this past weekend and it was truly an amazing weekend. We left little Jack at home with his Godparents on Friday morning, and headed south (after a short trip north to Dallas of course).

We flew into Guanajuato, Mexico (by way of the airport in Leon) with Mary (Christine’s mom), Marc and Cyndi (our good friends from Austin), and Larry and Terry (Cyndi’s mom and dad), as well as a host of other friends that were all heading down to Jennifer Hill’s (friends of the Kamps) wedding to Daniel Hernandez. At the airport in Leon, I ordered a taxi for seven, and paid $40 for a van without airconditioning to take us to Guanajuato. Nothing like paying $40 to drive through smoke from fires in the fields and exhaust from a third world country’s lack of emission standards in 90 degree weather…

On the drive into Guanajuato, the air got moderately cleaner, and the scenery got much better. The town is built in the mountains, and is an old Spanish colonial mining town. The main road into town turns into a tunnel that we exited right next to our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Luna near the Temple of San Diego in the “touristy” part of town.

As soon as we arrived at the hotel, we ran into lots of old friends. After we stored our bags in our rooms, we started enjoying cervezas. I was partial to Indio, a local brew in central Mexico, while Marc stuck to Victoria. The girls stuck to Sol and Pacifica (which is another of my favorites).

We spent four glorious days in Mexico, mainly walking from shop to shop, or restaurant to restaurant, or visiting one of the local sights.

We went to the Museo Mummificado while in Guanajuato, which is a museum of mummies that were created naturally in the dry crpyts that were built into the side of the moutains. It was freaky. I’ve seen enough dead naked people now to never need to see a mummy again.

We visited the church at the top of the mountain near the Vallencia mines. It’s amazing how beautfiful the churches in Guanajuato are, combined with the fact that the populace that actually visits them is so extremely poor. The altars in this particular church, or rather the three walls at the top chancel and to the sides of the transept were covered in gold. The entire wall on all three sides. Covered in gold. Surrounded by extreme poverty.

Also interesting about the churches in Guanajuato: Jesus is depicted in a much more brutal fashion than we’re accustomed to here in the states. He’s very bloody and looks like He’s in more pain than I’ve seen Him in in most popular depictions. We sort of hypothesized that the reason for this is that there is so much more suffering in Mexico, that this is done so the local populace sees how much suffering He went through, whereas in America, if you can’t eat dinner at a good restaurant you think your life is in shambles, so all you need to see is that Jesus ate at McDonald’s too, so your life isn’t that bad. In Mexico He’s all cut up and bloody, and very dehydrated looking, so the fact that you have little money isn’t a bid deal.

We walked through the Mercado Hidalgo, which is in an old train station that was supposedly designed by Eifel (yes, the one and only). It was a working market, not like the ones you might visit in a border town that’s set up for tourists… nope. While this market had touristy crap in it, it also had lots of raw meat and vegetables, and smelled pretty strongly.

We rode the tram up to Papila… a statue of the idian that guarded the town (or something like that… I honestly don’t remember). The view of the city from up there was gorgeous… We got some great photos up there.

We attended the rehersal dinner for the wedding we were there to attend on Friday night at a woderful restaurant in the San Javier part of town. The conversations were lots of fun, and the food was great.

The wedding was held in a small chapel at the Hacienda Guanajuato (a state park now), which as I understand it the groom’s brother got permission from the Governor of Guanajuato to allow the wedding to take place there. The bride was gorgeous. The groom was handsome. All of the guests were in good moods. We witnessed the wedding ceremony, which was special, as the officiant was the groom’s brother. He threw in plenty of personal stories and wished the bride and groom well, while he spoke in spanish and english for the benefits of both families and the many friends in attendance.

The reception was a lot of fun, held in an open garden at the top of a hill, just up from the wedding chapel. The mariachi band was amazing as they played their way into the reception leading the bride and groom. We ate a fine meal and drank good beer and wine while meeting new friends and conversing with friends of old. We danced a little (some people danced a lot) and even got Mary out on the dance floor with us (after a few shots of Tequila I hear … Mr. Hill, the bride’s father, claims to have seen Mary putting back the Tequila, though I can neither confirm nor deny his claim).

Christine and I closed down the wedding, then stayed up late into the night talking with friends and enjoying the cool moutain air (we did that many nights, usually sleeping until 10am or later each morning).

All of our photos from the trip are here, and photos from the wedding specifically are here.

Stay tuned for more… I bought a website and we’ll be putting more Guanajuato information and pictures up there soon, I’m sure.

update: The title of this entry comes from a movie made in 1937. I picked this title because Mark used the title I was wanting to use: Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and since it was a movie title, I figured I’d find another movie title for this entry.

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 161 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

I flew to Miami on Wednesday for a meeting with a potential client. This meeting went pretty well, and actually ran over its alotted time by an hour and a half… which is a good thing in my line of business (keep them asking questions, and keep asking them questions).

One thing I forgot to take with me to Miami was my English to Spanish pocket dictionary. I forgot that Miami is an “English as a Second Language” (if they know a second language at all) town.

I ordered coffee at the airport coffee shop on Wednesday afternoon, and the woman looked at me and said:

“café con Leche?”

Luckily I know that leche is milk (you’ll learn that in any decent breastfeeding class in Texas), and café sounds like coffee. I’m also a frequenter of Starbucks, and have picked up a little about European coffee from our trip to St. Maarten a few years ago, so, I answered:

“Americano, por favor.”

Americano means “American Coffee”, which is most places means a shot of espresso with hot water to fill the cup, possibly with room for cream and sugar. I was rewarded for my excellent command of the spanish language with a cup of coffee. Black, just like I like it.

The lady behind the counter handed me the cup of coffee, and said “Gracias, uno momento.” I replied “de nada” (it’s nothing, or your welcome, I think).

Then she told me the total. I had no idea how much money she wanted, but, luckily, the register had a LED display of the total, which is spun around, so I could read it. I handed her $2.00, and as I walked away, she says to me:

“Hey honey, you forgot your change.”

Ugh…

At least I got the try and practice some Spanish.

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 164 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

A few weeks ago, I was in Cleveland for the night, because I was visiting a new potential client. The client meeting went great, but the night before, I was stuck in a hotel without power. It was pretty comical. I was given a chemlight glowstick thing (like you see at halloween, and like we used to use in the Army). It was interesting trying to read a book that night by chemlight, and it reminded me of being in the Army again, especially considering they’d placed me in a smoking room, so the pillow smelled like old stale cigarettes… blech. Totally reminded me of the Army days. They gave me $20 off the room because it was smoking, but didn’t mention the fact that I had no power all night as a reason to rebate me even further that morning when I checked out.

I flew to Loveland, Colorado the next day, and met with another client. This new client will be signing a contract shortly, so even though all the travelling sucked, I landed a new client. Which is good.

Then I got a signed contract last Monday from another new client, this one based in San Antonio. With this new contract, all is good with the job now, as I’m above quota, and concentrating on growing that margin between quota and my performance as much as I can.

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 240 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

After getting home from Denver late on Tuesday night, I slept in on Wedneday morning (until 9:00 a.m.)

I got up, went to the drycleaners and picked up my suit and a shirt Christine had taken in for me. I went home, and started packing again.

Christine and I went to the airport around noon on Wednesday, 4/20, with Jack in tow. I checked Christine and Jack in at the Southwest counter, and accompanied them to their gate. They were heading to Dallas. Around 1:30, I left them to find my gate. I was heading to New York. Both of us boarded our different flights at 1:50 or so.

Christine’s parents picked her and Jack up at Love field in Dallas about an hour after she took off from Austin. I meanwhile flew to Chicago for a connection to New York’s fabulous La Guardia airport. The wireless internet stuff at O’Hare wasn’t working… typical. I hate flying through Chicago.

On the connection from Chicago to New York, I met the owner of the Monroe Salt Works. We talked about his business, his products, and advertising. It was neat to meet him, and discuss his business and how he got started. He reminded me of Raymond alot too.

After a short cab ride into the city, I checked into my hotel. The Hotel Pennslyvania. The Hotel Pennsylvania is across the stree from Penn Station, and Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. It’s an old hotel, in a crappy neighborhood (Hell’s Kitchen is just west of the hotel), but it’s also a block away from my company’s offices in NYC. It’s also a typical New York hotel: $200/night is the basic room. $250/night gets you a decent room with a window that gives you a view of the building next door (anywhere from 6 – 12 inches away from your window), and $300/night if they’ve sold half of their rooms. If you spend more than that at the Hotel Pennslyvania, you’re getting robbed… go stay at another hotel in Times square, or, there aren’t any rooms in the city anywhere, so you should be happy you have a room at all.

I actually had a decent room with a King size bed this visit, and a key that gave me access to the Penn 5000 club louge (yes, that sounds a little weird, but that’s what they call their “exclusive club”). I got a free cup of coffee and turned in for the night.

On Thursday morning, I woke up on my own at 5:45 a.m. — travel really screws up my internal clock, and it’s never predictable — so I got dressed and walked around outside a bit before heading to the office. I prepared our conference room for my future clients that were going to be visiting at 9:30 a.m. before getting together with my boss and co-worker to game plan our presentation. At 9:35 I called my client to find out if he was on his way… he wasn’t. We were supposed to be at his office. (This is typical of this guy… our emails specifically agreed that he’d meet us at our office, but… that wasn’t accurate, and it was probably my fault).

After a decent presentation with the client and his staff, we headed back to the office. I grabbed lunch at a little sports bar around the corner with another co-worker that I’m heading to Cleveland with next week, and we game-planned that meeting a little.

I visited a bar after work with yet a different co-worker after work on Thursday. This bar was a little dive on 3rd and 28th or so, which was around the corner from his apartment. It was fun… he knew the owner and a few of the regulars, and we hung out until 7:30 or so, waiting on his girlfriend. After that, I turned in for the night.

On Friday, I spent the day trying to coordinate a future trip to Denver, while also trying to figure out where a few other deals I have in front of people are, before heading back to La Guardia.

My flight left New York late, arrived at Chicago late, and into Austin even later. I got home around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.

On Saturday morning, I got up around 10:30 or 11:00 and drove to Dallas, so we could all celebrate Grand Dad Frank’s 60th birthday. We’re driving back to Austin this afternoon.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 183 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

I landed in Denver this morning after barely making the flight … and let me tell you, the Denver Airport sucks. It took my 45 minutes from deboarding the plane to driving off the airport in my rental car. That’s totally unacceptable. It shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to get off the airport, in my opinion.

As I drove my 4WD SUV rental car off the airport, I was struck by how beautiful the Rocky Mountains were in the sunrise. I was headed for Loveland, which is about an hour north of Denver. The drive was wonderful, even if I didn’t know exactly where I was heading. I called Christine as I neared Loveland, and got better directions to my destination… think of it as having my own “00 Info” on standby (whenever she’s able to answer the phone).

My meeting in Loveland went well, and I think I’ll land that client in the next month. That put me in a good mood. On the way out of Loveland, back to Denver, I stopped at Subway for a 6-inch sub (remember, I just watched Super Size Me, and I’ve sworn off of McDonald’s for the time being).

I drove to Denver, and got a call from a future client I was trying to meet up with in the afternoon. They were sitting at a micro-brewery and wondered if I’d drop by. I said sure, and spent an hour with them while enjoying a very good Bock beer.

At 3:00, they had another call to take, so I headed to Denver and found my hotel and checked in. I headed to Starbucks to get on the internet, so I could check email and touch base with the home office (New York) and the home (Christine and Jack). I met the same client again at Dave and Busters at 5:00 and we talked until 7 p.m. which is a good sign.

I got back to my hotel by 7:45 or so, and watched the sun set over the Rockies from the 9th floor of the hotel. That was totally cool… breathtakingly gorgeous, and it only could have been more beautiful if I was on the west side of Denver instead of the east side (so the city wasn’t in the foreground as I looked west). Even with the city in the foreground it was gorgeous, and made for a great way to spend 30 minutes…

I like Denver in April.

One more future client to visit in the morning, and I’m on my way back to Ausitn.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 290 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

I got up this morning a little later than I wanted to (I never sleep well in hotel beds, unless I’m staying at a Westin hotel for some reason … I guess I’m spoiled – especially if there are things on my mind, which there are more of these days). I met a client for breakfast at 6:30 a.m. in the hotel restaurant. We chatted a little longer than we should have, then he took me to the Columbus airport.

I arrived at 8:00 a.m., and was too late for my 8:30 departure flight, so, I got bumped to the 10:30 a.m. flight… no big deal I figured. I could get some work done at the airport, and I’d still get into Austin early enough to finish out a few things before the day ended.

The boarding clerk just announced over the P.A. system that our plane hit a bird on the way into Columbus, so now they’re performing an hour long maintenance check before they let us board the plane.

I hope I make it home today. That’s all I’m concerned with at this point. At least the Columbus airport has free wi-fi in the concourse.

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 206 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

Work puts me in Columbus, Ohio today, calling on a current client, and I have to say that I really like Columbus. (It helps that it was a gorgeous day here today – 65 degrees and sunny).

I got up at the crack of dawn (4:30 a.m. or so) with Christine’s help, got to the airport in time to catch my 6 a.m. flight (that’s the good part of living town with a small airport) and flew to Chicago for my connecting flight. I had about an hour layover, so I camped out at the gate for the leg to Columbus.

When I got in line for the Columbus flight, I asked the frumpy unhappy looking lady in front of me if she was in boarding group 3, as they’d just called my group, and there was already a line of people still in boarding group’s 1 and 2. The lady ignored me at first. (She was in boarding group 4… I could see that plainly on her ticket, but I figured I’d be polite and ask instead of just muscling my way in line in front of her, which I considered a rude act. I was in a good mood, and excited about my trip to see my client, and “gosh darnit, people like me.”

So I asked again.

She said “hmmmph… I’m in line.”

So I smiled, and said, “OK, having a tough day already this morning?” in a jovial manner with a smile on my face.

She said “Yeah! Now step off!”

Gotta love that mid-west hospitality.

I said “No problem, we’ll all get there at the same time, I’ll just get in line behind you, and I sincerely hope your day gets better.” She stayed upset, which is sad, because she just looked unhappy, and there’s really no reason for that.

The younger guys standing in line behind me sort of chuckled a bit to themselves. One of them looked at me and said “did you get chewed out?” We struck up a conversation about air-rage, and enjoyed each other’s company.

When we got on the plane, the lady sat in her seat (row 2, aisle) and frowned at me, as if I’d somehow wronged her. All I could think was “poor lady… I really hope she has a better day.” And I hope she did. I had a good day today.

So, back to Columbus. It’s really pretty in downtown Columbus. I’m staying at the Doubletree on the river here in downtown (link to map). It’s a block from the Columbus Statehouse, and right next to the river. I have a river view room, which overlooks a quick bend in the river. The river today is beautiful. The sunset was a gorgeous site looking out over the town from the 15th floor of the hotel.

Downtown Columbus is really pretty… and very clean. It’s sort of like Austin (the cities are about the same size) without the dirty streets and vagabonds. I walked around the block after my meetings looking for a place to eat. I didn’t walk around too much (I was starving) but I found a quick chinese place (remind me not to eat chinese food in Columbus, Ohio next time) and watched the people walk to their transportation on their way home from work. It was a nice day. I like this town, and hope to come back in the next 6 months.

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 230 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

Christine, Jack and I piled in the station wagon yesterday around noon, and drove as quickly as we could to Hostyn, Texas for a wedding. Rob Lockett invited us to his wedding to Ashley. Rob and I grew up together and were the best of friends. Our families have stayed pretty close over the years… and so, we were delighted to be invited to the wedding.

Hostyn is about an hour from Austin, just south of La Grange. We got to the chapel with about 30 seconds to spare (we still haven’t adjusted to having a baby and getting places on time — not that we were all that good at being on time before the baby, but now it’s a lot tougher).

The ceremony was very nice. A simple short Catholic ceremony in a beautiful country chapel. The bride was gorgeous, and there whole town was in attendance (I really think the whole town of Hostyn was there).

After the wedding ceremony, Jack got to meet the Lockett family, and the Fox family (Rob’s Grandparents and Aunt and cousins). Mrs. Housley (my 7th grade social studies teacher) was there too. We headed to the reception after saying hi to a lot of people…

Kari Burt, Rob’s cousin, is doing well at A&M. She’s a freshman, and the last time we saw her was when she ran hurdles in the state track meet in Austin last year. She’s still growing up, and still getting prettier every day. Amy was doing very well, and seems to be pretty much fully recovered since her accident 2 1/2 year ago.

Lori (Rob’s sister) and Jason are doing well… Lori seems as happy as I’ve ever seen her.

Halley’s middle child (Halley is Rob’s youngest sister) is just too cute… a little ball of energy with blonde curley hair.

Reese (Rob’s younger brother and one of Evan’s best friends) and Karen are well. Their two little ones are cute. Kade (the oldest and the boy) was the ring bearer in the wedding and cried all the way down the aisle, until he saw his mommy, then made a bee line for her with the flower girl in tow. Gabby, the little girl, still has the most beautiful dark brown eyes I’ve ever seen, with those long eyelashes.

Nanny and Bussy are still Nanny and Bussy… we just love seeing them. Bussy introduced me to one of his neighbors (I didn’t ask how many miles away this neighbor lived, but I’m sure it’s at least a couple of miles) and we talked about choices… Bussy’s always teaching me something, and I love him for that.

We also ran into Bronson Pilcik and his wife Becky. Bronson and I went to school together when we were young. Bronson’s doing well now. They have 2 kids, a two year old girl and a six year old boy. The boy is just starting to play tee-ball. We laughed about old times, caught up on old friends and where they are now, and then talked about family. Bronson’ll probably take over parts of his family’s business in Industry in a few years, and is doing great.

We left the reception before they served dinner, as it was time for us to head back to Austin for “Learning to Sleep – part two”. We did stop at Dairy Queen on the way home though, and both of us had a “Dude Sandwich” … love those things! Funny thing about “the Dude” is that I think they only sell them in Texas… you should have seen the look on the face of the counter clerk in Kentucky when I asked her for a “Dude”. Heh… I’ll have to tell that story sometime.

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 210 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

Mello YelloThe last time I had a Mello Yello to drink I think I was somewhere between the ages of 6 and 7. I think I was about that old because, the only thing I remember about drinking that Mellow Yellow was pulling up to the “Coke Store” as I called it back then (I’m sure it was a 7-Eleven or a Utotem in Houston) and telling my mom I wanted a “Mellow Yellow”.

My mom returned to the car dutifully with a Mello Yello in hand just for me. I took one sip and promptly puked.

I bring this story up for you all because today at lunch, I was asked if I wanted a “pop” to go with my sandwich, and for a second I had no idea what I was being asked, then, as the cashier motioned towards the soda fountain, I saw Mello Yello, and said “Yes, please.”

I had a Mello Yello today for lunch.

I almost puked.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 236 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

When booking an airline trip, call ahead to find out if the entire Westlake Marching Band will be on your flight, and if they will, allow for an extra hour of security checks.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 231 user reviews.

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