Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Where do weblogs go to die ? I should be careful here. My blog hasn't gotten much attention the last couple months so it appears to have fallen down and not gotten up on occassion. 11:06:44 PM    Notes [] Well... that is promising. Ok... somewhere below here I've admitted to watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (currently in Season 7 on UPN & Season 5 (repeats) on F/X - in the US, and DVD (Season depends on Region - Seasons 1 and 2 in US). That, some FoodTV shows and random channel surfing make up my tv watching most weeks (I also try to keep up with Witch Hunter Robin when the subbed episodes make their way onto USENet) Anyway.... Last week's BtVS episode (Him) was Dawn-centric about a magic jacket which caused all of the regular female characters to behave in a strange (for them anyway) fashion. I just couldn't get into it. Too silly. Maybe I'll rewatch it when it shows up in reruns. This week's episode, Conversations with Dead People, on the other hand was worth watching. A complex story following several interlocking themes. A classic episode setting us up for something later in the season. And a couple shocks. 10:21:13 PM    Notes [] How I spent last week... Ok... so a trip to Knoxville isn't everyone's idea of a fun time... Day 1 - Getting to Knoxville The story thus far A 7:15AM flight out of Logan (Boston) airport Got up 30 minutes later than planned (Normal for a venture of this kind.) but then I didn't get to sleep until midnight (4 hours later than planned... Once again, normal.). Got out the door an hour later than planned (3:45AM) A fairly uneventful trip down to Boston. 75mph thru NH (75 miles worth of it) and then 75-80mph until I hit the downtown exits (Exit 27 -> 24). Traffic was a bit heavier than I expected this early. But then, the last time I did this was on a Sunday morning not a Monday. Got to Logan... headed off to Terminal B ( US Airways). Oops.... only my third flight out of Boston since 9/11/01 and this is the first time they've searched my car before allowing entrance to the parking garage. Too bad I can't open the trunk with the car running. Had to turn off the car, hand the keys to the guard, he had to figure out the trunk lock (It sticks), take a look and give me the keys back so I can restart the car... I'm sure the delay THAT caused elicited amusement in the folks in line behind me. I guess I'll have a spare key with me NEXT time (within easy reach... I've got a spare in the car in case I lose my keys but not in a place that is easy to get to). At the gate... e-ticket check-in is fairly easy. If it isn't 5:30am in the morning before the brain cells have had a chance to warm up.... Thru Security - First time thru Terminal B - a bit more laid back in appearance than Terminal C (Where I normally fly out of). Laptop thru separately. Coat thru separately... I made it thru also with no problem other than embarassment because the guard at the X-ray had to REMIND me to put the laptop thru by itself... when I tried to hand it to him. Oops. Apparently the single cup of coffee on the way down to the airport wasn't enough.... Breakfast - a croisant-thing & orange juice from Burger Thing. Next up - Two hour flight to Charlotte (and a commuter flight from there to Knoxville) Tiny plane to Knoxville. Luggage showed up fairly quickly and I grabbed a car from Hertz (tiny Ford Focus - hope it wasn't one of the ones that was just recalled. Spent the afternoon at the office... Off to the hotel to check in.... same hotel I've been staying in in Knoxville for 7 years... third name change. Other than that it doesn't seem any different. Unpacked and went looking for something simple for dinner... a sandwich, soda & chips from the "Subway" across the street (it's new...). No Swiss cheese (bummer). Days 2 through 4 Nothing exciting for the casual observer - same routine... To office by 8am (more or less) - rained Tuesday/Wednesday Lunch Tuesday -> joined a shopping expedition (new VCR for office) Lunch at a "Philly Cheesesteak place (Had the Cheesesteak Hoagie) Wednesday -> joined others for lunch at a "Buffalo CHicken" place (Had a chicken fingers (with spicy "Buffalo" sauce) salad) Thursday -> Joined another shopping expedition - A TV to go with the VCR from the other day (both to replace old/worn out items in the Knoxville training room) - Lunch was at a "Backyard Burger" (Had a basic burger & fries) Friday... worked through lunch - had an apple. Meetings with assorted people most of the day/or worked on SEVIS stuff. Stayed in office until 7PM most nights. Dinner... simple most days - a burger/sandwich [Tuesday] McDonalds (Big Mac meal) [Wednesday] Subway - Roast Beef [Thursday] Hong Kong Buffett on Merchants near the hotel [Friday] Ruby Tuesday's at the airport - "Wisconsin" burger. Vegged/watched tv/read some work stuff for rest of evening until I fell asleep. Getting Home: Headed to airport around 3pm - only excitement was finding a gas station near the airport (had to reverse direction to get to one). It's been a while since I flew into Knoxville and the gas station I've used in the past (on the same side of the road as the airport) was gone and crossing the Alcoa Highway near the airport can be a bit hectic. Through security - no big deal. Works MUCH better if it's not at 6-7AM in the morning.... :-). Dinner Flight to Pittsburgh... another one of those US Air express flights on a tiny plane. Napped the whole way. Pittsburgh - No time for anything except finding the gate. Made it through with no problem and like 99% of the flights I've taken to Boston on a Friday evening... it was packed and I had a middle-of-the-row seat. Cramped. Couldn't even nap. Boston - traffic around 11pm was light. Got out of the Terminal airport parking with a slightly lighter than expected credit card ( $22/day) The trip up I-93 wasn't bad. Almost no traffic north of the NH border. Getting home - I noticed snow once I got north of Concord. Not a good sign. Couldn't get in my driveway - 8 inches of hard snow blocking it - until I stomped around for a couple minutes. Couldn't get too far into the driveway... there was ice on top of the inch of snow and my car is too light and has no traction on that without snow tires. Eventually parked close enough to the house. Stumbled into the house and went to bed. 9:56:39 PM    Notes []

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