catching up

It's really been a crazy few weeks. It doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon.

5/3

Weekend before last we went out to Horseshoe Bay for some wakeboarding. The water was much warmer than Lake Travis was...a combination of a smaller lake and being about three weeks later into the spring. The waves were a lot higher, so we ended up spending most of our time running the length of the dam and back. Hopefully I can get some of the pictures from Darren to post here.

On the way back from the way back from the lake we stopped at R.O.'s Outpost on Hwy 71. Damn they make some good pie. Brian and I got the chocolate meringue while Mary Alice and Darren had the apple. I think if they'd ordered ice cream with the apple pie it would have been supreme, but as it was I think I made the better choice. They even brewed a fresh pot of coffee for us, which was great.

5/4

I have learned (but will still forget again) to never pack the morning of a trip. I was frantically stuffing my suitcase 20 minutes after I needed to leave for the airport. The whole morning was rushed; we went to Harvest at EV Free, then back to the house to grab my car. I drove to the airport, checked my bag, then Mary Alice picked me up and we went to Alegria at the old airport. We had to leave at intermission since I didn't want to miss my flight. The show was good, but I could have done without the strongman segment.

Flying was an adventure as usual...I was scheduled to go from Austin to Newark via Chicago O'Hare. That was no big deal, but the weather in Chicago was. We boarded on time in Austin, then sat on the runway for an hour until we got clearance to leave, as O'Hare was trying to limit incoming flights until the rainstorms subsided. Once we finally arrived (10 minutes before my connection was scheduled to depart), we sat on the runway for another 30 minutes until the lightning ceased and the baggage handlers etc. could approach the plane.

Once we finally made it into the terminal, I discovered that my 8:45 p.m. departure was pushed back to 11:00. Good because I wouldn't miss my flight, bad because I'd land in Newark at 2 a.m. local time. I decided to try to find some food, but the Chili's in terminal B is staffed by jackasses. They have a sign that says they're open until 10:00 p.m. every day, but when I tried to sit down at 9:25 the waitress told me the kitchen was closed, as well as the seating area. I still need to write my complaint letter.

5/5 - 5/8

I finally made it to my hotel in Jersey at about 3:30 a.m. It was a brain-dead Monday for me.

I won't go into the work details from the trip, but it was a productive visit. I'm hoping to go back sometime later this year...hopefully we'll reach a point where that will be mutually beneficial.

A word of advice: DO NOT EAT AT CHARLEY'S RESTAURANT ON HWY 36!. I paid $30 for the worst steak and shrimp combo I've ever had in my life. The only redeeming quality of the meal is that I was introduced to Flying Fish ale.

On Wednesday I had wrapped up at the office, so I took a day trip into New York City. Apart from a ferry schedule incident, it was a really fun day. The ferry landed right on Wall Street, so I took that toward Broadway, getting a cart dog with sauerkraut along the way. I finally gave up and bought a map after wandering around aimlessly and wondering where the heck Times Square was. During my walk I stopped by the World Trade Center site and was moved by the steel beam cross that is still mounted inside the pit. I also made it to Times Square where I had a piece of cheesecake at Lindy's and watched the kids looking up at the MTV TRL studios, saw a very impressive exhibit on "Bronzeville" in Chicago at The International Center for Photography, meandered through part of SoHo, and sprinted back to Pier 11 to catch the ferry.

The flight back was somewhat easier than the flight out, except for boarding in Newark and then immediately being told to deplane as a tire needed to be changed.

5/10

Eric organized the second annual trip to San Antonio (this time including Fiesta Texas) to celebrate his birthday. It was my first time to do FT, and we had a really good time. The rides were solid, especially Scream. I'd like to manage the park for a week and try to get rid of some of the inefficiencies, but that's just the engineer in me. Dinner at Casa del Rio on the Riverwalk was tasty, although I wish I'd been able to have another margarita. The drive home was tough enough as it was, though.

5/11

Mary Alice wanted to make sure Mother's Day was special, so she took care of inviting everyone over to the house for a lunch/brunch. She made a ton of food, and I tried to get the yard in shape. The cherry french toast was a hit yet again, and I'm still holding out for a piece of baklava.

I spent the entire afternoon up on the hill putting in some plants and cleaning up brush. I need to try to crystallize my vision for what it should look like when I'm done. There's a ton of space to work with, but I can't decide exactly how to deal with the slope.

--

One of the things I learned while I was gone is why Bear has gotten so much more destructive, grabbing things off of the kitchen and coffee tables. It turns out that his hip has healed so well that he can now stand on his rear legs, with no front support. I was really surprised to find he wasn't propping himself on the table or anything. I'm glad he's feeling so much better, but he's going to need some training reinforcement.