Beverly was right

Beverly at the client said my flight would be on time tonight. She was right.

We pulled from the gate only 5 minutes late and landed about 5 minutes early. There was a short delay on the ground but not too bad.

I think I'm having a bit of an allergy thing. I sneezed a few times and coughed. Talk about being self-conscience. This whole swine flu, I mean H1N1 influenza, makes the littlest sniffle seem like a big deal.

There was one Spanish speaking passenger with a nose mask. The mask just covered his nose and not his mouth and nose. What's with that?

The wall has been hit?

Finally kind of hit the wall on workouts and clean eating. Less than 3 weeks to contest. Between business travel and business stress, I'm running close to empty.

Took the evening off from working-out and had a custard and fruit tart for dessert.

May not sound like a big deal but I've been at this too long to mess it up now.

Indian wedding

The wedding went on regardless of the stormy weather. I arrived around 10:20am. My co-workers who are Indian were not there yet.

The ceremony was in full swing. In the center of the room was a canopy covered area. The center of the square had a small fire pit...there was an exhaust vent over the fire pit.

The bride was sitting on the south side of the fire with her father. The groom was on the west side. The priest was on the north side. I was greeted by a gentleman who gave me a small pamphlet that explained some of the rituals that had and were going to happen.

The ceremony has many many parts. Way to many to go through. The groom was shirtless but had a large flowered garland on. The bride was in a beautiful sarri with lots of gold necklaces, bracelets. She also had a large flowered garland and more flowers in a head piece that flowed down her back.

The ceremony went on until around noon when the groom walked the bride down a path of large leaves with I think rice on them. It was seven steps in which they asked each other questions. If they liked the answers, then at the end of the seven steps, they would be friends. This also represents the exchange of vows and "I do's."
The picture is of the seventh step.

After this the narrator said the guests could go on to lunch and the wedding would continue. My co-workers showed me the temple. The are several different Hindu gods represented in the temple. Many people were praying and offering blessings. It was very beautiful.

We then went into lunch. It was vegetarian buffet and very very good. I hadn't eaten this much carbohydrates for the last 9 weeks. We ate until after 1pm. I headed back through the wedding hall and the ceremony was still going on.

All the while people mill about, talk, take pictures and occasionally respond to what was going on. It was all so interesting and beautiful

Stormy weather

Very stormy here in Dallas this morning. Walking back from gym to main hotel lobby, the sky was full of lightening...very cool.

By the time I went up for breakfast it was raining like gang-busters. The lounge is on the 25th floor with windows all around. Way cool watching the lightening from up there.

Fortunately it looked like most people decided not to drive this morning. Traffic was light.

Hope the storms don't interfere with the Indian wedding. Everything is taking place in the DFW Hindu Temple in Irving so shouldn't be a problem.

Uptown Update

I started this entry quite a while ago and never finished.

Floyd's Barber Shop at Fremont and Lake is about ready to open. Looks like a chain of kind of upscale barbershop concept. About time something went in that prime corner of that building.

Cowboy Slim's Saloon is replacing the former Campiello location at Girard and Lake. They've taken the existing building from it's Italian villa style and made it into a Texas saloon by using added timbers and a wood deck in the back parking area. They've done a good job on the outside.

Delights of India has opened in the previous Marta's Caribbean and Indian restaurant at Emerson and Lake.

Heard someone at Fitness Together say they thought a lease was being drawn up for the former Indio restaurant in Uptown Row (Lake between Fremont and Emerson). No changes seen yet.

Kelly Williams Real Estate and a mortgage company have taken over the former The Doctors building at Fremont and Lagoon. Looks like they have the entire second floor and even the first floor where the dress store was. Bar Abilene is still on the corner.

After several weeks of no activity at Calhoun Square, the workers are back. Scaffolding has been re-erected on the south side of the parking structure. The footings have been poured for the new Kitchen Window space where Borders used to be.

The north side next to Figlios which was torn down now has new cinder block construction but I'm not sure what it is for. Also on the north side they've opened up the second floor by removing the outer brick...expansion for LA Fitness perhaps??

The new apartment building under construction on Holmes behind The Uptown Bar just looms over everything. It is kind of strange seeing a building taller than the ones on Hennepin. And with the tear down of the Borders section of Calhoun Square, Lotus and Oor Books buildings, you can see this new apartment building from Fremont and 31st.

Mt. Fuji restaurant has opened on Hennepin between Old Chicago and 28th St. Was a long time under construction but it looks nice. It is Asian and sushi with what looks like two bars...may be one is just sushi bar. That location has seen its share of restaurants.

When I was walking around the 'hood, I saw an albino squirrel. Kind of creepy looking.

Home again

It probably is needless to say but the flight last night was late. Is anyone surprised?

Pulled away from the gate an hour late and didn't really make up any time in the air. The pilot announced that it was something about the incoming plane from Atlanta. Wasn't really clear to me.

I'm glad to be home. Head back to Dallas on Sunday.

Travel plans - variations on a theme

Forgot to mention that I'm back in Dallas this week. No surprise there.

Next week I'm also in Dallas. But I'm flying in on Sunday so I can be here on Monday for the wedding of a fellow IBMer. He and his bride are from India so will be having a three-day Hindi wedding in one day.

And the following week, first week of May, I'm going to Miami, Florida for a training/education seminar. I'll be in Miami Sunday through Wednesday. Wednesday night I fly to Dallas to work on Thursday and Friday. Back home on that Friday.

Then the second week of May I won't be traveling because it is the week of the bodybuilding contest.

Doe, a deer

Ya'll know how much I love The Sound of Music....
Central Station Antwerp

Toyota Matrix

The Toyota Matrix is a cute little car. The first thing you notice when you get in is the location of the shifter. It is at an angle in the console.

It is still between the driver and passenger seats but the shifter is definitely in a different place. After driving for a couple of days, the placement makes sense. The transmission shifts smoothly and doesn't suffer from too hard downshifting.

This is a very light weight car. It is nice and peppy on the highway. Not so peppy from a dead stop but decent.

The gauges are easy to read. The radio controls are a tad bit too far away from the driver.

The Matrix appears to get good gas mileage.

A miracle

My flight pulled away from the gate only 5 minutes later than scheduled. That was even with the flight attendants being late. They were coming in from an international flight.

We taxied right to the run way and with no wait, we took off.

For the first time this year, no exaggeration, we landed at the scheduled time. AND we taxied right to the gate!

An American Airlines miracle!

The Black Monk

My Dallas social secretary, John Arnone, got me and the Executive on the project tickets to his scenic designed production of The Black Monk at the Undermain Theatre in Dallas.

The show is based on a Chekhov short story. The first act is quite funny. The direction and acting is great. John's set is perfectly stark and evocative. It is a difficult space to use to put it mildly. The theatre is named "Undermain" because it is actually under Main Street in downtown Dallas.

Undermain Theatre is in the Deep Ellum neighborhood of downtown Dallas. It is a kind of sketchy area...the kind of place where artists are making it grow.

For Martha and the bed bugs

My friend, Martha Kulig, is in New York City working for three weeks. She is stage managing the new Tony Kushner play that will be performed at the Guthrie later this year.

Martha lives in Minneapolis so she is staying in a hotel in NYC. She called me last week to ask if I'd ever had bed bugs. I have to admit I don't think I have...fortunately.

She was not so fortunate and had a really bad infestation in her hotel.

Today I opened my USA Today and there is announcement that the Environmental Protection Agency was holding a National Bed Bug Summit in Arlington, VA. And this evening on National Public Radio there was a story on the Summit.

Here is one of the pics of her bites which turned into welts. ugh!

Dodge Avenger

I guess it shows how boring my rental car was last week. I didn't think to write a review until I was going to pick up my car this week.

Last week's vehicle was a Dodge Avenger. It was bright red. With a name like "Avenger" I was imagining some fun. It wasn't so much.

It is a good looking car...very muscular. The model version I had felt under-powered even though getting on to highway speed was adequate. Downshifting was harsh and that is a big complaint of mine.

There was some fit and finish problems. It was very windy last week and cruising along at highway speed, there was definite wind leakage around the driver's door.

Nothing really wrong the car just not that exciting and nothing to make it stand out.

But, Mom, I don't always remember what you say

I was riding the bus from downtown yesterday evening. There was a mom and two small children at the front of the bus. One kid was just a toddler...all bundled up and not making a sound. The other kid was probably 6 or 7 and standing on the seat.

The six year old was telling his mom that he had hit another kid at school. And he confessed that he had hit this other kid pretty hard. The mom said something about already planning on talking with the teacher.

The six year old explained that the other kid and pushed him down and that he was defending himself...in six year old lingo.

The mom started in on this whole psycho-babble story about something or other than I could not follow. It was somehow related to the knocking-down-hitting incident. After mom finished her buzz word-filled talk with her six year old, he says, "But, Mom, I don't always remember what you say."

The fascinating thing was you could tell the little boy was trying to say, in a nice way, "What the heck did you just say?!" to his mom. I was totally impressed with the kid.

They got off at the next stop so I didn't get to hear anymore of the conversation.

Two hours late again

It was very windy at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport. In addition to the wind there was smoke and haze from brush fires in the area. All the flights were delayed. They don't change the color or highlight the delayed flights on the Departures and Arrivals monitors anymore. It just gives the new time.

I think my email complaining about the perpetually delayed flight from DFW to MSP has gotten me first class. I was automatically assigned first class last week, this week, next week and the week after! Sweet!

Once we took off you could really smell the brush fire smoke. The pilot made an announcement about it and insuring everyone that it wasn't the plane. You could see fires down below.

Also during the flight there was some fantastic lightening just to our west and below. You could see the lightening from the tops of the clouds. The clouds were very bright from the full moon. It was all pretty neat but I'm pretty tired.

Texas blue bonnets (not bells)...again

Went back through last years blog entries and saw I had a Texas wild flowers entry already with pictures. That one was posted on April 15.

Guess what? It has been another year and the blue bells are blooming again.

Want to buy a horse?

My niece, Kathy, is selling her horse Sage. Here is a video.
That is Kathy riding Sage. At about 5:58 Kathy's sister, Gracie Kay, and Gracie's son, Alex, are riding Sage together.

Six week comparison and Six weeks out

As many of you know, part of my 50th birthday year is competing in a bodybuilding contest. I'm in the seniors division which is euphemistically called "Masters."

Here is a comparison picture. On the left is six weeks ago when I started dieting and cardio. On the right is today. There are six more weeks to the competition.

I'm around 199 lbs in the left photo and 193 lbs in the right photo.

Chevy Impala

I reviewed the Chevy Impala back on Nov. 11, 2008. This week's review is more about Hertz than the vehicle.

I actually started the week with a Mazda 3. As many of you know, I've owned a couple of Mazdas and really like the brand. The Mazda 3 I picked up from Hertz on Monday was filthy. I had to brush crumbs off the driver's seat. Both the driver and passenger seats were stained. The carpeting was stained. The doors had black marks. I was very close to going to the rental counter and asking for a different vehicle but decided to grin and bear it.

When I left the office later Monday to head to the hotel, I noticed that the front tires were virtually bald. There was no tread and I'm not kidding. At this point I was concerned because there was rain in the forecast.

Tuesday was my bad credit card day. In the process of trying to get my credit card situation figured out, I left the key in the Mazda and six hours later discovered I had left the radio on. There was not enough battery to start the car.

I called Hertz road service. A car starting service was sent and the car was jumped. The Hertz road service attendant had suggested I exchange the car. Since I wasn't very far from the airport, I thought this would be a good idea. The battery didn't seem to be charging much on the way to the airport and the bald tires were still a concern.

I got a Chevy Impala as the replacement. The one I reviewed in November was a SS model. This one was more of a plain standard one. The interior felt old-school. A bench seat instead of front buckets would have felt more in place. The Impala has a tire pressure display. The pressure for all four tires was at 29 psi. I'm pretty sure that is too low for a car of this size.

This vehicle was also not all that clean and the thing that drives me crazy, the key had no fob. So no remote lock and unlock. It may sound petty but I consider the remote lock/unlock a security feature. When traveling from home, I like the security of locking and unlocking remotely which usually includes turning the lights on and off. I don't think there is any excuse to not have the key fob.

I was frustrated enough with Hertz to fire off an email.

A sadness

I have workouts with a trainer on Fridays and Saturdays. There is an older gentleman, Robert, who generally works out after me on Friday. When I went in yesterday for my workout, there was a card tacked to the wall from Robert's memorial service.

Robert had passed away on March 19. I didn't really know him but we would always chat after my workout. He would gripe about working out. And I would kid him about coming for a workout he hated. But we would laugh or smile.

So even though I didn't know him, he was one of those people that I figured had an interesting life. I went to the newspaper obituary website and read condolences that people had written. Reading bout him just made me think even more that I would have been nice to get to know him better.

People pass through your life and some are there longer than others but each one can have an impact.

Not so late landing but...

Only 40 minutes late this flight this evening. Given past experience that actually isn't too bad.

Some how I got first class when the reservation was made using IBM travel system. It is so much nicer being able to get off the plane from the second row instead of the twentieth.

The "but..." part is because I-35W construction had the three lanes down to one between Highway 62 and my place. Traffic was backed up to Highway 62. It was rolling slowly most of the time so not too bad.

For those of you that travel 35W, the new part of the reconstruction is they are working on the 42nd street bridge over the interstate. The crews were laying the floor -- pretty sure that's not what it is called but don't know the technical term.

Anyway, glad to be home for a few days. Back to Dallas next week.