Tastes of home away from home

Old Chicago and The Egg and I.

Dinner at Old Chicago yesterday.  They are based here in Denver, Colorado.  Added one more beer to my beer tour.  Now at 104 of 110.

This morning had breakfast at The Egg and I.  I didn't know there were others than the two in Minneapolis/St. Paul.  Fancier menu than the Lyndale Ave one I'm used to but same good food and friendly service.

Beautiful Colorado

Flew into Denver International airport.  The airport is still out in the middle of no where.  Looking out both sides of the airplane on landing there is NOTHING but fields.  I was surprised that there is no development as this airport has been open for a long time.

The client site is about 1/2 hour north west from airport toward Boulder.  The views of the Rocky Mountains are just incredibly beautiful.  There is still snow on most of the mountains and the air was very clear yesterday.  And as the sun sets, the mountains really are what the song says - "for purple mountain majesties."

My hotel on the other hand is not so nice....but beggars can't be choosers.  There were no hotel rooms anywhere in the area.  I called our travel agency yesterday morning in hopes that something had opened up.  They found a Radisson in Longhorn which is another 30 minutes away.  Certainly not up to the Hilton Anatole standards, this Radisson hasn't been renovated since it opened in 1980 -- my guess.

One possible silver lining...there is an Old Chicago right next door to the hotel.

A new project. A new city.

Flying to Denver today to start work on a new project.  I've been to Aurora, Boulder and Colorado Springs in Colorado many years ago.

This project is scheduled to go through January, 2011 and include trips to Boston.

Currants, Currants and more Currants

The currant bush is full full full this year.  I pruned it big time last year and it seems to have really appreciated it.

The branches are so full they are being pulled to the ground.

The red juicy berries make a nice drink when smashed up through a sieve.  There are little seeds that can get stuck in your teeth when eating fresh off the bush.

Guess what people. It is not about you!

I got so ticked off last night.

The flight from Dallas to Minneapolis was late. No surprise there. The incoming flight was late and there were lots of elderly and wheelchair passengers so unboarding took a while.

That all was actually very humorous and a different story.

As boarding started, it began to rain....a lot. Then it started to lightening and thunder. Lightening means all ground employees have to get off the tarmac. That means we aren't going anywhere.

The elderly man seated by the window who otherwise seemed quite nice, started to complain that a little lightening shouldn't stop us from flying. I told him we weren't flying and that the workers were surrounded by many large METAL airplanes. For their safety they were not out and about.

He didn't care. He was a fighter pilot way back when and they flew through storms all the time. The fact that we were currently not flying didn't seem to make a difference. But, folks, lets have some concern for other people's safety and not our desire to fly.

The next thing that happened was while the lead flight attendant was doing her safety announcements....turn off electronics, seats upright, tray tables, etc.

Occasionally the pilot switches off the speakers while the attendant is doing the announcement. That happened and she wasn't aware. I shouted out to her that she could not be heard. The gals in the front row grumbled that I should keep my mouth shut so that we could take off.

We hadn't even left the gate yet and I felt it was more important to have the safety announcements heard than these two ladies got in the air 15 seconds sooner. I continued to tell the flight attendant of the situation. She thanked me.

Just so you know flyers, I have to fly every week and I would prefer to be safe than sorry.

Okay, 100 degrees is hot!

I take back my earlier statements on the heat not really effecting you because you aren't out in it very long.

Yesterday just walking to and from the car to the building built up an incredible sweat that just doesn't go away very quickly or comfortably.

It got to 100 on Monday, Tuesday and the forecast for today is the same. Tomorrow it is supposed to cool down to 98!

You've heard this before

Once again this is my last week traveling to Dallas for this particular client. The signed agreement this time had limits on the number of hours available. This week I use up the remaining hours, so unless there is another signed agreement or extension, I am done.

According to the weather website, it is going to be a hot one. The majority of my time is spent indoors so don't really get bothered by the heat. The one place it is really noticeable is in the car at lunch or when heading to the hotel in evening. I have purchased those front wind shield guards before and have left two in rental cars. I'll hold off this time and just bare through it.

A beautiful Minneapolis summer evening

Rose, Amy and I checked out the new Cafeteria (and Support Group) in and on top of Calhoun Square.

Another beautiful view of downtown Minneapolis from the roof top.  Happy hour downstairs but not on the roof so get your drinks in the bar on first floor and take to roof.

Also in Uptown was the Nature Valley bicycle road race. There is a more official name for it but I don't remember what that is.
The women raced first around 6:00pm. There weren't very many observers.

The men raced last and the crowds had really shown up. I'd seen this race when it was downtown several years ago. The course takes the bikers less than 2 minutes for one lap. It is fun to watch. And the crowd watching is good, too.

I think I'm lucky to be home

Left Dallas on time.  Right after takeoff the pilot announced that there was weather in the Minneapolis area but he was expecting it to pass by the time we were ready to land.

Couple of hours later I noticed the plane taking a huge banking turn to the west...away from Minneapolis.  The pilot announced we were put in a holding pattern.  We took at least two huge circles west of Minneapolis.  The sun came shining through our normally east facing windows.

There were beautiful huge clouds to the east of the plane.  My seat mate seemed pretty familiar with weather at this altitude.

After our two loops, we were cleared to land and with only some minor bumping and shaking landed to a very wet and very cloudy MSP.  Once I got home, the sky turned orange and angry.  No storms yet and it looks like everything has moved to the East.

Milk-Toasty

Back in Dallas and it is warm warm warm.  Also humid so that's why I've titled this "milk-toasty."  It is warm like toast but wet like milk.

It may sound gimmicky but my rental vehicle has air-conditioned seats and boy do they feel good.  Hit the button and they immediately start to cool which cools you down before the regular air conditioning can take effect.

The gamble paid off

Way before I left for the Charlotte airport, Delta messaged AND called me that my flight that was supposed to depart at 7:05pm would be an 8:30pm departure.  Several co-workers were going to the airport to catch flights with departures at various times so it was best to go ahead to the airport and wait.  There were no other direct flights on Delta.

Charlotte airport, turns out, has free wi-fi.  I did some work.  Ate some Carolina pork barbeque.  Did some more work.  Found out I have to go to Dallas on Monday which I hadn't been planning on doing.  Ran into a co-worked who told me he noticed my flight was not scheduled for 9pm departure.

I headed to the gate to see what was going on.  Usually when a flight delay jumps like that it is going to the "CANCEL" state.  The gate attendant was trying to help one passenger and it was taking forever.  I called our American Express Travel folks.  The guy at AMEX was very helpful. I asked about a flight from Charlotte to Detroit and then connecting from Detroit to Minneapolis.  The first flight to MSP from Detroit was full but there was another one later.  I took down the information.

The Delta gate attendant suggested we call the rebooking number that was on these cards she placed on the counter.  I did.

The lady at the rebooking center was wonderful.  I gave her the information about the Charlotte to Detroit and on to Minneapolis.  She said if I could get to the gate, she would try.  I told her I was standing in front of the gate.  Then the system wouldn't let her make the change because my direct flight was not canceled.  I asked her if her supervisor could do that.  She put me on hold. 

When she came back, she said that she was making the change I just had to confirm that I agreed to having my direct flight ticket canceled.  I took the gamble that the direct flight was either going to get canceled or continue to be delayed.

My gamble paid off.  The connection in Detroit was close and really needed the Charlotte flight to leave soon even though it too was late.  The Delta staff turned around the plane very quickly.  I was in the very last seat on the plane.  The sky was beautiful with dramatic layers of clouds and sunlight.

The flight from Detroit to Minneapolis was also late and packed.  But when I got to Minneapolis I looked at the arrivals screen...the flight from Charlotte was due to land at 1:50AM...it was 11PM when I landed from Detroit!

Music by the Lake

Met up with co-workers at a bar and restaurant across the road from hotel.  Kind of an urban oasis with a man-made lake including swans and ducks.  Many restaurants and some retail.  This part of Charlotte is called University City.

Thursday evenings is free music by the lake. Lots of people were enjoying the music and dancing.  It was a pleasant way to pass the time.

Something different

I think it was about a year ago I got to attend a training class in Miami.  This week I'm attending a different training workshop in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Flew in Tuesday night.  The instructions were very clear that we are not to rent cars for this workshop.  It cost $45 to get from the airport to the hotel.  And yesterday it cost $20 to get from the recommended hotel to the office.  I did meet up with another co-worker who shared my cab.  He knew someone at the office and we got a ride back to hotel with him.  If we had not hooked up with someone with a care, the overall expense would have greatly exceeded renting.

The hotel gym is not much so I asked if they had an affiliation with a local gym.  They gave me the name and address of a LifeStyle Family Gym.  I asked if I could walk.  The hotel employee questioned it but figured it was doable.  She couldn't find a map so drew one.  It was not clear.  She then found a driving map and tried to explain a way to walk.

I headed out falling the directions.  It was not at all a way to walk.  There are not sidewalks.  It was probably a good 2 miles away and at least one major intersection with ramps. 

I decided that was not worth the risk.  On my way back to another gym I passed I found an old graveyard. All the gravestones were identical and perfectly aligned even though the people had passed away from the mid 1930s to 1950.  It was in a grove of trees next to a new shopping center.  It was interestingly odd.

Peony Party and Asha's Visit

What a difference a day makes. Today is rainy and cool. Yesterday was beautiful for the peony party. I didn't take a single picture the entire time! I had such an enjoyable time talking and catching up with friends and neighbors. I think 25 or 30 people came through out the evening.

I think Asha had a very nice trip. We didn't do anything real touristy.
We went to a show at the Guthrie on Sunday.  Here we are on the "bridge" overlooking the Mississippi River.

One way to make a trip memorable is to get a tattoo! Asha and I went to Saint Sabrina's where Asha got a tattoo on her foot.

Home from Dallas - long short week

For a short week this sure felt long. Flight home was delayed by almost 2 hours and I was already on the late flight. I finally got home at 12:45AM this morning.

Dallas was hot but not as bad as was predicted. Next week brings travel to a new city....mystery.