Catching up

First, the root that ate the backyard. My burr oak from the city meant digging a hole. Turned out to be a really big hole as there was an enormous root left over from the Norway maple. The tape measure is at 3'.

And here is the burr oak planted.

And a new friend in Dallas. This is Asha and me at a sushi restaurant. Met Asha at the "client." She had never had sushi before and it was her idea to give it a try.

Home On Time AGAIN

That makes two weeks in a row. That almost sounds like a trend.

We boarded the plane in Dallas in record time. And actually sat there for a bit because we were too early to leave.

The flight was uneventful -- my favorite kind. We landed and taxied directly to the gate. The only possible glitch was that the exit out of the terminal area was closed and I had to walk back to a different exit. As long as I could get out and get home, I was okay.

Even the construction on I-35 did not have any lanes closed.

By the way, the south bound lanes of I-35 are open just before Minnehaha Creek to just past Diamond Lake Road. Nice, new concrete.

Dallas - Tuesday through Thursday

Was hoping I wouldn't have to go to Dallas this week but no such luck. But at least only going today through Thursday.

Got the oak tree in the ground yesterday. There was an enormous root from the old maple that had to be removed. I have pictures that I'll put up later.

Toyota Yaris

New policy at work that we can only rent compact cars. Because I rent so often Hertz usually gives an automatic upgrade. Well, last week I got real compact car...a Toyota Yaris 4 door hatchback. This is definitely a compact car.

Again there key was just a key and no remote open. Ugh. I popped the hatchback and it looked like my roller bag wouldn't fit. I did get it in...sideways. The interior is pretty spartan. Like the old Dodge Neon, the gauges are in the center of the dashboard. I guess this is so they can make the car a righty for British countries and a lefty for everywhere else. It is a bit odd and would be okay if the gauge panel were slightly angled toward the driver. But it faces directly so you never actually can see the speedometer straight on.

This is a fun car to drive. It is light as a feather and zips along nicely. The driver's seat is set up kind of high and I couldn't get the interior review mirror to adjust high enough for me. I don't think Toyota considered a six foot driver.

The side mirrors are good sized and there is plenty of glass to make viewing easy. For a small car it rides smooth and that is saying something given Texas roads.

I was a bit nervous about being passed by big eighteen wheelers and the possibility of getting sucked under their tires. That, of course, didn't happen and I think I ended up only passing one once. Even though there weren't any problems I don't think I'd like to be in an accident in this little thing.

Overall a very fun car to drive. There was a Dodge Ram pickup parked next to me when I went to go out for lunch. I think the Yaris would have easily fit in the bed of that truck.

Be afraid. Very afraid. Warning - my contest photos!

At least I'm not as pasty-white as the guy on the right. I was pretty dark not under the stage lights.


The guy on the right placed in the top five. I don't know exactly where.

Thanks to Jason Schoch for the photos.

Home On Time

We left Dallas-Fort Worth, DFW, right on time last night.

There was a family with two small children behind me. They were very well behaved. The little son was very chatty. His mom had given him medicine so he wouldn't throw up. He made sure the woman sitting next to him knew that. And that he kind of had a tendency to throw up. She asked him if he was going to throw up, which way would you turn? He demonstrated that he would throw up on his mom.

We landed a bit ahead of schedule which is sometimes not a good thing. The pilot announced that ground control was holding us on the tarmac and if we looked to our right we would see why.

A plane came rushing down the tarmac a ways from us. There was smoke coming from around the tires it looked like or within the cargo area. It was followed by several emergency vehicles with lights flashing. None of the emergency vehicles got very close though.

We weren't out long before we pulled way around the other plane and got to de-plane. I heard some passengers say they could see passengers getting off the smoking plane. They were using the rolling stairs and not the emergency shoots.

Odds and Ends

Going through airport security on Monday in Minneapolis, a TSA person was taking everyone's shoes out of the trays and putting on the conveyor belt. She was very cheerful about it.

On the news that night there is a news story that the TSA has changed the policy on shoes and that all shoes should now not be in trays but put directly on the belt for scanning. No explanation for the change in policy but you have to figure something came up about it.

Also, going through security on Monday, the guy in front of me was on his cell phone. He wasn't saying anything so I figured he was on a conference call. He goes through the metal detector and when his phone comes through the scanners, he picks it up and continues his call. He never even hung up!

Dallas is suffering through some of the most beautiful weather :-)

It is cool and dry and sunny in the morning. By afternoon it is warm, dry and sunny. Just gorgeous. CNN is on the tvs in the breakfast lounge on the 25th floor. They will have morning shots from cameras at various cities. Yesterday they had a shot of Dallas with the sun rising just as I was looking out the 25th floor windows seeing the exact same view. It was really neat.

My "tan" from the competition is coming off like crazy. I kind of look like an alligator as the spray on tan comes off. My apologies to maid service. The white washcloth is pretty brown with tanning dye stuff.