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Delayed! Woo!

This morning I grabbed a bagel at the Airport. There are few things that can turn a morning from drab to fab more quickly than a delicious bagel with some tasty cream cheese spread on top.

As I approached the counter to order my over-priced prize, I considered my options. Plain, poppyseed, cinnamon raisin, sesame… Sesame! Yes, today is a sesame seed bagel kind of day.

“May I help you sir?”
“Yes, May I have a toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese please?”
“Sure.”

I reached into my wallet to pull out my money and walked to the ‘pick up’ counter. I waited patiently as the bagel worked its way through the toasting conveyor and again as the server wrapped my breakfast in thin paper and retrieved the cream cheese packet from the refrigerator. I paid my four dollars and walked to my gate to sit down.

I unwrapped my toasted sesame bagel to find that there were only 34 sesame seeds on said bagel. Thirty four. Never have I seen such a poor showing of sesame seeds. Normally, the top of the bagel is covered in countless sesame seeds that fall off and get everywhere. Every bite is full of sesame goodness. But such was not the case with this bagel. 34. Granted, the breakfast was still delicious, but I am terribly disappointed with the quantity of sesame seeds provided. I am disappointed in you Bradley Airport. I am disappointed in you.

And… I’m in Texas.

It’s warm here. Tomorrow is scheduled to be around 20 degrees Celsius (65 degrees F). I’ll be here for the next couple days returning Thursday afternoon in time for some late hours at the office, class on Friday, and the return to a semi-normal schedule… at least for a day or two. Then travel might rear its ugly head once again.

Alicia’s wedding on Saturday, alongside all this business travel, has rekindled my desire for a network of awesome people. In the ideal world I’d love to have a friend in every major US city/state that I could visit when business sends me off. If you’d like to add yourself to that list, fire me an e-mail at MikeDiDonato AT Gmail D0T com. Once the network is complete, I will post an exciting map of all the connections across the country.

Airports have a lonliness about them from mikedidonato on Vimeo.

It snowed in Ohio last night.
This, following the beautifully strange 60 degree Chicago weather. Odd.

Things are going pretty darn good. It’s 4:45am in Ohio and I woke up with particularly unkemp hair. I finished 95% of my paperlast night so my plane ride today can mostly be spend in relaxation.

Mostly, I just can’t wait to get back and play guitar. This Thanksgiving is going to be very rocking.

Tonight after work I met up with Jocelyn. We had a hilarious eating extravaganza in Chicago’s China town. The food was really really amazing and the laughter was awesome. I haven’t hung out with Jocelyn much before so it was extra fun. After stuffing ourselves with various chinese dishes and a really amazing soup, we strolled through China town expanding our cultural vim and vigor.

After eating, Cindy picked me up for a night of Gymnastics.

What?

Yes. Gymnastics. And it was really sweet. Cindy goes to a Gymnastic Academy that has adult beginner classes every Tuesday and Thursday. We started with some basic warm ups which entailed jumping over various obstacles and doing cartwheels and tumbling passes.

Tumbling passes.

There were three types of people there. The first type were the cute chicks who were able to jump and spin in various directions. (on purpose). They were, by default, extremely attractive. Then there were the dudes who did Parkour. There were probably a good dozen of them. They were really amazing at running and jumping in a manner that looked insanely awesome. At one point they were running and flipping off walls. Why? because it’s awesome. and that’s what parkour people do.

The third type of people were the people like me. The people who really couldn’t do anything awesome but tried really hard.

And I tried everything they threw at me. Some great tips got me to a point where I could land a front handspring in a crouch (not pretty, nor functional, but it felt awesome) and land a front flip on the TRAMPOLINE TRACK. A trampoline track? YES.

The trampoline track was a big long stretch of trampoline that you could run down and then do wild tricks and land on a super cushiony pad. Amazing!

And strangely enough the Chinese food didn’t give me any major problems while I was doing forward rolls and various spinning moves.

I had tons of fun. Special thanks to Jocelyn and Cindy for sharing Chicago with me. Rock!!

I’m in Chicago! I’m here on a sales trip and it’s pretty relaxing. It’s mostly been a mix of sales, homework, and adventure. The flight out on Saturday was fantastic. It just so happened that I shared a flight with Andreas the German Climber. We chatted and shared stories during the trip and the time flew (ba dum dum ching) by. That night I watched a great fireworks show from my hotel room.

Sunday night things were decidedly more lame as I stayed in to work on my paper.

Things picked up again last night when I threw academic responsibility to the wind and went out with the guys to Fogo de Chao, a well known Chicago Brazilian steakhouse. They give you a small token, one side of which is green, the other red.

When you want food, you switch it to green. And the food comes. Fast. An onslaught of meat like none I have ever seen. The first time I turned my token green and had to switch it back to red within 45 seconds for fear that my plate would be overrun by various cuts of tender salty meats.

It was a fun time.

Tonight will be another whole adventure. I’ll take pictures.

In the next month I will only be in the office for 7 days.

Next week I’m off to Chicago, which will immediately be followed by a trip to Ohio. Then we have Thanksgiving weekend followed by my sister’s wedding. The next Monday I head out to Texas to return on Thursday December 6th at which point I think the marathon of work will cease.

There might be an extra day slipped in here or there depending on if I can cut the business trips short. We shall see.

The next week is going to be the hardest. I am purposefully not going to bring my travel guitar. I have a ton of work that I need to get done for school and I don’t want any major distractions from my goal. Hopefully a week off will not destroy the sweet advances I have made in sweep picking and finger dexterity.

Last night Jesse stopped by and we had a quick fun jam session. At one point i let Jesse try the new guitar and I picked up my old guitar… oh man. How I ever played that thing… I have no idea.

Are any of you planning any fun trips?

On Tuesday our work meetings ended early. We stopped in at a small diner in Pittsburgh and chatted and purchased some beverages. As 6 o’clock approached we decided to go grab some dinner and then head to bed early.

Instantly, I remembered my folks talking about a Church in Pittsburgh that was transformed into a Brewery. They had suggested I check it out if we had time… and it appeared that yes, we had time.

I called up Ernie and got him to check the internet for me to see if we could find directions. Sure enough, the church was reasonably close. Just outside downtown Pittsburgh. We jumped in the car and off we went.

The Church Brew Works is a pretty big place. It’s not done quite as nicely as it could be, but it wins serious points on uniqueness. Walking through the huge wooden doors forces one to feel a bit… well? wrong. The holy water basins are still there as well as the organ and all the stained glass. Where one would normally find the alter, there stands the huge equipment for beer brewing. Down below, where one would expect to find pews, are tables and chairs set for dining.

The food was German in nature. We had some pierogies and traditional hummus to start and followed it with some steak. The food was great. The others got some beer, of which there was a wide variety available, and I had myself a water.

It was a good time and I’d recommend it as a stopping point if you find yourself in Pittsburgh. Though I don’t think it’s a place I’d regularly visit.

Check out the website, along with a picture or two… here.

Today I’m in D.C. I flew down last night with two others: our head of production (Jeff) and a visiting colleague from Texas named Yoni. I’ve never been to D.C. before so I was thrilled as the plane swooped in over the Lincoln memorial. What a sight! And shortly after landing (and taking a shower, which was probably preferred 10 to 1 over any amount of sightseeing (it had been four days)), we went out to grab some dinner.

Yoni has a fascinating history. He’s lived all over the place including Isreal and France. He speaks five languages and has a doctorate in metallurgy. He became a US citizen in 1989 and *loves* the United States.

It was mildly ironic then that he was the one who gave Jeff and I a tour of D.C. His knowledge of U.S. history is extremely deep. Not only was he telling us about the museums, the buildings, and the restaurants, he was supplementing the facts with stories of John Hancock’s jealousy and George Washington’s teeth. It was a huge relief to be spending some time here instead of with the tortures of broken water mains.

Speaking of water mains, the homefront remains much the same. Today I’ll find out how soon the repair guys will be able to come to fix the problem. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some D.C. pictures tomorrow.

Today went pretty well. Sadly though, not quite as well as hoped. While the new equipment we were installing worked great, a previous problem that we thought had disappeared came back with a vengeance. My co-worker Darko and I will be staying in Texas for an extra day in hopes that we’ll be able to close that problem tomorrow.

The food scenario today was ROUGH. The company we’re visiting didn’t happen to get the mill up and running until about 11:30… so we missed lunch. Uuuuugh. Hunger is a tough foe and… when it teams up with exhaustion… the combo is devastating. My eyelids edged shut again and again all the while my stomach spinning and lurching from the single twix bar that I tried to use to appease its growl.

The weather here is hot. Not overbearingly hot… just mid nineties. BUT! BUT! some new rules are in effect at this company… and we all have to wear long sleeves to protect ourselves from cuts and burning. This isn’t too annoying for all those dudes who brought long sleeved shirts to Texas, but I did not - mainly because it’s Texas. and I didn’t plan for cool weather. So I have to wear an overcoat.

You can probably begin to appreciate the situation: me, standing in the Texan sun, my exhausted mind desperately trying to figure out why I’m wearing an overcoat and not eating delicious BBQ.

Hopefully we’ll finish up tomorrow.

It’s like this every time I travel for work. Hands so dirty that I decimate a toothbrush in my efforts to rid my hands of the grime. Usually I remember to wash at the factory… which is far better because you can use their handy dandy soaps. This time though, I forgot.

Dirty Dirty Hands from mikedidonato on Vimeo.

We’ll continue this ritual tomorrow night.

Today I fly to Cleveland. It’s just a day trip, so nothing too overwhelming. We’re headed out to meet a potential customer and spread the company joy.

Also: This morning I somehow achieved an uncommonly close shave.

It’s 3:30am and, really, that’s about as complicated of a thought that I can muster.

There are a whole bunch of things that bother the heck out of me. Things like the sound of other people chewing and the look of yogurt (it’s so strange looking!)

But right up there on the top of the list is when airline passengers get up before the seatbelt light goes out. The airplane lands and the steward or stewardess comes over the loudspeaker and pleasantly welcomes the passengers to their destination. This is often times followed with a quick weather report and a time update if you’re flying between time zones.

And then the flight attendant says something along the lines of “we are now taxing to our gate, please remain in your seats and keep your seatbelts buckled until we have come to a complete stop and the seatbelt light is turned off.”

And invariably, when the plane begins to slow down there is the telling “click click click” of seatbelts unbuckling. Sometimes the passengers are even so bold as to stand up and start retrieving their bags.

UGH!

There have only been two moments of triumph for this irritation. The first, when a small luggage carrying truck zipped in front of the plane and happened to drop a bag. The plane LURCHED violently to a stop and startled gasps were followed by the RE-clicking of seatbelts.

The second, when a mother unclicked her belt on this recent trip to Guadalajara. Her kids did the same, and immediately started running up the aisle. They were harshly scolded by a flight attendant and the mother clearly felt put down.

I think this particular headache of mine comes from my really liking rules. I like rules and I like when they are followed.

Horses in Guadalajara!

This sculpture was just outside the hotel. I’m not sure if it was created to commemorate something, or if it’s just hip art.

Either way, I greatly enjoyed it.

Also, here are some molded trees. I’m not sure who has the job of cutting these things… but it’s gotta be a pain. They are everywhere.

Flying into Guadalajara I glanced out the window to see a huge, wildly rocky landscape. The ragged land climbed upward where it seemed to top out in a plateau. The city started right at the edge of that plateau.

There were two huge waterfalls pouring down the steep cliffs at the edge of the city. We flew right over them. Apparently, each waterfall was 300 meters high and they are extremely beautiful from afar. Unfortunately, the water is dirty and if you get close the smell is horrendous.

While I’m not certain, I think this might be a satellite image of that waterfall. It’s on the northern end of the city.

Although I don’t seem to remember that church with the giant “IGLESIA!” sign on top. Let’s zoom in:

Hmm. I’ll have to check and see if I notice the falls on the flight out tomorrow. 8:30am flight! woo!

Jeff and I met in the lobby of the Guadalajara Holiday Inn Select this morning before our trip to the customer’s site. It’s the rainy season here so the streets are flooded from torrential rains in the morning, but the weather seems to clear out as the day progresses. come the evening, the sun shines brightly and the temperature remains steady at a comfortable 80. As expected, this morning greeted us with violent rain.

I went up to the front desk.

“Buenos dias, Necesitamos un taxi” I said hesitantly

The woman behind the desk, immediately responded in a flurry of Spanish of which I caught “lluvia” and “cinco minutos”

“bueno bueno. gracias.” I said as I followed her pointed finger towards the side of the building. I assumed she meant that there would be a taxi here in about 5 minutes.

As I walked outside, it no longer mattered. Jeff had hailed a cab. And the driver was wearing a sombrero.

It wasn’t just the sombrero that was awesome. His seat covers had pictures of bottles of tequila, a small set of rosary beads hung from his mirror, and the radio hummed quiet Spanish trios. It was the quintessential Mexican taxi cab. The man followed our directions well (”uhhhh… la proxima derecha? comprende?”) and we reached our destination.

Most of the day was uneventful. Some critical equipment was stuck in customs… so we spent the day waiting. Lunch time, however, was fantastic. We had authentic comida mexicana: beans, rice, and meat served with fresh tortillas. It was perfect!

We got back to the hotel reasonably early… grabbed a bite to eat and wandered the streets of Guadalajara. This city is pretty great. It’s reasonably clean, very colorful, and friendly. Last time Jeff was here, he and some co-workers went to an Aerosmith concert. I’m going to check the schedules for tomorrow. If we do get out of work early hopefully we’ll be able to have some fun.

I had a great conversation with one of the locals here. He had spent some time in Chicago and California and we spoke of the United States.

“The United States is a good place to earn money,” he said, “but living there takes something from you. Here in Mexico, I am free. If I want to go hunting in the hills, I can go hunting in the hills. I don’t need a license or special permits. I can do what I please and go where I please.”

It was an interesting perspective. The U.S. is all about the idea of freedom, but this gentleman’s first complaint was that the U.S. kept him down. He felt that there were too many rules to follow and the rules restricted freedom enough that he had no real desire to go back.

“I don’t think I can leave my family like this though,” he added, “I have four kids. Three daughters:16, 14, and 3. and one son, 6. I’d like to go north and earn some money to help them, but at the same time I need to be here. My youngest daughter is [sweet]. She runs up to me when I get home from work and shouts ‘pappi pappi!’ and kisses my cheek. I don’t think I could my family right now even to earn more money to help them.”

The conversation then switched to Visas.

“I want to get a Visa for Vacation to the States but it’s very hard. When I was in the United States before, I was there illegally. On the forms they ask where you’ve lived for the last 10 years. I was in the U.S. in 2000. I can’t lie. So I’ll tell them I was in the U.S. They may turn me down. I hope they let my daughters in. Some of my brothers and sisters are in the United States and I’d like my daughters to be able to see what it’s like there.”

I greatly enjoy chatting with foreigners about the U.S. It’s interesting to learn what the country looks like from the outside in.

Other than having to wake up at 3:30am, the trip south was pretty straight forward. I flew to Atlanta for the Guadalajara connection. The food on the trip over the border was delicious… there was this brownie that had Oreo chunks in it. Oreo chunks in a brownie. Pure Genius.

Once I arrived I took a taxi over to the holiday inn, which is very nice. There’s some funky art on the wall and the colors make the room feel light and calming.

Guadalajara is loaded with advertising billboards. They are everywhere. Most appear to be advertising clothes with pictures of spathic women and comments about ‘la ropa de las estrellas.’

The weather is warm, but not as bad as CT this morning where walking to the car felt like wading through waist deep water. The people are friendly and the taxi driver said tomorrow there would be lluvia.

I’ll take some pictures and post them up tomorrow night.

Yesterday in the comments there was a discussion about whether ‘free shaving cream’ can counter any amount of extra Texas time.

we’ll let you decide. Check out this sweet cache of beard busting cream:

and some toothpaste to boot! Granted, the toothpaste won’t last very long. But 5 ounces of cream will probably keep me going for quite a few months. especially since I’m pretty stringent on cream usage. Perhaps… perhaps this supply will last until 2008.

That’s probably at least a 3-5 dollar savings.

Despite some tickets (3 tickets on different airlines), I didn’t get home last night. And somehow, both of my business colleagues are on a direct flight to Hartford right now and my flight doesn’t take off for another two hours and has layovers through every city in the central time zone.

It sounds like time for some Fun vs. Funk.

Funk: I won’t be home in time for Kung Fu
Fun: Extra Holiday Inn points.
Funk: Extra day in Texas.
Fun: I got some free shaving cream at the hotel
Funk: My bags are in Detroit
Fun: I got to chat with the company big wigs over dinner
Funk: 12 more hours of travel are in my immediate future

Ahh well. Thankfully the airport process is seamless. So I’m all but guaranteed to get home today without any problems whatsoever.

There are two types of holiday inns. The first is the type that has Pantene shampoo in the bathrooms. The second is the type that has the shampoo that smells like cinnamon buns.

Frankly, that’s just not a smell I associate with shampoo.

I mean… right now my hair smells delicious. And I find that weird.

When describing my seat on the airplane, my co-workers commented that I hit the jackpot.

And to some degree, I suppose that’s true. I had a window seat and an extremely cute chick in a tennis skirt sat next to me. She was hard not to look at. But… she was, at most, 18 and was with her Dad. They were checking out colleges in New England.

The age and trip purpose really made her seem less like a tennis vixen and more like a little sister.