Some Fragments of My Week

Flew in a tiny plane to Milwaukee. Had 120mph headwinds. Finished the Sunday NYT crossword puzzle on the flight.

Stayed at the Residence Inn Milwaukee. It was really cold. Milwaukee doesn’t have taxis like a real city. You have to call them.

Got a ride from a woman who heard me calling a taxi company. Taxi company said it would be an hour. She said she was driving right past my hotel. That’s when I knew I was in the Midwest.

Ate at Mo’s. As the sign said, it’s a “Great Place for Steaks.” Ate there twice.

Did user acceptance testing at a client. UAT is like when you show someone your newborn baby and they say, “Wow, that’s an ugly baby.”

Got a rental car at Milwaukee’s Mitchell Field. I couldn’t find the Hertz bus for a bit. Then I realized there are no rental car busses. You just walk into the rental area from the terminal. Realized that I’ve been conditioned too much by O’Hare and Atlanta.

Rented a Mercury Sable Premier. I didn’t even know they made those anymore. Really uncomfortable seats.

Ate at Little Szechuan in Highland Park, IL. Best General Tso’s Chicken ever. They call it Governor’s Chicken. I guess it’s chicken from before the Taiping Rebellion.

Was the coldest I’ve been this winter on Friday. It was 7 degrees Fahrenheit. Some people were only wearing sweaters.

Wrote a bunch, both for clients and blogs. Finished the USA Today crossword puzzle every day. Recognized that it’s embarrassing to think you’re cool that you finished the USA Today crossword puzzle. Whipped out my New York Times 50 Daily Crossword Puzzles book I got from Matt at Christmas and did a couple of those just to make sure I had my groove. Nailed “bubbling over” for the clue “elated” and was…elated.

Drove back to Mitchell Field after having breakfast with a client at Walker Brothers Famous Pancake House. Had to stop and get gas. A gallon of gas spilled on the ground because the pump didn’t stop. Spent the remainder of my trip back to Hertz wondering if flames were going to erupt out of the car and I was going to be immolated trying to get my computer out of the trunk.

Got back on a really small plane to Philly. We taxied out, then they turned off the engines. Ground hold. We waited half an hour. I was thankful that I had both seats on my side to myself. So did the old lady across from me, who kept shifting in her seat. We took off. Woman with three kids and a cough that sounded like SARS moved to the front of the plane. Flight attendant had to watch her kids while she went to the bathroom for 20 mins. Wondered for 19 minutes what people do in there. Looked up at one point while flight attendant was babysitting and saw a wall of water coming down from the coffee pot in the galley. Jumped up and told flight attendant. Flood. He took several blankets and mopped up. Gave me a whole soda later for noticing. Lady next to me kept shifting in her seat. Each time it smelled like she filled her Depends. I turned up the air vent and blew it in my face until I realized that the woman with SARS was coughing into the intake vent. I gave up.

Plane lands. Sheryl comes to get me. I get to see my family for the first time in a week. I get to sit in my chair. I fall asleep by 9pm. Sheryl tells me to go to bed. I do. We have a new Comforpedic mattress. It’s the best ever. I wake up at 5:30am. Think about how glad I am to be home. Take Snickers the Wonder Dog for a walk. Sit down. Read the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Write this.

The end.