Flight 68

I'm actually waiting to board flight 2813 to CMH from gate G11. Eleven is my favorite number and this is the 68th flight of 2013. While I've had occasional work travel since the late 90's and regular work travel since 2005, this completes my first full year of constant travel. In fact, I've taken 24 work trips and a ridiculous number of personal ones ranging from weddings to birthday parties to scooter rallies to vacations. According to SPG/HH summaries/vacation itineraries, there were 45 hotel stays totaling 109 nights. That's a lot of sleep a on a strange pillow. This does not include tent nights from the camping trips or the times we stayed with friends. Fortunately, since 100 of those hotel stays were SPG, I hit the Platinum Ambassador level and now get awesome suite upgrades and can pro-actively select my favorite room at my regular work hotel. I just earned this last week and am excited to meet Bonnie, my new SPG person! It's the little things that make the strange pillow bearable. With this last flight I also achieve Platinum status on American. It isn't full time travel but I've earned the #roadwarrior status!

Today was a super fun adventure. It proved difficult to find non-hotel dining options with most places opening in the afternoon or for dinner only. I couldn't commit to a lengthy and expensive sit down option while flying solo. Breakfast ended up being Dunkin Donuts with two homeless dudes. Had they not already gotten their food, I would have treated them! Lunch was a pastry from Starbucks with a bunch of old gay men and an African artist who couldn't get into her studio because everyone else was out of town. She was not using an inside voice for her endless phone conversation(s). Here's a little picture journey of today's selfies:

Travel was painless getting here and the ground was beautifully snow covered at the 8:00 landing time. I slept for most of the 50 minute flight but did catch a few photos of nature's beauty. Once on the ground, the multitude of de-icing trucks and snow removal devices reminded me that ORD is ready for Winter but their on time departures sure make you wonder if they know how to use all that stuff. It's super easy to get to the "L" and $10 provides a full day pass. A taxi would have been faster but there's no adventure in that!

I spent the first few hours taking the L downtown, eating, and walking around Millennium Park and Anish Kapoor's "Cloud Gate" sculpture. I've only ever heard of it referred to as the "bean." I thought beans were from Boston?

Once the ice skating rink opened at 10 AM, I parted with another $10 for the rental and spent about 45 mins skating forward and backwards and practicing my jumps and rotations on the freshly groomed ice. Actually, I spent the first ten minutes trying to stand and the next ten trying to avoid fallen children and foreigners. By the time I remembered how to skate and gained a little confidence, the old legs started to burn from the pain! The last several loops around the track were amazing and I had a BLAST! 

I walked back the the train and selected the Red Line to Boys Town. This mural struck a chord. Perhaps I should have volunteered at a shelter or soup kitchen instead of selfishly hoarding airline points?

Once arriving in Boys Town, I walked past our favorite boutique hotel, City Suites, and then walked Belmont, Clark, and the notorious Halstead. There was only one lunch restaurant open and it was packed to the gills. Every step triggered memories of visits to see our Chicago friends, weekend escapes from Columbus, and general gay foolishness in our youth. Many of the old bars and shops are still there. Had they been open, I likely would have struck up a conversation and ended up with some new friends or made the small-world connections that would undoubtedly link us to a common thread. It was oddly strange to be in the epicenter of excitement and have nobody to talk to. I actually needed this introspective journey. I am thinking. I am thinking a lot.  

I was essentially in the cold all day; the temperature only broke 20 about half way through the trip. Waiting for the cross-town Addison city bus to avoid going back downtown proved to be too cold. I broke down and took a $10 cab ride to the Blue line where my all day L pass promptly delivered me back to the airport. I grabbed a couple drinks in the Admiral's Club and now I'm waiting for the (delayed) flight home. Tim is picking a dinner spot so I hope it isn't too late!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

This past weekend was filled with foolishness and fun as we visited with friends from NY, DC, NC, and WV, went to several parties, and even hosted an impromptu one at home. There was also a drag show, delicious Pho, an anniversary party for Capital City Scooters and several babies to love!

I spent Monday night and all day Christmas Eve with my family. We haven't served a traditional meal in several years. It's become a tradition of our own to mix it up. In the past few there was an Italian Christmas, a Mexican Christmas, and this year we did brunch! It was perfectly lovely. I merged three Gluten Free Quiche recipes into one and served up mini Swiss cheese, mushroom, spinach, kale, and onion versions with an almond crust. I am a big big fan of the new removable bottom pans that arrived via Amazon, directly to my parent's house, on Monday! Here's a pic of the first live tree my parents have put up in years and my nephew rearranging the gifts for distribution! 

Christmas is always a bit anti-climatic as my family celebrates on Christmas Eve; the actual day is frequently a trip home with the lightest roads and cheapest flights. Tim rarely wants to go visit his family and this year we have a wedding in a few weekends where we'll spread holiday cheer in Cincinnati. Since he's working today, I decided to create a choose your own adventure and accumulate the final American points for Platinum status. The cheap Christmas flight and the extra 2014 points potential made it financially worthwhile. It also psychologically provides the "me time" getaway to make this vacationless holiday season a little more exciting. 

Bring on Chicago! Let's see how much damage can be done with eight hours on the ground!

How Hot Are You?

I probably should be posting about how excited I am that this is the last business trip of the year or the @AAdvantage First Class upgrade for the flight home. I could be bi+<#!ng about how horrible the @Hertz return process is at #DFW and how they never have enough attendants and if you do self return in the after hours box they "lose" your car and have no reliable escalation process but to wait until they find it. Yes, that happened this year. I could chat about this whole Duck Dynasty hicksploitation mess or Facebook's inaccurate algorithm that gave me this rodeo ad for Ram Trucks, presumably due to the TX location and a middle age condition. But, I'm not. 

Let's talk about beauty. My beauty to be precise. Ha!

Seriously, here's the back story; I've thought way too much about this in the last 24 hours and need to write some words to get it out of the head. Earlier this year, on some random weekend, I found myself waiting for friends at Exile. I was dressed in the ordinary uniform; a v-neck tee and jeans. The shirt was probably black or dark grey/brown since it was a weekend night. Unless I'm in some ridiculous blouse or the rare tank top when Timmy isn't around to judge, I don't venture too far from that proven formula. I remember feeling particularly happy and attractive that night for no apparent reason. Despite picking up some "Ohio" weight, this has been a good year and forty is proving to be quite fabulous. This particular one was just a good day and gearing up to be a fun night with friends. 

Yum; Hot nuts, red wine, and warm towel break before the meal! Did I mention being luxuriously seated in First Class?

The Exile bartender and I struck up a conversation because it was early enough to not be very busy. He complimented me on a tattoo and then said something like, "You are so f'n hot and you probably don't even know it." I was crushed. It seemed he was attracted to me because I was overly white trashy, or poor looking, or bearish, or fat, or some other non-traditional reason that attracts one person to another. This is quite common at a place like Exile where the non-traditional is exhaulted. (Picture three hot dudes making out with a 400 lb man in a harness and kilt). I didn't want to be one of those "other" people who didn't fit the classic definition of beauty or have the confidence to realize they were attractive in some way. I wanted to be a universally beautiful Details Magazine cover boy. You know, the one with great hair, white teeth, a lean muscular body, and youthful sexiness locked down with some degree of fame or fortune. While I didn't dwell on it too long, in some weird way, the incident lingered. It was frustrating and perhaps even subconsciously inspired my late Summer fitness quest. I wanted to be be proud of my masculine beauty and not one who couldn't even recognize his own appeal. I certainly didn't want to be placed in some niche gay classification; I wanted universal acceptance. 

Skip forward to last night. This has been a particular busy work week with major projects, annual reviews, and working dinners giving me little time to relax or clear the head. It was early, about 7:30, when I got out of the office so I decided to change clothes and step out for a bit. I put on 'the uniform' and hopped in my Toyota Tacoma pick up truck rental. It is Dallas. Feeling sexy and butch, I hit the Dallas Eagle for a happy hour cocktail. The place is usually good for conversation with a friendly local or another business traveler without too much Dallitude. However, work beckoned and I sat at the bar with my nose buried in the iPhone responding to email. At least it wasn't in my lonely hotel room where I usually do this very same thing. Bypassing the 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey special, I enjoyed a nice citrus vodka and headed out for a quick dinner at Hunky's. Being relatively early and feeling good, I decided to swing back by the Eagle for a nightcap. The crowd was pretty decent earlier and I hoped to strike up a conversation and forget about work. 

There were several friendly folks at the bar. I positioned myself near some youthful eye candy and ordered a drink. A couple of guys started conversation about living in California and some other random nothingness. They were perfectly pleasant and the conversation spurred some laughter and decent mindless stories. The conversation shifted and I found myself talking to just one dude. He proceeded to tell me how shocked he was that I was friendly and pleasant to talk to because he had seen me earlier, before leaving for dinner. While I was busy working, he was apparently watching me and thinking about how hot and how arrogant I looked. He was just sure that I "knew" how hot I was based on my body language. He knew I wouldn't talk to him or anyone in the bar. I was crushed. While this was exactly the kind of self assured sexy hot I wanted back in the Summer, this man's perception was absolutely not who I think I am or want to be. 

All of this is likely nothing but sometimes we get stuck on perception and what it means. Admittedly, too much brain power has been wasted on these two situations. I want to be hot. I want to have confidence. I try not to care what people think of me as long as they like me. It's human nature even though I hate when people say that. I don't want people to think I'm arrogant or unapproachable or that my ego is too big for my own good. What's different about these two nights and the drastically different interactions and perceptions? I know that I won't ever be magazine cover beautiful or twenty two or have the perfect body but I am ok with this. How do I need to act to ensure a positive portrayal of who I want to be and why should anyone really "act" like anything. If being myself, which I was in both scenarios, leads to such different perceptions, what do you do? Was the work mindset giving me a different demeanor? Was driving a butch truck impacting my attitude? Why have I written thirty five pages on this? Why do I always make a long story longer? Why isn't there some useful life lesson here? Let's see if rambling on helps or if I think about this again. I probably should edit. 

Oh. Sorry about that kilt visual earlier on the post. Some people really get into that and it is totally ok! It's about time to land. I'm exhausted. 

Heigh-Ho Heigh-Ho

Most of our holiday shopping is done after two weekends hitting the craft and artisan shows, the CCAD student sale, Amazon, and a few select mainstream stores. The CCAD sale was my favorite and we ended up with three pieces for our own trailer. One was framed, I framed the second, and the third is out being professionally matted and framed for the kitchen. One of our holiday gifts is also there and should be done on the day I leave for home. Fingers crossed! I'm a huge fan of supporting local young artists and even more so when they are students! The art community also lost Timmy's favorite to cancer this weekend. RIP George Rodrigue. 

The family celebrated Dad's 68th birthday with a huge bonfire in the freezing cold temperatures last Friday. My brothers decorated a hay wagon with lights and we took a Winter hay ride to see Wachtel's holiday display. It is still quite impressive, and highly recommended, but not quite as magical at 40 as it was at 10. I do love their classic Disney and nursery rhyme displays from the early days. 

http://youtu.be/whnn9ReUV04

Speaking of Disney, Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, it's off to work I go! This will likely be the busiest Dallas trip I've had in months with all three days booked from early AM to late evening. I really need to extend it to Thursday or Friday, and packed accordingly, but will do whatever it takes to avoid traveling closer to Christmas. I suspect the airports will be a disaster as we approach the weekend. There are only three more flights on my 2013 Itinerary. It's been a busy year!

Wachtel's: https://m.facebook.com/pages/Wachtels-Christmas-Lights/319074091457043

The Storm Before The Storm

It's amazing how Dallas freaks out about weather. I guess it's really not amazing and is rather predictable at this point. When I arrived yesterday, several of my employees asked if I was leaving right away due to the big ice storm. Oblivious, I went about my work and didn't have time to check the weather or the news until later last night. With the certainty of 100% precipitation and high temperature forecast for 32 on Friday, I knew it was time to rebook. Fortunately the only mission critical meeting was scheduled for this morning and there were seats on the 7:50 PM direct to CMH. I booked it. 

With only one night in town, I decided to step out for a decent meal and joined a colleague at CBD for a downtown dinner. It's a restaurant at a fancy pants hotel so why they call it the Central Business District escapes me. Such is life as the Cuban Sammy was delicious. We followed dinner with a cocktail in the Library Room at Woolworths. Pretty cool place but it might be trying too hard. The waitress was a doll; too bad she tried to sell us "beg nets" for dessert. We really should have educated her on the pronunciation. If her day job as a hair stylist doesn't work out, she'll need the tips from the larger checks of people who know how to pronounce and order beignets. 

This morning kicked off with a First Class upgrade confirmation (happy happy), followed by a flight cancelation and then a notice that no available flights could be rebooked. I immediately got on the horn with travel and secured the 2:50 flight. It's delayed. I'm writing this on the ground, waiting for de-icing necessary due to the earlier than expected freezing rain. As you can see from the photo, I'm in a crappy seat, next to the crapper. This does not matter because at least I won't be stranded in Dallas! 

The airport was swarming with people trying to get out. There was even a line at TSA Pre✔️ and for the Admirals Club. This was most unusual. I did enjoy watching the 70 year old woman wheel her 90 year old mother into the bar.  As she adjusted her wig and asked for a vodka soda, I knew we'd at least be friends if my flight didn't take off. I love talking to old people that drink!

Here's hoping for a nice snowy Columbus weekend with lots of fireplace activity and little movement from the sofa! 

Village Lights

Off to Dallas with an on time departure. I have three iPhone/iPad chargers in my bag but no iPad. In my pre-trip excitement to try the new remote access for work, I used it last night and didn't put it back in my bag. #travelfail

It's been a great week starting with some gold additions to the orange tree to Christmas it up a bit and a successful open house during Village Lights. It was great to see several friends from our jobs, the scooter world, the neighborhood, and long time pals. Everyone truly enjoyed the Makers Mark Mulled Cider recipe, even my Mom with the virgin version! I enjoyed hosting people but since I was the only responsible one, there was no opportunity to take turns hosting and participating in the German Village events. Perhaps next year we'll do a pre-party only or just participate in everyone else's events!