Friday Five

"I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely."

This week brought me back to Boise. I had heard in the past that Boise is a surprisingly hip town. The first time I really didn't get to see much of it as I was out here in March(?) during a cold snap and had no coat with me. I really didn't feel like going out and exploring last time. This time I wound up at a hotel just on the outskirts of downtown. I can now say that Boise is a surprisingly hip town.

This week I had the very fortunate pleasure of having Brian, a very good friend of mine, join me in Boise. It was nice having someone to hang out with for the week. We did the MLB All Star Game on Tuesday (all 15 innings). We thought about doing the local minor league baseball game on Wednesday but decided against sitting outside in 90 degree heat to watch a game we really wouldn't care about. Instead, we went bowling and hung out on the patio of one of the downtown restaurants. All-in-all a great time.

There's a little restaurant area downtown with a street that gets very little traffic (it's not closed to traffic, but if you ask me it should be). Went down there a couple of times this week and was pleasantly surprised.

I managed to get in 3 workouts again this week - just 30 minutes on a machine, but I'm slowly getting into a routine. Slowly but surely.

Travel note - The hotel I was in this week was called "The Modern Hotel". It really should have been called "Impractical Hotel". It's a 60's modern-style theme. And not built for the business traveler. No dresser. The closet had 5 hangers. No iron (and when I asked for one I was delivered a small ironing board - off to a laundromat to just toss my clothes into the dryer I went). No desk. Uncomfortable wooden chair. Uncomfortable bed (my back is killing me). The location was great, but everything else was terrible.

My five this week was inspired by a story that a certain reader knows - cell phone peeves.

1. Someone taking a call in a car with other people. This pretty much holds the entire car hostage as we have to now keep it down to be polite while the impolite person yammers away on their phone.
2. *That guy* at the game who's on camera and needs to get on his phone to let the world know that he's on TV. I saw the most disgusting version of this last night on SportsCenter - they're taking a boxer off on a stretcher (who's near death), and as they wheel the guy down the aisle, sure enough there's a disgusting human being on his phone waving at the camera.
3. Someone at a decent restaurant on the phone. If you're at a sports bar or the like that's one thing. But if you're at a nice restaurant do the rest of us a favor and go outside.
4. People who don't turn off their ringer during a presentation. Or worse yet, those that put their phone on vibrate but leave them on the desk - that still makes as much (if not more) noise as a ringing phone.
5. Any voicemail that's longer than 45 seconds. (Sorry, sweetie.) Get to the point and move on. If I need further details I have your number and I can call back.