Friday Five

The Excuse

Ok – I’m back. With the holidays and the last couple of weeks being stressful I’ve been rather disconnected from the world. I’m back now.

The Week[s]

Let’s see. Where did we leave off here? Last time I checked in, I was leaving NYC for Washington, DC (Bethesda, actually) for a 3 day class. As Abram lives in DC, I took the extra couple of days out there to spend some time with him. Didn’t do any real touristy stuff, but we did do a great pub crawl on Thursday. It was really just a chance for the two of us to hang out together.

That weekend saw the annual Strong Ale Festival, where there was 70+ ales, all 8% alcohol or higher. By far the best beer was a stout by a local brewery called Green Flash that was aged in a bourbon barrel. Two great things that are great together.

This past week brought me back to Houston for a 3 day class and an adventure with the weather. It snowed in Houston. Yes – you read that right – it snowed.

The Exercise

I knew it wasn’t going to happen these past couple of weeks with the holidays and my work schedule, and now that I’m ready to get back to work I have a sinus thing that will not leave me alone. But I need to get back in the groove.

The Travel Note

As I mentioned above it snowed in Houston – on the day that I was leaving. I knew this was going to cause a problem at some point, but I didn’t realize how it would actually go down.

After boarding the plane, we pushed back and hung out for a few minutes. Then the pilot announces that we’re going to taxi down to the end of the runway and deice. Yes – deice. In Houston.

Anyone who’s flown from a cold weather city likely knows the drill – they spray chemicals on the plane, and 15 minutes later you’re off and running. Of course, this isn’t a cold weather city. And they weren’t prepared.

Now they did have equipment (which surprised me as well.) What they didn’t have, though, was a plan to set up a barrier to prevent the chemicals from going into the grass. That process took about an hour and a half. And then finally we were able to get deiced and take off. The one saving grace was that I did have an upgrade, which made the time go by much easier. All told we took off 2.5 hours late.

The Five

Some odds and ends:

1. The biggest key to an enjoyable flight is preparation. Bring good boredom relievers – I like TV shows. Bring water and snacks (I like trail mix). You never know when you’re going to be stuck on a plane for an extra 2.5 hours.
2. I can’t get over the lack of quality in newspaper comics. Not only do almost all new strips lack humor, they also look like they were drawn in a 3rd grade class project.
3. Not that I drink soda very often, but there are few pleasures in life like that of a cold can of Mountain Dew.
4. If my team is going to lose, I’ll always take a blowout over a close game. If it’s a blowout it’s easier to get over. If it’s a close game, you wind up with heartache for days.
5. The only time I miss snow is for Christmas, New Year’s and my birthday. If we could get snow for just those couple of times and that’s it I’d be just fine with it.