Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Rambling About Rambling
Tomorrow is another travel day, so if there's a post at all on Wednesday, it likely won't be until late tomorrow night.
This is my last week of Monday-to-Friday travel for a while. I enjoy business travel generally, but even something you enjoy can start to wear on you after a while. For example, the sort of hotels I can afford on my expense account are rarely 100 percent right--the one I'm in at the moment is desperately short of electrical outlets. Other places I've stayed in lately have applied the phrase "continental breakfast" to food selections that are neither continental nor breakfast. On the subject of food, dining in restaurants is a treat when it's a choice, but not as much when it's the only option. After three or four days, I am generally ready to return to my own cooking--and today is the my ninth day away from home in the past 16.
One thing that never wears on me too much is driving, however. (In that respect, at least, I am a typical guy.) My car is a nice little home away from home, as long as the CD player and cassette bag are well-stocked (today it was Lucinda Williams, Van Morrison, and Steely Dan). I'm attuned to my car's sounds and her moods, and she responds to my every wish. (It's no wonder guys love their cars--we often have the kind of relationships with them we'd like to have with our wives.)
While I was out driving today, I saw several notable bumper stickers on other cars: "I'm for the separation of church and hate." So am I. "If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?" A Renaissance-Faire type of person, to be sure. Here in Wisconsin, you can pony up some extra cash beyond the regular license fee and get Green Bay Packers license plates. (I've got them. Surprised?) Many Packer plate owners personalize them. For example, there's somebody in my neighborhood whose plate reads NEEDTX--"need tickets." I saw a Packer plate today that read IH8DCB--which any Packer fan will instantly translate as "I hate da Chicago Bears."
Recommended Reading: Also on the subject of football, Wisconsin native Luke Winn of SI.com made a pilgrimage back home last Saturday for the Michigan game, and wrote about it on the site. To get a taste of the color surrounding the typical football Saturday in Madison, click here.
Shout Out: To Lil at The Insightful Pear, a blog with four links on the main page, one of them to the Daily Aneurysm. (You really need to get out on the Internet more, Lil.) Glad to have you reading. Now everybody reading here, go over there.
Tomorrow is another travel day, so if there's a post at all on Wednesday, it likely won't be until late tomorrow night.
This is my last week of Monday-to-Friday travel for a while. I enjoy business travel generally, but even something you enjoy can start to wear on you after a while. For example, the sort of hotels I can afford on my expense account are rarely 100 percent right--the one I'm in at the moment is desperately short of electrical outlets. Other places I've stayed in lately have applied the phrase "continental breakfast" to food selections that are neither continental nor breakfast. On the subject of food, dining in restaurants is a treat when it's a choice, but not as much when it's the only option. After three or four days, I am generally ready to return to my own cooking--and today is the my ninth day away from home in the past 16.
One thing that never wears on me too much is driving, however. (In that respect, at least, I am a typical guy.) My car is a nice little home away from home, as long as the CD player and cassette bag are well-stocked (today it was Lucinda Williams, Van Morrison, and Steely Dan). I'm attuned to my car's sounds and her moods, and she responds to my every wish. (It's no wonder guys love their cars--we often have the kind of relationships with them we'd like to have with our wives.)
While I was out driving today, I saw several notable bumper stickers on other cars: "I'm for the separation of church and hate." So am I. "If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?" A Renaissance-Faire type of person, to be sure. Here in Wisconsin, you can pony up some extra cash beyond the regular license fee and get Green Bay Packers license plates. (I've got them. Surprised?) Many Packer plate owners personalize them. For example, there's somebody in my neighborhood whose plate reads NEEDTX--"need tickets." I saw a Packer plate today that read IH8DCB--which any Packer fan will instantly translate as "I hate da Chicago Bears."
Recommended Reading: Also on the subject of football, Wisconsin native Luke Winn of SI.com made a pilgrimage back home last Saturday for the Michigan game, and wrote about it on the site. To get a taste of the color surrounding the typical football Saturday in Madison, click here.
Shout Out: To Lil at The Insightful Pear, a blog with four links on the main page, one of them to the Daily Aneurysm. (You really need to get out on the Internet more, Lil.) Glad to have you reading. Now everybody reading here, go over there.
