[Insert Scathingly Brilliant Title Here]

It's really depressing to think that I'm going to get on a plane, sleep fitfully (or not sleep at all), wake up (or land), be in Minneapolis, take a cab, arrive at work, and then shoot for 8 hours.

Maybe not depressing. Exhausting. Yes. It makes me tired to think of it. Good thing, maybe it'll help me sleep on the plane.

Additionally: I'm dreading flying with an ear infection which, after the last few flights I've had in a short period of time, I'm now certain I have. Ear infections do not count as being sick for me. I get them all the time. They're just really, really annoying.

I think it's a rule, all travel posts about San Francisco have to have that title. I rather like San Fran--you can get anything you'd like at almost any time. Palestinian food with a French dessert and a hippie wheatgrass chaser? They have it here.

We went to this really, really cool restaurant: Gary Danko (oooh, celebrity chef and all...faaaaaancy). It's one of those with multiple courses that are perfectly portioned and have really good, quality, fresh ingredients. Service was awesome, if a bit excessive. We literally had 8 people wait on us: The host, the water-pourer, the drink-taker, the plate-clearer, the silverware setter-outter, the waitress, the drink bringer and the meal server. I had the white truffle risotto, the roasted lobster and the 5 preparations of apple. Fancy-shmancy. They brought us an amuse-bouche before our meal, complimentary dessert cookie-tart-things, and sent me home with a package of pumpkin-cheese bread, "For breakfast--sweets for the sweet lady," said the waitress (I heard her say that to the next table over too). I'm not sharing my free bread.

You can also find most any type of person in San Fran. For instance, we were driven home by the cab driver-version of Jeff Spicolli. Seriously. Long blond hair, surfer dude attitude (yes, he called us "dude"), whacked out stoner speech and attitude, and (I'm not kidding here) his acoustic guitar beside him in the passenger seat. He offered to take us on a "tour" of the city. We declined politely, thinking that we would be lucky if he remembered what hotel we told him we were at by the end of the cab ride.

And now I'm in the hotel overlooking the financial district. It's really a beautiful city at night, all told. During the day? I have *some* reservations.

When I travel, I've noticed that I have a certain set of habits and preferences. Even if I know I'm doing something the wrong way or inefficiently, I tend to keep doing it in that manner--because I'm traveling, and I have to have SOME consistency in my routine.

Because I am curious, ( take the poll: )

And also in case you're curious, ( my poll answers: )

I've been very lucky in my travels so far. Knock on wood, but I have never:

--Missed a flight that wasn't a connecting flight (and that only happened once--and it was the airline's fault, so they patched it right up, no worries)

--Been stuck on an airplane for 11 hours (Jet Blue!)

--Lost my luggage for more than a few hours.

--Been probed excessively

--Had my carry on searched or had any security issues.

But now I can say that I have arrived at the airport without a ticket.

3 hours before my flight (I got there super-early because Derrick had to go to work), I go to check in...and oops, my boss didn't actually purchase my ticket. Minor technicality--except for the fact that everyones' flights had been canceled the day before on account of the snow (snow! It's tres' pretty!) and EVERYONE and their brother was at the ticket purchasing counter trying to get different tickets. I sat in line for a half an hour, my boss told me that he was going to buy tickets over the phone and to get out of line. Then he was on hold for a half an hour before I decide to get back in line (because the phone thing was NOT working). I'm in line for another half hour (and my stress meter is rising). The ticket purchasing counter had three NWA employees....one was occupied with a woman crying and trying to get someone back from somewhere (she was at the counter for a good 45 minutes--no exaggeration), one was moving normally, and one just decided to give up and go away. The people behind me are calling the NWA service line and complaining about the service in line (which I'm sure significantly contributed to the delay in ordering tickets over the phone).

I finally am the next in line when my boss calls me and says that he HAD my reservation taken care of, but his phone hung up before he could make the payment. I go up to the ticket counter and my reservation has magically appeared.

Instead of being a $300 round-trip ticket, the flight ended up costing (the company) a little under $1,200. Maybe next time I'll handle my own travel arrangements. 

Just a quickish post--I'm fading fast after being up since around 5 a.m. and working til about...now.

I wanted to expound upon the ocean and all the wonderful things you can think (whoa, I just went Doctor Seuss for a second there) while walking along an abandoned white sand beach at night--but it seems trite to put it into words. Maybe I'll type up something later.

We were bumped from the 4 star convention hotel to the 5 star hotel on the beach (and received a $100 hotel gift card--good at the shops and such--for my "troubles")--not a bad trade all in all. The hotel, however, does some funny things. For instance:

--They insist on putting me in a handicapped room, which has been a disturbing trend amongst hotels I've stayed in recently. Do I look "special" or something?

--They lay out two sets of slippers and two robes at night in their turn-down service. I'm in a single.

--They keep moving my pajamas (which were either on the bed or the floor) to different places each day. I found them stuffed in the top of a closet one day, on my nightstand the next, and in the set of drawers another night. It's a fun game--find your clothes. . .

--They keep picking up my other clothes off the floor and folding my dirty socks. This is extremely disconcerting to me.

It's a grand hotel though--ocean view, suite, full kitchen, etc. Overall, one of the nicer hotels I've been at.

Oh, I just found out that I'm going to Palm Springs, CA in February here. Ack!

No matter what hotel I'm in, no matter what city--I always sleep in the bed furthest from the door (if given two doubles) or in the side closest to the door (if given a king).

I'm not sure why, exactly. I prefer having two doubles so I can set up my travel crap (ooh, technical term) at the right height.

Since it usually coincides with the side furthest from the alarm clock and closest to the window, maybe I'm reaching for the sun, and not the artificial wake up.

A plane crashed into a building in NY the day I flew out here.

I'm staying in room 911.

I'm flying back home on Friday the 13th.

Coincidence? Meaning? Doom? Stay tuned to find out.

San Francisco is going okay. I mean, for once it wasn't painful to have to go out with the client--I actually had a relatively nice time. I'm very much looking forward to being home though, the cooler temps at home make me want to snuggle under the covers in full hibernation mode.

This time my experience in Las Vegas was significantly better than the last time. There's one thing you can say about the city--it's one of the places in the world (and there are few) where you can consistently expect to get good hotel food.

AND they have free wireless internet at the Las Vegas airport--AWESOMENESS!

We'll see what fun packages I'll have waiting for me when I get home. The one thing I like about sending out wedding invites is that I'll be getting mail for a while now. I LOVE getting actual, physical mail more than I probably should. It's a simple thing, yet it makes me ridiculously happy (I'm talking actual squealing here).

On another note, I'm completely wiped out. Project Runway is about the only thing I'll be involved in tonight.

I know that everyone envies and covets the skill sets that they don't have (even above all the rare and unique talents that they have themselves). I know that not everyone can write well, though I don't think that writing is a particularly unique talent...nor is it a difficult one (therefore explaining why I view it as a "talent" for me).

We're on a site logistics meeting with a client, and their meeting organizer is just...well, she amazes me. I don't often come across people that I want to BE in most every way. She's assertive, take-charge, has no fear, is socially graceful, asks for things that I would never have the guts to ask for, super-organized, confident, and she really, really knows what she's doing with all the little (and big) event minutiae. I envy her mad skillz. She pays for all our meals, and though it's probably all paid for by her company she gives off this aura of carefree affluence. She travels more frequently than I do, by herself, and to exotic locales. I don't think I would ever be able to travel by myself and "handle" the client on my own. Maybe it's something I'll grow into. I hope so. As of now that kind of thing absolutely terrifies me. I feel like a child in comparison.

She does have this weird thing where she thinks every guy is hitting on her though. I mean, she's gorgeous, from CA, and very down-to-earth, but I would think that I wouldn't be totally oblivious in all these situations she's describing.

Nice girl (woman...she's probably in her late 20's-early 30's...though she looks like she's my age or younger). Wish I were her. In fact, I now feel nervous around her and her ultra-sophisticated jet-setting lifestyle.


Yes, I know I have my own talents...but it's so darn hard to see one's own talents as unique or special in any way sometimes.

For the first time in...maybe ever...I've woken up in a hotel room without having to set an alarm. Just waking up naturally in a strange place is a very unique experience.

Disney is freakin' sweet. We went to Epcot yesterday (on a Saturday!) and had to wait in line for NOTHING. There were only a small handful of children above the age of four.

Epcot has always been my favorite park, because I like the circle of countries in the World Showcase. It makes me feel worldly and it's highly educational (Canada has moose, eh? Who'd a thunk it Disney?). However, I'm thinking it's time for Epcot to update their country display. I don't think I'd take out any, but I would expand and add. The current countries in the circle are (and my favorites are starred):

*Canada--This has always held a place in my heart ever since I bought an emergency sweatshirt here before getting really sick.
*United Kingdom--Toys and tea. Everyone singing in the pub. Boys with British accents. It rocks.
France--Mostly wine, not much entertainment. Oh, except the 18 minute move that says "Ahh, my beloved Frahnz" and basically nothing else.
Morocco--Doesn't have much in terms of showing you the culture.
*Japan--Tin Toy Story! Japan is about the classiest country display there.
America--Unlike all the other country displays, which feature mostly landscape and culture, America focuses in on Presidents and government and not the (what I think is) interesting topography and culture of the start of the nation.
Italy--Again, not much there save for wine. Oh, and some RenFest rejects doing a really bad rendition of Romeo and Edna.
*Germany--Toys sell it again. Germany doesn't have much but toys and beer, but it's got some cool-freaking-toys.
*China--The newly refurbished 9-screen surround movie sells this one for me.
*Norway--Whilst I was upset that pretty much half the things in the Norway shop were actually Swedish, they still had a semi-awesome Viking boat ride. Oh, and not THAT kind of Viking Boat Ride, football fans.
Mexico--Eh, they try...but most of their displays end up being extremely simple and insulting in some instances.

I would like to see them add:
--Another Nordic/Scandinavian country: Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, or Finland
--A "down under" country: New Zealand or Australia
--A soviet country: Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, etc.
--A middle eastern country (so Morocco doesn't have to pull double duty as the African country and the "Middle Eastern" country)
--An actual African country: Tanzania or Somalia
--A South American country: Argentina or Brazil
--Greece

I think we're doing the Magic Kingdom today. Again, it will be blissfully crowd-and-child free. I'll get to see Philharmagic 6 times in a row, if I so desire.