new chairs!

My new chairs! I pick them up next Saturday!

my new chairs?????

I was just checking out Design Within Reach. I love that furniture store. Half my furniture is from there. And I found these chairs. Of course, they're back ordered 14 - 16 weeks...

But I really like them. I would get two of each color. They're modern looking, I think the color will accent the table nicely, and they're cool.

Here's some new pics of my table. I think the chairs will go nicely with the carpet too.

Too bad the chairs I really want cost $1,200 each. Ech.

new year is almost here...

Since I did such a crap job last year keeping my new year's resolutions (better work/life balance, making climbing a priority, spending more time socializing with friends) I've decided to get a jump start on the new year.

The first thing I did was collect all the information I need for taxes and I made myself a new budget for this year. My goal is to pay my house off in less than 10 years so I can have the choice of the type of job I want rather than being chained to a corporate desk to make mortgage payments. With my budget I'll pay my house off in less than 9 years. I've also upped my savings so I can retire sooner rather than later (I put 10% of my take home pay in a money market and 10% in mutual funds as well as having a credit union account with a good interest rate where I dump the left over money at the end of every month and I max out my Roth IRA on top of my 401k - the greatest joy of not dating anyone is being able to save a lot of money).

Last year I did a great job with my goal of only filling my tank up once a month. Easier for me than most since I normally just drive my car to the airport and back. But that goal made me think twice about taking trips and it forced me to consolidate errands (also, having to carry what ever you bought will greatly reduce the amount of money you spend).

I applied for a bunch of jobs local to Denver yesterday and already was contacted by a recruiter. Fingers crossed. I'm frankly sick of busting my ass. Really, how many people out there could handle my travel schedule AND be skilled enough to do my job? 8 in the US or at least that's how many of us are left at my company. When I get a local job I'm going back to pilates and long bike rides and climbing. I'm tired of spending my evenings in a Holiday Inn located off some noisy highway working.

I also decided this year that I'm NOT going to contribute money to any charities that didn't send me a receipt for the contributions I made this year. Okay, if I donated $20 I can understand a non-profit being lax about sending me a receipt (further, I would hate for them to spend the money to do that). But if I contribute over $200 I expect at least an email acknowledging that you took my money. I contribute 7% of my after tax salary to charities and the ones that can't keep their paperwork straight will get nothing because I wasted 4 hours today trying to find canceled checks for the jokers that didn't email me a receipt.

Since I quit smoking I'm back in the groove with my versa climber which is the perfect antidote to cold weather. I'm easing myself back into my routine (last time I did two days of workouts that were 30 minutes and the next day I decided to do 60 minutes and my knee swelled up like a pregnant cat). Though in theory I'm not allowed to use my versa climber any more because of my knee I think if I don't go totally insane the first month or so I'll be fine. And I'm going back to my old routine of hitting the gym the second I get back to my hotel room. I've gotten into a bad habit of answering emails before the gym and that meant by the time I worked out I was already tired.  Why should I sacrifice my workout because some idiot isn't intelligent enough to check my schedule to see if I'm available for an engagement  and thus requires me to respond back to him by email?

Finally, I've been working on my cooking skills and socializing skills. I spent an hour today over at my neighbor Pat's house and conned her into helping me with my yard next year (which, if all goes as planned, will be easy to take care of because I'll actually be home). Then I saw my neighbor Carol who just got back from Costa Rica. And then I went for a walk with my friend Cam when she got off work. We found a new little shop that sells stuff that came from other people's houses, what ever those are called, not thrift store...what ever they're called. They had a ton of books that are only ten cents each. Though I love Tattered Cover I can't keep spending $100 a month on books (for the record, I read all my books - I used to use the library but with my travel schedule it's too hard to either find the time to go or return my books on time).

And I measured chairs for my new table at world market today. Didn't find the perfect chair yet. I'm really stressed about buying the wrong chairs and my friend Cam was making fun of me. I have been toying with the idea of checking out some antique stores to see what kind of chairs they have. But that would mean shopping.

I may do that. But, I really, really hate shopping. And I only have a half tank of gas to get me through to the new year and I want to do some snow shoeing in the mountains this weekend...

It's nice to have a week off to get my life back in order after so much time on the road. And to have the time to organize things so when I start traveling again I'm not stressing out. With any luck my travel days are numbered and a new cool job with a not full of crack heads company awaits.

I laugh to think how the translation engines handle me

I was just checking my page views for the week. I'm always surprised by the countries that show up. Malta? Estonia?

Very cool to be read there. And if any of my readers want me to visit their home country let me know. I've wanted to go to Malta for years. And I just did some research on Estonia. Very progressive country. And temperate. I think I would like the food there (minus the pork). The pictures on wikipedia were nice. I'll have to visit sometime.

hopefully they don't give the TSA real guns

This in from my brother Bob...

A guy brought a loaded gun through airport security. As he was attempting to show the TSA officer how to clear the gun the agent fired it.


TSA employment exam:

Q: how do you secure a weapon?
 A: fire it until it's empty

Bob also found this:

A woman was forced to remove her nipple ring, with pliers, before she was allowed to board her aircraft. This even though she had passed through the metal detector without setting it off (she was "chosen" for additional security screening). The male TSA officers were laughing as she stood behind a curtain trying to remove the nipple ring. They did not seem concerned about her belly button ring, which she was allowed to leave in.

Bob wrote: "Next they'll be asking people to remove tattoos, because all the terrorists are into body modifications".

Are they fucking serious? We need a protest movement against TSA...

really, I don't want to die

Ech. I just received this summary back from a publisher I submitted my manuscript to. I wonder if she even read past the first ten pages. This is the reason I didn't want to put that shit in about being so overwhelmed by pain that I wanted to die. Everyone reads it as if I'm some kind of psychotic suicidal idiot.

Would I let these people publish my book? Um, no.

“My Other Nine Lives” recounts Ms. Flowers’ battle to recover from a major knee-surgery that
nearly made her commit suicide.


A runner since she was eight years old, Ms. Flowers has won several long-distance races in the
span of fifteen years. Other than running, she also loves diving, white water rafting, and hiking
up the rockiest and most steep altitude she could find. She is a self-professed adventurist; even as
an engineering consultant, she would go to dangerous places others would not dare to visit.
Although a risk-taker, she never once thought that her extreme adventures could kill her, but
when it almost did, she reached the point where she wished to die—and nearly did.


It was in November of 2000 when Ms. Flowers underwent a seven-hour knee surgery. Her knee
and femur had to be restored using parts from a donor. The injury was originally caused by the
motorcycle accident she had eight years earlier that was aggravated by her extreme activities
until her knees and femur gave out.


The long, grueling, and painful months of recovery were the hardest part of Ms. Flowers’
journey. It was during this part of her life when she contemplated suicide just to end the pain she
was in after the surgery. But it was also during this time when she learned the value of things and
activities she formerly ignored. She knows that her injury will never curve her resolve to seek
and experience more adventures, but the lessons she learned from getting it will make her even
more cautious of her activities and careful of her body.


“My Other Nine Lives” might appeal to a reader interested in stories of extreme-sports
enthusiasts who recover from a serious injury."

cupcakes - national security threat or more idiocy from the gov?

Of course it's idiocy from the government:

TSA confiscated a woman's cupcake.

For those that don't travel that much, yawn, ho hum.

For those of us that do, this is one more example of the stupidity of TSA. The officer confiscated the cupcake, which had been through a security check in Logan, in Las Vegas because he said the icing was like a gel.

This is what fucking pisses me off. Be consistent. Every week that I fly it's a new challenge to see what the moron TSA officers are going to bitch about. Really, my neti pot? Or a bag of salt and baking soda? How many times are you going to over examine my wine bottle opener when there's a BIG GAPING obvious hole where the knife used to be (and a tiny knife at that - seriously, if I could kill someone with that knife I could kill them with my bare hands).

I'm pretty much over terrorists. They are only kept alive and in funding because fuck wit politicians in the US (Newt Gingrich comes to mind) keep telling us they are a threat. We have the moron shoe bomber who requires us to now take off our shoes, even flip flops. We have the terrorists of 911 who spent 10 years and millions of dollars planning the attack (of course, see above, thanks Gingrich for helping terrorists raise money by giving them legitimacy in the western press), and the bojinka plot (which failed, by the way, not because of men being alert to a bad situation, but because their boss, a woman, didn't believe the male cops who initially investigated the explosion) which was launched in 1995, yes, 1995, where a terrorist made a bomb out of liquids (of course, they didn't ban liquids on airplanes until 2006 (I remember the ban well, I was flying home from China and they threw out even my liquid Benedryl capsules). Do the math. Nine years. No bombs. Sudden panic.

If I were in charge of airline security here's what I would do:
-make sure the fuck wits in the State department weren't giving travel visas to terrorists (as they did pre-911)
-use funds to monitor known terrorists rather than treating regular US citizens as victims of a police state
-let people keep their shoes on - if your metal detectors, x-ray whirrly gig machines, and other "technology" can't pick up a bomb we're fucked anyway
-let frequent travelers (like myself) go through minimal security screening (I have a security clearance and yet I'm treated like a potential terrorist - don't even talk to me about flyclear - you have a shorter wait time in security lines - it is a total rip off
-forget the ban on liquids, it's stupid - if they were going to blow us up, they would have before the 2006 ban - think about it - even some pathetic piece of crap would have to think more than twice about blowing his or herself up mid-air in a plane

And that ends today's rant.

sometimes a gift can change your life

My brother got me a grid-it, which is super cool. I now have my backpack completely organized. It's a good idea. I don't have to fumble around any more to find all the little shit I can never find in my backpack pockets.

He also gave me this gift (the roll right top of the picture). It's seriously my favorite thing ever. It's a roll of velcro straps. I guess I have a reputation of being an organized neat freak. But if that were really true wouldn't I have known about these straps before? Of course I would have. So I'm not some neurotic person who has to have everything neat and tidy and in an exact location from which it can't be moved. Further, I did NOT just spend the past hour velcro strapping everything in my backpack, my stereo and computer wires, one of my cacti (he was developing a distinct lean), and other stuff. I am not now going through withdrawls because I've run out of things to velcro wrap.  I am NOT now contemplating braving the cold outside to see if there's anything in my car that needs a velcro wrap.

Okay, maybe I do have a problem. But at least I'm not smoking crack or engaging in some other bad habit. If anyone has anything that needs a velcro wrap let me know.

update on my dad

So, here it is 220 am MST (420 am EST) and I'm texting with my dad. Why he's up I don't know (he's on EST).

But he says the pain in his leg has been reduced a lot (80% - we engineers like to quantify things). He has his first chemo today (chemo today on top of radiation on Tuesday - extreme meds - tell me there's a climb harder than that - you're full of shit). I think he will do great.

I'm glad I have tough bad ass parents. It sets the bar.

My dad is going to kick lymphoma back to shit city. Never once since he's been diagnosed with cancer has he been like "uh oh, fuck me". I know he can do it. I just read an article in the New Yorker about placebos. Weirdly (or not) the body produces its own medicine through endorphins. This medicine can be more powerful than actual drugs. I believe this. I ran on a broken leg for 8 years without a significant amount of acknowledged pain. My dad is doing the same.

So fuck pain, cancer, and all that other shit.

We don't go down easy.

United we fly, divided I feel less stressed

I flew out this evening in the hopes of dodging a storm about to hit Rhode Island and the impending snow disaster in Denver.

My flight from TF Green to Dulles was turbulent the whole way. Not just a little turbulent. Like the plane is shaking apart at its seams and we're losing altitude in a troubling way turbulent. Screaming baby for 2 hours. Mom laughing and trying to play games with the screaming imp. Apparently she didn't bring any milk for the strong lunged 3 year old and there was no service on the plane because of the turbulence (seat belt sign was never turned off).

Then I had to make a mad run for my connection at Dulles because the fuck wits at United decided, for reasons unknown, that all the luggage had to clear the wing before we were allowed out of the plane. That took 20 minutes because they only have, apparently, 3 slap dicks unloading planes. Why this happened I can't say. Stewardess told me it was a security caution to "keep passengers from grabbing their luggage on the tarmac" (we landed at a gate where we had stairs instead of that scary suction cup to the plane thing).

The crack head stewardess on my connecting flight to Denver kept saying "welcome to flight (whatever) with service to Dulles". Dude, we are AT Dulles. I bring this up only because I and everyone who flies is flying in extreme discomfort so a stewardess who's worked for an airline for 15 years can make $100k a year plus benefits and we wonder why the airlines are losing money with planes packed. DO NOT EVEN GO THERE WITH ME. I had a friend in Colorado who was a stewardess making that much money (she quit her job because it was "too hard"). And Virginia. And Maryland.

I should be a stewardess.

The pilot warned us the landing in Denver was going to be bad before we even took off. Not a good sign. The luck of the day was that the flight left more or less on time and, when it came time for drinks service and I asked for a glass of wine even though it costs $7 and was a merlot (I'd rather lick adhesive off of an envelope than drink merlot - but believe me, after the last two days I've had, I needed a drink) the Japanese steward, who may have noticed I was reading a Murakami (Wind-Up Bird Chronicles - read it - paperback is 607 pages and I read it in a week on top of my magazines - was getting up at 530 in the morning so I would have an hour to read it before work), took my credit card after giving me a plastic bottle of wine, and said "your name is Franki?" I started to pull out my boarding pass since I had no hope of getting to my backpack which was shoved under the seat in front of me and the Polo cologne stinking fuck nut in front of me had his seat reclined. But the guy said "since your name is Franki this is free". Mazel tov.

After the plane landed (after three approaches where the pilot backed off) I had to make a mad dash 3 rows back to get my other bag. I did that successfully but was unable to return to my row because of the fuckwit family in front of me. The daughter (in her teens) was asking the dad to pull her bag out of the overhead (along with the bag of her 7 year old sister). The dad said "no, you get it out". I was like "dude, the trains run A LOT less frequently in DIA after midnight, so the sooner we get our bags and deplane the more likely we will not have to wait for a long time for a train". He was like "but, they're never happy, no matter what I do". Needless to say I pulled their bags down for them. Moron dad. I feel bad for those kids.

I got to my car, finally, after waiting FOREVER for the train back to the main terminal. It was 12:40am. Poor Jakey was covered in snow. The roads were a shit show. I saw a ton of accidents. I was driving like "it's actually 3 am for me because I'm on east coast time - no one has plowed - tourists are driving like idiots and spinning their cars - I might die". Even sure pawed Jake had some issues on the road. Finally made it home at 330 am (EST, which I'm on, or 130 am MST).

That's when I took out my laptop and turned it on because I have an early morning conference call and want to do the least amount of work possible before the call. BTW, I am supposed to be on vacation tomorrow.

And I realized I left my laptop power supply at my customer site.

Fuck me. Or, not. I have a back up. No single point of failure. And I think the customer will bring me back soon so I'll just grab it then. The customer I was working for was so great. The group was a great way to end my sordid year because they actually like my company. Even the VP came to all of my training sessions and when he was able to do a heat map he was so excited he was like "you have to come back!"

I have to take the little victories.

I should go to sleep. But I'm kind of wired after the drive I just did to get home from the airport. Hm. Only 6 hours before my conference call. Maybe I'll just stay up.

was that bad luck or good?

Because my company is el sucko they keep booking me on these crazy two segment flights even when a direct flight is only a little more expensive. Don't give me that bullshit about "saving $50 for every employee adds up to blah blah blah". The accountants can come live my fucking life with me for a few weeks and see how great their cost saving plans are. So the managers don't get billion dollar bonuses. Boo hoo. I cry for them.

Anyway, I woke up at 3:45 because my phone was buzzing. I normally go back to sleep but this time I thought I should check it. Which is a good thing because the buzz was an email coming in from United saying my flight had been canceled. No other explanation. No "we rebooked you". No useful information.

I panicked because I had to be out here in Rhode Island today for a very important, and short, engagement. I got up and called united. What's up with that fucking circus music they play while you're on hold? It's not pleasant at 4 in the morning.

I finally got a representative who tried to book me on a new flight getting into Rhode Island at 10:45 PM. I was like "NO WAY dude". I have to be at the customer site at 8 am every morning. I'm losing 2 hours as it is. This engagement is in the middle of nowhere. Also, it was forcing me to have a 4 hour layover in Chicago. Sucktacular.

After me bitching and pointing out that I have booked 250,000 miles with united (do the math, considering I didn't fly for the time I was over in the middle east, that's A LOT of trips) in the past 4 years the guy got me on a direct flight to Logan from Denver at 8 am. I had to drive an hour to get to my hotel, and my rental car is going to be obscenely expensive since my return is different from my pickup (to the tune of $100 a day) but ask me if I give a fuck.

There were no crying babies on the flight but the guy next to me (I was in the middle seat) farted the whole 4 hour flight. Not just like occasional farts. It was like lots and lots of farts. I wanted to vomit and had to get up twice and stand in the aisle to get away from the smell. Also, I smoked my fake cigarette even though it's not allowed on planes (stupid, a stewardess said "they cause interference with the communications in the cockpit" and I was like "I'm glad you are a stewardess and not a science teacher").

Then I got my car and got into the tunnels of downtown boston and got lost because my GPS was being chooky (kind of cool actually, since last time I was there the big dig was still going on). I passed faneuil hall and remembered how to get to the highway (weirdly, I haven't been to boston since 1996 but I remember certain aspects of the city). Arrived at my hotel earlier than my original flight would have had me getting here so my bad luck actually ended up being good. But my room, unlike the calgarian hotel I stayed in last week, does not seem to have much in the way of heat. I turned the thermostat up to 75 and went to work out. It's now at 65 even though I was blasting the heat for the hour I was in the gym.

I will survive. I shouldn't complain, actually. Given what my dad is going through now these matters are incredibly trivial.

some more news about my dad

He has lymph node cancer. But, he doesn't seem too concerned about it. He was more worried that I was going to get him a christmas present that's boring (an indoor bike trainer - he was like that would suck) or clothes (he said, in a nice way, to stop buying him outdoor clothes).

Hm. No idea what to get him. I'm sure I'll think of something.

Calgary is a zoo

I went to the airport and got my work permit today. Crazily, I was in the waiting room for 45 minutes. I started to get worried. Then the agent that was helping me came out and said they had just arrested a guy for manslaughter who was coming in to Calgary and that's why it took so long for him to retrieve my work permit. As he was stapling my work permit into my passport two agents led the manslaughter guy out in handcuffs.

That Calgary airport is a little insane.



Then I went to the zoo. I decided to walk not realizing the entrance off the Bow Riverwalk was closed for the winter. I went the wrong way trying to find the main gate. I ended up walking around the zoo and then walking down a busy "highway" (I don't know, in Canada it might be a highway, it was like 285 in Denver).



I saw some cool animals:

Grizzly bear making his way back into his man made cave. It doesn't look scary in this pic but it was a big bear.

Zebra: note to self, get invited to better christmas parties - these birds stink

"I'm NOT a republican"

(spider monkeys) - "It's FUCKING cold."

releasing your (hee) inner energy

Today I decided to get a massage since my neck still hurts a little. And the spa is on the same floor as the gym so it was convenient to go after my workout.

The woman who did my massage was a stocky but very short indian. She was dressed like a nurse in pink scrubs. I normally giggle my way through a massage (don't know why, as soon as that new age music comes on I feel like laughing). Then, to make matters worse, as I was laying on my back and she was rubbing my shoulders she farted. It was one of those "I thought I was going to get away with it" short high pitched farts. To make matters worse she whispered "oops!" under her breath, no doubt assuming I was asleep. It took every ounce of will power to not descend into hysterical laughter.

I tipped her well.

And, earlier this week, I was listening to this obnoxious guy who works for my company drone on and on in a very loud voice about cloud computing. At one point to show off he said "I'm sitting in my own private cloud right now!"

I had to leave the office for a few minutes until I could get myself under control. It still makes me laugh.

oh, and then the ceiling collapsed

I walked into the office today to discover that the water heater above the area where I work had burst a pipe. Running water all day while I was trying to work. Seriously. Who has an office with a water feature? More like water torture...

waiter...or weirdo?

The sales guys and I went out to dinner at this steak place called Caesar's that is supposedly some old money oil business steak place. I had salmon. They made fun of me.

Then the waiter, an older gent, you know, one of those guys who was probably a roadie for Bob Seger doing a lot of drugs and then ends up as a waiter in a cheap tux looking suit serving shit head consultants like me, took an interest in me. Why I don't know, except maybe I was probably the youngest woman in the joint or at least the only one who didn't look like my face was made of leather.

First he asked where I was from. I guess I haven't perfected my canadian accent (though my spelling is getting better - or they probably spell it "bettre"). There was an awkward moment when he asked me to hold the split in my baked potato open so he could put sour cream in it. No one, in any restaurant, has ever asked me to do that, I swear he was trying to put sour cream on my fingers.

Then, after I declined to have my leftovers wrapped, he asked which hotel I was staying in. I was totally caught off guard (it probably seems harmless when you read it here - it was more the way he said it, like he was going to come by when his shift was off and murder me). I fumbled for something to say trying to not look at the sales guy sitting in front of me because he had this totally shocked look on his face. I lied and said I was staying at some hotel I walk by and he said "yes, I know that place well". An embarrassing silence descended the table as the waiter leaned in towards me as if assessing which limb he would cut off first. Then he walked away.

The sales guys started making fun of me AGAIN. One was like "why would he ask where you're staying?" and the other guy was like "that just seemed so inappropriate". The waiter came by again and spent 15 minutes telling me about a hurricane that hit Calgary (actually, it wasn't a hurricane). The whole situation was weird and getting weirder by the second. He was giving me creepy attention.

We left without having dessert. The sales guys wanted to go to a micro brewery but I was too tired. And who knows what weirdos would be hanging out there.

moving down, moving up

I checked into my hotel on Sunday night and thought my room was a little warm but figured it was because the last occupant (likely middle eastern - there's a lot of them at the hotel - I'm not being racist) had the heat fully cranked. It was 86 degrees F when I got in there. After opening two windows and turning the thermostat to 50 I got the temp down to 79. I didn't get much sleep.

The next morning I figured out there was a problem because the temp hadn't changed at all. I called the front desk and they promised to fix it. I got home from the customer site super late (1 am) and realized my room was fucking hot, still. I was too tired to do anything and opened the windows again. I had the worst night's sleep ever.

So Tuesday morning I called the front desk again. They promised to fix the heat, again. Fucking liars. I got home at 7 Tuesday night and my room was scorching hot.

I called the front desk and they sent up a maintenance guy. He was like "this is not going to get fixed anytime soon". I called the front desk again and asked for a new room. The guy I talked to said the hotel was sold out. He offered to turn down the boiler and recommended I open the windows really wide. I was like look fucker, I need a NEW ROOM. He offered me a smoking room after I threatened to leave the hotel. They said they'd send up a bell hop with my new keys who would also help me move.

Then the front desk called back and said a guy was checking in who wanted to switch his room for smoking. Since I hate smoking rooms I was like "sure". Seconds later the bell hop showed up and didn't believe me when I told him he had to go back to the lobby to get different keys for me. He was french, and therefore dramatic and not entirely smart. He was arguing with me like I would make up this shit. Finally he said "I'm going down to check this out. I may or may not see you again."

The end of the story is that I moved from the 27th floor to the 10th floor. I'm used to staying on the top floors so it was a little weird having to go to the 10th floor. But I ended up with a suite that has a kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom (obviously) and 2 bedrooms. Oh, and a private balcony.

Just got home after work and dinner with two sales guys. My room is freezing. Just cranked up the heat.

Hee.

not edmunton

Ech. I got on my plane today to fly to Calgary and the pilot kept saying we were going to Edmonton. I figured he was just an idiot (and flying our plane - yipes). The stewardess finally stuck her head in the cockpit (I was in bulk head so heard the whole thing) and said "we're going to Calgary!" and he was like "but the cloud cover is low, they are directing us to Edmonton as a back up".

I was like fuck fuck fuck. I did not want to land in Edmonton and then have to drive to Calgary in a shit rental car in a snow storm.

Luckily the weather cleared and we were able to land in calgon. I was the first person off the plane and cruised through the first part of customs. Then I had to wait in line to get my new work visa. No problem. There was only like 6 people in front of me, none of whom spoke english or even seemed to understand the concept of approaching the counter to talk to an immigration officer.

Luckily (I guess) the woman who denied me a year long visa last time I came through calgon saw me in line and waved me over. She was like "you're back, I recognized your hat" and I said "I normally don't wash my hair for at least a week before I come here so I have to wear a hat". She smiled, demanded to see my diploma for my master's degree (I actually had it this time), updated the system so I never have to bring my degree again, decided that since my customer was bringing me back I must know what I'm doing, asked a few questions about my resume, and then gave me a year long work permit.

Good news.

Except. The fucking printer wasn't working. So I have to go back to the airport this weekend and get my permit because she couldn't print it for me. She swore I could wait until I flew out to pick it up but my current permit expires 15 December and I'm here until 17 December. I don't want to get in trouble. I'll probably go to the airport this weekend.

I have to admit she was really nice this time. And I waited in line longer to get my rental car (hey, I'm president's circle, I have to wait in line??????) than to get my work permit.

My room is nice, but not as nice as the last time I stayed at this hotel. I got a king sized bed but my chair doesn't have an ottoman. They are trying to find one for me. Given some of the hotels I've stayed in I don't even know why I'm complaining.

update on my dad

We were talking on Sunday morning and my dad said that his doctor found a swollen lymph node in his groin. It could be bad as my dad has had very aggressive cancer. I'm hoping it's okay because lymph node cancer usually doesn't hurt (he was having pain which is how they found the mass in his lymph node) and his blood work came back okay.

He has a biopsy and MRI on Friday. Stay tuned...

pain in the neck, part 2

And, my neck is better, a lot better, but still not great. My doctor said it's actually a lymph node causing the problem. It's probably related to allergies (too much time spent the past few weeks on the right coast) or quitting smoking, or both.

I was going to get a massage but have been super busy with work and in the one hour I had to potentially get a massage I decided to get my eyelashes dyed instead.

I hate make up. I can deal with a little pain as long as my eyes look good. When I get to Canada on Sunday I'll do a massage. Luckily my hotel has a spa.