Gimme a minute to catch my breath...

It's been a helluva time these past few days - we made it from Ohio to Washington unscathed, and have been spending the last three days down in Oregon.  B had a final interview in Coquille and we took some time to drive around the area - from Coos Bay to Coquille to Myrtle Point to Bandon - and, well... I don't want to offend anyone who lives down there, but there were times when I was saying to B, "Paddle faster, I hear banjos!"  I grew up in the country, don't get me wrong, but the vibe I got in SW Oregon was a bit... erm... uncomfortable.  It's hard to explain.  (Then we learned that Deliverance was actually filmed down there, and it made a lot of sense.)  The funny thing is, we struck up a conversation with some guys we met in Bend yesterday and mentioned we'd been down in Coos Bay, and they immediately were like, "Oooooh, yeah those coasties are CRAZY" so we felt a bit validated.  Anyway, we had a good long talk about it in the car on the way to Bend and decided that B is going to pass on this job.  Not just because of the area, but the job itself would only pay $14/hour and would be so fricking stressful for him, dealing with  close-minded, set-in-their-ways locals.  Plus, I wouldn't be able to find a job for myself either unless I want to work at the corner Gas & Go or something.  So, it's back to the drawing board... but at least we're out west now.

We did, however, absolutely fall in love with a couple of areas.  First, Missoula.  We stopped there to visit B's brother on our way to Spokane, and we both immediately felt at home there.  Young, hipsterish/hippieish, outdoorsy, comfortable, just a great town.  Unfortunately a great town with limited possibilities for jobs, but still might work out.  Then yesterday we drove to Bend via Eugene/Springfield along the McKenzie River, and Oh.My.Gawd. is that river valley AWESOME.  It's on our list now too, along with Bend.  B would probably be able to get a job up at Mt. Bachelor pretty easily too - or at any ski resort, really.

So, yeah.  We got all sorts of worked up about something that was so hugely disappointing.  But we've had some fun along the way!

My traveling companions - The cats were somewhat easy to deal with, except when they got tired of each other.  Of course it took me until the last day to figure out the best way for them to travel - Gyro drugged and in his small crate, Lily not drugged and in the big crate.  If they both were in the big crate, Gyro always drugged and Lily either drugged or not, it inevitably led to flying fur and yowling.  I had a nervous breakdown somewhere in South Dakota and nearly threw them both into oncoming traffic, but it all turned out okay in the end.

Wind farm in Minnesota

Sunrise in South Dakota

The storm we drove through in Montana (rainbow!)

The Rockies

The scenery - flat, then hilly, then flat, then MOUNTAINS.  Some ugly bits in South Dakota and some nasty rain in Montana, but otherwise pretty interesting.

Then. finally, my brother's place north of Spokane.  Which is EXACTLY what we needed after that crazy trip.  That's the Pend Oreille River.  Yeah.  My brother just built a new house on his property there, so my mom lives in the little mobile home they were in during the build, and we're in the RV right now.  It's surprisingly comfortable.

Oh, did I mention we stopped in Missoula on the way?

SHOT SKI!

Cross that off...

NaBloPoMo kind of went by the wayside last week.  What with GreenBuild taking up the days, the lack of wi-fi in my casita, and complete lack of internet access at Mom's, I've been mostly absent from the interwebs the past week.  Google Reader has over 500 posts for me to read (or "Mark All As Read" in the case of silly photo sites), I've got over a dozen emails in my inbox (mostly newsletters & coupons), and I'm just giving up on backtracking through Facebook and Twitter.  But regardless, it was a good trip.

GreenBuild was well worth it again this year - I attended 5 different seminars on subjects ranging from applying LEED to restaurants (Chipotle, Dunkin Donuts & McDonalds were on the panel), to indoor air quality and mold prevention (which relates directly to the class that I teach).  I didn't attend the big opening plenary event at the baseball stadium - Al Gore spoke & there was a concert by Sheryl Crow - kinda would have liked to see the concert but NOT Gore.  (Schmuck.  That's a whole 'nother issue.)  I took Friday off to go to the Desert Botanical Garden, it was AWESOME.



(If you really want to see all my pics, here's a link to my Flickr Photostream.)

Then Saturday I rented a car & drove to Yuma to visit my Mom.  We had a grand ol' time, shopping and eating and eating and shopping.  I left on Monday, giving myself 2 hours to get back to the airport in Phoenix, with 2 hours to spare before my flight left.  YEAH.  I'm an idiot.  The trip from Yuma to Phoenix is more like THREE hours, and that's without construction - which there was PLENTY of.  So I was in a state of stomach-cramping panic trying to turn in the car, catch the right shuttle, check in with my over-weight suitcase, shuffle things from the suitcase to my carry-on so I didn't have to pay $50, get to my gate, board with the last straggling passengers 5 minutes before scheduled departure, shove my now over-filled carry-on into a bin without dropping it on my head, and then find my seat and hope my deodorant is still working because man am I sweaty.  I made it home in one piece, but I'm still exhausted today despite sleeping in a little.

Tonight my ass will be on the couch, starting the process of catching up with my DVR.  But only after I go to Best Buy and get this:

Nerd love.

Out the door...

I'm killing a few minutes before I leave for Phoenix.  I have time to meet B for lunch before I head to Detroit to catch my plane, but he's not out of class for another 45 minutes so I have a bit.

I'm anxious about this trip.  I hate being gone for so long, but I'm sure it will go by fast.  I'm staying at a fun little resort on the north end of the city, attending Greenbuild during the week, and hopefully will have time to visit the botanical garden and do some sightseeing in the evenings.  Saturday I'm renting a car and driving to Yuma to see my mom, which will be an adventure!  But I'm looking forward to just hanging out with her.  I'm taking advantage of it though, and having her teach me how to do applique too.

I made a point of packing my SLR, so I'll take some good pics to share.  Speaking of which, I have a profile on I Heart Faces now, and also on Flickr, in case anyone wants to keep up with my pics there.

Looks like my timing is perfect though - the 70-degree weather we were having has suddenly turned into more typical November weather - 50-something and rainy.  Yuck.  I'm glad I finally relented and packed my bathing suit!

 

Transpo Woes

I have a big trip coming up next week, and I'm getting kind of anxious.

I head for Phoenix on Tuesday for GreenBuild, which lasts until the 13th.  I'm staying over the weekend though, taking the time to hang out with my mom, and coming home on Monday the 16th.  I'm excited, yes - last year's GreenBuild was really interesting and fun, even.  I'm just glad it's being held in Arizona this year instead of the Northeast.

But I'm nervous, too.  It's a little intimidating being in situations where I don't know a soul, but it's kind of nice at the same time because I can totally ignore everyone if I want to.  The crowd will be ginormous I'm sure, which just adds to the anxiety a bit.  Do I really fit in here?

On top of all that is the transportation.  Normally when I travel for work, I try to stay at a hotel close enough to the event so I can walk.  I love walking - not only for the exercise, but because if I get lost it's easy enough to stop, get my bearings, and get un-lost.  At GreenBuild last year, I wasn't quite close enough to walk (especially in the freezing Boston winter), but there were shuttle buses that went to the major hotels associated with the convention.  This year, I'm definitely not close enough to walk, and it looks like they're relying on public transportation rather than private shuttles.  And the thing that freaks me out about public transportation is not so much the public, as the inability to stop if I get lost, aka get on the wrong train or bus.  Once you're on, you're kind of screwed, and next thing you know you're halfway to Mexico.

So I'm scouring the Phoenix transportation website, hoping there's a straight shot from near my hotel to the convention center, but I can't make heads nor tails of the system.  I'm just hoping that the concierge is clued in and can help me out.

Otherwise I'm renting a damn car.

Fall at Fort Meigs

We took a walk at Fort Meigs Park today - the sun was out, and it was a bit chilly but we had a grand old time.  Jake bounded through the grass like the boisterous hound dog he is, and even got in the river for the first time.  I got some great photos of seed pods & other fall foliage, and a nice one of the "Regal Beagle" too.  (Okay he's not a Beagle but he sure can pose pretty when his nose isn't going into overdrive!)

I'm also thinking about trying out NaNoBloMo or NaBloPoMo or whatever the hell it's called - basically November is National Blog Posting Month and the idea is to write one post every day.  I'm not sure if I'll really be able to live up to that but I might give it a shot - so here's today's, more pics than words, but still a post.

Things I Would Have Twittered, if I had Mobile Twitter Capabilities

Loose, blousy, striped tee-shirts apparently make TSA folks suspicious. Me & my belt made of C4 explosives got the pat-down by a cute little blonde at the Detroit airport. I think the creepy guy at the xray machine put her up to it just so he could witness some hot girl-on-girl. Sorry dude, didn't mean to disappoint you with our whole 3 seconds of action.

I sat between an odd couple on my flight to L.A. Girl & guy, obviously traveling together, so I asked if they wanted to sit right next to each other instead of having me in the middle. Answer was an immediate "No. No. No, that's okay. No." WOW. Then discover later that they're MARRIED. Ouch. Girl was somewhat normal despite the fact that she inhaled a gallon-size bag of Jelly Bellys. But the guy, holy nutcase! I'm not sure if it was nerves or what, but he was not just biting his nails, he was full-on eating his fingers. Every finger, all the way up to the first knuckle, was red and oozing and gnawed on. Non-stop. The entire 4.5-hour flight. Uuurrrrghhh.

I was booked at the Four Point LAX, but when I arrived their power was out so they moved me next door to the Renaissance. Supposedly this was a "major upgrade" but really? No hot water, hair everywhere (including the bathroom ceiling?!), constant noise through the connecting doors, $13/day for internet... it was nicely furnished, don't get me wrong, but if this was an upgrade I'd hate to stay at the other place.

Presentations & meetings all went well, and had a good conversation with my co-worker about promoting this class a little more. Further discussion is needed, but I think we're on the same page now. Looks like I'll be heading to Vegas in September, and adding some presentations to my schedule while I'm in Phoenix for Greenbuild in November too.

Got to see a bit more of the L.A. area this time around, mostly Culver City and a bit of downtown too. Had lunch at an awesome Mexican place (on Sepulveda I think??), and had a seared Ahi tuna taco. So. Good. OMG.

Guy at LAX looked so much like Kelly Slater I had to watch him for several minutes before I determined that it wasn't. Too skinny and not quite the same facial structure. Also this guy played soccer. Still nice to look at though.

Flight back was pretty bleah. Had a window seat this time at least, but the girl in the middle had a nasty cold and kept blowing her nose, like wet-honking-snot-filled blowing that really should have taken place in the bathroom. It's not like it was very far away, considering we were in the very back of the plane. Get up off your ass and don't subject the rest of us to your nastiness. Dude in the aisle seat and I shared a bottle of hand sanitizer as we walked through the airport & joked about loading up on vitamin C and zinc when we got home.

Finally made it home around 2 a.m. and am looking forward to leaving work a bit early today!

"Bring some sunshine home with you!"

Observation #1: LAX is not half as big as I thought it was. Or at least this particular terminal sure isn't. It's definitely as crowded as I thought it would be, and twice as loud. I need some industrial strength ear protection in here.
Observation #2: I have seen more service dogs flying with their people in this trip alone than I have ever before. The most beautiful German Shepherd just went past, and I'm a little jealous.
Observation #3: The whole "get to the airport 2 hours early" bit is overkill. Maybe not at Christmas, but any other time.
Observation #4: You would think that LAX would have free hi-speed internet that was actually hi-speed. Instead it's a T-mobile "hotspot" that's definitely spotty and not hot whatsoever.
Observation #5: Cars, in general, have it in for me. Although this time I think it may be manageable without dropping 2 g's in repair costs.
Observation #6: I need to get the hell home, like, NOW.

Ain't no potty like a West Coast potty... er...

I love the west coast. I can't stand L.A. Sorry folks, I know there are some out there that have a deep abiding love for the City of Angels, but I can't deal with the congestion of most big cities. I dig Chicago & Boston's downtown areas, and I HEART Seattle 4-evah, but I would never want to live in any major metropolitan area. Give me the 'burbs, or better yet, the good ol' R.R. (rural routes for you city folk) any day. Too many people, not enough wide open spaces, too much traffic... just kinda gives me the heebie jeebies. I'll visit, sure, but I couldn't call it home and be comfortable for a long period of time.
***
Today we took the PCH to Santa Barbara which was absolutely GORGEOUS. But oh my GOD people that road is so friggin bumpy, and my sales rep's truck was so friggin monstrous (a Dodge diesel supercab that put you at eye-level with the semis, that's how big this bastard was), and she kinda drove like a madwoman (a 4'11" madwoman who needed a stepladder to get in the damn truck), and by the time we made it back to the hotel this evening I was a nervous wreck. I've hardly eaten anything today but I really don't think I could eat anything now after that hair-raising ride.
I'm pretty glad to be flying home tomorrow. I know, I know, Toledo vs. Los Angeles should be no contest, right? I hate to say it folks, but I'm ready to get back to my little armpit of Ohio.

Hey Ma, I wanna go home...

Traveling is taking over my schedule lately & I'm getting burnt out. After Boston came Chicago for 3 days last week (Good & Green Marketing Conference hosted by Discovery Channel's Planet Green... lots of great free swag!) and tomorrow I'm heading to L.A. for 3 days. This one is different though, for two reasons: (a) I'm traveling with a co-worker, who is a great, funny guy but who is also mildly irritating in his lack of organization, and (b) I'm the one giving the presentations this time. I'm not a big fan of speaking in front of people, although I'm getting more used to it. I would much rather stay home & enjoy my Christmas decorations.

The new car is pretty cool, although I'm glad it came with a limited after-market warranty. When we test drove it, we weren't anywhere near a freeway so we didn't really get a chance to gun it & get up to a high speed. So of course, what with my glorious luck, it does something crazy-wrong when it tries to downshift at higher speeds. There's this massive scary *CLUNK* and lurching and not good. So I'm leaving it at the shop while I'm gone this week to get it fixed. Did I mention YAY warranty?

Habits are both hard to break and hard to form

Still haven't gotten the hang of posting on a regular basis, but I doubt anyone is concerned about that. Regardless, I'll sum up the last few weeks in bullet-point fashion.

• Was in Boston all of last week, attending Greenbuild. Huge, massive convention for the tree-hugging hippie types such as myself. Some great speakers & presentations, however my hotel wasn't really comfortable (avoid the Hilton Financial District) and the weather was frigid.
• Week before was in Raleigh for AASHE. Really not relevant to me, but then this was just a scouting mission to see if we would want to exhibit there next year. Conclusion: nah.
• Re-decorated the basement at home, converting it from the cat-pee-palace to potential guest suite. Got the carpet 99.9% pee-free thanks to a carpet shampooer and multiple enzyme products, and now am working on the bathroom down there.
• Mom is coming out here for Christmas, hence the guest suite in the basement. We're having Christmas at our house which will be interesting, but since there's only 6 of us I think it'll be good. Salmon & lobster chowder for dinner!
• Service guys at the house today checking out our furnace... just got a call from B that there's a massive crack in it, and since it's 20 years old it'll have to be replaced. GAH! Landlord will not be happy I'm sure, but considering the thing hasn't been functioning properly since last winter it's probably a good thing we found the problem at all.
• Jake ate an entire crock pot of homemade beef stew. The mound of shit in the yard was atrocious.
• Off to Cleveland tomorrow for the holiday... may take time to look at a new car while we're there. The Mitsi is just not cutting it & I'm afraid of something happening in the middle of a snowstorm this winter.

Back in the Windy City again...

... this time for NeoCon, a gi-normous interior design trade show. I went in to register today & maybe walk around... okay first, the show takes up around 8 floors of this building, and there must have been over 200,000 people milling around this place (half of them in line for the elevators). No thanks. I grabbed my nametag & a guidebook and headed back to my hotel to forge a plan of attack for tomorrow.

On my way to the show I noticed one street blocked off by cops and a rather large crowd gathered. I'm not a rubbernecker, but it didn't seem to be an accident or anything bad going on so I stopped to see... and they're filming a movie! It's Public Enemies, a gangster film about John Dillinger, so they'd re-done a bunch of buildings with 1920's facades and there were a bunch of cars and motorcycles from the era driving up & down the street. I looked up the movie on IMBD when I got back to my room, and discovered that Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, and Giovanni Ribisi are all in this movie! Holy crap! Not like I'd get to see any of them (they had the street blocked off several blocks down from where the filming was happening) but it's still pretty cool.
Otherwise this trip is okay so far. I went to check in to my original hotel this morning & they were oversold, so they moved me to Hilton Garden Inn which I think is probably a bit nicer than the other one (The Silversmith), but I'm not really that picky. I'm in a wheelchair-accessible room actually, which is kind of neat because the bathroom is big enough for a wheelchair to spin donuts in (and considering my hotel last week had bathrooms that even MY ass couldn't turn around in, that's definitely exciting) and the shower is a roll-in type with one of those cool overhead showerheads. The bed is like a faux "Sleep Number" with dials on each side to adjust the comfort level, which is interesting. I'll definitely be experimenting with it to see what my back really likes. It can't seem to decide whether soft or firm matresses are better... so far both have given me kinks & made my arms fall asleep!

I can't wait to be home for a while though. I only get to see B one day this week before he heads up to Michigan to do Army stuff, so I'm kind of bummed about that... plus we're still dog-sitting Bailey, my in-law's stubborn as hell Lab, and he and Jake are pretty obnoxious together. My next trip after this is mid-July out in Boulder, which is going to be friggin awesome! Partly because the seminar is held at this swanky resort (St. Julien's) but mainly because I get to see my BFF Kelly while I'm there! I haven't seen her in about 2 years and I miss her a ton.

My dinner is not sitting well, so I'm off to drink some water & read a book. 'Nite all.

Thank god for flip flops!

I didn't have time to post anything while I was in Vegas this past week, so that should be a good indication of how the trip went! Busy as hell, but a pretty good time overall.

My presentations at the sales meeting went awesome... I kicked some serious ass & even surprised myself! It felt really good to be done with it though. Some people were pretty blatantly rude, but most of the reps were really receptive and encouraging so that definitely made it all worth it. Went out for dinner that night with a motley group of folks including the ONE guy that totally gives me the creeps & sets off my "sexual predator" radar, but he was surprisingly well behaved (mainly because he hadn't been drinking all day). The others in my group turned out to be the funniest damn guys ever, and we went out after dinner and proceeded to get pretty trashed. I had a pass to an industry party at Margaritaville... can you say, open top-shelf bar?! Whee, tequila!! The conversation was along the lines of "have another" and "gee Jen, aren't you hot in that shirt? Maybe you should undo some buttons." It went downhill from there!

The trade show was great, and best of all I got to see some old friends! I miss my Jodi girl, she is the BESTEST. And of course my Scottish Stalker was there... we actually ran into each other in the middle of the street at like 11 pm, it was bizarre.

Overall, a pretty good time!

Although I will say that I REALLY hope they change hotels next year. Tuscany is not on my list of favorites... the rooms were huge which was cool, but the a/c unit was miniscule & failed to keep the room comfortable. Plus I don't like not being on the strip... crowded and crazy as it is, it's so much more convenient to be able to walk.

Windy City

I’ve never been to Chicago before, yet I’m sitting in my hotel room playing around on myspace. I got into town at about 10:30 a.m. & spent the better part of the day at the Art Institute, which turned out to be a farther walk from the hotel than anticipated, so my feet are tired & I just want to chill for a bit before dinnertime.

The train ride was pretty good, despite the dude behind me with his shoes off & the delays outside Chicago that held us up about 40 minutes. I slept for a while which was nice, but I have a kink in my neck because of it. Also I noticed that neighborhoods near the tracks, no matter what town, are shitty neighborhoods. There was occasionally a nicer house, surrounded on all sides by trash. Sad, & kind of ruined the view.

Tomorrow is day 1 of the "Sustainable Manufacturing Summit" and I hope it turns out to be good. Speakers from GE, Toyota, & a few other big names should make it either really interesting & motivating, or horribly dry & boring, OR completely unrelated to what I need to learn. At this point, who cares?

My hotel is pretty nice, for being one of the less expensive places downtown (most hotels from the Mag Mile down through The Loop run $300+ a night so finding one at the south end of the Loop for less than $200 was amazing, and a Best Western so it’s actually not bad). My cab ride from the train station was absolutely terrifying though, I swear this dude was doing 55 through city streets! The only bummer is I’m too far from the shopping district to walk... which is maybe a good thing?

Have a business dinner tonight that I’m not really looking forward to, I’d much rather chill by myself. Think I’ll take a nap beforehand though.

When you go to Vegas...

... make sure you check to see if your hotel offers a shuttle to/from the airport. The cab was fine, & not like I was paying for it anyway thanks to petty cash, but the friggin line for cabs at the airport was ridiculous. It's not even that there were many people in line.... just that you had to hike through a mile of chained-off barriers to get to the front. And when you're dragging a 40-pound duffel bag (because your mondo wheeled suitcase that's a dream to roll around was waaay too big to take on a 4-day trip) and hauling a 50-pound laptop bag (because your cell phone "new every two" deal doesn't kick in until December so the fancy smart-phone you want has to wait, and until then the only way to access your daily dose of myspace is to take your Toshiba Brick with you... and really, the guy on the plane with the brand-friggin-new Macbook Air was just rubbing it in!), walking becomes painful very quickly.

*sigh*

Otherwise, if you DO ever go to Vegas and have beau-coup bucks to blow on a hotel stay, go for the Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa in Henderson. It's a ways from the strip but not away from civilization (surrounded by high-end shopping, whoo hoo! Do you think I could get a Pottery Barn sofa home with me?), and it's gorgeous. It's only been here for about 3 years, and the pool area is straight off CSI: Miami with the fancy cabanas, palms, waterfalls & stuff. Too bad (a) I look fat in a bikini now and (b) I forgot to bring it anyway... oh and (c) I'm here on a work related trip. Gah.

And why put Grey Goose vodka out on the tabletop where it's staring me in the face? Why not put it in a cabinet where it's $30-something price tag isn't making me want to throw the half-sized bottle out the window?

I have a massage scheduled for Thursday evening after the conference is over... but I'll probably need another one after hauling my bag back through the maze that is the airport here. I've heard that they make the casinos in Vegas big & hard to navigate on purpose so you're compelled to gamble when you get lost, but seriously, in the airport? That's a bit of overkill.