I'm sure the numbering of travel days will get screwed up sometime soon. Does travel season stop when normal life resumes? Is there a such a thing as normal life? Ask again later, because I'm only going to be home in Baltimore for a total FOUR days this whole month.
Yesterday afternoon, Janine called out hello from the Southwest line at BWI; she was headed south, I was headed north, but it was great to see a familiar face in the vast sea of anonymous faces at the airport. We won't see each other again until November. I forgot to tell her that I saw one of her dad's city council campaign signs in Hamilton (during my horrible SuperShuttle trip from the airport after my Rochester/Albany/Ithaca trip last week).
I seem to be eating a lot of Asian food...well, at least Chinese and Thai takeout.
Hmmmm. Is it telling me to take things in perspective?
This morning I got pulled over by a local police officer in Stockbridge (on my way to Great Barrington from Latham, NY) for not pulling over and getting out of the way while he was trying to pursue the car in front of me. My defense: 1. it was a double yellow line road, with no shoulder to pull over onto. 2. My panic at only having driveways to pull into, caused me to keep going. As Arthur pointed out later, what was he going to slap on me? Obstruction of justice? At any rate, the officer let me go with a warning (i.e. no fees/tickets/etc.). What a way to start the day! I don't recommend it. It was a bit of an out of body experience sitting there, waiting. 10 minutes later I was at my school visit, doing the presentation, as if nothing happened. Sometimes I wonder if I might possibly be turning into a machine, but then, machines aren't incredibly elated when they pull into the parking lot of a hotel at the end of the day. All my stays this season have been booked at Hampton Inns or Hilton Garden Inns. I had a discussion with Sandy last year about the nature of hotels: she was bothered by the sameness of hotel rooms, but I actually like the consistency: a "clean, well-lighted place", with a comfortable bed, wireless internet, cable TV and breakfast in the morning. I sound like Macon Leary in The Accidental Tourist, writing travel books for people who don't like to travel. In the whirlwind of travel season, stability is good.
So, how did I learn to stop worrying and love the presentation? Last week I presented 13 times in five days (!) I pretty much can do it in my sleep (don't I wish!) Well, it's one less thing to worry about. Now I can just focus on logistics: You CAN get there from here. This is my motto, assisted by my partner Garmin. The Focus doesn't seem to have a working AC power source by way of cigarette lighter, so it was incredibly lucky that my cell phone charger also fits my GPS. I was able to charge the battery by plugging it into the wall while I was doing presentations today. Score!
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