FMC 3.0

First off, apparently when I said I was in Ohio earlier this week, I was wrong. Cincinatti’s airport is actually in Kentucky. So I never as in Ohio this week.

Iowa was a blast as usual. Great fun, great people, and good food. And while we didn’t get pork chops on a stick this time around, the pork they had was pretty good. As always, saw amazing things and was endlessly impressed with the things kids will come up with when given the chance. But then, that’s why I love Odyssey, and why i’ve been doing it 17 years now.

Travelling yesterday was better than Wednesday, just later. We landed in Philly around 10:30. After getting bags, and getting to the car, we were in Newark at exactly midnight for our one stop there, and pulled in at home at 12:45. That drive is pretty good late on a Sunday night.

No, I don’t recall what Nighthawk’s mileage is at this point, but I’m pretty sure it’s still under 24000 right now. No matter, since I go back to work tonight, it’ll be there soon enough.

That’s right, I’m in the second coolest city in Ohio that starts with C. At least I’m in it’s airport, on a 4 hour layover between Philly and Iowa. I wasn’t planning on purchasing Internet access, but it’s coming in handy.

One of my fellow judges from DE was intending arriving in Des Moines about the same time I was, just taking a vastly different route to get there. While I am going Philly > Cinci > pig land, she’s going DC > Chicago > waves of grain. Unfortunately her starting flight got delayed because of weather over Chicago, and got off the ground late. Considering that 15-20 thousand people are descending into Iowa today, there aren’t any more flights out of Chicago if she misses her connector.

However, instead of fretting, I hopped online and found her flight info, and she should hopefully make the connector *crosses fingers*. It’s amazing the information airports put on there web about flights. All sorts of crazy detailed. The only thing I can’t find is the inbound gate at Des Moines for her flight. I just hope her connector flight isn’t on the opposite side of O’Hare.

Besides, 5 bucks for the internet wirelessly in an airport during a 4 hour layover is most definitely worth it. This laptop, and the MP3 player, have made this trip quite bearable. Usually I hate flying. Not even the pilot bouncing the plane on one set of wheels on the landing in Cinci has bothered me.

Oh well, now to just wait for boarding. Cinci is an oddly laid airport, at least this terminal. It’s like all the gates are behind boarding walls, and they stream 7 or 8 gates through the same set of doors. I was hoping to see the plane I’m on, cause I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be a little prop-job puddle-jumper for this 40 minute flight. At least I have a window seat.

Also, a quick thanks for those that have expressed their condolences for Sunny. She was a friend to many, I know.

Stay tuned, you never know when i’ll find a free minute this week.

It’s been an odd one. Saturday, you may have read, was quite good. Sunday wasn’t.

For those of you that know me and my family well, you know how much we love our pups, and the moods that happen around here when we lose one. Well, unfortunately, that mood has struck again. With Murphy, and Mags, they both told us when their time had come, when they’d given up the fight and were ready to go. So it was with Sunny on Sunday. She spent her last day soaking up the sun, and enjoying the outdoors, and made it clear she was ready. The fight was over. So late Sunday afternoon Nighthawk took her for her last trip to the vet. While it is sad, and we’re gonna miss her, it’s comforting to know that she’s no longer in pain. Anyway, as a sort of crappy tribute, i’ve rolled out theme 25, based on one of my favorite pics of her. It’ll be up permanently for a while.

Yesterday was back up, as a I took a mental health day and headed over to my not so figurative "happy place" and hit the Smithsonian. I realize that may come across as weird, but it works for me. Of course, I had the added bonus of good company, and a trip out to Hazy. If nothing else, it was a nice distraction.

Today is a down day to pack and get ready for Worlds, which will be like a 4 day manic high. Of course, my ass-crack-of-dawn flight time might hinder that manicness. I don’t expect to be able to update much from Iowa, but I might try, since the laptop is going with me. It’ll nice to have something to entertain myself during my four hour layover in Cincinnati tomorrow.

You’d think that taking a week plus off from work would mean a nice little vacation for Nighthawk. I’m on day one, and so far I’ve racked up the accumulated mileage of 3 days of commuting. Not that I’m complaining, I had a great day. Got to see my grandad and my cousin Kim, and saw a very funny show in summer stock at a little theater up there. If you ever get a chance to see a show called "Lucky Stiff" go for it. You’ll be laughing the entire time.

The miles don’t stop there. I have two trips to make to the Philadelphia International Airport in the next 8 days. One round trip on Monday to take my dad up there, and then up again Wednesday, with a return trip Sunday. (Can you guess this was the reason for my vacation?) I’m heading to Iowa for the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals. It’s a trip i’ve been looking forward to for a while now. I realize Iowa may seem like a strange place to spend a vacation, but it’s gonna be worth it. It’s a great spot for worlds.

Oh, and on miles, Nighthawk rolled over 23000 as I parked at the office the other night. Now it’s almost to 23500.

I got myself an MP3 player, finally. Got the 30 GB Creative Zen Vision:M. It’s pretty sweet, and so far has worked wonderfully. The fact that I can jack it right into Nighthawk’s stereo is just friggin’ cool. Best of all, it’s not an Apple product. (All snobbishness aside, having used Ipods, I truly like the interface of the Zen much more.) I will say that having anything in my music collection at my beck and call at any time is a little scary. Especially with how what I want to listed to can change so drastically in a short period of time. I went from Nine Inch Nails to Jimmy Buffet on the same commute.

The next few days will be full of prepping for Iowa, there’s a surprisingly large amount of stuff that needs to be packed. That, and I gotta organize the Laptop for travelling in an airport, which will be a new one.

So over on the right hand side you might notice some new stuff. I finally go around to making a theme chooser. No you can go browsing around the themes. Also, I’ve setup a theme cookie generator. Always wanna see Scarlett, or Calvin and Hobbes? Now you can. Don’t say I never gave you anything.

Other than that, life seems to be in a bit of a repetitive rut - more miles pack on the car, price of gas continues to go up, and time flies by as World Finals get nearer and nearer.

Yesterday was the winning team’s picnic, an opportunity for all the Delaware kids going to get to know one another, and to pick up their pins and t-shirts and stuff for worlds. I can’t believe I fly out in a week and half. Seems like it is still months away.