Day 26: Homeward Bound...

Ok, the first business trip of the year is in the books!  Always great to get some face time with co-workers and my boss but I'm ready to head home.  Can't wait to see my beautiful wife and the four-legged creatures.  Also looking forward to playing hooky tomorrow to do a little snow boarding.  It's suppose to snow but hopefully not too much that it bogs down the roads.  I think I've been successful in maintaining my 365 project while on the road and not having my nice Canon camera.  The iPhone and all the available photo apps made it pretty easy to keep on track.  The trick, as always, is to keep things fresh and interesting.  The jury is still out on that one.  :-)

By the way.... is it just me or does anyone else hum the theme song to "Top Gun" as they're taking off?

Day 25: The Glamour That Is Travel...



Let me tell you it's not all wine, food and friends. Left a team dinner last night having to drive through Armageddon. Woke up this morning to Armageddon 2.0. Surface streets were all pools and me with no goggles. Was wondering if I could still do a kick turn. Of course this was also the first time in my 25 years of business travel where my car DIDN'T have a remote car lock. Ah, nothing like fumbling with a key in the rain.

Disclaimer - yes, that photo was "enhanced". Actually the lightning strikes were much more intense.

Day 24: Relax...

No big story here. Saw this fountain/waterfall in my hotel lobby. I always find these things a bit hypnotic. Makes sense to put this things in lobbies or waiting rooms. Helps calm the nerves and I usually need help with that.

Day 23: "Leavin on a jet plane"

Yep, it's a new year and I'm back on the road. Heading to Dallas this time. I have a couple other trips in the next two months to the Boston and DC areas. It's been a while since my last trip so this one I'm kinda looking forward to. Ask me in about six months how I feel about travel. As always I'll say my prayers before takeoff and give thanks when we land. "See ya on the other side, Ray."

Day 22: Anticipation...

I SUCK at waiting.  If you want to make me go insane, make me wait.  Yeah, I'm impatient at times.  Traffic lights, checkout counters.  Not a big fan of either.  But having to wait for something to start is like a slow, agonizing death to me.  I'm sitting here, waiting for the Niners game to start and I still have two hours before game time.  My stomach is in knots and I feel like a caged animal.  Thank God we're updating the guest bathroom.  It's a pleasant distraction, even with the fumes and mess.

Back in my youth I hated, yes, HATED the time leading up to a football game or track meet.  The longer the wait, the more intense my nerves became.  During my years running marathons and triathlons, my nerves usually went into overdrive days leading up to the event.  Sleep and appetite were non-existent.  On race day you could easily see me visit the porta-potty at least four or five times before the gun went off.  At school or work I hated going last.  When it was time to present, I HAD to go first, otherwise I was tormented by all the worry and second-guessing.

I'm not about to justify why I feel this way.  When it comes to my favorite sports teams I'm sure the behavior borders on the obsessive.  Yeah, I get it, I'm not personally vested in the outcome of those games but I've got to believe genetics plays a role in my behavior.   Meditation, incense, playing the Ambient station on Pandora just doesn't seem to make a dent.  Best thing for all is to just leave me alone, let me focus and beware of the occasional outburst of "colorful metaphors" .

Come on!  Let's go!!  Tic toc, tic toc!

Day 21: Toy Store...

So many toys, so few dollars.  For me walking into Home Depot is like a recovering alcoholic walking into a liquor store.  Crazy temptations.  I can walk in there only needing some light bulbs and batteries and walk out with enough stuff to renovate a four bedroom house.

I would like to think I'm pretty handy at house repairs.  If the amount of blood spilled is any indication of my skills, I'll have my own home improvement show in no time.  I think I'll call it "This Old Wound".  Every scar will represent a story of some repair that took a fair amount of blood, some sweat and swears (not tears).  I think I'll continue to be delusional about my abilities to fix things.  I guess as long as the home improvement shows continue to imply that it only takes 30 seconds to hang a door I'll keep donating my A Negative syrup to the results of all my household projects.

Day 20: Perspectives...

Don't worry.  Nothing heavy today.  We were just out and about in Boulder and I decided to bring my camera along to hopefully capture something interesting.  Always love buildings and architecture.  And all those bicycles crammed together looked kinda interesting as well.  Instead of your typical point and shoot, I was hoping I might catch a different and hopefully interesting angle.  Just reminds me that I should do the same in other aspects of my life....