Monday, September 28, 2009

Certain Experiences

There are some experiences that you don't get to experience in your day to day routine. Today, I got to watch the clouds zip by at eye level. We passsed through a turbulent pocket, livening up the ride in an amusement park sort of way. The adorable child who had been babbling contentedly behind me, got quiet... Another quick drop and pow, her infantile digestive system had had enough. The inflight cookies quickly rejoined us in the cabin along with the smell and sound we associate with the most disgusting of body misfires. Fortunately, the flight attendant was quickly on the scene, spraying a scent neutralizer and mopping up breakfast.

I have to say, the kid had the right idea going for the cookies instead of the pretzals. I followed suit and man oh man! The vanilla wafers were sublime!

I have a window seat by the wing. I watched the wing buckle and release with each new pressure pocket, so I had fair warning before the cabin actually dropped or pressed us onto the seat. :)

As we climbed, we quickly entered the clouds where everything faded between different shades of white and grey. Breaking slowly through the top, I was greeted by a beautiful sunny cloudscape with a new, beautiful, and foreign coastline, the most beautiful of the grey and white terrain resembling the Rockies.

I fell asleep shortly after that. :)

I woke to a quick Yelp! As the flight attendant accidentally emptied a can of juice into a passengers lap. Hahahaha!

Oh wow! Looking out the window, I see that we're past the clouds and I can see a long strip of beach bordered by farmland. Chching! add that to the list of amazing things I would never see without technology. (My favorite on that list is the deep blue of the deep, deep ocean.)

Speaking of tech, our plane was delayed slightly due to a flat tire. I don't know about you, but that tickled the ironic side of my funny bone.

The captain just announced that we're plowing through a strong headwind, so we're only doing... 490 MPH!!! Geez that's fast! I'll be touching down in no time. :)

Sent from my iPod, inflight

Friday, September 11, 2009

9am and the Day is Golden!!

It's 9am, and I'm already exuberant!

Last night, I hit up the hardware store and radio shack, assembling tools, then replaced my wife's cell phone screen... SUCCESS!!


It was another quick sprint for the bus today, but I caught it in the nick of time. My heart racing, I settled in for the ride. Hysteria by Muse was the leading song on my iPod's Genius mix. The song's frantic bass matched the tempo of my body. It was a zen moment. At peace with the work I'd done the night before (and the excellent, if short, gaming session with Brion, Ray & crew), I got off the bus. I LOVE stepping off the bus. The bus windows (like any car) are visibility tinted (around 15%). When you get off the bus, it feels like the day greets you fresh (a brighter, more ambiently noisy day than the one that you struggled out of bed to only 30 minutes prior).

Today was special though...
Today, the light cloud cover disperses the light. No sun glasses are required and with the 60 degree weather your view is crisp. The typical wind noises, rustling tree leaves, a piece of paper scrapping down the street, and our constant *shhhwwoshshehshshh* were absent. The day was still. It's like in the movies when someone is in a memory and time is frozen. I could hear EVERYTHING! My ninja-like footsteps on the concrete sounded like a runner's *trat trat trat*. Swiftly, and stealthily, a chipmunk darted out for a bread crumb, well, normally it would have been stealthy; today, however, the *skitter skitter* was plain as day, drawing the attention of the other folks walking down the street with me.

A quick conversation with our lovely security guard, Stefanie, and a chance encounter with Murthy (the new me in my old job) then up to my terminal. The Westlaw setup routines are running, so I've got time to *ticka tap calick* out this post, excitedly anticipating the feats I can accomplish today... *AIAIAIAIAI*!!!! (P.S. You can ask Mike, I actually made that sound :)