Come Wi-fi the friendly skies

It's still pretty early - 6:20 - and I've made it over to JFK a bit early for my flight. Heading down to Orlando this morning for the wedding of my good friend Aaron (aka Tuffy, aka Mudwhistle.) I lived with Aaron for a while when I was down in Florida last summer and we'd worked together several years ago in Indianapolis. Good people that Aaron Hill.

So here at JFK, JetBlue has their own little group of terminals and they've got it set up pretty nice. Free wi-fi for one thing and clever-looking little bohemian sushi-bar. The only thing I can think of more unappitizing than sushi this early in the morning is . . . well, ok, I can't think of anything worse.

My boss gave me a copy of Moneyball the other day. So far it's the story of Billy Bean, the A's GM, and how he came to have a great ball team with the second smallest piggy-bank in the majors. Two of my favorite past-times, baseball and thriftiness. Seems like a bit of a psychological thriller as well. Beane was a first-rounder for the Mets back in the day and came up with Strawberry and Dykstra, but he never quite got his game on. If I were a psychoanalyst I would say that his unique approach to how he drafts kids was built as a response to his experience of being pressured to play ball and the pressure of being over-hyped by scouts.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the book.

On a separate, but very exciting note, Steve Beard is back from who knows where.

The last train to washington

This week began as most have for the past five months - on a train at 5:30 in the morning. This week ended as most have for the past five months - on a train at 5:30 in the evening. I like trains, but not that much and I'm very glad that this will be my last two train weekend for a while.guy.

I'm on the train now, crossing what I think is the Susquhanna River, trying to think of a pithy way to recount my week. Nicole is working feverishly to wrap up her third and final paper - The Comparative Morphology of the Hyoid - before I get to the station at 8:50. Mom and Dad are somewhere on I-68 heading east. Beth, my oldest sister, is hanging out over at her neighbor's house in DC. Ruthie, my middle sister, is getting ready to go see a movie with some friends. Catie, my youngest sister, is out at a little horse farm near Columbus giving riding lessons to little girls. I guess it's a pretty rare thing that I know where my entire family is at any given time.

My bike gave me troubles all week. I've had three flat tires on my new rear wheel. I've checked the rim strips for uncovered spokes, checked the tire for errant objects and tried three different air pressures. Nadda. So my bike is sitting in the TRL props room with a thouroughly flat tire. I just can't imagine what it is that brought this spata-flats along.

I spoke with the County of Ventura - nice people those Venturites - about getting a marriage license. Seems pretty straight forward. Showing up is 80% of the job - Woody Allen would be glad. I didn't intend any dark joke about Mr. Allen's married life (lives) but I suppose I could take credit for anything you are inferring.

Well, Baltimore is outside my window. Time to pack it up and call it a week - the last train week.

This weekend's train

I did the usual Friday afternoon routine today. Skip lunch, get my work down, grab my bags, hustle through rush hour traffic down to Penn Station and catch the earliest train possible down to Washington. If the week hasn't been enough for me already, by the time I get on the train my head is generally thumping and I just wanna sleep for a few hours.

Unfortunately, the Friday evening rush hour trains to DC are normally oversold and people have to sit in the aisles and in the little space between the cars. If you get there early enough to get a seat, you have to try to relax next to a total stranger for three hours. I can think of more pleasant circumstances under which to catch up on a little sleep.

But it wasn't to be that way this evening. I had the usual week, the usual Friday, the usual hustle to the train station, the usual last minute catching of the train. But I shuffled down the aisle-way of the train - eyes half shut - I head someway say "Leimbach". I knew that bark: Wagner. He had a seat for me.

It had totally slipped my mind that Ben had told me he was heading down to Philly for a show and a ten miler. We talked a little about work a little about Coffee and Cigarettes and a little about this and that. I can't tell you what a difference it makes to be tired on a train with a friend sittin' next to you.

Ordinary People and the Biting Biters who Bite Them

Mike Tyson move over. Check out this crazy fella. I ride the seven train to and from Manhattan every so often. Now I'll be keeping an eye out for biting biters with an especially crazy and bloodthirsty look in their eye.

Getting there (and back) is half the fun

I've just returned from a two week holiday safari with my fiancee. The plan was simple: I drive from New York, pick her up in DC, drive to Columbus and fly to California the next day. Ten days later repeat, inversed.

So here's what actually happened.

While rushing to get out of NYC, I stepped on and demolished the alarm clicker for my car. I had to open the car, set off the alarm, pop the hood and cut the horn wires. That worked, but still left my lights to blink for about 90 seconds every time I open and close the door.

So I'm out of NYC and four hours later into DC. Sleep for a few hours, run errands all day and head for Columbus with fiance and dog at 8pm. 11:54pm, realise that I left my wallet on the roof of car while pumping gas just outside of DC. Turn around and drive back. 2am, searching in the rain for my wallet. Surprise hotel for the evening. 6am, searching for wallet in the light. 10am, driving back to DC to get a new drivers liscence.

So we took a brief nap and then set out for Columbus, take two.

By this time we had missed our flight to OC so we rescheduled for 7am the next morning.

Spent the first few moments of Christmas 2003 on i-70 and arrived in Columbus at 12:30am. We had a fine, but foggy-eyed visit and present-opening session with my family until 2am. Up at 5:45 and off to the airport.

Things started to look up when our flight (which had a stop-over at ORD) was oversold and we took the two free RT tickets and the first class upgrades. But we accidentaly threw away one of the free tix with our lunch wrappers. After that the trip out was pretty uneventful.

The return trip was pretty uneventful. We only got one flat tire about two hours outside of DC. I must take this occasion to put in a shameless plug for my fiance - that girl is good with a tire iron. These little surprises are always wonderful.

The occasion did afford me the opportunity to put two new Pirelli tires on my car. The ride is much nicer now.

All I have to say about the whole affair is that between my fiance, her family and friends and mine, there are some great folks. I was the only one who ever got frustrated with myself. I suppose these things happen. And as always, there's no substitute for having good folks around.