I Need Vegas Advice

Should I try The Palms?

I've been contemplating a trip.  I thought about visiting one of my homies in Pensacola to catch a football game with him at his favorite sports bar.  I considered visiting my brother in Dallas and maybe catching a game out there.  But, maybe I should get away to a place where no one knows me.  Maybe I should finally give Vegas a shot.

I've always thought about going there due to the many entertainment options.  The biggest dilemma for me is what should I do while I'm there?  There are tons of hotels, bars, nightspots and shows.  So, how am I going to know which spots are worth my time?

The first thing that I'm going to do is contact my Twitter friend, Cherie.  I know that Ms. @Redhead_702 will do what she can to recommend all of the premier entertainment options for Vegas.  I follow her Twitter timeline like a hawk and she always seem to find the best eating spots and parties in the Vegas area.  I also think that @Ida_homie has been there a few times as well, so I'd love to hear his input.

Now, I'm not really the partying type (any more), but I would be open to going some where and watching people enjoy themselves on the dance floor.  I'm just not going to get out there myself and pull a hamstring.  There's no fun flying home from a vacation with an injury, you know?  LOL!

I just want to get away for a while and add another city to my "Been There, Done That" list.  I got a taste of western living while in San Diego last month and I think I want to experience more of it.  Portland, Seattle, L.A. and San Francisco will be other places that I'll consider going forward, but now, Vegas is on my radar.  Since it is so far away, I really want to make sure that I maximize my time while there.  I definitely don't want to go that far and not have a comfortable stay as well as some stories to share.  And when I say "stories to share," I don't mean talking about a trip to the Bunny Ranch.  LOL!  I'm not a pay-to-play type of guy.

"So, for $5,000, I can have both of you and a monkey?"

I'm hoping for an opportunity to go there this time next year. I usually take two trips a year and although I'm traveling alone now, I hope to continue that tradition. I came across a site that lists a few reasonable and inexpensive lodging options in Vegas, so I guess that's a start towards that dream. I'll do my research and await advice from some of my readers on the "where and what."

 Do you have Vegas recommendations for things to do/places to stay?

Going Back to Cali

(written on 10/10)

I'm in pain as I type this. My upper shoulder area was sore prior to going to bed last night and now it feels as if Jason Statham just kicked me in the neck. I guess I need a firmer pillow and not one you can fold and put in your pocket. Anyhoo, I'll get over it.

Last week, The Mrs. and I spent Sunday-to-Sunday in Carlsbad (San Diego), CA for her birthday. Not only did we have a great and relaxing time, I also slept much better than I did last night (the pillows were firm at the SeaPointe Resort)!

The one thing that I did gain even more perspective on, while vacationing there, was the value of hard work. I met and unofficially interviewed almost every housekeeping and maintenance employee at our resort. To hear them talk about the jobs situation in America was fascinating to me.

One person in particular that I met was a housekeeper named Caridad was from Mexico. She has been in the states for most of her adult life (I'm guessing she was mid-20's). I asked her, "if I were to move to Carlsbad, would I have a problem finding a job?"

She replied, "office job?"

"No, just a good job." 

"There are plenty of good jobs here, but a lot of people only want desk jobs."

Intrigued, I followed, "why is that?"

"I don't know. Americans don't like to sweat."

Of course, she followed that statement with a nervous laugh to try not to offend me. I wasn't offended at all. I knew exactly what she meant. American-born people tend to want things easy when it comes to the job. I remembered my days of working in a cell phone company's call center and seeing people complain about being "tied to the phones."

But, every other day at the resort, I watched a 50-something Hispanic woman rake even rows in the sand of a beach volleyball area. It took her 20-30 minutes to erase all of the footprints, but she did it and made sure that the rows were even.

I recall wanting some more towels for our bedroom and watching Caridad run to retrieve them. When she returned, I asked her why did she run and she simply replied, "to get them to you faster."

Really? Who does that?  Was it because I was nice to her and I spoke to her daily or just because she understands the real meaning of customer service?

Don't get me wrong. We all complain about our jobs at some point. Mainly over the people we deal with more so than the job, but we complain nonetheless.  I'm sure that even LeBron James wishes he could stay in bed late some days instead of going to the gym. Even a male photographer for Playboy Magazine probably gets tired of packing luggage to go all over the world for nude photo shoots.  Well, maybe I'm reaching there.

From the Filipino woman at the airport named Tess, who was very helpful, to the Pacific Islander Seapointe Resort front desk attendant named Olga, who had the most pleasant of attitudes, I learned something: I learned that we have people, born and raised, in this country capable of being hard workers. The difference between the U.S. and the places where these particular employees originated is the culture.

We don't teach the value of hard work like we once did. So many people have rapped/sang, ran/jumped and sex-taped their way to financial freedom that a lot of us just wait on our "big break" instead of creating it. Do you know how many kids that I know who want to be a singer/rapper, basketball/football player, reality star, etc.? A lot more than when I was in school, that's for sure.

The point that I'm trying to make is that people aren't born lazy. We're turned into lazy bums by enablers. We have companies (insert fast food restaurant here) who hire "warm bodies." Some companies could care less if you're nice to the customers.  They just need you to flip the burgers and take the money.

We have parents who do everything for their children. "Helicopter parents" who hover over their child and won't let him/her do anything on their own.  And then other people have to deal with their children once they become "adults."

We have the media who portray sluts, slackers and drunks as idols.  No need to have talent!  Just do something really stupid that people will talk about on Twitter.

Where did we go wrong? (Sigh)

I enjoyed our vacation in Carlsbad.  I hope that some day we'll be going back to Cali for another stay.  I not only enjoyed the weather and sights there, but I also learned that there are people in this country who still take pride in their work.

It's just that must of them weren't born here...

Are we too far gone as a culture to restore a hard-working attitude back into the U.S.?

I Love Kids, But I Hate Parents

(Source)

Although I don't have kids, I do like them.  A lot of people have a misconception and think that The Mrs. and I don't care for children.  That's not the case at all.  I love kids, but I hate parents.  My god kids are wonderful kids.  They didn't do that on their own.  Their parents are the reason that's the case.

It's not like that with all children.  You see, when kids (under 10 especially) act up, it's not completely their fault.  I blame their parents.  Case in point: on my trip to San Diego this week, I sat across from a kid who may have been three years old.  He was very loud and disruptive for the entire flight.  Not once did I get upset with him waking me from my nap at 38,000 feet.  But, I got really pissed at his parents who simply ignored his outbursts.  The kid was wearing headphones and playing with an iPad while using his "playground voice."  Every blue moon, his mom or dad would "shush" him, but it was rarely with any type of authority.  It almost seemed insincere as they rarely even looked at him when doing so.  This irks me.  

Kids are disruptive away from home because they're disruptive at home.  I'm a firm believer of that.  This kid is three years old and already has the freedom to do as he pleases.  His parents have basically given him the power to have his way and that will grow over time.

Aside from the noise this kid created, he also held up the line when everyone was trying to exit the plane.  While his parents were begging him to get out of his seat, he chose to play with his toys instead.  Instead of getting out of our way, they simply sat there and negotiated with a three year old.  This upset not just me, but everyone else on the plane since we were on the fourth or fifth row from the front with 100+ people behind us.  Yet, the clueless parents looked at us as if we needed to understand, "he's just a child."

Whatever.  My parents would have never had that problem with me or my brother.  Any time we were disruptive, we were scolded sternly.  If we continued to act a donkey, then other measures were taken.  I know that a lot of people frown on spankings these days, but they did the trick for me and my big bro.

Once you start a peek-a-boo game on a plane, you can never stop. (Source)

I think that some parents have it hard. I saw a single mom on the plane with a child that looked less than a year old. Sometimes you just have to take your kid on a flight. Surprisingly enough, her child was a lot more quieter than the three year old. No crying. No fussing. Yet a parenting team could not control a three year old from having an entire section wishing they were sitting on the wing instead of beside them.

I read where some airlines are putting travelers with kids in sections together on the plane in the back.  This has been dubbed as being placed in a "baby ghetto."  Kind of an extreme name, but the idea is to move all crying babies as far as possible from those without.  I'm not sure if that's fair or not, but obviously, the airlines are recognizing that there's a problem.  There have also been talks of charging parents more money for kids of a certain age to fly.  That's absolutely ridiculous to punish someone for having a child, good or disruptive.

My solution would be to ban the parents who appear to not try.  If people around them are complaining, then prevent them from future flights.  I know that sounds harsh, but if you're letting your little hellion raise the stress level of people who don't have the option of walking out, then maybe you should consider the train.

Maybe not to this extreme... (Source)

Have you ever dealt with a disruptive child as a parent or "victim" in public?

My Birthday Gift to The Mrs...

Carlsbad, CA

I hope that she likes it! :)

350: O_o

From afar, you'd make the same mistake, too right?

This is blog post #350 for me.  I figured that since it's a milestone blog post, that I should share a story about something that's pretty memorable for me, but not necessarily in a good way...  (deep breath)

Here goes: 10 years ago, I got married.  The Mrs. and I spent our honeymoon in Panama City Beach, FL and despite the many memories we created, this one in particular came up the other day. Ugh. Some stories you wish would never see the light of day, but this one I guess I don't mind sharing.

We go to a restaurant for dinner and for some reason, I cannot remember the name. I want to say Pineapple Willy's, but it may have been Harpoon Harry's.  Whatever.  I'm not much of a drinker, but since it's my honeymoon, I'm looking for something to alcoholic to drink. As I peruse the menu, I look around and soak in the environment of the restaurant. "Seems like a nice place," I thought. "Right on the beach where you can see the ocean."

The server interrupts my thoughts and with a smile asks The Mrs. what she would like to drink. "Diet Coke," she replies. 

The server, writing everything down, repeats under his breath, "Diet Coke... And you sir?"

I tell him that I want to try their signature drink. As he's writing down my request, I look over his shoulder and notice what I think is a souvenir cup. "Hey," I started, "I want to get my drink in that souvenir cup on the wall over there!"

I point across the room towards the item of my choice. If I'm going out of town and enjoying myself, then I want souvenirs galore to document my memories! The server makes a weird look on his face and then walks off towards the bar.  I pay it no mind as The Mrs. and I start talking about our vacation.  It was my first real vacation.  Despite taking numerous trips out of town, it always involved family, school function or some social event.

You can't relax when you take a trip with your parents and stay in some other relative's home.  You definitely can't relax on a school trip because every waking moment of your day is scheduled.  And you can't relax on a social event (sporting, music, Mardi Gras, etc.) because you're only focused on fun and sleep is a last resort.  This was my first trip with absolutely nothing planned!  We were on the beach for eight days by ourselves and getting out of bed before noon was optional.

All of this is floating through my mind when the server returns with The Mrs.' Diet Coke, but not my alcoholic beverage of choice.  "Uh, sir," he started, "I spoke with the manager and we're not allowed to serve alcohol in a 'sippy cup' here."

O_o

I gave the cup on the wall a closer look and realized that it was indeed a kid's cup.  I guess I'd been mesmerized by the bright colors and didn't pay attention to the youthful designs on the cup.  The Mrs. almost spit out her first sip of Diet Coke as she erupted in laughter.  The server leaned over with both of his hands on his knees, as if he were speaking to a child, and said with a grin, "Sir, I can put your alcohol in a big boy cup if you want."

How did I feel after all of this was said and done? Play the video below and hear how I felt...

 


What's an embarrassing moment that you don't mind sharing?

X

No, the "X" doesn't represent the letter, a Family Feud strike or anything like that. It's the Roman numeral letter for "10." 10 years ago, I married The Mrs. and I just wanted to take a moment to share with my followers our milestone of double digits!

To celebrate, we decided to roll back down to our honeymoon spot in Panama City Beach, Florida. What was so cool about the 6.5 hour drive was that we did it without even turning on the radio. We still have conversation for one another after all of this time.

It's been a great 10 years and I look forward to 10 more. Thanks for allowing me to be me!

Honeymoon: Panama City Beach, FL - View from our resort room

Anniversary #5: San Antonio, TX - The Alamo

X: Back where it all started in Panama City Beach.  View from the Origin @ Seahaven hotel.

Careless Drivers

"Ba-ba-ba-ba-baby! Don't forget my number!"

I wonder if I could contact George Michael and have him put the band back together again. Instead of "Careless Whispers," they could do "Careless Drivers."

I hate bad drivers. You've seen previous posts I've done like "Car Wars" or "Why Isn't This Lady Allowing Me to Merge?" If I could rewrite laws, I'd have bad drivers doing jail time. The latest trend that bugs me when I'm on the road are people who drive with earphones in their ears.

I asked some of my Twitter followers about why so many people are driving with earphones in their ears. Only one of them said for hands-free calling. Just one! Everyone else said they do so to listen to Pandora and iHeartRadio. So, I figured that it's up to me to make a QSA (Q Service Announcement) to explain to everyone why that could be a bad idea:

The reason it's illegal in most (if not all) states to drive with earbuds plugged into your dome is because it's a safety hazard. You can ask the lady who almost ran me over because she couldn't hear me blow my horn when she pulled into my lane. Or you can even ask this guy "doing the dougie" at the stop light and not realizing until the very last second that a fire truck was trying to get by him. If you can't hear, then it makes it that much more difficult to drive. A lot of people can't drive when they can hear, so they definitely don't need anything else negating their abilities.

There are so many ways to hook up a cell phone or MP3 player to your car stereo, so there's no excuse for earbuds in both ears. If you only use one, then that's cool, but to have both ears plugged is just unsafe.

And how people jog or ride bikes on busy streets with both earbuds in amazes me. The level of trust that they have is unbelievable! There's no way I'm going to have both earbuds in and allow some teen who's texting to run me down like a victim in "Christine." I don't trust my general public that much. I need to be able to hear brakes screeching so I'll at least have a chance to jump into a ditch.

Do you think driving with earbuds in both ears is a smart move?

Last Canadian Post, Eh?

Continued from First Canadian Post, Eh?
Continued from Second Canadian Post, Eh?

Coming out of the hotel onto College Street.

Thursday, 1130 AM EDT
We're up too late for breakfast at the hotel, so The Mrs. and I decide to try the Golden Griddle across the street. It's a nice, quiet restaurant with a view of College Street. We decided against getting breakfast at the hotel. Despite the fact that Tripadvisor.com had multiple people recommend that everyone who stays at the hotel eats at the restaurant, I just didn't see the value in it. $13 for pancakes? $11 for a cup of oatmeal and some fruit? Do they use gold dust to make their food?

So, the decision wasn't difficult to roll over to the G.G., but they had their issues, too! First of all, the one downside to coming to Canada is my phone. I received a text message from my carrier about 2 miles after crossing the Canadian border that told me I'd be roaming there and charges would apply. Because of that, I chose to turn the data off on my phone which meant no blogging, tweeting, or status updates without Wi-Fi. So, the "Free Wi-Fi" sign in the window made the place even more enticing.

We get inside and the place is nice. A young gentleman seats us and asked for our drink orders. The Mrs. asks for coffee only to discover that they don't have artificial sweeteners there. It's sugar or no sweetener at all. Maybe that's a Toronto thing, I don't know. Next, I inquire about the Wi-Fi and dude brings out the pass code for me. 15 freaking digits! So, I had to enter this into my device (twice since I missed a letter the first time) just to connect. Two things that have made us unhappy. The last thing to upset us, which was by far the worst, was that dude charged us $1.99 for a glass of water. A glass of water!

"My man, unless you squeezed this water from the tear ducts of a unicorn, I'm not paying you $2 for water not in a bottle."

Okay, I didn't say that, but I thought it. The food itself wasn't bad. I had the steak and eggs and The Mrs. had the pancakes (off the chain), scrambled eggs, and bacon. After breakfast, we hopped in the rental car and drove around Downtown Toronto just to take in sights of the city.

There is so much to see in Toronto! The nightlife is booming and the shopping opportunities are every where. Although my trip to the top of the country wasn't initially supposed to be about going into Canada, I'm very glad that I did. The two nights we've spent here have been great, but now it's time to do what I came to do...

Second Canadian Post, Eh?

Continued from First Canadian Post, Eh?

Wednesday, 530 PM EDT
We get to Toronto and we ride for forever until reaching our hotel which is located on College and Yonge Street. The view from the 6th floor gave me a bird's eye view of the busy downtown Toronto area. We're within walking distance of quite a few restaurants and shopping areas. The famous Eaton Centre is only about three blocks from us, so we appear to be in a good location.

Now, the purpose of me boarding a plane and coming up north in the first place has nothing to do with Toronto. The reason I'm even in the area is to attend a Boxing Hall of Fame event on Friday night near Syracuse, NY. It was supposed to be a trip taken by me to meet some friends of mine in Buffalo and then drive to Syracuse. But, after realizing how close Toronto was to Buffalo and the fact that The Mrs. was not feeling the best when we took our anniversary trip in April, I decided to buy an extra ticket and make it a 2nd vacation for us. Of course that was before realizing there was a strip club within two blocks of my hotel. LOL! Just kidding. Kind of... I shouldn't be surprised that they have them here. After all, this is the home of the Slutwalk.

Wow, they're discussing Anthony Weiner on the news here in Toronto. It appears that his wife is going to have a what Sonia at LogAllot would probably refer to as a "weenie." First your husband publicly admits to sending bulging underwear photos to other women and now you have to have his kid. Sucks for her. Anyway, back to the city of Toronto. The one thing I can say about Toronto is that they have the begging-est (I know it's not a word) people I've ever seen. Every block, you'll be asked for "spare change" at least two or three times. At least! Now, I'm not one to ignore people, so I'll make eye contact and just say "no." But, after a while, it gets old! One lady had a nice Pomeranian dog that (in my opinion) she dirtied up to make it look homeless, too. The dog's coat didn't appear to show long-term dirt. It honestly looked like she threw dirt on him and put on some tattered clothes to make money. I may be wrong, but I doubt it.

Toronto is a busy city of almost 3 million people. The most shocking thing to me about Toronto is the cultural makeup. Asians are every where in Toronto. Everywhere! I've never been to a place where white people are the minority. I'm seeing three Asians for every white person and it's great!

Wait. That sounded bad. I mean that it's great that there's so much diversity in the city. I've always pictured Canada as a land filled of Viking-looking red heads who say "eh" all of the time, but it's far from that. It's a wonderful mix of cultures consisting mostly of Asians and there's a strong Indian influence as well. Either that or I'm seeing a lot of them because a Bollywood festival is in town.

Setting the stage for the Bollywood Film Festival

Actually, Asians aren't the majority. I'm exaggerating a bit. However, they do represent roughly 30% of Toronto, but the area where we're staying is near the University of Toronto which have a lot of Asian students. I guess my noticing this is a product of me growing up in a town that lacked diversity. My one wish, if I had to live my life all over again, would be to grow up in an area with multiple cultures and have more than only just black and white friends.

8:45 PM EDT
The Mrs. and I walk over to Fran's. It's a diner that's been around for 50 years. It serves breakfast 24 hours along with daily specials. The Mrs. goes for a hamburger and I try the daily special which is an order of beef ribs. The food was excellent! I thought the fries weren't all that great, but she enjoyed her burger and I thought my ribs were legit. We leave there and on our walk back to the hotel, I turn my back for a few seconds while looking into a store only to have some guy flirt with The Mrs. and tell her how pretty her eyes were. Look, dude. Just because there are only six black women in Toronto doesn't mean you can have mine.

Okay, I lied, it's more than six. Maybe 10. After a long day of walking and toting luggage, I'm tired. We make it back to the hotel in time for me to finish watching the Bruins destroy (again) the Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals. It wasn't too long that I got into the bed and slept like a drunk toddler.

Tomorrow, we'll hit up the Eaton Centre and see what it's about.

I added this shot for my homie over @ EmDottie.com. She loves this store.

(To be continued...)

First Canadian Post, Eh?

"O, Canada! Our home and native land!" My first trip out of the United States has been interesting so far, to say the least. I'll catch you up how things have happened so far:

Wednesday, 830 AM CDT
I get to the airport and head to the Southwest gate. There is virtually no line, but then again, Jackson, MS is rarely busy during the mid-week. The Mrs. and I do the TSA thing with no problems. I mean, absolutely no problems. I accidentally forgot to take my keys out of my pocket before I preceded through the metal detector. The guy waves me through and I don't have any problems.

(record scratch)

I'm wearing a ring and have keys in my pocket and the metal detector doesn't go off? Great. Now I have to worry about 9mm toting passengers since I know that someone in Jackson forgot to plug up the machine.

As for flying itself, I'm no longer nervous when it comes to airplanes any more. I'm probably still considered a novice to most, with only roughly 12 round trips to my credit, but I enjoy flying. Well, let me rephrase: I love airplane sleep. I'm not sure what it is about being up in the air, but I'm so relaxed there. Maybe it's from coming off the adrenaline high of the sheer terror I feel as the plane takes off, I don't know.

3:00 PM EDT
After a three hour flight to Baltimore and an hour lay over, we finally arrive in Buffalo, NY and proceed to the car rental counter. The first thing I notice is that there's a lack of air conditioning going on at the airport. I'm not sure what idiot decided to save on the bill, but it's 90 freakin' degrees here today. I saw a dragon in the parking lot with a cup of ice as I reached my rental car. Just because you get snow seven months out of the year, people who fly into your city aren't freakin' from here! Get some A/C!

Sorry about that. So, The Mrs. and I hop in and drive roughly 15 minutes over the bridge and into Canada. She asked me before I got into the car to get the passports out of the trunk. "Nah, we'll get it later," I said thinking we had a longer drive to Canada that would include a stop along the way.

Had I known Canada was just around the corner, then maybe I would have been more prepared. I get to the border and the Border Patrol asked for identification. When I passed her my license and mentioned that my passport was in the trunk, her tone went from accommodating to harsh.

"Why would you not have your info on you, sir?"

"Uh, well, I didn't know we'd reach the border so fast," I stuttered while trying not to look in the direction of The Mrs.

"Pull over to that bay on the left and wait, sir," she said pointing towards a security area.

Great. Now I've pissed Nell Fenwick off. I drive over into Bay 12 and in Bay 11, this guy is getting the business! He's standing at the front of his car while Border Patrol is going through it with a fine tooth comb. His doors are open and the contents of his car are in the street. They'll ask him a question and he would walk towards them only for them to say, "stay in the front of the car, sir!"

Under 35-yr olds may not remember Nell from The Dudley Do-Right Show.

It appears that they've found some liquor in the backseat of this dude's car and they're not happy about it. Now I'm getting nervous. Although I don't have any contraband in the ride, I don't want pissed off agents coming to me and throwing all of my luggage out. Luckily, another guy comes over and gets our license and passports. He asked a lot of questions about the nature of our trip and made small talk with us before sending us on our way. The guy in Bay 11 was on his way to the Border Patrol's office when we were leaving. I guess it won't be a good day for him.

The first think I notice when driving on Canadian soil was the change in the metric system. 100 km/h = 60 mph. What? I have to do math while I drive now? I have to calculate that 50 km to Toronto = 30 miles? Ugh. Not fun. After a two hour drive, we finally arrived to Toronto.

Continued on Second Canadian Post, Eh?

Super Bowl Fever

Okay, so I rolled out to Dallas to participate in the SB XLV festivities, right? I had no idea the weather was as bad as it was because it almost made it impossible to drive any where within the Dallas area.

So, I missed a chance at Tashard Choice's party and maybe T.O.'s (if I would have decided to pony up the big bucks for it). Luckily, my brother and I were able to at least make it to the NFL Experience which wound up being one of the best events I've ever attended. I wanted to share some photos of it with you all!


The Vincent Lombardi Trophy: The reason they play the games.


Former Cowboys TE, Jay Novacek and Bucs S, John Lynch: Two franchise greats signing autographs.


The current NFL leading rusher, Texans RB, Arian Foster: First time I've seen him without a helmet, so it took forever to figure out who he was.


Future Hall of Famer, Falcons TE, Tony Gonzalez: Last I heard, women have him as the 3rd prettiest man on TV behind Prince and Rick Fox.


Former Bucs LB and current ESPN First Take "Analyst", Derrick Brooks: Despite the fact that I insult him for his lack of insight on ESPN, he was very nice and answered tons of questions about the 3-4 defense in his seminar.


Skins DE, Brian Orakpo: the former Texas grad was posing for photos with a Cowboys fan? Traitor!


"With the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys select..."


Road to the Super Bowl: this theater showed a 20 minute film on how the Packers and Steelers made their way to SB XLV.


NFL Total Access: Fran Charles, Kurt Warner and crew had a live broadcast from the Dallas Convention Center.


Outside of the NFL Experience: check out all of the ice and slush all over the place. Dallas got four inches of snow the night before (on top of the two inches of ice they already had).

So, as you can see, I've been tied up for a bit, but hopefully I can get back to blogging soon. I have a few stories to share about Southerners driving in bad weather...

JAN to MCO III (Flatulence and Turbulence)

This isn't my typical rant. Then again, it isn't a rant at all, but I wanted to share more about my recent trip to Orlando. This is part three of three. To see part one, click here.

I thought about using Southwest's Wi-Fi and doing a little blogging from 38,000 feet, but the flight to Jackson is very short. I figured that by the time I connected, we would be descending. So, I decided just to post some tidbits into Microsoft Mobile One Note on my phone until I landed. Here are my notes:



The Mrs. is cracking me up! This is her 4th flight, so it's still new to her. She wanted the window seat (and looked as if she was willing to fight me for it), so I swapped places with her. Unfortunately, for her, she ended up behind a guy who must have eaten a couple of bean burritos before the flight. The Mrs. has the most keen sense of smell of anyone I know. More accurate than a great white smelling a drop of blood. She exclaims, "Oh, my God!"

"What's wrong?"

"Someone farted!"

(LOL!) Now, I know that my immediate action should not have been laughter, but the word "farted" will even make an 80-year old man laugh. That word just cracks men up. I'm actually chuckling as I type now just thinking about her reaction.

So, the smell goes away and a lot quicker than I would have expected for the inside of a plane, but, 10 minutes later, The Mrs. makes the most twisted face I have ever seen. Immediately, I am laughing again because I know why her face is twisted like the love child of the Grinch and Whoopi Goldberg. The dude seated in front of her has passed gas again. Now, he appears to be asleep, so I am not sure if he is aware of his flatulence or not. But, he smelled like he needed an autopsy.



So, just when I thought that things could not be more annoying (for her), the guy behind her starts drumming his fingers on his tray. To top that off, his rhythm sucked. It sounded like a can of biscuits in a dryer.

As The Mrs. does a quarter-turn towards this guy's line of sight, the drumming gets softer and then eventually stops. Hey, there is an advantage, at times, to being stereotyped as "the angry black woman". The Mrs. is completely harmless, but sometimes a stern look gets results.



Now the flight has a little turbulence, but she doesn't appear to be too bothered. She likes flying now. Last year, she took her first flight (at age 35) for her birthday trip in Chicago. I remember the excitement she had and the excitement I felt for her as we took off. For this particular trip, she flew to Orlando on Wednesday by herself, so I guess I can consider her a veteran now. Outside of blogging in my notes, I slept through much of the flight as well as the turbulence. Plane sleep is the best to me. At one time, I couldn't imagine relaxing that much on a plane because I was terrified of flying, but now, I get comfortable and it's lights out until I reach my destination.

Well, the announcement was made for us to turn off our electronic devices. This week has been a pretty good one. I got a lot of work done in preparation for 2011 and The Mrs. and I sneaked in a mini-vacation.

Outside of a little flatulence and turbulence, life is good.

JAN to MCO II (I'm Not 24 Any More)

This isn't my typical rant. Then again, it isn't a rant at all, but I wanted to share more about my recent trip to Orlando. This is part two of three. To see part one, click here.

My business meeting ended last Wednesday, which is earlier than normal, but it is what it is. So, instead of flying home on Wednesday evening, I flew The Mrs. down to Orlando to spend the rest of the week there with me. It was her first time in Orlando, so I thought we would make it a mini-vacation. We stayed in our favorite hotel, The Hyatt Place, but I now have a beef with them after their internet service kept crashing. I couldn't blog at all which is why I'm just now telling you about a trip from last week.

We hung out with some of my co-workers for a little Trivia Night at the Miller's Ale House in Sanford. Won 1st place ($30 bar tab) in the first game, too! On Thursday night, I visited some relatives of mine in Altamonte Springs and had a great time. But, Friday night was where the fun really happened. We made our way to Universal Studio's City Walk to see if we could grab a bite to eat and find something to get into later.



Since City Walk offered a pass to visit all of their night clubs for only $12, we figured we'd give it a try. After all, most of the nightclubs there charging $7-$10 admission any way.

First up was Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. We went there to eat, but it was packed! A 45 minute wait. Now, you would think I would have tried a drink there being that the place is named after one, but for someone reason, it slipped my mind! I guess seeing some waitresses on stilts threw me for a loop.

We ended up eating at the NASCAR Restaurant basically because it was no one there. LOL! Boy, were we surprised! The food was off the chain! I had a three-cheese burger and The Mrs. had chili nachos and we chowed down like hostages after a week-long standoff.

After stuffing our faces, it was time to hit the clubs. We peeped Bob Marley: A Tribute to Freedom and the reggae band there was nice! They have an outdoor pavillion that has a lot of dancing room and the band was posted up under a gazebo and they were getting down! It would have been so much more enjoyable had it not been 34 freakin' degrees! 34 freakin' degrees in Orlando? That wasn't in the brochure! This is supposed to be the Sunshine State!



Anyway, we checked out the Red Coconut Club which was lame and then The Groove which had one of the best DJ's I've heard in a while. He kept the dance floor packed! It was the first time I've danced since my quadriceps tear in Nov. '09. I started to feel my age, too. After two or three songs, I soon realized that I'm not 24 any more!

But, the highlight of the night (for me) was City Walk's Rising Star Karaoke Bar. This place not only allows you to make a fool out of yourself in front of an audience, you get to make a professional fool out of yourself! Once you get on stage, it's not just you. There's no DJ spinning the instrumental tracks of songs. It's a live band who plays your song. Also accompanying you on-stage are two backup singers and a hype man to pump the crowd while you perform. It is basically an amateur concert and it was a very nice alternative to the karaoke spots here in Jackson where you will see a drunk standing next to a jukebox singing some Patsy Cline song. We call those spots "Waffle Houses".



The Mrs. and I spent most of the night there while laughing at some of the entertainment who clearly had too much to drink. Don't get me wrong. Some of them were actually pretty good performers, but others were just having a great time with no shame.

After we left there, we stopped in for a sec at The Latin Groove which was kind of boring. Then again, it was almost 2 AM which is when everything closes.

The Mrs. and I really had a good time at the City Walk. We absolutely do not club at home, so this was something different for us. We both enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

JAN to MCO

So, it's Sunday, December 5th and I'm making an annual business trip to Orlando. From JAN to MCO is about a little less than a two hour flight. It's my fourth time to this office, so everything is pretty routine at this point. Except for the people you encounter. I'm always looking for blog content and some people make it too easy for me.


Personal Space Violators

You all know that I hate it when people come all up in my area! So, we're at the beginning of the security line at the airport. The place where you take off your shoes, take your laptop out of your bag, etc. For those not familiar, before you fly, you have to put all of your personal effects into a bin so that it can go through an x-ray machine. This clueless... wait, no, selfish individual stopped at the very front of the table to take his shoes off and take out his personal effects. He had another 10 feet of table he could have moved down to use. That would have allowed other people to start putting things in the bin. Instead, he stood at the very front of the table and held up the line while nine feet of table went unused. Finally, a security guard came over to speak to him. "Sir," she started. "Please move down so that others may start using the table."

Do you know that idiot actually looked annoyed? And even after we went through the x-ray, this loser still didn't move down on the conveyor belt. He stood right where his things came out of the machine and started putting on his shoes until a security guard asked him to move again.

Why are people so selfish? This guy didn't care we had to wait. He just felt that he could take his time and the world would stop for him.

Contradiction to a Stereotype

Okay, I know that stereotypes are bad, but they make for the best jokes. On the plane, I had an Asian gentleman sit next to me. Shortly before take off, he pulls out this book about the human brain (the name of the book escapes me right now). Of course, the stereotype kicks in and I immediately assume that this dude is a genius which is a stereotype of Asians. Why would anyone be offended by that any way? People pick and choose what offends them. Black guys aren't offended when people say our junk is large, but talk about our credit and we fly off the handle. LOL!

Anyhoo, I saw something that debunked my theory that all Asians are geniuses and almost caused me to laugh out loud: as this guy was reading his book, he was moving his lips.


No Flat Screens in "Sports Bar"

After a very peaceful and prompt flight (via Southwest), I went to baggage claim to retrieve my things. If you've never been to the Orlando airport, you basically have to walk a distance the equivalent of Jackson, MS to Memphis, TN to reach the baggage claim area. I got my things and made my way to the FOX Sports Grill to wait on the rest of my co-workers and boss to arrive. I hate travelling on Sundays because I'm a huge fan of the NFL, but you do what you have to do when it comes to work, right?

I get into the FOX Sports Grill and although I've been there before, I was annoyed on this particular day. I was irked at the fact that I was watching the games on a bunch of 27-inch standard definition Toshiba tube TV's instead of something in HD on a flat screen. In 2010, how can you be located in a major airport and not have HD in a "sports bar", but I can watch Lifetime HD, in two different languages, in the Lush store around the corner? Until you remedy that, I will refer to you as a "novelty bar" because a sports experience definitely isn't your focus. I was glad to see my boss and co-workers arrive because the music they were playing over the loud speakers in the "novelty bar" was annoying me. Music and not play-by-play commentary? Fail!

I never thought the best experience of my trip down to ORL would actually be the flight.

(more of my trip to the ORL later...)

Don't Limit Your Kid's Dreams

Anyway, I'm watching "Man v. Food" the other day and I keep thinking to myself, "This dude is going to die on camera."

Seriously. Does this guy not take his life in his own hands every time he stuffs a pizza, hot dog or insanely-hot wing in his mouth? How do you even get a job eating for a living anyway? What was the interview like? "Hi. I'm Adam Richman."

"Nice to meet you, Adam. Let's get started. Do you like to eat?"

"Yes. I've eaten ever since I was a baby. I can't live without food!"

"Excellent. Can you eat a lot of food?"

"Yes. I've been known to stuff myself from time-to-time. One Thanksgiving, at my grandmother's house, I went back for seconds."

"Great! You're hired!"

So, this guy travels the country and stuffs himself with good-looking food. Amazing. If only I knew they were hiring. Dag, some people have all of the luck.

Growing up, my parents never told me that I could have a cushy job that can be fun, too. Why did they make me think that work was always suppose to lack pleasure? I could have been a professional eater, or a photographer for King or Maxim Magazine or even a U.S. Senator.

Parents, don't limit your kid's dreams. Let them know that there are jobs out there that can be fun. Who wouldn't want to eat for a living? Who wouldn't want to take photos of gorgeous models? Who wouldn't want to pass a bill that benefits their own business while living off of their constituents' tax money?

Make sure your kids are informed!

Sports Are More Than Just A Game

I love sports. I always have and I think I always will. A lot of people share the same sentiment. Okay, so I am walking out of an Exxon in Hammond, LA and got into a friendly banter with a Skins fan. He had the Washington seat covers in his yellow Toyota FJ Cruiser and as a Cowboys fan, I couldn't help but to say something to him.


Of course he had to bring up the fact that the Skins beat Dallas in Week One. Dag. People are always bringing up old stuff. That was three games ago. LOL!

We chatted for less than 90 seconds as our spouses could only sit and shake their heads at us. They were looking at us like we were two kids on the playground bragging about whose dad was the coolest. Each of us debating on why "our team" is better than the other.

But, it is amazing how something as simple as a game of football can strike conversation between two strangers. Despite the fact that I despise everything about the Skins (aside from their cheerleaders who are among the best in the league), here it is that me and this stranger are uplifting each other's mood over a game we both played as kids.



Here is a guy from IL who is traveling south conversing with a guy from MS traveling north. Never to see each other again or even if we did, would we even remember? Just a glimpse of a team's rival icon led to two people leaving Exxon with smiles. Had we both been locals, then who knows? It could have led to a lifelong friendship.

That is the power of the sports world. It brings together all ages, races, religions and genders. Although we may yell at each other during the game, we can all respect each other after the game. Well, except for Philly fan. I have a homeboy named Myron that I respect, but the rest of those Eagles fan are garbage. LOL!

Life is a series of incidents and if you happen to be in a spot with another random person out of all of the people in the world and all of the seconds of the day, then make the most of that opportunity. It is rarer than a winning Powerball ticket.

Take time to be kind. You never know how much a stranger may need a smile.

Why Isn't This Lady Allowing Me To Merge?

Had a bout of road rage the other day while in Windsor. I'm leaving the airport on my way to the office. I just picked up a sweet Nissan Altima at Avis and I'm anxious to get on the interstate to see what this baby can do.

I hop on the on-ramp and proceed to get ready to merge onto the interstate. As I come around the loop, some lady pulls beside me in a BMW. So, since I'm just getting ready to merge, I don't pay her much attention. I'm assuming that she will go on about her business and allow me into the slow lane.

Nope. Not the case. After three or four seconds of riding door-to-door with this idiot, I look over and she's on her cell phone.

At this point, I realize that my lane is about to end soon, so I need to get over. "There's no one in the fast lane, so why isn't this lady allowing me to merge? Can't she just move over and let me in?"

Nope. Not the case. Her phone call is so important that she's willing to run me off the road instead of paying attention to her surroundings.

So, I had to punch my accelerator and jump in front of this nut before I ran out of lane. Wouldn't you know it? After I did so, within a few seconds later, she comes passing me in the fast lane with that phone glued to her head.

"Oh, you can ride beside me for a week, but you can't ride behind me, you loser? Now you wanna speed up?"

Do they even teach people to be courteous when driving now? Sometimes I think there's a private school in each city that teaches people how to be blatantly rude to others. Why else does it seem like people purposely do stupid things to make life harder for others unnecessarily?

Do you know how many times I've had to use a can opener to get into my car because the idiot beside me has parked into my lane? That means you just parked, got out of your car and didn't bother to look and see if you were between the lines. Now I have six inches of space between your car and my door.

Or what about those people who see you waiting on a parking spot as they approach their car to leave, but then they get in their car and sit for five minutes before backing out. "If you're not leaving, then get your foot off of the brake and stop acting like you're backing out!"

I'm sorry, but I have even more to get off of my chest. Bare with me, okay?

Don't you hate it when people drive aggressively behind you for a long time? They're so anxious to pass you and when they finally get the chance to do so, they get back in front of you and go slow again. Now you have to pass them back. "You're all Dale Earnhardt behind me, but now you're Driving Miss Daisy in front of me!!!!????"

Yeah, I hate those people, too. In fact, I'm getting road rage here at my desk as I type this. Is that possible? I just had an urge to ram my mouse into the base of my monitor. Is that bad?

Anyway. What else do I hate? I also hate people "on parade". Those are the idiots on the interstate who get in the fast lane, but do the speed limit. The end result is two cars driving side-by-side because the idiot in the fast lane refuses to speed past the person in the slow lane and allow everyone else behind him to get through. This results in a line of cars a la a parade.

I have a fix for all of the above problems, but for some reason, I can't get a patent for my idea.

I wonder why?