But what I really wanted was....

Good Friday to all....hope everyone has a great weekend planned.

Thought I'd share some things I found funny and/or interesting this week.  Traveled a bit (just one night) and have been out and about quite a bit otherwise, so here goes!

Boo!  and Hiss!  to American Airlines, who have apparently "redesigned" their full-size airline cabins to the extent that a "normal" coach seat affords a passenger about half of the forward-and-back space as before.  I was treated to a round trip earlier this week in a larger plane (couldn't tell you what make or model, I'm not THAT much of a geek) and found that I had about two to three handwidths between my chest and the seat in front of me.  Luckily, they're also featuring reduced size flip down trays, so that you can still have a place to put your drink....oh, wait, even that's too small for me now!  To compound matters, the gentleman (and I use that term loosely) who occupied the middle seat next to me on my outbound flight Tuesday afternoon made himself comfortable, completely at my expense.  Glad he enjoyed the flight.  I'm still sore from having his joints embedded in mine.

I just had something funny happen a short time ago.  I think I've mentioned that I have an office (really, simply a workspace in the event that I need it) but work primarily from a home-based office or in the field.  Anyway, I had an early meeting at the location of my office with three client contacts, then a phone call.  So I was there for a couple of hours.  I'm meeting a pal for lunch in about 45 minutes, so thought, well, I'll zip into a Starbucks and get a coffee, plug in the Mac and soak up some luxurious free Wi-Fi.  First Starbucks I visited --nowhere to park.  I mean NOWHERE, not even the meters on the street adjoining the parking lot!  So I resolved to run a quick errand and try another location.

Errand completed, I then encountered a McDonald's, embedded in a gas station (seeing more of those now, aren't we?).  I verified that they had Wi-Fi and then scouted for an electrical outlet, since the Mac was down to about 3% battery life.  No outlets in the seating area.  NONE.  And ominous signs everywhere warning that no one may remain seated there for more than thirty minutes.  OK, then, I'm outta there.

Undaunted, I remembered where another Starbucks location was, not far from the site of my lunch.  Parked, went in, scouted out the seating area....only there were no seats.  NO seats anywhere.  Plugs, yes, but no seats.

Hmm....so I decided to venture across the road to another McDonald's, this one a free-standing one, new building (I remember when they started remodeling it), saw plugs, ordered a soft drink, and here I am.  A little weary from my journey of the past 40 minutes, but up and running.  And enjoying a beverage, too.

This is what it's come to.  The search for free wi-fi.  My new company issued me an aircard, a device you can plug into your computer and it accesses a cellular phone company's data network to allow Internet access.  That's great, except the item they issued me does not work with my Mac.  At all.  Even ordered a portable router to use with it, but that didn't work either, AND the Amazon "partner" vendor from whom I ordered it wouldn't accept a return.  Amazon fixed that, thankfully.

So when I use my Mac, I have to find wi-fi if I'm in unfamiliar territory.  I kind of like being a trailblazing explorer, out in the wilds with nothing to rely upon but my wits.

OK, that was a little much, wasn't it?

The only other thing I thought to mention this morning is that I'm now shaving with amazing frequency these days (amazing what meeting with people regularly does for our grooming habits), so being able to remain clean-shaven while not regularly gouging my face has become a bit of a challenge.  But I love a challenge, so have played with my trusty Braun shaver to find a group of settings that I don't find so irritating.  So far, so good.  Will keep you posted.

Oh, and Sunday is my birthday.  Kind of afraid to see that many little sticks on fire in one place at one time.....


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