Tone Parsons

I flew back to Spokane yesterday.

My day started at 4:00am on the east coast.  I was all packed and ready to hail a cab by 5.  The cab I ended up getting in was a little beat up (one headlight was pointing in a different direction than the other) which should have given me a clue that the driver took risks.  This was without a doubt the scariest ride I’ve ever had.

The driver was all over the road (he was talking on his cell phone for the entire drive), followed other vehicles with mere inches between the bumpers, and generally scared the holy living crap outa me.  He did, however, get me to the airport rather quickly.

After finishing “Death Ride, 2006” (and yes… I tipped him), I went about checking in with the airline, getting my suitcase weighed (it was 5 pounds over the limit… but they took it anyway without charging me extra), going through the security checkpoint (both my carry on bags were searched because of all the computer stuff I had in them), and finally finding my gate.

The flight left on time and was fairly uneventful.  First class is nice (and the only way to fly!), but all the planes I few in looked horrible on the inside.  The seats and carpet were very worn and all the surfaces looked dirty.  Even the plastic covers for the recessed cabin lighting looked like they haven’t been cleaned since they banned smoking on flights around 10 years ago (they were yellow and dingy).

My connection in Minneapolis was on time (one hour layover) and I was on the ground in Spokane at 12:20 pm (pacific time).  The total trip took about 8 hours (7 hours of which I was in the air).

After taking the wrong shuttle to get to my car (and ending up miles away from the Airport) I called my wife and she picked me up, drove me back to the airport, and I got my car.  We then met up for lunch and I drove home.

I started doing laundry when I got in (all my jeans were in my suitcase), played with my dogs (oh man… were they excited to see me!), and downloaded the Euro Force expansion for Battlefield2.

I did manage to stay awake until 9pm, but it was a real challenge, since my day began at 1am local time.

Today, I’m back at work (and damn tired).

On a positive note though, the company I went to work at in Boston called the project manager here and told them that I was very friendly, professional, and brought a lot to the table (she relayed that to my manager as well).  That’s great to hear, especially since my annual review is on Friday 🙂

Today is my last full day in bean-town.  It started rather damn early today, as the fire alarm in the hotel went off at 4:00 am, followed by a request to vacate the building via the PA (there’s a speaker in every room).

We all got dressed and assembled outside (where it was damn cold).

30 minutes later, the fire department gave an “all clear” and we were allowed back in (it was a malfunction with the fire detection system).

*groan*

I did manage to finally fall back to sleep around 5:30am so I got another hour and a half of sleep.  I guess it wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t up until midnight working on my laptop.

I left it connected to the hotels network during the day.  Apparently, I had a share open with full privileges (for a co-worker to dump files into).  Someone else using the hotel’s wi-fi must have a damn dirty PC, because when I came back, teaTimer (a little utility I have installed that warns you when  something is trying to modify the registry) was going nuts.

It took a while to get it off my laptop (and yes… that share is now closed).

I also created a new account on my laptop that has very few rights on the system (basically… it can run Firefox, Cisco VPN, and Outlook).  That’s going to be my account of choice from now on when I travel.

No big plans for tonight.  I’ll probably head to the  Rock Bottom Brewery for dinner (I went there last night and it was OMG fantastic!!).  I had the tenderloin, stuffed with roasted garlic and served with white cheddar mashed potatoes and green beans.  Tonight, I’m having the “Texas Fire steak”.  They have good beer too.  The Northstar Amber was fantastic (the IPA and Stout were less so).

If anything exciting happens today, I’ll post it, but the highlight of my day will be cramming everything I bought on the trip into my suitcases with everything I brought with me.  It’s gonna be a tight fit! 🙂

Today is day 6 of my 8 day stay (technically, it really should only count as 7, since I have to be at the airport at 5:30am on day 8).

As per the previous post, I discovered that Blue Man Group was here and playing about 2 blocks from my hotel (I’m right in the middle of the theatre district). I walked over at 11:00am when the ticket counter opened and managed to snag a great seat that was pretty close to the stage (but not so close that I had to cover myself with plastic… more on that in a minute).

I really had no idea what to expect when I went there. I did, however, notice a large number of people who brought their children to the show… some of them quite young (they provided booster seats for them).

To give you an idea of the size of the Charles Playhouse, think small (If you live in Spokane, think The Met). There are no bad seats in the house. I was 20 feet back with a full view of everything.

The staff handed out 4 foot pieces of toilet paper and everyone started tying it around their heads (like a sweat band). I have no idea why, but like the sheep I am, I ran with it (I still have no idea why we did this).

The show started with some LED signs in the corners by the stage scrolling funny stuff… talking about special guests in the audience and asking them to stand and be recognized for various things (winning the Pulitzer prize, mapping the human genome, etc). The must have pulled peoples names from the credit card sales, they would stand, we would yell whatever the LED sign told us to, then they would sit down again.

When the Blue Man Group took to the stage, it was a mixture of music, comedy, and pure bizarre behavior. I found my self laughing even at the odd and uncomfortable circumstances they placed themselves in.

They beat on drums that they kept pouriing colored liquid on (which is why those up front need to cover with plastic), threw things at each other, and played their wacky PVC insturments.

Oh… and if you ever go to see these guys… be warned: there WILL BE audience participation. They jump off the sage, grab you, and you can expect to spend a while up there why they do the odd things they do. It’s quite entertaining! Also… don’t be late to the show…. they were about 10 minutes into it and suddenly the musis stopped, the screen behind them announced a late arrival, and a spotlight followed a couple in. The Blue Man Group just stared at them until they were seated, then continued the show.

The show ended with the biggest toilet paper frenzy I’ve ever seen. I was buried in it… it flowed like a river over me and toward the stage. You can’t help but laugh as your grabbing the veritable wave of paper that comes from behind your and pushing it onto the row in front of you (eventually it all ends up on the stage)… all the while the music is blasting, strobe lights are flashing, and the Blue Man Group is dancing.

It was most cool! 🙂

Oh… and here’s a few more pictures of my walk today (mostly around Boston Common, and not as many as yesterday, but damn it… my legs are still tired).

I spent all of yesterday walking around and playing tourist.

I walked the “heritage trail”, which I highly recommend if you’ve never been here before. Basically, it’s a line set into the sidewalk (made of brick) that you follow around town. It takes you to all the famous landmarks in the city.

Here’s a photo gallery (sorry… there aren’t any descriptions on the pics).

I did get to see some neat things, and I’ve basically ruined my legs (it was a long damn walk).

Today’s plan of attack: I found out that Blue Man Group is in town. I walked to the Charles Playhouse to see if I could get tickets. I did! So…. I’ll be rockin’ out with one of the most unusual acts out there at 2:00 today 🙂

I’ve wanted to see these guys for forever…. so I’m slightly more than excited!

Oh… and one more thing: I’d like to apologize to my mother-in-law. I was talking to my wife on the phone and she was watching my webcam, so I mooned her (as anyone who’s ever watched it for any amount of time knows I do). Apparently, my mother-in-law was also watching the cam.

I’m sorry I showed you my ass 🙂