So finally, after working 6 months for my current employer, I finally yelled "uncle." I e-mailed my boss this week and told him that the travel schedule was getting me burned out and depressed.... luckily for me he didn't have to force me to go anywhere because my upcoming scheduled trip to OK/AR got cancelled. Actually had I not e-mailed him I'd be buying a ticket to New York today. I'll be in Buffalo for the whole week before my company has a conference in Miami for 3 days. We have people coming from Guetamala, DR, Pakistan, Mexico, and of course the good ol' USA. Oh yeah, I leave for Miami at 7:25AM on a Sunday :(


On the bright side of things, I got a free roundtrip after 7 weeks of flying Southwest! 8 round trips or 16 one-way trips and you get a free roundtrip to any of 60 destinations. I'm thinking about going to L.A., staying with my friend Jonas there for a couple days, then taking a car up the coast for that famous drive. Then, stay in Seattle for a couple days then come home. Novel idea, traveling on my own time!

I've finally given up on the performance of my iPod - the battery on it is performing miserably, and having tested it for a couple months I'm convinced that it has to go back to the Apple Store. I still have all of the original packaging, the receipt, even the freaking bag that it came in. I'm going to either exchange it, or even better, pay the difference for a black Nano.

I'm sleepwalking through work this week, and I wish I wasn't even here. Its nice to know that at the very least this is the last night I'll be staying here!

Wow, a place I am visiting for work actually has internet! I don't have anything to do quite yet so I'm killing time.

So, Bush made his next appointment today to the Supreme Court. He couldn't have made a worse decision - it was completely illogical, betrayed those who voted him in, and essentially is going to ensure hatred for him from both the left and the right. Don't be surprised when Republicans don't muster the votes needed for this atrocious choice for a candidate and begin lashing out at the President publicly over this.

(e:paul) is this Mac broken or did you play with the site design a tad? Whatever is different, I like it a lot.

So, Julio and I successfully worked our way through the days work in time to make it to Arthur Bryant's for lunch. The place is in a thuggish neighborhood in Kansas City proper, but it was no problem. This BBQ is freaking GOOD. I have a problem with people that don't like BBQ. If you at least like the sauce thats okay, but still.... I have nothing against vegetarians but I don't mind saying that you are missing a side of the culinary world badly and its making baby Jesus cry. Just trust me on that one.

Firstly, this place has pictures of famous people splattered all over the walls. Steven Spielberg, Jimmy Carter, John Ashcroft, Danny Glover (no, really!), Emeril, etc. The recipe is simple. You grab a plate, go up to the window, make your order, then the guys grab your plate and proceed the futile process of jamming literally a pound of smoked meat in between two slabs of Wonder bread. "You want fries?" Um... not today sir. You put the sauce on yourself, but actually trying to eat this thing like a sandwich is an impossibility.

The best part - BEER! A mug of Bud and this BBQ was absolutely divine... and trust me when I say that I don't put the words "Bud" and "divine" in the same sentence lightly. I don't think its any better or any worse than Texas or Carolina BBQ.... its all different. Still though, I liked it so much that I immediately bought a bottle of their Original Sauce and their "Rich and Spicy" sauce. Plus, I bought a tanker-sized large Coke simply because I love souvenier (sic?) cups. The trouble is packing all of this crap I buy. Still though, in my fridge I have BBQ sauce from the most famous areas for BBQ in the USA, and I'm happy. I would be happier if I had a smoker because I'd make all of 700 block stink like smoked pork... and theres nothing anybody could do about it but beg for a piece! Muahahaha!

My new Shure E2C canalphones work like a dream on the plane... growing babies and adult babies were properly drowned out by the glorious sounds of Debussy today. If you are flying Southwest on the same plane I am on, please forget about getting on the plane before I do, its just impossible. That is, of course, unless you are travelling with children and get to pre-board. The landing into Chicago tonight was the scariest since the one in Santiago, DR - there were very strong sideways gusts and we could feel the plane rocking even up until the wheels hit the runway. Our pilot was an ace - on my way out I said "A+!" to him, and he just kind of said to me "Yep" - as in, "Of course it was A+, I'm the shit and I get paid $200k a year to make that happen." You are so right, buddy.

When you go through as many airports as I do you forego certain formalities that proper society typically adheres to.

1. Airport toilets are a dream when you have 5 hours on a plane coming up... I don't care what anybody says but airport toilets beat the airplane toilets 10/10 times.

2. I wear whatevers comfortable and forget about what looks proper. I like my collared shirts but when I board I switch to the hoodie - I look descheveled but WTF do I care? I don't know anybody on the plane, I never will see them again, and I just want 2 semi-comfortable hours in peace.

3. Wallet, cell, keys, coins, belts, all packed before you get to security. I'm through that bad boy in 5 minutes almost every time, and I've got my shoes back on and heading toward my gate long while Mr. Suit and Tie is juggling his luggage and his Blackberry and holding up the line.

Anyhow Elmwood, peace!

I scrunched my face in the most painful possible way for my brothers new digicam, and I thought it would be fun to turn it into an avatar for everybody to enjoy. Yes, my skin is red... I am telling you I don't tan, I burn!

Interesting... so is it true that Beast Blog took down (e:jasons) reponse? I guess getting owned in a debate is too much to handle for the guys over at the Cindy Sheehan Memorial Think Tank. Someone please actually tell me if this is true, as I would never give Beast blog traffic.

Anyhow, I'm in Kansas City tonight, one day in KC sandwiched between 2 days in Chicago (don't ask me, I didn't plan this trip). Anyhow the good news is that in 2 more 1-way trips I'm going to have a free roundtrip to any of 60 destinations thanks to Southwest. Yeah, I got enough for a free roundtrip in oh.... 6 weeks of travel? Lol. Anyhow, I think I'm going to save this freebie until the spring... maybe my bro and I can go to California. I've wanted to see San Fran and the rest of the PCH drive up the coast to Seattle. Oh, for the record - Nissan cars absolutely suck compared to good ol' Dodges. I shit you not, the Nissan Sentra has a shittier ride than a Dodge Neon, and the Neon is $3-4k less. Don't be fooled when you are looking for your next car - I guarantee I get to test more cars than 99% of the Estrip audience, and right now the best '05 cars outside of luxury models from Germany and Japan are coming from the USA.

My first impression of Kansas City is - "omgwtfbbq this city is much bigger than I thought it was going to be!!!" Seriously, Kansas f'ing City has WAY more going on than Buffalo. My first thought on that is, how is it possible for a place thats so remote to be in such a better position than Buffalo is? The answer is, of course, is that for 50 years nobody has figured out how to properly run a city, or even a state, in Buffalo and New York. Maybe I'm overestimating Buffalo's worth on a national scale. Above and beyond the obvious size and economic differences here, the people here are immeasurably more civil than in New York. People in this part of the world are honest, polite, sincere - virtues that are completely lost to the population of the Northeast. For how sophisticated people in the northeast think they are, you'd be surprised about how much people in the northeast have to learn from people from the midwest and south. Wonderful, so you live in New York City? Thats great, but there is a great chance that compared to other Americans you are a piece of shit human being. Yeah, that sounds harsh, but from a seasoned traveler I can tell you that in many cases this is rule and not the exception.

Anyhow, I saw Arrowhead Stadium and whatever the stadium is called that the Royals play in.... Arrowhead is of course one of the most famous stadiums in the NFL and is very unique from an architectural standpoint. Any football fan would easily recognize the place, and I have to say that I would love to see a game there. Kansas City is also famous for its BBQ.... I've gotten a tip about a place called Arthur Bryant's - its THE place for KC style BBQ, and is set in a way that would be endearing to most Buffalonians - great food in a shitty neighborhood. The place has pictures of Presidents who have visited there, but its not exactly the most polished place on earth. They basically slap a pound of slow-cooked beef on a bun, slather it with their sauce, and serve it up. I'll let you know how it goes, and for sure I'm bringing home some of that sauce so I can compare to the stuff I brought back from Texas.