Far and Away: San Diego Recap, Part I

It'd pretty much be the longest post ever, so I'm breaking it up. This portion covers travel there and the work-related leg of my trip. The Embassy Suites made a fine home (with free breakfast and happy hour!) for the escapades detailed below. Enjoy!

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Ahhh, San Diego, the land where things are pleasantly the same each and every day. I was sent to this even keeled paradise to fulfill professional responsibilities. My client’s big show was being held there, and for the first time I was able to go with my bosses and actually see the fruits of our months of labor, and help out at the show.

Here’s what I jotted down while I was internet-free as I journeyed toward the west coast:

The first of two flights today is extremely pleasant. Wow! The entire row to myself, coca cola, and a granola bar. And how! Things just improved about 8x – my iPod seems to know I’m traveling. It just chose “Wildflowers” by Tom Petty, the song Sean Hemeon told me must always be played while you’re on a journey to a destination. Well, he just calls it the car trip song, but hey, ,why not poeticize? We’re getting into a little turbulence here, but aint no thang. I beefed up my music collection quite a bit yesterday, an old friend of Mike’s came over with several cd’s I hadn’t heard in tow. Right now I’m scribbling in a notebook with Q and not U as my soundtrack. I wonder if I’ll actually get around to transcribing this to le blog…

The flight from Cincinnati (which I know how to spell bc. Of the Drew Barrymore/Keanu Reeves/Mr. Miagi version of Babes in Toyland I bought on VHS at McDonalds one Christmas long ago) to San Diego will likely prove less enjoyable. All 6’1” of me is gonna be in a window seat, not an aisle. Perhaps that flight will be as empty as this one. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

I didn’t make the trek down to foxfield this year. I’ve heard reports from Paximus Maximus that it was fun as ever, despite the rain & clouds. One absurd element of FF05 is that apparently, the cville police force has decided they’re bored and need to release pepper spray on the entire crowd to break up a fight. Once that’s done, it’s also apparently new protocol to TAZE one of the fighting parties (as the masses balk over due to the pepper spray), AFTER cuffing him. I smell a lawsuit…

Good old iPod just chose another of my new stock, Bad Brains. I’d only ever heard of them bc. Of Sublime; pretty enjoyable Cali punk. Speaking of California….
HERE I COOOOOOME!
I plan on listening to Phantom Planet as the plane approaches its landing.

I haven’t the foggiest clue what to expect from this business trip out west. I managed development of a booth for my main client, but construction of that was yesterday. Seriously, no idea what to expec…it’ll be a work in progress. A learning experience. Yada yada yada.

I think I’m gonna turn back to my book. I’m reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire. Very interesting and fun to read, particularly for a Wizard of O-phile like myself.

Well, as predicted, 2nd flight – wretched. Completely full, and not only was I squished into a window, but I was squished there by an overweight woman who coughed the entire time. This ultimately lead to a head cold on my trip, which I was bitter about but overcame. Mind over matter! Alright, now, back to telling the story of my adventure…

Because of exorbitant air fair costs, I didn’t fly out until Monday, which effectively made me miss the most labor-intensive portion of the trip (setting up my client’s booth).

(a picture of the booth is to come)

It was really gratifying to get to see the stuff I’ve been pouring over PDFs and estimates for for months actually come alive. *Sigh. My bosses and I lived it up in San Diego. We ate at some great restaurants, and soaked up the atmosphere.


We also went to La Jolla and watched the seals on the beach. Plenty of footage of those to follow too (soon as a figure out the best way to get pics from my digital camera up here).

We also had the most faaaaaantastic trip to the zoo possible. I’m serious. Good timing redefined itself as it allowed us to see an anaconda eating a rabbit, 1 week old baby cheetahs nursing, all out gorilla warfare (yes, I’m being punny) that involved mating, dominant humping, throwing, pissing, teeth baring, pregnancy, climbing…amazing…and some other incredible stuff. A HUGE thumbs up to the San Diego Zoo. I seriously can’t believe it. BABY CHEETAS! They had absolutely no markings on their bodies yet, just fuzz, but…you’re not gonna believe it…they had face stripes! I melted. Seriously. My bosses had to reconstitute me, it was really embarrassing.

I got a big kick out of the San Diego News. Thoughts of Ron Burgundy hadn’t even entered my mind before their “traffic reports” (notable for their complete lack of actual traffic), and the “weather reports” that largely made no use of a weather man because the weather is always the same there. Also entertaining was a story of dirty councilmen busted for taking bribes to lift “no touch” laws for strip clubs. And yes, strip clubs were involved in the bribes.

Alright, volume I of the San Diego recap fin. I must away and try to start fighting this here jet lag. Next: Alan comes to town and the pop culture references and good times roll.