Merry Christmas to me

Since I'm stuck in Wisconsin and can't get home due to the snow in Newark, I bought myself a few Christmas presents.

First I got myself an AppleTV. It's a pretty cool device that lets you stream video to a monitor via an HDMI connection. More and more hotels have the HDMI port brought out on the desk, so this was a no brainer. Especially since I'm going to be here for over a week. My second present to myself was a flip cam. They're cheap enough and small enough, I figured why not. a little HD video camera that records to flash memory seems like a cool thing.

With all of this time on my hands, I'm working on catching you up on goings on in my life, but it's taking a long time to get them written.

So much to write, so little time

I've been really busy lately, both work wise and in my personal life. I'll write more about that as I find the time, but wanted to give an update on things medically. I put some of the weight I lost back on. Between my back injury and the cruise I think it was bound to happen. I actually only put on 3 lbs while on the cruise, so most of the 15lbs I gained was a result of not exercising because of my back. When I saw the Doctor last Thursday, he wasn't happy with my appearance physically. He could tell that I put on the weight. When he called yesterday with my hba1c number, he was still impressed. It was 5.4 which is in the normal range. It's not as good as my number was last time, but considering I was on steroids for my back, it's pretty good.

As far as my back goes, it has been acting up again. I have the radiating pain occasionally. Now it the pain has moved to shooting down my right leg instead of the left leg. I went to see the pain management doctor, and will be getting an injection on Wednesday to hopefully help alleviate the pain. He thinks it MAY be related to the severe headaches I've been getting also. I'll update on that as I have time as well.

Thank You mystery Ex..

I got an email today from a dominatrix saying that an "ex" of mine was giving me a birthday present of a one hour session with her. She is a very attractive person, who is a redhead and apparently over 6' tall in heels. So she would fit the 6' redhead dominatrix I've been looking for. I have to admit that I am a bit nervous because I don't know for sure who gave this to me as a present. I have my guesses, but they're only guesses.

I haven't pissed off any exes that I know, so I'm sure that the gift is just that, a nice gesture. Right now, I'm planning on having the session on Tuesday afternoon. She knows that I have the plug, and would like me to wear it to the session. I told her I would definitely try, but I haven't worn it in public before. I can only imagine when the sensation will be like trying to keep it in while walking to the PATH, on the PATH and Subway or taxi.

I find out on Tuesday morning the exact location I am to go to. Any one want to own up to giving me this gift to help calm my nerves? Am I nuts for going?

Two steps forward...

One step back. More on that later

On Sunday night I took advantage of being in a city where a friend lives. I met my friend Bonney out for drinks after our game. I was able to take the DC Metro system from my hotel to her neighborhood to meet her. It was a nice 20 minute ride on the metro. While it doesn't run as often as I'm used to in the NYC area, it was clean and right on schedule. The downside to the Metro is that it stops running at 12am on school nights.

Catching up with Bonney was great. I hadn't seen her a years. Bonney is the one person I know who travels more than I do for her job. At one point, she didn't even bother having a home as she was traveling for 18 months straight. (In all fairness, of the 18 months, she wasn't working for 5 days. She had to go to a wedding and a few funerals). She has me beat on the states list also. She's only missing one- Alaska. She keeps looking for an angle to get there for work though, and had almost succeeded this summer, but her plan was foiled at the last minute.

Bonney and I met through Kristen. Back in the day, Kristen had visions of setting us up. She quickly realized that she and I always become friends with every member of the opposite sex, so nothing would happen. She was right. We've stayed in touch and commiserated over travel stories. She's been lucky in that many times she's flying on chartered aircraft so she doesn't have to deal with the flying public.

While we were hanging out on Sunday night, we hatched a plan to make a surprise visit to Kristen in Arkansas. Kristen has always said that the only two people who she has a chance at seeing in Arkansas would be Bonney or me because of our traveling. From what I've been able to tell, she hasn't been adjusting well and she really wants to seem some familiar faces. We sent her a picture of the two of us together enjoying our beers and got an immediate response. When we told her we were in DC, she responded "Ahh... civilization". I'll believe the Arkansas trip when I see it. To try and get our schedules together will be a huge problem. Bonney also has the tendency to flake out on things like this also. We're going to try and plan it while it's still fresh in our minds though.



Back to the title of this post
This morning I woke up and had pain in my lower back again. No pain down the leg however, and the tingling seems to be staying away. So, the no tingling is huge, but having the pain in my back is more annoying because it does cause me to limit my activities.

Sidenote
I really think that traveling should be spelled travelling.

Missing.

I woke up today and I felt different. It was as if I was missing something. The tingling I have been living with in my left leg is gone. So far it hasn't come back. This is hopefully a good sign that the end is near in dealing with my back.

Awkward moment

I have so much to write, but so little time. I wanted to get this one out there before it got too far gone. I went out on Monday night to meet J and her fiance'. I think I wrote about how I was surprised when she told me she had gotten engaged, especially since I didn't know she was dating anyone. He is from Ireland and is currently living in the UK.

So, I meet her and Vince (the fiance') and several others at the bar, and I'm introduced to him. She screws up the introduction- It went "Kevin, this is my friend Vince, Vince, this is my fiance' Kevin." The look on her face was priceless when she realized what she just said. Vince seemed like a nice enough guy, but was definitely not what I was expecting. In fact, he may have been the last person in the bar I would have picked for her.

Their interaction with each other also seemed off. There were no PDA's. In fact, there was very little interaction between them at all. They were just sitting next to each other, not much talking and no contact at all. If they're happy though, that's all that matters.

Catchy tunes...

Don't you hate it when you're going about your daily business and a song is playing in the background and then you get it stuck in your head all day? That happened to me the other day. I googled trying to find the name of the song, and it came up- "Aint No Rest for the Wicked" by Cage the Elephant.

Working at Rock N Rev in Sturgis, I saw Cage the Elephant perform live. They put on what was in my opinion an awful show. I don't recall them playing this song, but they very well may have. The lead singer looked like her was having seizure on stage. While it wasn't my choice of music, and I couldn't see the appeal in it, I figured the kids must like it. Imagine my surprise when I found out that they sang a song that I liked.

Yes, I did buy the song on iTunes.

New doesn't=good

In recovering from my back injury, I'm feeling new things now. The latest is an occasional numbness in my mid back. I can't place anything that causes it to happen or to not happen. If it continues through tomorrow, my Nuerosurgeon told me to go to the ER. Great.

Never Forget

Approaching the 9th anniversary, I share with you this picture taken September 11, 2009. I'm not one big into revenge. I simply say Never Forget, and Thank You to all the brave men and women who worked tirelessly at ground zero.

Manged Healthcare

I just went through an ordeal with insurances over the past 3 hours. Basically because I got hurt in a hotel that I was in for work, it is covered under workman's comp apparently. Even though I wasn't working at the time. "They" decided that we're covered under workman's comp from the moment we leave our homes until we get back home.

Workman's Comp also initially decided that I didn't need to see a Doctor today. Well, they weren't sure that I needed to. Since the claim was just filed, they didn't have time to review it. They decided that they weren't going to approve the visit. Since it's now Workman's comp, I can't pay with my insurance, and they Doctor won't take me if I'm paying cash. In the end, it all got worked out, but it was a lot harder than it needed to be. Mike who I work with texted me after I told him the story "Government managed Healthcare. If you think it's bad now, just wait."

I truly hope that he's wrong, but I fear he's right. I think that while the intention of correct with the Healthcare Bill, I'm afraid the execution of it is going to get screwed up. My being allowed to go to the Doctor today basically came down to a financial decision. Was it cheaper for WC to pay for the appointment or to have to pay whatever fraction of my Salary for the week I would get if I wasn't cleared to work. Healthcare shouldn't be a financial thing. It should be a care based thing, and everyone knows that. Unfortunately those currently in control of healthcare are business people, not medical professionals.

The Doctor (who MIGHT be a year older than me) said that I do indeed have show classic symptoms of someone dealing with an impingement of the S1 nerve on the left side. Typically they try and let these things heal themselves, and that takes 4-6 weeks. They try to manage the pain as best they can while the body heals. The fact that the pain is going away shows that steroids are working and he says that's a good thing. The bad news is the course of steroids will start to wear off, and the pain may come back. If it gets unbearable, I can go to a Pain Management specialist and essentially get epidurals right in the spot where the pain is. This would be a higher dose, right at the disc. There would be 3 shots over 3 weeks. I'm currently scheduled to go back and see him in 3 weeks to see where it is going. I'm to call him if the pain gets worse again. As for the tingling, that's a sign that there is never damage, either chemically from the stuff that was in the disc, or physically from when the disc ruptured.

I get to work still, just not lifting anything over 10lbs. I leave for Philly in the morning.

Update

I'm still in some pain, and the tingling hasn't gone away at all. In fact, it spread to the outside of my left hand. The pain has lessened, which tells me that the steroids are probably working. I was able to get an appointment for Wednesday evening with a Neurosurgeon, so hopefully I'll find out more. I'm currently scheduled to leave for work again on Thursday morning, but that's up in the air.

As far as not being able to lift anything, that's tough in every day life, especially when you live alone. How are you supposed to do laundry, dishes, etc?

Nothing completes a day like a trip to the ER

Yesterday I spent around 5 hours in the ER at Caritas Norwood Hospital in Norwood, MA. The staff at the ER was very friendly and took good care of me. I couldn't have asked for better care. How did I get there you ask? I slipped on the anti-slip mat in my shower in the hotel that morning, and caught myself with the grab rail. In doing so, I managed to wrench my back something fierce.

I was able to get finish showering, get out and get dressed, but something just wasn't right. I had pain shooting down through my groin and down my left leg. As I was leaving the hotel, I let the front desk know that I slipped on it and I'd like to see it fixed as it was dangerous. They said they'd take care of it for me. During the 20 minute drive to the stadium, it was getting much, much worse by the minute. The pain in the leg was accompanied by a tingling. When we got to the stadium, I stayed in the car, took a Vicodin I had for my upper back issue and hoped it would get better. The vicodin didn't affect it at all. I watched everyone else set up, and when they were almost done, had one of the drivers take me to the emergency room as it just seemed to be getting worse.

Long story short, they did a reflex test and my left leg was found to be weak in reaction and the tingling concerned them still. They did an MRI and found that I had a "severe" herniation of L5-S1. I was relased on a course of steroids to hopefully bring down the inflammation around the nerve root, Percocet to help alleviate the pain and instructions to follow up with a neurosurgeon here at home. I'm also not allowed to lift anything. Of course I had to break that a little bit in order to get home, but I managed to pull my suitcase everywhere, and have the cab drivers handle my luggage in and out of the cabs.

If anyone has any recommendations for good neurosurgeons in the NY Metro area, I'd be glad to take them.

Mystery Solved

I fly alot. So much so that I fall into a special category for my airline that represents the top 10% of their fliers. I have over a million frequent flier miles. Imagine my surprise when there were 14 people upgraded ahead of me on a recent flight from EWR to DEN. I don't get upgraded on every flight, but generally if there are 14 people upgraded on a particular flight, I'm going to be one of them. Flying from DEN back to EWR 4 days later, there were 15 people upgraded to First Class, and I was still # 5 on the list. I haven't flown any less this year than in the past. I had to get to the bottom of what was going on.

Come to find out, that many of these people who were upgraded either paid their way into First Class or used miles to upgrade. Continental recently began offering this as an option to customers, and the fees for this varies. Usually it's 15,000 miles/segment though. I never thought that there would be that many people who would pay sometimes $300+ for it. Kudos to Continental for apparently finding another revenue stream.

Bonus- For those of you who read this and guess on the Airport pictures on FB, the Great Lakes Brewing Company picture is from Cleveland.

The Corset Affair

I'm not sure if I've shared this story before, but I'm staying in the same hotel that this happened in, so I figured it worth sharing again.

While working The Finals a few years ago, there were many, many interesting things going on. Ok, not really. One team kicked another teams butt in 4 games and we were all left asking the question, why are we here? Being in Cleveland this year, it did give me the opportunity to be close to Pittsburgh. C and I decided to get together for dinner on the Friday night. We made that plan early, before we knew it would end on Thursday. As things went, we had to work on Friday anyway to get everything out, so our dinner plans were still good. We agree that she'll come out to Cleveland and we'd go out for dinner. In the days leading up, she tells me that she is going to this wedding that she doesn't really want to go to, and that she has to wear this dress, and all the things I'm used to hearing from her. Keep in mind that when we were together, we went to 20 weddings in 18 months. No one, and I mean no one should have to go through that. She was in a lot of the weddings. I know she really doesn't want to have to wear the dress the whole time. She then called later in the week and said she had a really big favor to ask, and I was the only one she knew who could possibly help her with it. Interesting I thought. Without hesitating, I said sure. That's the kind of guy I am. I didn't know what I was in for.

She said I needed to tie her into a corset so she could unhook it from the front and put it back on when she needed to actually put it on. I figured that this had something to do with the dress she needed to wear for the wedding. I recall at least one bridesmaid dress that she wore that this was a requirement for. I did think this was rather odd though. I knew that she wasn't dating anyone serious, but surely she had someone else she could ask to do this.

Being modest, I wasn't allowed to watch as she took her shirt and bra off, despite I'd see her in that state many times before. She placed the corset loosely on and walked back to me so I could lace it up and tie her in it. She looked damn good wearing the corset and jeans. It was a good look for her. Then I notice that she's wearing basically a G-string as underwear and call her out on it. She would wear thongs if she was wearing a skirt or something that would show panty lines. A g-string with jeans was definitely odd for her. She was a little embarrassed and said that one of the guys she was seeing at the time liked her in it. Then came the truth about the need for the corset. It was for the wedding, it was for him. He liked the sight of a woman in a corset, over him.

We had an uneventful dinner that night and parted ways. While she was on the way home, we were texting back and forth, and I told her that all she needed was a riding crop. She responded she wasn't submissive, and I told her I know, but I was. It apparently was the first time that she heard that from me. I know that I had told her earlier on, and she was interested. Or at least that's what I thought. We continued to talk about it for a few days via email and texting. We both learned a lot about each other that we didn't know. It was probably a conversation we should have had years earlier while we were together. I told her about the photo shoots that I had done.

Her birthday wasn't too far away, so being friends I got her a few presents- A new corset, a riding crop, leather gloves and liquid latex. The sad thing is it was probably the best birthday present I ever got her. I hope she got some use out of the gift. It was shortly after then that she met her now husband.

On a side note, something I've been told before is really hitting home right now- I'm a much better friend than boyfriend. Apparently I suck at being a boyfriend.

Plagiarism

I inadvertently stole the title of my last blog from another blog I read. I didn't even realize that I did it, and it was fitting.

My back is still bothering me. I had to drive 350 miles to help my dad get a new computer setup. Sitting in the car for that long sure did a number on my back. Also, driving all over the state didn't afford time for me to take either the Skelaxin or Vicodin. Once I got home, I did and was able to sleep comfortably.

This morning, my back was sore in a different area- the low back. I didn't let this stop me from doing my back stretches. My back was sore later this evening when the drugs wore off. As I'm typing this, I'm noticing that I'm getting dumber. I'm typing phonetically, and not correctly. (I'm fixing this, but it's taking a lot of concentration.

As for my A1C, it was 5.3 again. That's great news. I'm to finish the medication that I currently have in my possesion- about 2 more weeks worth. After that, I'm to stay off it, although continue testing myself. I'll go back to the Doctor for an A1C, and if that comes back well, I'm off for good, but I'll continue to be monitored. One can only hope.

My love life is complicated as always. I'm at the point in my life where I need to make some real tough decisions of what I want to do.

All Hopped Up

I'd been traveling for three weeks straight with a bad back. The first thing I did when I got home on Friday was go to the Doctor. Ok, the first thing I did was nap, then I went to the doctor for my back. I was slightly worried that it might be related to the Metformin, but the doctor quickly allayed those fears. I managed to sprain every ligament on the left side of my back. Officially a thoracic sprain.

He was amazed that I could tolerate the pain considering the amount of swelling and apparent bruising that there was. He prescribed muscle relaxers and Vicodin to loosen the back and relive the pain. He thinks I should be pain free in 2-3 days, and on the road to recovery within 5-10 days. My back was really bothering me, but it was weird. I couldn't keep my feet flat on the ground sitting or standing without pain. I didn't have a problem lifting things, only reaching. I definitely was cranky because of the back pain. Two days in, most of the constant pain is gone, so things are looking up.

Of course, with the back pain I haven't been exercising as much as I should have been. My numbers are still good, and he took blood to do an A1C. If the number comes back where we think it's going to, I'll be off the medicine for good (hopefully) this week. We'll still have to check by blood sugar to make sure I don't fall back into being a diabetic.

Time to go shopping

This is a good thing, I guess. I'm noticing that more and more of my clothes are loose on me. I think I hit the point in my weight loss where I have to start buying new, smaller clothes for them to fit better. The shirt im wearing now almost looks like th opposite of fat guy in skinny coat.

Good News/Bad News

I've started to lose weight again. In fact, I've lost everything I gained back during the holiday week and then a little more. I'm at 246 lbs as of this morning. I'd still like to lose another 30 or so, but we'll see what happens. It is most noticeable in my face still.

When I was washing my hands in the hotel today, I noticed that I have more and more gray hair. In fact, in that lighting in the mirror, I'd say I had more gray hair than not. Really, this doesn't bother me, just a statement of fact.

The bad news- My numbers are still trending higher than I'd like them to be. Yesterday morning I tested myself and I was 120. That's about 25 points higher than I'd like to be. I've been pretty good about getting to the gym in the past week, and even went on a 26 mile bike ride yesterday. Today after eating I was 105, which is pretty good, but I'd like to be able to keep that morning number down low too. I'm in Chicago for work now, and I SHOULD be able to get to the gym every morning, so we'll see how that does for me.

Numbers Update/Stupid people

So my numbers have been a bit higher than they had been the past week. I'm sure that my work schedule didn't help, and flying on a redeye really screwed my body up. I was pretty sedentary today. I Was 120 before dinner, then 102 after dinner. Very odd. I still haven't had a coke, but I was tempted to have just one today since I have 3 bottles sitting in my kitchen left over from my party as a mixer.

As I've mentioned before, I hate stupid people. Tonight, my father fell into that category. He's having to switch email accounts, and expects everything to be handed to him. He's going to comcast.net. He thought that I should know how to set up his email account for him. I told him if he just googled comcast.net set up email mac that it would return a page that would have the answers for him, probably with pictures. Sure enough it was the third one down. I sent him the link, and he didn't want to read it. He wanted me to tell him what to do. He ended up yelling at me thinking that would help me hear him better (he was on speaker phone, which I HATE). He made the comment "You must be difficult to work with." I don't think I am, so long as you don't expect me to do everything for you. I'll tell you how to find the answers, or how to figure it out, but I expect everyone to pull their own weight. Even my dad.

Maybe it is time for a change

Within 2 days, I had 2 weekends off taken away from me by my company. What pisses me off is that it's to make things easier for other people, but they don't really seem to give a shit about me. I had actually made plans for both those weekends, which now have to be canceled. I understand one of the weekends. My truck was added a show. I'm not happy about it, but it is my truck, so I should be there. There are plenty of other people who could have worked the one weekend (not on my truck), but since I live in the NYC metro, it was easy to make me work the day and not incur any travel costs. When I mentioned this, I was told that if I needed those days off I should have taken vacation. When I was told this on Monday (in the middle of working the only professional sporting event in 3 days) I nearly walked off the show right then and there.

Year to Date, I've had 4 weekends completely off. I had fewer weeks off during the NASCAR season this year because we were going to have more time off over the summer. I was OK with that because of the time promised off over the summer to catch up. So far, I haven't made up any days "owed" to me by company policy. Currently for the year I've worked 21 more days than I should have. I was "even" in June, and will get 2 of those days back in July, barring any additional shows. I'll be Even in August (again, barring any additional shows being added) and will start adding more additional days each month starting in September. I project to be owed 35 days by the end of the year. I will have 2-3 days off in January, and none in February of 2011.

I don't think I can take the company at it's word that it'll get me the time back next summer, do you?

I think it finally hit me...

As I'm sitting here cleaning my apartment, I think it finally hit me. This weekend is a real life changer for me. I was going to write this in my last entry about perfect timing, but thought better of it. Now I'm thinking better of that.

This weekend there are two life changing events in other peoples lives that are affecting me. I have two people that I would normally talk to about things like this. Unfortunately, each of these events are involving one of these two people.

First, my bff Kristen moved to Arkansas this weekend with her family. Her husband is getting transferred there for work. When she first mentioned to me that her husband was offered the job there, both of us thought that there wasn't a chance that she would actually go. Apparently they sweetened the pot enough. Over the years, Kristen and I have slowly grown apart as we've gotten older. She now lives very much an adult life -- married with a daughter. I'm very much a nomad, traveling for work all the time. When we were younger, we'd spend many a late night at the bar, talking about anything and everything. She is who I would always go to when I had a problem or needed to talk. I filled the same role for her. Even when she met her husband, we'd still hang out a lot and talk. Then i moved to Pittsburgh. Things wer diffeent, but with my travel schedule, I was still in NJ a lot. Then she got out of law school and married. Things started to change then as she was on a different schedule. Ironically, it was after Caroline and I got home from Kristen's wedding that we decided that we were never going to get married to each other. When Kristen had her daughter, that definitely changed things. She couldn't go out as much, and she became a mom. It was a nice change. Anytime that I needed to talk bout anything, Kristen was there. This is something that I cant talk to her about.

Second, Caroline is getting married. This really doesn't bother me, although as I've said before, everyone asking me if it bothers me bothers me. Normally, I would be able to call Caroline and talk to her about Kristen's move and how it is affecting me. I wouldn't dare call her this weekend with all of her wedding prep going on (and today's the big day). I went back and forth about sending a card to Caroline and her hubby. It was a difficult decision. I wanted to wish them well. At the same time I didn't want to screw anything up or cause anything to be akward. In the end, i sent her a simple email saying congratulations, and sent a card to them at their house that they'll get when they get home from their honeymoon. My usual wedding gift would be cash in the currency of country where they are honeymooning. I thought of doing the same thing with them, but decided it would be better to send just a card afterwards. That and i couldn't find out where they were going on their honeymoon without seeming like a stalker.

While I'm sitting here cleaning my apartment for my party tomorrow night, it all seemed to finally hit me. The two women (aside from my mom) who are most responsible for who I am are both essentially leaving today. That sounds a little dramatic, but its the best way I can put it. I know that they will both still be around, and the world is getting smaller every day, but things will be different after today. I won't be able to just call Kristen and plan for dinner next week. In all honesty, I don't know how shes going to survive in Arkansas. Actually, I don't know how Arkansas will survive her living there.

On a side note, it's dawned on me, if I were to get married in the next 6 months, i have no idea who would be my best man or who would be in my wedding party.

It's all about timing.

As you may know, I haven't driven my own car in close to 2 years now. I've been trying to donate my car since the end of March without much luck. The problem is where it is in the garage in my building. The company who the donation company uses to pick up the cars can't get to it with a tow truck. Since I haven't driven it in close to 2 years, it doesn't start. The battery is dead.

Last night, I had a friend over so we tried to jump start the car so that I could get it out of the garage and they could come and pick it up today. We tried and tried and tried to let it charge up and start the car, but it just wouldn't turnover. I had tried to push it previously, but that didn't work either. I couldn't even get it to budge. It was as if the brakes were locked on.

I went as far as to see if there were chains on the buildings mini bulldozer type thing so I could pull it out with the other car. At this point, is when timing comes into play. One of the maintenance guys is walking by and mentions they had been trying to figure out who's car it was because they were going to tow it. I jokingly said good, they can have it. I'm just trying to get it outside so I can donate it. He said he had a battery charger I could use, but unfortunately there really wasn't a place to plug it in. (we both looked)

Long and short of it, he actually needed a car. I needed to get rid of a car. He was willing to take it as is. He has the proper tools to get the battery out or tow it from where it is. It was a match made in heaven. I didn't want it any more, so I truly gave it to him. In the end, I'll end up selling it to him for $1.00.

Catching up, part 4: The Rest

So, I've been pretty good about going to the gym except for when I was out west. Working 20 hours days means you have to cut something out, and for me the gym was what got cut most days. Since I've been back home, I've done a good job at making sure that I get to the gym for at least 45 minutes a day. I've started developing shin splints again, but found that if I go to the stationary bike when that happens, I can usually get the muscles stretched out/warmed up enough that after 7 minutes I can go back to the treadmill.

I still haven't had a coke, although I think I mentioned that in Part 1 of Catching up. I'm drinking over 128 ounces of water a day.

I bought a Globe Carmel 3 700c bicycle. I plan on using that to do some more exercise to get outside and get fresh air. I'll put a back pack on with my camera and hopefully get some great pictures in and around the area.

I still love my iPad. I'm finding more and more to do with it for legitimate work purposes. I still need to find a good printing app for it.

I misplaced my drivers license on the trip back from the Open. I've called the airline and the lost and found at the three airports and no joy. Unfortunately I sent my passport out to get renewed from the Open. This means I have no legal photo id right now. I had to meet my father today to get my birth certificate and Social Security card. Hopefully I'll be able to get a drivers license with that and a utility bill. I don't have to get on a plane until July 9th, so I'm not in a huge rush, although it would be nice to be able to prove that I am me.

Kristen is essentially leaving on Saturday. I still don't think I'm going to get used to the thought that she won't be here.

I'm dropping mindspring as my email address and moving to just using my me.com address. This is part of the makeover and saving money. I'm so convinced about saving money and stopping wasteful spending that I'm thinking of dropping cable as well.

I think thats just about everything, although I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

Catching up, part 3: The Domme.

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Catching up, part 2: Debt Free

I'm taking advice from someone who was calling himself SkinnyCock at the last show. His nickname is Peacock. He's recently lost a lot of weight, and is skinny. When he arrived on site, many people were amazed at how he looked, and he asked the girls, what, you don't like SkinnyCock? They both answered well, we like you, but skinny cock is bad. That reminds of something a female friend once told me- "Long and thin will get it in, but short and Fat is where it's at." I guess they were going with that theory. But I digress.

We were sitting at dinner one night and the subject of his boat came up. He mentioned that he hasn't put it in the water yet this year because he and his wife are working on getting out of debt. Someone else at the table asked if he was doing the Total Money Makeover and he said yes. He said he and his family were on the last baby step. The fourth person at the table said oh yeah, I'm on Baby Step number 2. I looked around and I wasn't in an alternate universe. Keep in mind that these three people only work this show together every year. One lives in Alabama, one lives in St. Louis, the other lives in Florida. I had no idea what these people were talking about.

Skinnycock began to tell me about Dave Ramsey and the Total Money Makeover. Google it. Ramsey has some great ideas. I'm trying my hardest to do the TMM now. Why you ask?

My first job out of college, I was making $65,000 a year. I could buy anything I wanted. $65,000 is more than the average family in America makes in a year now. 14 years ago that was TWICE what the median family income was in the country. I was barely 21 years old and living the high life. I was paying my bills, bought a condo, everything was great. I had a 401K from a fortune 500 company, I was making contributions to an IRA, and able to get anything that I wanted. I wasn't really saving. I had no budget. I was living paycheck to paycheck, but never realized it.

Fast forward 14 years. Last year I made over $220k. I'm still paying into a 401k, still making contributions, I've paid off the condo I bought, I have that condo as a rental property adding $2k/month to my income and guess what? I still have virtually no accessible savings. No emergency fund. I'm still essentially living paycheck to paycheck. Making over $220k. That's embarrassing. I never really realized until that dinner with Skinnycock.

I googled Dave Ramsey. I bought his books for my kindle on Amazon. He has some radical ideas. First- Get rid of your credit cards. If you can't pay cash for it, you don't deserve to have it. Second- get out of debt. Third- Don't loan anyone money. Fourth- have a well funded emergency fund. Fifth- when you're able to, give money to those who are less fortunate or to charitable organizations.

My debts aren't that large. I haven't totaled it up yet (Something you have to do in baby step 2), but they're under $10,000. By not free spending for a month, I can probably pay them off. Next will be to build up a nice size emergency fund. He suggest for someone in my situation 6 months worth of expenses.

Like I said. Google Dave Ramsey. Read about his ideas. Read other peoples take on his ideas. I bet you won't do it. I bet that I won't have the discipline to jump in both feet. (I already did buy a new bicycle this month, with cash.) Although now that I'm typing this, I'm making a pledge to myself that beginning July 1st, 2010 I will start my Total Money Makeover. Want to join me?

Catching up, part 1: Diabetes

I have so many things I want to write, but I just haven't had the time to do it. Hopefully over the next few days (or hours) I'll be able to get my thoughts together and get them written. In trying to keep this neat and organized, it'll be grouped by topic as best I can.

First, the diabetes update. After coming home from Pebble Beach, I went to the doctor for a follow up. I emailed my numbers to the doctor the night before so he would have them when I got there. When he saw me walk into the waiting room he came up and shook my hand. He was thrilled with the numbers, and said pending the results of an A1C test that he would do that day, he would start taking me off the Metformin. The A1C is basically a three month picture of what your blood sugar has been doing.

He got the results of the A1C the next day and called me with the good news. It came back as a 5.3 Remember on April 29th when it was done, it was 9.4. Ideally, you want to be 6 or below. A 5.3 equates to an average glucose reading of a 90. The 9.4 equaled a 234. That's a huge drop in under 2 months.

I'm also below 250lbs for the first time in a long time. I'm getting weened off the medicine now, with the hope of being totally off medicine by Labor Day. He wants to make sure that my numbers do stay down as the dosage goes down -- basically making sure I'm going to keep up the lifestyle changes that I've made.

As far as I'm concerned, if I made it through the US Open show without drinking a coke, I'm going to make it. I was tempted many times between working consecutive 20 hour days and how good it goes with the peanut butter sandwiches I was having, but I managed to avoid it.

A preview

Some pictures of fireworks from the Gay Pride celebration tonight in NYC. I like that they happen because it allows me to practice taking pictures of fireworks before the big show next week. Since they've moved the Macy's fireworks to the Hudson, this is a true preview for next week.

I'm gettig too old

I've been working a series of 15-21 hour days and it's really taking it's toll on me. I haven't been able to go to the gym in a week. My energy level has dropped tremendously. My numbers have been very good for the most part. My 14 day average blood sugar is 92. That's very good. I haven't gotten on a scale lately, and I probably won't until I get home on Tuesday evening. I have lots of things to update on, just no energy to put together something witty.

Milestone passed

I've had really good numbers for the past two weeks until today. I was a little higher than I wanted to be blood sugar wise (181) after eating today. I then realized that I haven't gone to the gym in two days since I was visiting my parents. I immediately went to the gym and did my work out. Regardless I do have good news. For the first time since I stepped on my scale, my body fat % was in the 20's. That's a big accomplishment, and there's only more to go. The next two weeks will be my toughest, working several 20 hour days.

Airport rant

I'm flying home today after being on the road the greater part of the past 5 months and I think things are finally starting to get to me. I'm flying out of a small airport that pretends they are a big airport. MHT is trying to steal business away from BOS and have been for years. During the big dig, MHT was a great alternative. Getting in and out of Logan was a nightmare. Now, MHT is just another small airport.

It all started at the rental return. At least it is right across from the terminal, something you won't find at most large airports. I arrived at the airport at 8:30for a 9:50 flight. Avis hadn't opened its outside return facility yet. I had to note the fuel level and mileage and go inside to the counter. Not a huge deal, but an annoyance.

Going through the checkin counter wasn't bad actually, but it always amazes me how uninformed people are (but that could happen anywhere -- large or small) at airline proceedures. Using a self serve kiosk isn't that hard now is it? When you're at a small airport, there is typically only one agent at the counter, and if they are showing someone how to u se the kiosk, they cant be checking your bag. I wonder if these are the same people who need to be shown how to use a seat belt. (No disrespect intended towards flight attendants- I think most do an outstanding job at something i could never do. I've said it before, I hate dealing with stupid people, i could never do it all day long.)

I started writing this almost a week ago and no longer am frustrated I've lost my steam. Sorry. I'm sure it will come back to me eventually. I did have a lovely 15 hour travel day to pebble beach today.

I'm a slave...

...to technology.

I hate to admit it, but I'm writing this from my new iPad. I got the hard sell last week from some colleagues who I trust and picked one up this week. I,ve had it for about 30 hours. I haven't been able to put it through it's paces yet, but it's very promising. I've used it already for some work items, and I'm impressed. More to come.

I need a better choice of words

I have a problem saying Happy Memorial Day. Memorial day is a day that we're supposed to remember those who have fought for our country and died. It really is a solemn occasion. Not something to be happy about. I'd like to thank all of those who have served. Your efforts are appreciated. Regardless of your stance on the wars, make sure you thank the brave men and women that make up the United States Armed Forces.

Making time

I've gotten a lot of news in the past few weeks that have made me re-evaluate some things. It started when I tried to contact a friend from college who lives in Charlotte. I was going to be spending two weeks in Charlotte for work, with a day or two off and I wanted to get together with her and her husband. The letter I got back floored me-

Hey Kevin,
I would have loved to do this, but unfortunately I have surgery scheduled. I was just diagnosed with breast cancer. Clearly I am not doing very well right now, as all I can think about is my 3 year old and 5 mo. Old. Anyway, things have been rough.

I haven't seen her since she was just pregnant with her 3 year old. I was always the person who was great at keeping in touch with everything and making sure that I knew what was going on. I didn't know she was pregnant again and had a second child. Needless to say, I've been trying to keep tabs on her and see how she's doing. I haven't been able to get in touch with her since she had the surgery, but will keep trying.

Next up was finding out that my friend Kristen from high school is moving to Arkansas with her husband because he got a job there. I don't know how I'm going to deal with that. I used to see Kristen almost every day. As we got older and I started traveling more and more, we started to lose touch, but we always managed to know what was going on with each other. We wouldn't see each other for months, yet whenever we saw each other, you'd never know it. The news of her moving to Arkansas really has hit me hard. I still haven't actually talked to her. I know that it'll be tough to choke back the tears when we talk because I'm tearing up now writing this.

All of this has made me realize how I've lost touch with a lot of people that meant something in my life. There was a girl I was friends with a while ago who disappeared off the face of the earth. I did some research and found a new email address for her. I sent her the following email this morning-

Sara-
I've been trying to write this for a long time. I've always wondered where you were and what you were up to. I've wanted to reach out and see how you were doing. I really have no idea what happened. To me it seemed like you were there one minute and gone the next. What finally got me to write was when I found the card you gave me before I left for Pittsburgh. I don't know if you remember that at all, but unfortunately in the end, I did end up with another really good friend. I lived in Pittsburgh until January 2004. Caroline and I both realized that Kristen's wedding actually (it was wedding number 20 in 18 months for us) that would never be us. We were really good friends, but that spark was gone. That said, we both agree that if I had proposed, we would be married now. She's getting married in the beginning of July.

In 2004, I moved back to NJ, living in Jersey City in the waterfront area. I absolutely love the area. It's close to the city, and I can walk anywhere I need to go. I'm currently dating a great woman who is jokingly robbing the cradle. She's 42. Unfortunately she's a Devils fan. She works in TV too. I'm still basically doing the same job that I've always done. I'm traveling all over the place televising sporting events, primarily now for Fox Sports. I do NASCAR from February through June, the MLB All Star Game and Fox's NFL A Game- wherever Joe Buck and Troy Aikman go. This year i'll be the engineer in charge for the Superbowl- my second time for that. I did the Giants superbowl in AZ as well.

Tim is working for another company as an Engineer now. He has 2 more kids. I think both kids from his first marriage are in College now (very scary thought). Jonathan is now married and working for WWE up in Connecticut. Tim (Bartender) is married and is in charge of the new grasshopper in Morristown. He has a baby girl, Saorise, and another on the way. I still email with Mike Murphy occasionally, he's the same. His daughters are all old now, which is scary for me.

I'd really like to meet for dinner or drinks at some point. I don't know where you're living now, so I'll let you pick a place. Although the grasshopper always works :). If you don't want to meet, I understand. I'd really appreciate it if you respond to this though so I know you're ok. It's always bothered me that we just lost touch. You can always call too.

I was disappointed when I got a bounce back stating Diagnostic-code: smtp;550 5.1.1 unknown or illegal alias:

I think it's human nature to want to connect to your past. It's not that I don't like my present or the future, but I don't like losing touch with people, and I fear what I'll miss. I like my friends. I don't want anything to happen to them, and I don't like not knowing what's going on.

I'm going to try my hardest to continue to track down Sara. I'm going to make sure that I make time for my friends, and make sure that I don't lose touch with Kristen, regardless of the distance.

I had cake

I had cake today with lunch (it is a holiday and it was red, white and blue cake). Ninety minutes after eating, I was 133. That's good. I got away with being bad.

What does match know that I don't?

Yesterday morning, I was asked to take a look at someone profile on match.com to give tips. I had an account on match and met a wonderful woman on there. We weren't really a match because of my schedule, but we remain friends. I know several people who have met their mates on match.com or something similar and are happily married. After looking at the profile and giving tips, I see that had this thing called Daily 5. I figured I'd look, what was the worst that could happen.

I did indeed look, and low and behold, I know the person it says is my number 1 match. She and I are friendly, but I haven't seen her in years. I've always thought she was attractive and would be fun to hang out with. Now I'm beginning to think hmmm, maybe we would be a good match. I'm tempted to contact her to let her know and see what she says.

As far as my numbers go, I had more lows yesterday and today. I talked to the doctor today, and he is probably going to reduce my dosage on Tuesday morning. That'll be the first step to being off medication. The downside about that is that he wants me to test myself more often to make sure that I don't go back up consistently high. My goal remains the same. To be totally off medication for diabetes by the end of the year. I don't want to rush it, but I am totally committed to this.

Are you #&*%ing kidding me?

I just got back to my hotel room and there was a wet paint sign on my door handle. The door itself looked like it was cracked slightly open too. I lightly pushed on the door handle and it was indeed open. My hands also slipped on the handle and onto the wet paint. I immediately went down to see the manager (who was 12). He brought security up, we made sure that there was nothing missing from my room. There wasn't. He offered the usual apologies, and offered to buy me a drink tonight. Luckily for him, I'm not currently drinking.

All in all, it's not that bad. I got some paint on my fingers which washed off and and I walked to a place for dinner because I didn't think I should make the room service dude knock on the wet paint, although that may be justice. When I came back 45 minutes later, the wet paint sign was off the door handle, but the paint is still wet. What I don't get is why they had to paint the door. It looked perfectly fine and was already not closing properly due to multiple coats of paint.

As for the diabetes, today was a back to normal day for me. My numbers today were between 83-135. Perfectly normal. I have no explanation as to what happened yesterday.

Roller coaster of numbers

It was never my intention to make this a blog about me or medical things, but with my recent diabetes diagnosis, I need a place to outlet information. Maybe someone will stumble upon it and offer some comments.

Today I did nothing out of the ordinary for me. I woke up and was at 98. Not a bad fasting number. I ate a Quaker Oats bar for breakfast. Normally I have one of those or Cheerios for breakfast. Occasionally I'll have a bagel. Before I was diagnosed with diabetes, I rarely ate breakfast. If I did, it would have been a Sausage McMuffin and a Coke. Not exactly the way to start of the day, but I digress. I didn't really do anything this morning. Two hours after eating, I was at 61. That's low. So Low, that my meter told me so. To get myself back up, I had a Kit-Kat mini and a small Reeses Cup. Thirty minutes later I was at 115. Not bad, but almost on the high side. Forty minutes later as I was leaving for lunch, I was back down to 78.

Knowing that I was trending low- very low, I was a little reckless at lunch today. We went to Five Guys and I had a cheeseburger and some fries. Basically whatever didn't fit in the cup they put the fries in. 90 minutes after eating, I was up to 180. That's very high. Thirty minutes later -- 2 hours after eating, I was at 126. Three hours after eating, I was 106. An hour later, I was 51. This afternoon I pretty much sat around and did nothing. At least in the morning I was on my feet and doing some occasional walking. I immediately went and had a Special K bar, and thirty minutes later I was 84. An hour later on my way to dinner I was 77. Dinner was a grilled chicken Caesar salad. I also had 2 small mozzarella sticks. They were yummy. Mozzarella sticks used to be a staple of my diet. I was going with the everything in moderation notion there. So, here I sit an hour after eating and I'm 99. I can't wait to see my 2 hour post eating number.

It should be noted that I've only had water to drink for the past three weeks, so it's not like that's skewing my numbers. Also, I've felt OK during most of this. When I was at 180 was when I felt funny. I didn't feel ok at 51, but not as bad as I felt at 180. I'll update the blog later with my 2 hour number.

My body is not making this easy

I am 100% committed to getting off medication by the end of the year. I am going to do it. My body while seemingly happy about the changes I've made in my life, is starting to resist a little bit.

First it was shin splints over the weekend. For the first time EVER, I had shin splints while on the treadmill. They were so bad that I got off the treadmill and stretched for a few minutes and then got back on. I was doing fine for a while, ad then when I went to speed up, they came back. I decided to cut my losses and go for a longer period of time at the slower speed.

On Monday when I went to the gym while stretching, I felt something pop in my left leg. Nothing major, I was able to continue stretching and jog my usual 5k. This morning when I woke up, I was in pretty intense pain on the right side of my back. I don't know what caused this, but now, 15 hours later, it's still bothering me just lying down and excruciating when I try to walk. I didn't go to the gym today.

My numbers on the high side higher than they have been lately, peaking at 150 2 hours after eating, but under an hour later, I can be 80. I had much better control of my blood sugar on days when I get a good workout at the gym. I can only hope tomorrow will be a better day.

A life changer

On April 29th I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. This shouldn't have been a surprise to me considering I am overweight, have a family history of diabetes and at the time drank probably 2-3 liters of Coke a day. My numbers when I went to the doctor were extremely high. A normal person should have a blood sugar between 70-120, occasionally spiking as high as 140 after eating. My blood sugar was 353 when tested at the doctors office.

In the 3+ weeks since the diagnosis, I have had to take a pill twice a day. I have to test my blood sugar at least six times a day. I've cut out all soda. I haven't had a caffeinated (or carbonated) beverage at all. I've gone to the gym 5-6 times a week, walking/jogging a 5k ever day. I've been more careful with what I eat and when I eat it. I'm looking at labels, trying to be smart about the amount of sugar and carbs I put in my body. I've cut out alcohol. I'm eating broccoli. I've cut out most potatoes. Unfortunately I was never a big sweet eater, so there wasn't much to cut out there.

The doctor initially wanted me to lose 100 pounds. I'm 6'2", and was 280lbs. I liked the prospect of losing 60-70lbs. We settled at 80lbs. When diagnosed as a diabetic, all my other numbers were excellent except for my triglycerides. They were at 325, which is about 180 points higher than what is considered good. When I went back for my 2 week check up, I had lowered my triglycerides by 225 points. I had lost 12 pounds. The doctor was very impressed with my progress so far, and has said that if I lose another 20-25lbs, I will probably be off medication.

My blood sugar for the most part has been much better. I can tell a difference in my moods and my ability to concentrate. I still occasionally have blurry vision, but that is probably due to my blood sugar levels still getting under control. By testing myself so often, I learn how different things affect my numbers. When I exercise in the morning, my numbers for the whole day are generally better. When I get in the 150 range, I start to get tired and have a hard time concentrating.

I don't know what the future holds for me. I can tell you I hate the thought of having to take a pill every day for the rest of my life. I plan on doing everything I can to not have to do that. We'll see how it goes as the year goes on.

You never know what you'll find...

My job has a lot of interesting people. It also has a lot of independence. Sometimes, when you take one of those interesting people and you put them alone in a dark room, great things happen -- you might end up with an award winning idea or broadcast. Other times, you end up with something you want nothing to do with.

Over the past few weeks, there have been rumors swirling around the compound that one particular person has had dates meet them in the compound, spend a few hours with them, perhaps exchange massages in the dark room the person spends all their time in. It has needless to say made some people feel uncomfortable in their work environment. Two weeks ago, someone noticed that this individual was on a website that they shouldn't have been on. As the administrator of the computer network, I was asked by that persons administrator if I could either confirm or deny the claims of visiting the pornographic website. I do possess that ability, and much to my chagrin, I was able to confirm it.

It's not uncommon in my industry to walk past a bunch of people looking at some girl on youtube with large breasts, or perhaps a girl flashing from last nights game on a "highlight" reel. That kind of behavior is almost accepted in the trucks. What makes this persons actions different is that he is visiting gay websites. That is why people are saying something, and it's making them feel uncomfortable.

I'm not a fan of people openly looking at girls in the truck, but I'm not against it either. I'm not going to lie and say that I've never stopped and watched whatever they were looking at. I also am very uncomfortable with the double standard that exists - that it's "ok" to look at straight porn, but when it is gay porn it's a problem.

I talked to the owner of my company about it in generic terms since there are potential legal repercussions here. Initially, he asked can I block that person from getting online. The answer to that question of course is yes, but it's not that simple. Here's what's going to happen. The person's supervisor is going to confront him with logs of information tracked over the weekend, presenting it as a case that the person was surfing the internet while we were on the air and they should have been working. The person will know at that point that he has been outed, because the websites visited are right there. I'm working on a proxy page that every person will have to go to starting next week when they first log on to the truck network. It will outline an Acceptable Use Policy that you have to agree to in order to continue. At that point, you will be able to get on the internet, knowing that your traffic is being monitored, and filtered for porn. Unfortunately for those who complained about this, they will be blocked from going to any porn sites they may have visited as well.

All of this means more BS work for me. I can't wait until next week when people start asking why is there all of a sudden an Acceptable Use Policy they have to agree to.

Tarnished

One of the greatest yearly television events is the NCAA basketball tournament. CBS typically puts on a great show for every game, capturing the emotion an excitement of the tournament. The tournament itself is perfect. 65 teams playing to be the best. Are they the best 65 teams in the country? No. But the best teams that have a shot at winning the tournament are there.

There has been talk of expanding the tournament to 96 teams. This is a pure profit move. All they want to do is create more revenue. They're not interested in making a better tournament, or giving other teams a shot. It's a pure money grab. Think of the NCAA football mess. The reason they use to not have a tournament in that sport is that it would take the student-athletes away from class too much, and that they are students first. Never mind the fact that a football tournament would take place when most schools are on break. The student athletes are already missing potentially 3 weeks of classes during the hoops tournament. Adding another 32 teams makes that number 4 weeks.

If you want to add some more mid-majors, why not add 3 more teams. That would take care of most bubble teams that could possibly have a case. If you expand the tournament to 68 teams, you get an additional 3 games- all "opening round" games played on the Tuesday before the main tournament starts. This would determine who plays the number 1 seeds in each of the brackets.

As for CBS' "One Shining Moment", it too has been commercialized. This year they had Jennifer Hudson sing the song, and we were treated to video of her stylized singing during the video. Showing her of course means that there was less time to show the kids who were playing in the tournament.

Over the past few years, the quality of the final piece has steadily gone downhill. I had some people over a few years back to watch the final game, and we all had the same thought "Wow, that was bad". A few months later, I had some others over to watch NHL playoffs, and the subject came up, and it turns out that he was the one who edited the NCAA piece. I was shocked when he admitted to that. If I had done something that bad, I would never want my name associated with it. Needless to say, that was good compared to this years. That song is so perfect for the tournament, yet instead of seeing more shots of kids playing their hearts out, we get to see an artist trying to sell a new album on iTunes.

What was I thinking?

February is always the toughest month for me work wise. I am gone for 2 weeks working 16-18 hour days at the beginning of the month, fly home for less than a day and then fly out to the west coast. That alone is enough to take a toll on a person. What I've done to compound this and make it worse this year is to take a red-eye home from the west coast. Unfortunately I couldn't take a direct red-eye, so I'm currently waiting in Houston for my flight home to Newark.

I'm supposed to work first thing on Wednesday in Las Vegas, but that won't be happening. I'm taking a "me" day on Tuesday and flying out to Vegas on Wednesday morning. Crazy, I know. Next year I hope someone reminds me how I feel and tells me to take the extra day out west and just drive from Cali to Vegas. I'm sure I'll be much happier, even if it does mean fewer days at home.

Up in the Air

Since I first saw the previews for it, I've wanted to see Up in the Air since it had the potential to be very close to home for me. I wasn't disappointed. Warning, there is a SPOILER ALERT BELOW…. I don't want to ruin it for anyone- it's safe to read until you see the Spoiler alert. The movie was very good, and shows what life can be like on the road. While there are many similarities between the George Clooney character and I, there is one BIG difference. Once I get to a city, I am generally with people I know.

I think the biggest similarity I have with him (besides the requirement for Travelpro luggage (more on that later) is how empty our homes were. It took me about a month of living in my current apartment before I realized why I was so comfortable in it. My apartment feels like a hotel room. From the exterior hallway with it's rows of doors-



to the privacy latch and peep hole,




it feels like a hotel room. Generally my refrigerator is empty. Sure it may have leftover beer from my last party and 3 month old milk, but that classifies as empty to me.

Lots of people have asked me when will I get off the road and start having a normal life. What people don't understand is that this travel is my normal. I don't know anything else. I don't know if I can handle life off the road. After a stressful point in my life a bunch of years ago, I was comforted by sitting in an airplane seat. That is where everything felt right. I was at peace. Very few people I know have successfully made that transition. It's not an easy transition to make either way. Life on the road is very independent. Eating dinner by yourself in a restaurant isn't something that you get used to right away. Eating room service every night isn't practical. Eating fast food every night isn't healthy.

It is very difficult to have a successful relationship when life on the road is involved. Many years ago I was at a hotel outside of Philly while covering a Villanova basketball game and there was an very attractive young lady at the bar hitting on a slightly older guy. They were both business travelers, he run down, her full of energy. I recall they were both involved with other people, and this was seemingly a problem for him, but when she uttered the following "Don't you know the mantra of all young travelers?-- What goes on on the road stays on the road." he forgot about anything else and they started getting closer to each other, more flirting and eventually left the hotel bar together. To this day, I've never made a pick up on the road. I don't have that in me. I don't know if its catholic guilt or what. I see people I work with do it all the time, and I hear stories about when they were younger. I can only imagine how bad it was before they were married.

The other side of the relationship coin is for the one who isn't traveling. It's got to be tough for that person to stay faithful as well. While there may not be as many opportunities for infidelity, the time spent apart adds up and people have needs. Someone who is in a relationship with a traveller needs to be just as independent. They need to be able to function without their partner for long periods of times.
SPOILER BELOW











Getting back to the movie, it ends up showing all of this, although not quite directly. Assuming you have seen the movie- George Clooney is the person who doesn't know how to function not on the road. He has traveling down to a science. He knows his job in and out. For him, life on an island is best because the way he is wired, it is easiest. You do get weighed down by all those things in your life. One could argue that those which weigh you down also keep you grounded. I used to be great in keeping in touch with people and making sure that I would see everyone. Now I suck. If Isee my family maybe 6 times a year, talk to them 15 times I think that would be a lot. I went over a year without seeing a friend, and the way we knew is that her daughter had been pretty much a new born the last time I saw her and I was attending her 2nd birthday party.


We actually learn two things form the young woman who he is teaching how to travel. The first is from her boyfriend who we never meet. The partner of a traveller has to be strong. They can't be upset that the person is gone, and they have to be able to function on their own. In the young woman herself, you can see someone who just isn't cut out to do the travel. She is wide-eyed and eager, but the road (and her job) ends up wearing her down. She left for the job she was meant to do, unencumbered by her boyfriend. While on the subject, you have to make decisions for yourself and not for anyone else. Her going to Wichita because her boyfriend got accepted to some school there was asinine. She took a soul sucking job that she never could have been happy at for her partner. As soon as things started to go bad, he left her, and she was still in Wichita at a soul-sucking job. When I moved to be closer to C, I gave up the NY metropolitan area, but not much else. My job remained the same and I lost that what if factor. The character should have taken her dream job in San Francisco and dealt with the long distance relationship. She also had the same dream that I have had on occasion- How fun would it be to pack a suitcase and head to the airport and pick a destination to go to on the spot with Frequent Flier miles.

From George Clooney's love interest in the movie you see the worst. She goes on the road and lives by that same motto. When she is doing that she is not only endangering her own marriage and family, but taking advantage of other people as well. The Clooney character thought he had finally met his equal, his match and was starting to let her into his life. He brought her to his sisters wedding, let him into his very inner circle and was finally ready to settle down, only to have his hopes crushed. He was ready to give up everything he believed in. Being a member of the 10 million mile club really doesn't mean anything in the big picture. It would take someone years to recover from that if ever.

I am well on my way to 2 million miles currently. The funny thing is that when you travel so much to accumulate that many miles or hotel points the last thing you don't know what to do with them. I gift my miles more than I use them. I have used them to fly friends internationally, to send my parents on vacations, to help friends get to where they need to be in family emergencies.

For the Travelpro comment above- on my trip out to Minneapolis this past Thursday, my bag of 10 years finally broke. The handle came out from baggage claim locked in the up position. I couldn't get it down. The person next to me was shocked and questioned me when I didn't go to the Baggage office to complain. I told them that the bag had lasted me 10 years. It survived over 1000 flights. I think that I got my moneys worth out of the bag and it's time to replace it. If you're in the market for luggage, get the Travelpro Crew series. It's a little more expensive, but you won't be disappointed.