Thoughts from the Road

I'm sitting in an airport Italian Restaurant in the part of the Milwaukee Airport set aside for the plebeian airlines (Southwest, Midway, Frontier et al).  So far, so good.  Some random thoughts after nearly 48 hours in The Badger State.

1.  You know the farcical stereotype of people who live in Wisconsin all talking funny and being over the top nice?  It's true.  Really.  It is.  You should have seen the staff at the hotel I stayed in--I was moved by their dedication to friendliness.

2.  Milwaukee's really a pretty big town--much bigger airport than I supposed.  What are all these people doing here in a place that is simply inhuman in the winter?  Drove past the baseball stadium---beautiful structure. 

3.  My flight is delayed an hour--I'll get to home base tonight about 1:30am, then up and off to the Pentagon at 0515...Poor planning on my part.

4.  I spent most of the last two days in the company of dedicated research scientists and engineers.  I'm amazed at how smart these guys are---ridiculously so.  Made me think how much I hope that we start making guys like this again--in mass numbers.  Maybe some will walk away from finance--we can only hope.

5.  As I said, my flight is delayed an hour---the first time in memory that Southwest has let me down.  I know, I know--an hour delay isn't a big deal these days.  It is when you're looking at a short night of sleep, though.

6.  Ten days until vacation with the Kitten/Kittens.  We're headed to St. John USVI for nine days--a very, very necessary break for me.  Will likely keep blogging though--that's not work.  The radio show though....that's a different story.

7.  Congrats to brother Sam Shapiro, who is ending his "life in the age of Obama" stint among the unemployed for a new job.  Happy to hear it, old boy.  What are you going to do with the blog dedicated to being unemployed?

8.  I'm just heartbroken about Bristol Palin and Levi.  Heartbroken.