Dispatch #2 From Hawaii

I sit, as is my custom, in the hermetically sealed comfort of the United Club here in Honolulu, a few gates down from there my flight will leave in just over five hours.  My youthful associate Tim decided to part company after our last meeting today and head to the beach to get a little surfing in.  I remain somewhat under the weather, and so decamped to the airport where I sit in relative comfort, considering all that has happened this week while I spent most of it in bed or in meetings.

This particular lounge is less "clubby" than most, with the furniture taking a Polynesian pose like much of everything else in here in our 50th State.  There are no big leather seats in which to ponder the universe, only these rattan-ish things that are passably comfortable, but now substitute for a nice club chair.

Additionally, the trail mix is sub par.  Mostly Goldfish.  There is a Gordon Biersch somewhere in this airport, and I will fill my maul there before getting on the plane. 

It is somewhat ironic that in a week in which I was most-ill prepared to speak publicly--what with my throat on fire and all--I had to talk more than I have in a long time.  Lots of meetings, lots of presentations, lots of Q and A....I think this was some kind of cosmic payback for my soft life.  I look forward to arriving back in Easton tomorrow, spending a little time with the Kittens, and then taking to bed as soon as I can do so without bringing disrepute upon myself.

Thanksgiving has snuck up on me.  It was only yesterday that I realized Thanksgiving is next week--rather than the week after--and the folks at the hotel wished me a "happy holidays" as I checked out.  I was glad to hear it.  I hope I can find a radio station in the drive home from the airport tomorrow that is playing Christmas music....maybe satellite has started already.  The arrival of the holidays is helping to cut through the stench of this week (and last). 

Because of the location of this airport (in the middle of the Pacific) , it appears that it does almost no business during the day, but is heavily trafficked in the morning and the evening.   I arrived here at around 1545 and it was ghostly--but now it is beginning to fill up a bit (as I write, it is nearly 1700 Hawaii time). 

Democrats and Democratic politics are BIG out here.  I don't really know why.  Every now and then a Republican slips by, but it isn't often.  Apparently a Republican won the mayoral race in Honolulu.  It was big news.

I would dearly like to take a little nap here in the lounge, and I'm quite sure I could if I put my mind to it.  But I would do so only at the cost of some sleep time while on the plane--and that is something I have no wish to do.  The plane is a 2-3-2 across seating configuration, and I am in a rightside aisle seat.  I hope the person sitting next to me is a tiny little human with a bladder encompassing half their body mass.

I once wrote of my "be-tracksuited" corpulence while traveling, a line that got a few emails of congratulation.  I am wearing said tracksuit (pants), shiny Addidas if you will--but I am far less corpulent than when I wore them last on a long trip. My traveling rig is somewhat deshabille, what with the track pants, a white T-shirt, UVA ball cap and blue-blazer with white tennis shoes.  Wearing the blazer keeps it from having to be packed, and the multiplicity of pockets do come in handy working one's way through security. 

Well folks--I think I'll find a nice movie on Netflix and zone out for a while.  I don't imagine I'll be back to the blog until Sunday, so in the meantime, be well.  And thanks to the other bloggers for carrying the load!