Here are highlights from the trip.
- Arrive at meeting location in Charlottesville. Get out of car. Walk across parking lot. Step in puddle. Sit through 90-minute meeting with one soaking wet foot. Try to concentrate on meeting. Succeed only intermittently.
- Park at hotel in Ashburn, VA. Go up to room. Read and respond to e-mails. Start to get hungry. Decide against ordering room service in a continued one-man protest against the ridiculous tax and service charge that is applied to any room service order. Keep doing e-mails. Finally must eat. Refuse to get back in car to find take-out food. Remember that there was an APlus mini-mart attached to the Shell station across from the hotel. Walk to APlus mini-mart. Realize that APlus mini-marts have a pretty disgusting food selection. Accept defeat. Dejectedly walk back to hotel. Order room service.
- Get up early and drive to Dulles. Cruise through security and straight to gate. Begin to contentedly mind own business. Notice the young mother who shows up with the toddler at the gate. Listen to the mom loudly tell her child over and over that he needs to be quiet and that he's disturbing everyone else. Exercise great self-restraint by not telling the mom that it's her, not the kid, who's making all the noise. Wonder why she isn't smart enough to realize that.
- Board plane. Arrive at seat. Notice that seat is located directly in front of loud talking mom. Notice that loud talking mom is still talking. Take seat. Put on seatbelt. Begin to weep.
- Go to meeting. At end of long day, go to hotel to check in. Get room key. Take elevator. Get off elevator. Find that room is located as far from the elevator as humanly possible. Curse. Walk. Walk. Curse. Walk. Finally find room. Pause for breath. Put key in door. Open door. Walk into foyer with powder room. See separate living room with wet bar. Walk into spacious bedroom with sitting area. Tour spacious full bath that is bigger than living room at home. Resolve to never leave room.
- Wake up the next day. Must leave room and go to more meetings. At end of day, board bus to go to group function. Realize that, once on bus, there is no chance of return until end of function. Too late. Bus is leaving. Trapped. Spend time at function daydreaming of return to spacious room.
- Arrive back at spacious room. Realize that you've done nothing but sleep and shower in it. Vow to return again some other time.
- Wake up. Shower. Pack suitcase. Go to airport. Get on plane. Arrive safely back at Dulles. Walk to parking garage. Load suitcase in car. Get in. Turn car on. Back up. Begin to pull away. Warning bells begin. Message flashes on dashboard -- "Low Tire Pressure." Roll eyes. Think how good it is to be home.
