Here I am in Eugene Oregon, where I will spend the next three days for work. I left home at 5am today and moseyed down the I-5, accompanied by the strains of my iPod and the misty morning views of the Willamette Valley.
I have no laptop, and it’s unlikely there will be wifi or any net access at my hotel anyway; so thank god for my s-m-r-t phone, upon which I am now blogging while I wait for the workday proper to begin.
8:37am – Free truck stop coffee FTW.
10:51am – I have to pee. Breaktimes are infrequent and I worked through the last one. *squirm*
So far this is fun. I don’t get the chance to travel for work very often, so it’s a bit of a treat for me. If I were on the road 15-20 days a month like some of my coworkers, I might feel differently about this.
Starting to daydream about post-work plans: grocery store, liquor store, check in to hotel, find dinner, see if my friend Aram is in town as he said he might be, and if so get a beer with him. Hopefully my room is at least comfortable enough for drinking and reading.
12:11pm – lunch = sandwich. So far all I’ve seen of Eugene is the inside of this building (school district type place). After I get checked in I think I’ll go find the Ninkasi brewpub.
12:17pm – looks like the Ninkasi brewery is about 10 blocks from my hotel…but it’s not a pub! Noooooooooooo!!
2:14pm – fading hard after lunch. Thankfully I’m out of here in less then 2 hrs. I desire libations in the supine position.
6:09pm – At the hotel room now: a faceless friendly place near downtown Eugene. When the nice lady handed me my key and I saw the number I grinned: I’d gotten room # 107. If you know me you know why I nearly burst into song.
After checking in I had to get some food (and liquor) so I hit Freddies (et cet), and in a manic hungry daze I ended up with bananas, yogurt, peanuts, orange juice, club soda (to mix with the Scotch I bought), two bottles of Ninkasi Radiant summer ale (a new one to me, I’ve yet to open one), and some frozen vegetarian chicken nuggets. Upon returning ‘home’ I hastily devoured a couple handfuls of peanuts and a cup of yogurt – no spoon? no problema: just sort of dump the stuff in my mouth, use the fingers, there’s no shame in a hotel kitchenette. The chix nugs were OK (bit rubbery thanks to the microwave).
Now I’m watching the home run derby and feeling like it’ll be an early night for Luke. Sleep beckons, but not before I have a little taste, maybe read a few chapters of the Jasper Fforde book I just started, and maybe dump some more food in my head.
8:09 – I’m depressed to discover no Gideon’s bible in the room. A phone book is the extent of the gratis reading material, which is a poor showing if you ask me.
9:06 – I watched last night’s Colbert Report. Comedy.
I left the channel on and saw the beginning of a stand up show with the guy from king of queens. Opposite of comedy.
Day 2 – 10:34am – eating yogurt without a spoon is fun, so is waking up in a strange room and barking the hell out of my shin on the coffee table. Speaking of coffee, I’m on my 5th or 6th cup of the morning. This just in: caffeine still works.
Found out that I don’t have to work here tomorrow, but can’t cancel the last night of the hotel, meaning I’ll just mosey home in the morning and put in half a day at the office. Tonight my friend Aram will be in town, so we’ll get some beers, have a relaxing night in Duckville.