I woke up just a little bit ago. It is pretty early for me right now, especially being in the Eastern Time Zone. I am not sure what woke me up, perhaps a mix of last night wearing off and the windy weather knocking at my window. I can say this though; one of the grossest feelings is waking up to the smell of cigarette smoke in your hair and on your body.

Yesterday I did a lot of Christmas shopping. I went to all the major chain stores you can name, and then more. I noticed a few things when I was out. First, people are kind of rude in general. They do not hold doors for you, will not move their giant cart for you, and rarely use recycled/reusable bags (even had one case where the woman working the register said it was harder for her because the reusable bags do not fit in the bag holder). Second, there are a lot of needless gadgets, utensils, and just junk that stores push as “great last minute gift ideas”. They especially have these items at the register so you can quickly add it on to your order. Do I really need a spoon that is just the right size for chocolate chip cookies? Or what about a all in one tool with a flash light?

After spending the day (literally about 6 hours) shopping, I met up with my friend Dave and his wife and their new baby at BW3. My mom and Bill went, too. I think my mom was a little excited to see the baby, too.

Oh, how I miss BWs. I have mentioned before that it is my favorite chain restaurant and I cannot explain why. They had Bells Winter White on tap, which kind of tastes like my favorite Bells Beer, Oberon. I cannot explain why I love this beer so much?

After stuffing ourselves with boneless wings and Winter White, my mom and Bill drove me home (hey, I had been drinking and I am car-less in Michigan) but first we made a grocery store stop. That is when Stacy called me and said she wanted to go out, but had to go to the grocery store first. Well, low and behold we were both at the same store. So, I just got in her car and we went to Novi to meet Hillary at Rojo, this new restaurant that recently opened.

So, from what I hear, Rojo is owned by the same group that owns Andiamo Novi, Dirty Martini and whatever else they own. Honestly, I was not impressed. I would rate the food at 2.5 or 3 stars out of 5. I would say, however, they margaritas get a 4 out of 5.

The food was overpriced Mexican food that was comparable to like... Del Taco. They must have just opened as about (not kidding) 5 or 6 different managers came to our table to ask us how everything was going. We sent back one dish because it came out with some sauce on it that it did not show on the menu, and they brought it back with basically the same sauce. When we complained again, they offered to make us another, but not take it off our bill?

Anyway, don't eat here. Just drink Margaritas.

Do you ever look at the caller ID on your ringing cell phone, only to see a number you do not recognize? Is it a sales call, a wrong number, maybe a co-worker asking you to cover?

Well, now you can look up that pesky caller! Report Phone Numbers is a website that allows you to look up the unknown number and view comments left by other users and you can post your own comments, too!

This is great so now you will know which annoying company is calling you, and you can help others by providing information, too!

Last night it snowed about 3-4 inches (depending where you are located) in the Detroit area. I swear, I moved out West to avoid the snow, and I come here for like a month in December.

Though, from what I read, Seattle schools received a snow day today. I bet it barely snowed there, but those silly Seattlites just cannot handle more than a few inches... Seriously though, I would be scared on those hills, too!

I took some pics from work...

I think my perception of cars has changed a lot since I moved to Seattle. In Detroit, you need a car if you want to get around. A few of the burbs do not have bus service, everyone is afraid to use the bus downtown (sometimes they even get hijacked), and urban sprawl means that you might live on one side of town and your friends on the other.

I used to think as you would make more money you should have a nicer and better car, maybe an SUV, or what not. Isn’t that how it goes?

Well, I have a car in Seattle, a 2006 Nissan Altima. It is leased through October 2009, and I am counting down the days until I can be done with it. It’s a good car and she has treated me well, she ever drove me across the country to move to Seattle; but I never drive her and most of the time you can find my Altima in her home, an overpriced Belltown parking lot.

Am I ready to go car-free? I do drive her to R’s place when it rains, the grocery store, we took her to Portland for the night… but I think I could rent a Zipcar or a Hertz for those special occasions. I’d still be saving money, for sure.

This is something I need to think about, a lot. I can tell you though, if it were today, I’d seriously be looking at Nissan Versa’s (I get an employee discount), Smart Cars and any other tiny cars that are good on gas and easy to park.

I am finally over the jet lag, but still am going a bit nuts on little sleep here. I wake up way earlier than before, usually around 6:55am, in order to be at work by about 8, or 8:15am. I work in Brighton and from my house in Farmington Hills it is about a 16 mile drive. Luckily it is east to west so I am going against the flow of traffic, but it still takes a good 25 minutes or so, not to mention tons of gas.

I know it is the “Motor City” and all, but people drive way too much out here. What I miss the most about Seattle right now (well, besides R... and oddly enough… the weather), is walking! In Seattle I walk to the market, to shopping, to food, to beer, to wherever... I suppose I could walk here, but from work I think the closest food establishment is about 2 miles away and by the time I got there, I’d probably have frost bite from the teen temps we have been having lately.

I also have yet to spend a nice to myself. I am always running around, here, there, to this, to that. I never have time for myself to just sit and veg out and relax. I do not see it happening until at least Monday night, as my sis is graduating on Sun and I have other family obligations on Saturday. I am going to try to get to the Pistons/Pacers game tomorrow night, we’ll see.

But yes, Monday… Monday the goal is to relax, when I get home, after my 10 hour day at work…

Oh, and this was the temp today, driving into work...

4:11pm

So, I am on a plane, traveling what the airlines tell me is 2019 miles from SeaTac to Detroit. I wonder if that number is really accurate. Anyway, I am on Northwest Airlines flight 212, not really because of choice, but because if I wanted a Sky Team Alliance direct flight, Northwest was my only option.

Northwest used to be my preferred airline. When I first started flying, I would actually choose to fly NWA over most of their competitors. I remember those days… as they were also the days of a good (hot) meal, no checked baggage fees, movies/radio for entertainment, free pillows and blankets galore and friendly flight attendants. Yes, I yearn for those days. Unfortunately, just as I hit my peak travel time in life, they have all seemed to disappear.

Not only is flying a hassle in general these days for reasons like… I am lugging around a 40 pound carryon suitcase that so large it can barely be labeled a carry on… I am on a 5 hour flight, pretty hungry for real food and my only non 1st class option is a tuna fish snack box or some candies, both which require cash, as Northwest is not a cashless cabin like every other freaking major airline. Well, to top it off, I totally started my, ya know, womanly cycle. That sucks in general, but on a flight is even worse! I hate being told when I can and cannot use the restroom because of turbulence or being blocked from the aisle, which brings me to my story.

I am sitting maybe 3 rows from 1st class, as I do not generally get upgraded on NWA flights with my Alaska MVP. I was sleeping until the snack/pop cart hit my elbow and woke me up. I looked at the time and realized I probably should go to the bathroom, to ya know, take care of the lady stuff as I had not done so in a few hours. I looked back and the drink cart was only in the row behind me, there was no way I would be able to make it that long, so, I went to the first class bathroom. Now, I have done this on many other occasions when I am in the bulk head seats and it has never been a problem.

Well, the coach flight attendants did a 2nd drink service and started in my area. I took a look back and I was totally blocked. It would be a 30 min wait before they were done, and there was no way I was going to negotiate the cart. So, I went to the 1st class bathroom. Well, as I am leaving, the 1st class flight attendant says to me… It’s nothing personal, and I am sure you didn’t want to wait for the cart, but for security reasons, you have to use the restroom in your class because you are too close to the cockpit. I replied with, well it was an emergency and I couldn’t wait for the carts.

Oh, wow, she just came by and told me to close my laptop because it was bright and we were landing soon anyway. They haven’t even started to pick up the garbage from the drink service. I’ll finish this when I get home.

Home...


I’ll be home 25 days total. When I bought the ticket, it seemed like a good idea. I could put in some face time in the office, shop for the holidays without being stressed and worrying about shipping the gifts (or paying baggage fees for gifts), hang with old friends and family, etc. I made these plans though before my last minute 2 and a half week trip to Detroit in October. If only I knew…

I am sure I will be a major ball of stress for the next 25 days. In addition, I didn’t anticipate R being in my life, so, I did not count on being away from him for a month… which seems like it should be easy, but in reality… will suck.

Oh and, yeah… “It’s so cold in the D!” (Really, it’s like 20 degrees and snowy…)