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eleven-ish in the aye emm: I know I've mentioned this several times before, but it obviously needs to be said again: If you are a man and decide to wear your shirt tucked in at the waist of your trousers, then wear a belt. This is not open to interpretation. Just do it. /sigh I woke up this morning with a slight sinus headache and a substantial ache in my upper back and neck. Other than the typical creaks and pops upon rising that come with getting older, I felt well rested despite the pain. The weather had shifted over the night and a fog had settled over the city foreboding rain. My client was happy since everything was running tip top since the changes we made to the network on Monday night, but I still needed to stop in and make sure they no longer needed my assistance before attempting to standby on an earlier flight. I booked the last flight out to provide more time, but with the weather setting in like this, I was getting a bad feeling about hanging around. At least my travel is slightly more nimble without checked luggage. I packed a change of clothes in my laptop bag and just bought toiletries when I arrived in town. Target has an entire aisle of those tiny travel-sized toothpastes, deodorants, etc. When I had to reschedule to allow another day in town, I actually had to stop at a clothing store and purchase clothes to wear today. It's not the ideal way to expand your wardrobe, but spontaneity breeds adaptation. I really like the shirt I purchased. The fabric has surface texture, but it's so soft to the touch. If I weren't wearing it at the moment, I'd read the label and share the materials. The security desk just called all passengers to the gate which means my time is running short. This is one of those airports where there is no gangway tunnel to the door of the jet. Passengers must walk out onto the ramp and climb the stairs into the plane. Most have propellers and you're luck if you get one of the few Embraers that fly this route. I'm concerned about Penny and Bianca. I left them plenty of food and water for even the three days I unexpectedly spent here, but they tend to get mischievous when upset with me for being gone. I moved all my indoor plants onto the back patio so they should be fine. Something is eating the plumeria Beth gave me, but I can't find the culprit. I'm tempted to set up a web cam or something to record the activity. Whatever it is, it's extremely hungry. Time to board. Ciao. _______________________________________________________ Twelve-ish in the pee emm: I heard Reese and Ryan are breaking up. Obviously it is because she heard I was single now and wants to pursue me with the hopes I'll be her babydaddy. _______________________________________________________ Twelve-thirty-ish in the pee emm: The aircraft I'm on is obviously one of the older in the fleet... so old in fact, not a single seat in the plane reclines... not even a smidgypoo. There are no oxygen masks that fall from the overhead in the event of sudden decrease in cabin pressure. Not here. There are access jacks to plug into the oxygen delivery system, but you have to request a mask from the flight attendance in the event of a sudden decrease in cabin pressure. The creases in the leather seats are deep and random, showing years of fannies exerting the cyclic stress of trips to the lavatory and countless boarding ceremonies. The lines look like the cracks on a vinyl upholstered automobile seats subjected to 15 years of unforgiving west Texas sun. The fold down tray tables are discolored and slightly warped, but still serve their purpose quite well. It started raining the instant boarding was called, so all of the passengers were a little damp when we made it across the tarmac to the ladder. Once the props were spun up and we gained altitude through the clouds, the visibility cleared and we were able to see sun again. Hopefully the weather in Houston is not so dreary. I'm quite thankful I even made it on this flight. The young man at the ticket counter explained that standby on notice less than 3 hours would institute a hundred dollar convenience charge regardless of whether I made it on the flight. I explained that I was in dire need of a "homeboy hookup" and he apparently sensed my street cred was sufficient to reroute the security cams and skinny up the down low. He cleared me on a later flight in the afternoon to flag the 3 hour requirement, then re-ticketed me for the one that I wanted. Presto. I'm in. Jimmyjammajam. I'm really tired and think I'll try to snooze a little before we head for the ground. _______________________________________________________ Three-thirty-ish in the pee emm: Wow, there are some kitties happy to see me. As great as it was to be home, I had to come into the office to wrap up a few things. Happy hour *will* be starting shortly however. I am glad I wasn't home for Halloween. I'm afraid I would have had to follow through with my plan to issue ketchup, Taco Bell taco, and soy sauce packets to the little bastards that didn't say "Trick or Treat!" with a big smile. WTF is up with kids these days? Hang in there... the week is half way over.