I need to remember to use my camera more. When I do that, I can write my blog with more pictures and fewer words. There’s going to be some words in this weekend recap. But I have 13 pictures, too. I like pictures — they’re easy to read!
Real quick, if this is your first time here, click here and see why I’m trying to run 61 marathons for Train 4 Autism this year.
The Most Common Question I Get
Do you work?
Yeah, I work full time. I’ve missed maybe 10 days or so of work this year, all for travel. I haven’t taken a sick day or a personal day or anything like that. The only days I’m missing are when I have to travel on a Friday. Well, I missed the Monday for Boston, but I was in the next day, and I missed a day when I missed a flight and got stuck in Spokane.
But I can do my entire job anywhere as long as I have a computer, and I always have a computer with me, so I squeeze in some bonus time pretty frequently. Why am I telling you this? Because this weekend was ridiculous! Here’s a quick blow-by-blow of Friday and Saturday. I had a deadline Saturday night.
My “weekend” started super early on Friday morning. Up at 3 to catch my flight at 6 a.m. out of Los Angeles. There was a slowdown getting through security and I almost missed my flight, walking directly from security onto the plane without slowing down a step. On my first flight, I worked on the plane. Yay laptops. I had a layover of about 90 minutes and I powered away some more while I waited in San Francisco.
On that second flight, I was at it some more. I got to my destination, Missoula, Montana, but I had to wait 3 1/2 hours to pick up my rental car (once you go over 24 hours, you get charged for a second day. So I sat by the baggage claim and kept on working. When I got my car, I grabbed some pancakes, drove 165 miles to the town I was staying in, Choteau, then picked up my race stuff, checked into my motel and got to work after I spent 10 minutes getting everything ready for my race the next day.
I called it quits at 9:30, because I had to get up at 3:45 the next morning. After I got up and got ready for the race, I squeezed in another hour. After the race, I showered, hit the road, stopped for lunch, then spent a couple of hours waiting at the airport. I was productive during that time, of course, and on that first flight, I finished my project.
During my 90-minute layover in Seattle, I plugged in, uploaded files onto a development site, ran some tests and everything was ready to go. On the flight from Seattle to Los Angeles, I spent about an hour making some last-minute changes, then took a break and spent about 30 minutes writing my race report.
After landing and getting my car, I drove an hour to get home, walked in the house at 12:30 a.m., made myself a turkey sandwich and spent about 30 minutes uploading the project and making sure everything was fine. I checked my email at about 8 a.m., saw that there were some issues, then went downstairs and spent 45 minutes polishing things up. Finally, I got to relax, enjoy breakfast with my family, and then I was off for the rest of the day Sunday!
So yeah, I work. I think there was a marathon in the middle of all that, too.
After Two Exhausting Days, At Least I Had A Nice Family Day
I went to the Angels-Rangers game with my dad and my 9-year-old son Benjamin on Sunday. It was a great pitching matchup, Cliff Lee vs. Jered Weaver, plus they have something where kids get to run the bases after the game. Benjamin had a blast with that. Oh, and we stopped at In-N-Out on the way to the game. That made me happy!
After the game, I went to visit my grandparents at their house. They’ve been there since 1968, which was way before I was born, so that’s always been where I’ve gone to see them. They’re moving into an assisted living facility today, and I’m pretty excited about that, because they’re going to have a much better quality of life, plus they’re going to be five minutes from my work and 15 minutes from house. Their house they’re moving out of is 45 minutes away, so it’s tough for me to see them frequently.
While I’m excited about that, it blows my mind that they’re moving out of their house after 42 years. I went up after the game to see it for one last time. I got to visit with them too, which was nice. But I just can’t believe I’m never going back there. There have been countless family gatherings there, I used to spend the night when I was a kid … when I think of them, I think of that house. But amazingly, it’s just a memory now. Life goes on, I guess.
But anyways, the ballgame and seeing my grandparents really made for a great day.
So that’s all from my weekend. Here are the pics!
My view of the world for 3 1/2 hours in the airport in Missoula.
I ate five of these on Friday afternoon and got pretty full.
Montana is my kind of place.
This is Main Avenue in Choteau, Montana. Definitely a small town.
I saw an actual log cabin in Augusta, Montana. That’s a big deal to a California native.
This was also in Augusta. They don’t have a lot of taxidermy storefronts where I live. Actually, they don’t have any. So I had to take a picture.
I don’t think they have a lot of imports on tap in this bar in Augusta.
I ate in Lincoln, Montana, where they caught the Unabomber. I had to take a picture of the menu.
This was the cheeseburger and the sweet potato fries I got in Lincoln. This place I ate at in Lincoln on Saturday, Pit Stop, came highly recommended, but I’d just call it so-so.
This was my lunch at In-N-Out the next day. Certainly better than so-so!
Me and Benjamin at the game.
Grandma’s & Grandpa’s house. I don’t need this picture because I’ll never forget it.
It’s my blog, so I can put a picture of my grandpa in his kitchen in here if I want to!
That’s all for today … have a great Tuesday!
Matt Wilbanks says
that’s a hardcore weekend! The sweet potato fries look good! I tried not to look at the In-N-Out picture though. I just get jealous.
Katie Abdolhosseini says
I never second guess how hard and frequently you work!
Love the pics of your grandparents and their house. I remember when my grandparents moved from their long time home to assited living and I also can remember their old house like the back of my hand.
Hope your week goes well!
Ben Delaney says
Why are you wearing a St. Louis visor at the Big A?! You are going to confuse your poor child.