Sacramental

I just noticed that my last blog entry was a pretentious whine from a fluorescent-lit motel pseudo-lounge in Sacramento.  From where I'm sitting now, that last blog is an embarassing display of arrogant snobbery that (read remainder of sentence with valley-girl pitch)... you know, is so... whatever...  not like me!

So where am I sitting now?  In that very "grand but pretentious lounge" that I compared the farmers' lounge to, ogling the same waitresses and listening to the same live piano music that I do every time I visit the Amourath 1819.  It's one of those bars where the brightest lights glow a dim amber from the table candles, and the couples at nearby tables whisper to each other and giggle quietly in dark corners.  I love these places, and I feel guilty for inserting my notebook's LCD halo into an old-school hush-hush lounge.

But something about being out of town, alone, in a bar, drinking martinis and eating smoked almonds, with a notebook computer on the table, invokes a blog entry.  So here I am.  What do I have to say?  Nothing really, but I feel I need to close this entry with some substance...  OK, two things...

First.  My job is not a travel job.  I am not some sales whatever that lives on planes.  I don't have out-of-town regional offices that need to be visited.  In my 17+ years in this business, it's only been the last couple years that I've been booking "business flights."  But it seems I've been doing it a lot.  I like part of it... this part: sitting in a bar alone drinking and eating and blogging.  I also like the brief getaways of independence.  I love my wife and kids beyond description, but something about stepping out of that pool for a few days of drying off is pleasing.  I can't really describe it, but it's fun... for the first day or two, then I need to get home quick to the embrace of my family.  My six-year-old cried when I left this afternoon, and that breaks my heart.

Second.  This trip couldn't come at a worse time.  OK, it could, like on one of my kids' birthdays...  wait, it did - I left my son's birthday party today to catch my flight.  Or it could keep me from one of my best friend's weddings... wait, that to - my best man at my wedding is getting married Wednesday, when I'm still here in Sacramental.  Or worse, when Halo 3 is released.  My clan's forum is busy with promises of midnight H3 purchases and days off to dedicate to the Halo.  But here I will be, a two-hour flight from home without my 360.  I'll watch Bungie's website and my clan's forum for live breaking news updates, while I prepare my presentation to a bunch of bureaucrats who won't remember it at the cookie break.  Whatever will I do?

Shit, I could probably get someone else to deliver my speech, catch an early flight home, hug and kiss the kids, love the wife for a few minutes, electrify the 360, and get it on with my clan.  Hmm, these martinis and almonds and cobb salad, and Brooke (my waitress) are getting to me.  Jeopardize my career for Halo?  Let me think about that.

What's Southwest's rescheduling policy?