Mostly Harmless

Sure, I could have blogged from the hotel, which had adequate WiFi most days — except for the two days I couldn’t connect at all — but I was more concerned with tracking down food three times a day (since I didn’t have a suite with a fridge and microwave) and watching TV without a DVR. At least I had free HBO and Showtime so I could see all those rockin’ uncensored R-rated shows.

I did find the hotel, no thanks to the directions provided by the travel agency which indicated that I should drive 1 mile past the hotel, make a U-turn, and come back 1/2 a mile. Nice. At least I was in the general vicinity and spotted the sign while driving past the hotel the second time.

I had more fun with maps trying to locate the Loews Quarry 14. If you click their “map it” link it will direct you to a residential area about 1 mile due West of the theater. Google’s map will land you on a car dealership, but it’s within sight of a sign pointing to the theater. The theater itself isn’t overly spectacular. I went there twice (Shopgirl & Derailed). The sound is just a little too loud, the non-reclining seats are a little too firm, and the screen is curved so it’s impossible to actually focus the entire image (apparently).

Slightly easier to find was Hollywood Blvd. It’s not a giant cineplex so it doesn’t stand out. It barely looks like a theater at all when you drive past it since it’s part of a strip mall and there’s no brightly lit marquee. I foolishly ate lunch just before going there for a movie, which was a mistake because they’ve got a full menu and tons of waiters buzzing about. Not the sort of place you go if you want to pay attention to the movie, which was actually in sharp focus(!). I saw Chicken Little there, and considered seeing Rocky Horror but wasn’t quite up for a midnight show where I might have toast thrown at me by a (sweet) transvestite.

Movie #4 on my two-week long trip was Zathura at the AMC theater by the Yorktown Mall. Where the wind howls through the doors in the front lobby and it takes a real man to heave the door open on the way back out. For my show I had to tell them to fix the sound. If I’m paying $11+ for the movie and a small pop I want all the freakin’ speakers turned on, not just the center channel by the screen. It took ‘em about 5 minutes but I could actually hear the rest of the movie, so that was nice. Picture focus was acceptable. Movie was good enough. I was not surprised by the identity of the astronaut, but it did take the kids quite a while to learn their valuable lesson.

In all my travels I burned a whole tank of gas in the rental car, which is impressive if you figure it takes about a gallon for the round-trip to the airport, and the hotel was about 2 miles from the office. I know the area around the hotel far too well at this point and can describe the fastest route to a number of restaurants and points of interest (OK, there are no points of interest in that part of town).

The rental was a Chevy Impala. It’s positive features include: decent engine, automatic transmission. The automatic is a plus in rental cars because, if you typically drive a manual transmission, your brain has more processing power to devote to the age-old question “Where the hell am I?” Also it frees up time for remembering little things like “green means go, red means stop” which are sometimes overlooked when you’re driving a strange car and are also trying to figure out what street you’re on. I didn’t run any red lights but I know someone who did. Cough. Bossman. Cough.

Speaking of work, I should go. I’d like to purge my knowledge of the poor state of the databases at the Chicago office from my brain but, sadly, that was why I was sent there for two weeks in the first place.

…to Chicago for two weeks. On short notice.

Why for? To put out fires and fix many, many broken things.

Why me? ‘cuz I’m the only one who hasn’t travelled to that office yet, and someone (*cough*Bossman*cough*) felt that after my 10-day vacation I needed to get out of the office for a bit. Also because I’m the guy that can fix the thing on the deal.

Side note: I just submitted my hold mail request online and it didn’t crap out like last time. I guess they managed to “better server” me this time.

Anywho, I just packed up all the clothes that would fit in my bag — which is about a week’s worth, so here’s hoping I find some laundry facilities at the hotel… I’m also hoping I can find the hotel… and the office. I do have two weeks so I suppose I’ll manage it eventually. Assuming that Bankrupt Airlines manages to get me to Chicago in the first place.

I’m also hoping that the hotel WiFi is decent… and that I remember to bring all necessary power adapters.

Much excitement to be had, that’s for sure.