Uneventful snow in the NE...

Well, I ended last week in Portland, ME. I finished up the seminar there, flew home, did laundry, packed up, hung out for a bit, and flew back out early Sunday. Oh look a burrito ====================>

Yea, thats the kind of dribble I like to type to waste your time.

Once my flight took off in Seattle, I soon found myself in Rochester, NY where it was pretty cold out. I got my rental car, drove to my hotel (turned out to be a POS establishment that had upgraded a little with some stuck-o and fake gold leaf on some railing) and crashed for the night. I woke up to find it snowing a bit, and Matisyahus tour bus outside my hotel. I never caught a glimpse of the guy, but it was still cool to see that. After that seminar, I drove to Albany, NY where we were in a Hampton Inn. I got upgraded to a suite with a HUGE flat screen, a massive bathroom, and a granite step in the shower I could sit on. I was spoiled. I worked out and afterwards must have sat on that step in the shower and let the water hit me for like an hour. God I am so awesome. I picked up this burrito (pictured above) from a hole-in-the-wall place down an alley called, Burrito Joes. It was awesome. Cheap, fast, and tasty. After a smooth seminar, it snowed that night as we drove to our next destination, Burlington, VT and made the roads tricky, but we made it fine. I love Burlington. It has a beautiful downtown with great restaurants, shopping, and my personal favorite place, Lake Champlain Chocolates. This place, along with the Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, has the best chocolates in the nation. I met up with another PM, Emily, and we had dinner, got some chocolate from Lake Champlain, and got a few drinks. Burlington is really a city everyone should try. Its great. It snowed alot during the seminar the next day, so i took a vote from participants, and they wanted to end early to get back to their houses and families. I collected money, ordered pizza for them, and we ended the seminar early. The next city was Manchester, NH. The drive there, was a bitch. It was 150 miles, around 70 miles less than the 2 previous destinations, but took almost an hour and a half longer. The snow and wind were making it impossible to drive the speed limit. It turned out to be a 4 hour car drive for what should have been only 2 1/2 hours. The seminar there went great. I was fed a whole shitload of food from the conference center kitchen, which never happens, and we packed up, left, and here I am back in Portland, ME where I will be spending the weekend. I look forward to having a lobster roll, going to the flagship store for L.L. Bean, going to Di Millos Seafood, and exploring another portion of the northeast for a couple days. Hope all is well with whoever reads this, and hopefully my blog will be more exciting next time. Maybe I'll make something up. Deuces from Portland, ME homies....

Long Island,NY.... hated it, Hartford, CT...it was aight and Warwick, RI....pretty rad

Well, I am in Warwick, RI which is about 11 miles south of Providence. It is a small town with beautiful coastlines and bays. I really have come to like Rhode Island. Downtown Providence is really amazing, and every small town on the outskirts, Seekonk and Warwick, have been fairly nice. Last night my speaker and I went to a restaurant about 3 miles from our Hilton Garden Inn called The Crows Nest. I had researched restaurants in the area the day before so i could have the traditional Rhode Island "stuffie". (I'm sure there is a joke here, but i got nothing) I had one last time I was Rhode Island and loved it. Supposedly a lot of bars serve it as late night food, and its amazing. The take a quahog shell and stuff it with chopped up seafood and bread. They then deep fry it, and it comes out so damn good. Honestly, its one of the better dishes I have discovered around the country. While searching for a restaurant around our hotel that served stuffies, I stumbled upon The Crows Nest. It's located on the edge of a harbor and serves amazing food. I started with a stuffie, and then had half a lobster roll with a cup of the chowder soup. This meal was amazing. The best part about it was that I didn't have to pay a cent. My speaker picked up the check because he told me that "I had his back the whole week." To which I responded,"Did I pass the initiation to get into your gang??" Honestly though, nice guy and killer meal.

On Tuesday I was in Long Island, NY in the Ronkonkoma Holiday Inn. I have been there before and everyone said that the people from Long Island are dickheads and bitches. I hadn't experience that negative attitude until this visit. What a bunch of pricks. Long Island is a bitch. It has horrible traffic, horrible people, and no places to eat. I only look forward to the hotel concierge food and drink Holiday Inn provides for free. If I were sitting outside that seminar that day and my speaker came out to get me, and all of a sudden smoke started to appear, and the door caught on fire while my presenter and I were outside the room, I would have glanced over for a few seconds and gone back to my paperwork. Okay, maybe that's a little harsh, but the people were unnecessarily rude and ungrateful. Oh well, Long Island got a "Shit Stamp" of approval from me.

The next day we were in Hartford, CT and everything went great. The Crowne Plaza there had a GREAT workout facility with televisions everywhere and any machine you would need for a full workout. The only awkward part about it was when I was working out and nobody was in there, and I was watching the movie "The Wrestler" with Mickey Rourke. Well, I am watching it in a public place and hadn't seen it before. As I am running, a man walks in and starts running on the treadmill next to me. As soon as he does this, it switches over to a stripper scene in the movie and I'm thinking,"Oh shit this is gonna get awkward." Well Marisa Torme ends up to be topless (which is awesome btw!!!) but i am watching this stripper scene with a complete stranger. Our workout room had just turn into what felt like an actual strip club. It had the feel of watching pornography with a complete stranger. As this happens though, the guy goes,"Hmmmm. Never seen this movie." To which I respond,"I haven't either. Want to change it?" He goes,"Hell no! I love Marisa Torme!!! To see her topless is gold, but for the sake of any kids walking in here, keep the remote close." This guy was like mid-50s and apparently emitting the attitudes I want to at that age. Eventually, some women walked in and we changed to basketball or something. That was one of the funnier situations I have had in a workout room.

Alright peeps, I gotta go but will maybe update tomorrow. Got a long flight home to Seattle and don't arrive till around 1130 or 12. Its gonna be like an 8 to 9 hour travel day which sucks, but the good news is that I put in for an upgrade. It would be awesome if I got it. Well deuces from Warwick, RI friends and frienemies.....