I figured out I can make my own videos....get ready party people....

I am honestly trying to keep up with this blog (I swear)but its kinda hard. So last time I talked to you I was in Cleveland I believe.....or maybe it was Pittsburgh. Either way, not a lot has happened (watch the video). I put my seminar on in Cleveland and we stayed at a new hotel, a Crowne Plaza. It was nice and I liked it. The staff was nice and full of cute girls, got a free breakfast, had a concierge room where stuffed my pockets full of nutri-grain bars, pretzels and diet cokes and got $10.00 off for dinner at the restaurant. Needless to say, I was impressed and happy. There was a Panera on one side of the hotel and a Chipotle on the other (solid), and my speaker was a good guy. He traveled everywhere in europe and gave me great ideas on some trips I wanna do in the future. One of them is to spend a couple days in Paris, take the Chunnel (tunnel under the channel i believe... if you didn't know that before, just go home) to London on the train and stay there a few days. Expensive as balls, but would be well worth it. Two absolutely amazing cities. For lunch I got Chipotle and it was damn good....not much else to say.....

The video is a good representation of what I do for half my flights. I sit, I wait (if they don't have a boardroom where I can get some snacks and a drink or six), and possibly get something to eat. Airports are horrible for food, unless it's a major hub, like Minneapolis/St. Paul For NWA, for an airline. I guess it's not a place a person specifically goes to eat, so I shouldn't expect that much but it doesn't help the fact that I like to eat healthy and don't want a small snickers from a newsstand or bar food that will make me feel like shit for the rest of the night. Anyways.....

I traveled to Albany, NY, got a Chrysler 300 from National, and drove to the Comfort Inn n Suites. This hotel was recently built (positive), had a free breakfast (positive), and had a good workout room (positive). I worked out, watched King of the Hill (a nightly thing to do) and fell asleep. I woke up in the morning, went down to my site and NONE of my seminar was setup. I usually walk into my seminar room with everything set up and put together my electronics, my table, meet the staff, double check with the onsite coordinator and my speaker and then get a break to do paperwork for an hour or two. Not this time. Somebody fucked up. It was an empty room and I looked everywhere for somebody to help, but nobody was around, so I set it up myself. 72 seats, 24 tables, 3 large tables, 3 buffett tables, and a 8 foot screen for the slide show. My working at the Country Club had payed off. This whole time I was just grabbing stuff back in the kitchen/back hallway and setting it up. I owned that fucking hotel for an hour that day, and the staff for the rest of the day treated me like a god. Everything went fine for the rest of the day and last night Cindy (my speaker) and I went into downtown Boston into the Northside where the Italian District is and went to an amazing Italian restaurant. We also went to Bell in Hand, the second oldest bar in the U.S..... est. 1795 I believe. Right after that we walked through the Holocaust Memorial just across the street from the old bar which I have been to before but it is something I definitely wanted to see again. Boston is truly a great city and I can't wait to come back. In fact, I just got my schedule for March and I come back here like 4 times in the next 2 months so hopefully I can familiarize myself with the city some more.

Right now I am in the Hilton Garden Inn in Waltham, MA (10 miles outside Boston and they mentioned Waltham last night on 30 Rock and I felt so god damn special) and love it. Free breakfast, cookies when you check-in, hot chick at the counter, and comfortable beds. Holla back HGI. The leftovers from last nights pesto linguine I had in downtown is chilling in the fridge in my room, and Im gonna inhale that shit as soon as lunch hits. Hope all is well wherever you may be. Deuces from Waltham, MA suckas....

******SIDE NOTE******

For those of you that noticed that James Blunt is blazing in the background of my video, that was the terminal. I know, sitting in an empty terminal while blasting James Blunt from my computer and dancing would seem like something I would do, I didnt do it unfrotunately. Sorry to disappoint.

******SIDE NOTE ENDED******

Tired

Well, I am not really holding up my promise to keep this thing up to date. Sorry, but lately I have been pooped/poopied/tired/out of it/worn out/spacey from this job. I had a bachelor party last weekend and didn't get much sleep. In fact, in 3 nights I got a maximum of probably 11 to 12 hours total. I am a zombie. Enough bitchin aight?!?!?!

I was in Pittsburgh yesterday and am in Cleveland today. I have a speak whose name is Mike Myers (I expect him to do a Shrek impersonation at any moment) and he is a great guy. He travels alot, likes music, and is really low-maintenance. Needless to say, we get along pretty well. I stayed in a hotel I have visited many times before in Pittsburgh, the Four Points by Sheraton. Its in the middle of nowhere, the staff is awkward/elusive, the rooms aren't clean, and the hotel infrastructure looks like it was put together under quite the budget................ rrrrrrrrrrr......(car ties screeching...awesome huh?)

******SIDE NOTE******

You know when you walk into a hotel, house, or apartment complex and it looks like the budget just simply fell out from under the interior of the building crew?? Caulking jutting out from a crevice here, a slanted doorway way there, molding/trim coming off, or painting just unfinished in a BRAND NEW PLACE..... it's just ridiculous crap that you would think would get fixed in the final inspection (assuming there was one). I just don't really get these places that have that. I understand a budget crisis for a place, but COME ON. If this is a cocky/stuck up thing to be talking about, please inform me because I think it's just ridiculous. I guess I should just be thankful to have a roof over my head, right? This hotel is just a bit of a cheap place for what they charge. I have been to some shitty hotels, and if you're gonna keep your hotel shitty because you know its shitty, good for you and lower the price. If you're gonna have a shitty hotel built and pretend like nothings wrong with the interior and charge a ridiculous amount, then shame my friend.

******SINDE NOTE DONE******

Last week I was in Billings, MT, Seattle, WA, Spokane, WA, Boise, ID, and Portland, OR. I love the PNW tour. I mainly like it because I am close to home and don't have to change time zones. I had an easy (No, not that easy you filthy minded lil....) speaker last week who had a great personality and was fun to be with. Makes work alot easier to wake up to.We stayed in nice hotels, had flights everywhere, and had no troubles along the way. A good week. I got to experience in-depth two cities that I have really come to like. No, I'm not a meth-head, sorry Spokane you're not one of them. I'm talking about Boise, ID (I know, I think i called it a shithole in the past but things change) and Portland, OR. Boise surprisingly has a nice downtown with some nice restaurants and what seems like a decent nightlife. I had a solid burrito at Pollo Loco, walked around some art stores, checked out some small shops and decided I wouldn't mind stopping through there if I were on a road trip. Would I live there?? Nope. A visit would be just fine. Portland..... Oh Jesus. Portland is awesome. What a great city. I spent the weekend there with a bunch of gusy for a bachelor party and we had a blast. Portland has awesome nightlife, great restaurants, cool shops, unique restaurants/convenient stores and is probably the funkiest town I have ever been to. There is always something to do and if I were told to live in Portland, I would be down. It's a great city.

Well tonight I head to Albany. I plan to get some good food, possibly workout, and crash. I travel to Boston after that and have a LONG flight home. Sorry no picture are available for posting, but I couldn't really take any of the bachelor party, and spaced the blog last week...sooo.. NEXT TIME!!! deuces from Cleveland, Oh snoochies...

Kauai to Milwaukee....

Two hours of sleep, a cold shower, cheap soap and shampoo/conditioner, a tiny towel that barely dries my body, wrong seminar set-up, burnt coffee, stale bagels (when available), and elusive hotel staff. I am back to work after a well-rested break. After a long break like that, going back to the routine of getting used to the time change can be a bitch. Two hours of sleep just simply has to happen in order put the mind in a state where it can control its internal clock to the time zone a person is in. It's like breaking a person down and building them back up, sort of like what the armed forces do to their recruits. Only I'm not a recruit and won't be anywhere near the Middle East anytime soon. I put on seminars for teachers.

Okay, I say it a lot, but I will work on updating this blog more and will be specific about the areas I'm in. I am also working on spelling, grammar and punctuation. There's something about being asked, "Do you know the difference between 'your' and 'you're'?" that disturbs me. The last week I was out in December, I was all over the NE and loved it. I have really come to find the Northeast to be an amazing place. The setting reminds of Northwest, but the people are different, and in many ways. There is also so much more history, and interesting things to discover. I mentioned in my previous post that I was about to stay in Portland, ME for the weekend and was looking forward to it. In my travels all over the nation I come across cities that I wouldn't expect to like, but soon find myself saying,"Hmmmm, I could see myself living here." Portland, ME is one of those cities. Great nightlife, restaurants, stores, atmosphere, setting, and location. The weather has a Pacific NW feel but is a little colder and they more snow. I also found it extremely easy to just have a beer and talk to someone. The people were outgoing, friendly and talkative. Over the weekend,m y co-worker and friend Hillary and I traveled all around the city and even north a bit to Freeport, ME which is home of the L.L. Bean flagship store. Needless to say, it's awesome. Freeport is kind of a touristy place with great places to shop, and a funky little colonial town to just walk around. Overall, this weekend was fun. I could go on and on about how much I loved Portland, ME but I will stop there. With luck, I will make a return visit soon enough.

Over my break I made a quick trip to Kauai with the family, and it was the most relaxing time I have had in a while. Even over the 09' summer, I had to worry about "The Duck" and other miscellaneous things and never really fully relaxed with the feeling of,"I have jack-shit to do for a couple days." The trip was awesome, and Kauai is, in my mind, what paradise should feel like. Unfortunately, I had to cut my trip short to come back to the BER grind, and for the next couple months its gonna be a GRIND. Five to six weeks straight out on the road and some tough decision to make coming up for me, but instead of bitching (as little as possible) I'll just get it done.

I got up yesterday around 530 and hopped on an AirTran flight directly to Milwaukee, Wi. No perks on AirTran and I had a middle seat. I don't like middle seat (who does??) but I slept for 2 1/2 hours and the flight went well. (Side Note: Done bitching about flying perks. I don't need to be a stuck up asshole) I like Milwaukee, its a nice city. It has a bit of a depressed economy, but the people are nice and there are some nice areas. I won't be able to enjoy the city to much today because I don't have a car but whatev. I travel to Minneapolis tonight where it is -7 degrees currently, and hope that my Patagonia jacket and snowboarding tights keep me warm. Above are some pictures from Portland, ME and other various cities. Deuces from Milli-walk-ay peeps...