random travel thoughts

so i'm in DC today after a short trip from fort lauderdale. missed the beach entirely, which is a real shame but c'est la vie. the one thing i did learn at the convention in fort lauderdale is the difference b/w the crappy enterprise-oriented tradeshows i had been going to and consumer-style tradeshows. i was quickly taught how to barter with software for lots of other goods, everything from dvds to games and music. big win! i'd show up with an armful of norton internet security and i would receive the happy greeting of "you looking to trade?" why yes my friend, i am. it turned out so well that the resulting booty from my bartering forced me to have a small box shipped back with all the goodies. woohoo!!! i'm liking this new job already :-)

what the hell has happened to people's mobile manners? had a cabbie in fort lauderdale that was *texting* while driving me to the hotel. today in d.c., had a female bartender that couldn't be bothered to take my order since she was chatting away on her side kick for 5 mins while i prompted with ever louder "excuse me's". wtf???!!!

if you ever get to D.C., don't miss Georgia Brown's or Zaytinya. very different restaurants but both out of this world food.

one my pet peeves of travel is the airport change-up. that is, when you finish with a formal meeting and only have the trip home on front of you and you want to swap out the suit you're in for the jeans, t-shirt and sneakers you packed for a relaxing trip home. this means an extended stay in a bathroom stall, almost all of which have very convenient and hygenic auto-flush features. the problem is if i'm changing, i'm setting off the auto-flush about 13 times before i can get out of the bathroom. the scenario goes something like this...

dave: open suitcase, shuffling off dress pants and shirt while reaching for jeans and t-shirt
flush #1
dave: oh here we go... (packing dress clothes, reaching for sneakers)
flush #2
dave: sigh. putting on jeans and tshirt.
flush #3
dave: i can nearly visualize the temperature in the arctic rising and some poor penguin passing out from heat exhaustion. clothes on, putting on sneakers, tying shoes...
flush #4
dave: i can hear the ice in greenland cracking at the pressure i'm putting on the
fresh water supply. whales have changed their migratory patterns and PETA
representatives are protesting outside our home for the impact i've had on baby
seal habitats

... I'll spare you the rest of the details, but by the time I'm done the
robot-toilet has flushed no less than 12 times and i've visualized myself
kick-boxing with al gore while eco-armageddon takes place around us. makes me
want to go and recycle something, or get a massage.