Thanksgiving up North

The short week passed quickly and before we knew it we were headed to Sky harbor to join the masses for turkey day travels.  Little did we know, our hour and forty five minute flight would come complete with back massaging chairs.  At times the occasional pterodactyl calls from our masseuses hampered our zen like state, however a little distracting scrabble game helped to keep the air age at bay.  Once we landed in the frigid north we drove about 50 minutes to arrive at our final destination

 The next morning we woke without an alarm and prepared to explore a bit before my parents started their day.  Having bundled up as best as our east coast living had taught us we started off down the ice hardened road observing snow, ice and, a smidge of flowing water.  Upon returning home we stopped to introduce ourselves to Homer, my newest furry sibling, and my parents first equine. Homer's shoulders come just above mine and his head is approximately the size of about 3/4 of a wooden railroad tie. Apparently his head size has been deemed impressive for a donkey.  He was kind enough to let us pet him before we started our morning walk, but gave us a bit of heehaww of discontent that we had not brought his breakfast with us. 

 Later in the afternoon my dad took Jonathan on a donkey walk. Honestly, how often does one get to say that?  Just the boys and a lot of cold nature. Meanwhile my mom and I chatted and did a little Turkey prep.  Upon their return we spent the remainder of the day snacking, reading, watching some good ole football and eventually noshing on turkey and all the fixins.

Having again arisen earlier than my parents on Friday Jonathan and I went on another morning stroll. Friday was a bit chillier than Thursday but we made due.  Just as before, we stopped to say hello to Homer but this time headed up the hill instead of down the road. As we traversed the woods we came across a tiny cabin, nearly destroyed by two fallen trees.  In all the places the trees of this older section of the woods could fall they had to land on this teeny tiny 5x8 cabin? Go figure.  After verifying the building was tenant free, human or otherwise, we approached to investigate. Granted this was not my ideal getaway, I feel Jonathan defined it well as someone's ideal escape.  The cabin was one utilitarian room with an attached loft area for sleeping.  The windows looked handcrafted, and I could not help but appreciate the effort and love that went into this little hide away. Not having known who had hunkered down in this tiny space, I felt genuinely disappointed in their loss thanks to the massive tree trunks now resting through its wood shingled roof.  Just beyond the time when my fingers went completely numb we started our trek back to the house.

 

 

 

The remainder is the day was spent catching up on photos, playing dominoes, then much later, watching a slightly drawn out, action packed, poignantly hokey movie about alien ocean monsters battling colossal world peace focused, person piloted robots.

Saturday we assisted with some property clean up, on the hill property next to my parent's house and we both tried out my dad's black powder gun. Jonathan and I expected quite a bit of kick from a gun that is manually loaded, powder, ball and fuse cap, but the most challenging part of the shot was holding the heavy thing up without starting to shake from shoulder and arm muscles protesting the weight. At some point, around 3:30 while we were meandering outside we started noticing the suns rapid descent. We'd been informed about how early the loss of sunlight would be, but by 4pm I was surprised by my envy of the still sun bathed area beyond the hills enclosing my parents house.        
                                                                          

That evening we played some intense rounds of dominoes and were continually entertained by the companionship of Larry, our 16 year old, give or take a year or two, box turtle accepting the apparent, unbeknownst to me, courtship of my sneakers. Turns out Larry is a bit of a whore when it comes to shoes, giving each nearby foot a quick or in some cases, lingering visit.

 We departed the chilly North on a rainy Sunday to return to low 70s and sun in PHX.  We really enjoyed our trip and the serenity of our surrounds, but there is definitely something to be said about the warmth of the sun on exposed skin.

Welcome to NovemBeer

"Winter" days in the mid to high 70s/low 80s?  Yes please.  A few Saturdays back we hopped on the cruisers and made our way to midtown to check out the Mexican Cultural event taking place at the Herd Museum. This was the second time I'd attended, and a first for Jonathan. We perused various artist booths, bought two small pieces of art and enjoyed the live performance of a fantastic mariachi band. The music and singing of this mariachi band apparently calls to my soul, and quickly lulled me to a happy, strangely at home daze. However, after a few songs the grumbling of my stomach interrupted my zen moment providing the impetus to head off to our second event of the day.

 Back on our cruisers we continued South down Central Ave towards downtown Phoenix.  We were now headed to The Vig Downtown for lunch as well as an event named NovemBeer.  Can you guess the theme?  The Phoenix New Times was presenting 4 weekends dedicated to craft beer enjoyment, and the weekend we opted to attend was focused on stouts and porters.  After we ate lunch we sat outside for a moment and discussed our tasting approach, mine being undoubtedly brief since these heavier beers really are not my preference.

While I enjoyed some dark and stormys Jonathan kept up his end of the beer event and we enjoyed some high quality people watching.  As the afternoon and drinking continued people's apparent disbelief in the properties of sun screen became evident.  My favorite lobster was the guy sporting a stylistically saggy gray beanie on an 80 degree sunny day.  That was going to be a tan line he'd regret.  Also entertaining was the noticeably drunk beer server at one of the stations close to where we were sitting.  One pour for you, one chug for me.  Yeah, that sounds about right.

Feeling a little less excited for the entire ride home we lugged our over sized bikes onto the light-rail for a little more than half of our total trip, then hopped back on our bikes to finish the journey.

As much as I enjoyed our outdoor adventures on Saturday, Sunday was football day. A few boisterous heckles into the first game I noticed Sydney appeared slightly concerned with my fan aggression and felt the need to intervene.

Her discontent with my continued heckling was visible and she eventually managed to bring Jackson by as an additional plea for increased coach/heckling discretion. While the effort may have been genuine, my need to let players know that they ought to "run" and "catch the ball" is far too important to be left unsaid.
                                                                      


                                                                                       

As a fun finish to great weekend I made cookies Sunday evening and got to test out my new cookie cutter.  I truly wasn't too concerned with the detailed frosting, but was happy with how silly they turned out.  They were arrrrrrrguably the best lookin cookies I've made in a while!  And not to mention, they're mighty tasty.
                         

PS. We are hoping our smiley mugs made it to the NovemBeer site, but so far they only have pictures from last year...

  

Legotastic Halloween!

Despite the month of October's best attempts at passing me by, I was ready with this year's handcrafted Halloween costume the weekend before the big day. For a while I was having a creative costume block, no pun intended, but after a little inspiration from the interwebs I decided it was time to give another go at creating a Lego person costume.  This would be my second attempt at being a Lego and I was confident I could pull off the construction this time around.



Always helpful Sydney

 First came the body. Luck would have it we had recently purchased a new couch, which gave me ideal access to ample cardboard including a box large enough to fit over my body. I first cut away and bent in enough cardboard to create the Lego top slope, or Lego shoulders.  Then I created a top piece that would help stabilize the shape of the body, cover my shoulders and give the costume enough structure to rest on my shoulders rather than my arms.  Next, I cut out arm holes, and a hole just large enough to get my head through. Finally I covered nearly every inch of cardboard in yellow poster board and contemplated the start of the head piece.

 
Still a little timid about creating the head from scratch I started a quest for existing containers. One suggestion that looked not only easy but cheap was the container that holds a 2 year supply of cheesy poofs. You know the one, ubiquitous at big box stores, office break rooms and football parties. However ,my hopes for an easy, cheezy way out of crafting we're soon dashed after not one, nor two, but four different stores said they no longer carried the product.  No worries, Costco to the rescue in the form of way too many sourdough pretzels. The container shape was ideal!

Having returned home, it was time to test my newly purchased option. Seconds before I opened the container it hit me, just maybe, before it deal with this many pretzels I measure my head to see of the container will fit. Confidently I bagged the contents of the container, then rinsed it out and  shortly thereafter experienced my next "duh" moment. So, the container might fit around my head, but how the hell was I going to get it over my head.  After some hazardous, jagged plastic cutting I was able to pry apart the container and wrap it around my head only to quickly realize I'd neglected to include my nose in my measurement. I had to laugh at the silliness of it all as my nose squished against the walls of the container.

Later that day I made my way to the craft store and found exactly what we (Jonathan would be joining me with his own Lego costume) would need to create the classic cylindrical shape. 4 rounded, 12 inch in diameter wreath rings and a few foam disks later it was time to build.  I used bamboo kabob skewers and glue to secure the rings together in a tall enough cylinder that the top of my head wouldn't hit the top of the Lego head. I glued a piece of cardboard to the top circle, enabling me to glue on the top foam disks to create the iconic Lego connector.
 

Lots of tape, glue and and spray paint later the costume really came together. I created a little bikini top complete with a little tie in back and would later construct my skirt from hand cut palm frowns from our very own palm trees (Jonathan's creative idea). To finish up the head I smoothed over some rough edges with a little paper mâché action, which made me smile in appreciation of the various childhood projects involving plenty of paper strips and water/flour glue.

 The final element of our costumes were the Lego hands/arms. Jonathan chopped some extra large PVC pipe and I painted some flexible dryer tubing.  I wrapped the sharp C-hands in yellow duct tape then secured them to the tube arms with zip ties.

Our costumes were big hits at our Halloween block party, loved by kids and adults alike!  At one point Jonathan and I entertained the crowd by Lego-couple dancing to the music provided by the live band. Fun, fun,fun!

 


                                





Proof I wore it at work

On Thursday morning, Halloween, I had to drive Jonathan's car to work just to fit my Lego body in the trunk.  Just before I opened the door to exit the parking garage I had a moment of nervousness, but remembered, it's Halloween, and I was going to wear my Lego costume with pride!  I got a few "Awesome" shout outs and a friendly, impressed elevator companion. Seeing that I could not sit in my costume I stood behind my desk, typing on a raised keyboard stand and answering calls via headset inside my Lego head.  After the office costume contest I had to call it quits and set the costume aside until it was time to hand out candy.

Was this years costume a little more work, sure? Do I now have a scar on my arm from a hot glue gun incident, yup. Was it worth it, without a doubt!!  Less than a year till next Halloween!!

Action packed!

When I said we would be up to more adventures soon, I wasn’t kidding. When I got home from my last work trip in Kansas City, Jonathan had all sorts of escapades planned, including an Arizona Cardinals game (NFL), a horseback ride in Cave Creek, and a bluegrass concert. 

Jonathan picked me up early from work on Thursday and along with the masses we drove out to the University of Phoenix stadium in Glendale. The Cardinals played the Seahawks, and despite my current state of residence, the NFL fan in me was more interested to see the Hawks than the Cards. We were quite excited for our first live NFL game yet departed the stadium a little underwhelmed by the whole experience. Sure the crowd was entertaining, the stadium was energetic and the game was interesting, but it quickly became evident how impressive the NFL production machine is. On TV, the field appears larger, and so do the players, plus the crowd noise is carefully refined to create an excited, intense energy that in reality is more of a constant rabble in the stadium.

 

Thank you kindly kissy face
photo bomber...

Despite my enthusiasm for being at a live game, I quickly learned how difficult it can be to actually see the game. Even though we had good seats, it wasn’t uncommon for the constant flow of stair walking attendees to block or hinder our view. I don’t mind standing to see good plays, but honestly, find your seat and sit the f_ _ _ _ down! Annoyed as I may have been on occasion, the stairs provided a unique vantage point to observe the diversity of people attending the event. Talk about variety. Young, old, club partiers, preppy obnoxious drunks, infants, and straight up metal studded stripper shoes on a woman guiding her 3 or 4 year old down the steep stadium stairs. Yes I am aware that I defined an attendee by her shoes, but trust me, these bad boys deserved top billing.

Saturday morning we made our way north to Cave Creek for our horseback ride at the Spur Cross ranch. Our guide was named, or at least referred to himself, as "Boot", which turned out to be a name given to him by his bootlegger grandfather. My trusty stead’s name was Sage Brush, which turned out to be a fitting name given his slow response and lackadaisical pace, while Jonathan’s ride boasted a slightly more adventurous name of Wyatt. We crossed from private land to state land to federal land and back, all the while viewing a variety of desert landscapes, cactus and petroglyphs. It was suggested we might see a rattle snake or two, javelinas, deer, tarantulas and even a desert tortuous. Turns out we saw the not so elusive hiker, a pack bearing poodle and the occasional, larger-than-your-pinky wasp. We both could have gone for a slightly quicker pace, but overall really enjoyed our ride and the odd yet entertaining nature of our guide.

Despite Sage brush's slow nature I must admit he was a cleaver equine.  While we checked out the petroglyphs and stretched our legs I observed my horse untie two out of the three knots that were securing him to the tree.  When he saw me approach he stopped as if to pretend he wasn't up to anything, but the longer I lingered the less concerned he became, eventually returning to his knot untying business. (slide show to be posted soon)
Before returning to the valley we stopped at Bryan’s BBQ for, you guessed it, some very tasty smoked meat. We both agreed that our neighbor’s competition winning BBQ is a tad bit better, yet somehow managed to finish most of our meals and walk to the car with our appetite for BBQ fully satiated.

 Back home, we hung out and napped away the afternoon before heading out to the Scottsdale art center for a  Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby concert.  We’ve seen, albeit it very briefly, Bruce Hornsby before, during our Telluride trip, but this would be the first time we saw Ricky Skaggs and his accompaniment live.  Together they performed a variety of traditional blue grass as well as “new-grass” songs and experienced a little drama when the upright bass player managed to break his strings in not one, but two separate songs.  Jonathan was a bit disappointed in the sound quality and excessive volume, and again, a pleasant and entertaining evening.

After so much excitement it was nice to hang out at home on Sunday and work on our costumes while we watched a handful of football games. I wasn’t too happy about my Ravens loss to the wretched Steelers, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Colts hand Payton Manning a big fat loss on his first return to his previous home stadium! 

 

Back on the wagon

Quite some time has passed and yet we haven't been up to too much. This summer was our 4th in the valley and yes, just like the three previous it was occasionally more than toasty.  On the bright side, we are proud to say that our solar panels did a fantastic job of keeping our power bills low and occasionally nonexistent.

In early August I returned to DC for a whirlwind weekend trip to attend one of my best Rutgers buddy's wedding.  Jonathan was not able to attend because of work, but enjoyed his own adventures in Arizona, to be explored in just a little bit.  Traveling about in the nation's capital brought back fond memories, and truly makes me miss the flair of living in the DC metro area.   But each time I thought, I could certainly move back here, I reminded myself of the winters and laughed at how absurdly expensive it is to live in the area.  A handful of fellow scarlet knights were also in attendance at the wedding, which made for a lovely opportunity to catch up and enjoy the company of great friends.

 While in DC I received a text from Jonathan including a great picture of a very happy Jackson during their apparent hike.  Little did I know that shortly after the picture was taken Jonathan would be trucking down a hiking trail with Jackson tucked under his arm like a football in an attempt to outrun lightning. I eventually learned that during his ascent he happened to notice a storm in the distance. So despite encouragement from lady hikers to turn back he followed the encouragement of guy hikers, go figure, and eventually made it to the top.  Coincidentally the storm too was enjoying new sights as it continued to make its way closer to Jonathan's location.

Picture taken and views admired Jonathan decided it was time to head down the mountain. I cannot say for sure when during the trek that it happened but Jonathan noticed the dark clouds were nearing and out of the corner of his eye he saw lightning strike nearby. This was about the time he felt the hair on his arms stand up.  Maybe now would be an appropriate time to get he hell off the mountain. 

 
Jonathan was chuckling and Jackson's tale was wagging while the story was being shared and all I could do was stare wide-eyed and slightly dumbfounded at him.  Yes, I'm grateful that he and Jackson made it safe and sound, but for the love of rice, kindly be a bit more careful when adventuring in a state that tops the list of death by lightning strike each year.

In the realm of cooking, we've tried a few new recipes with great success.  Jonathan made some fantastic spent grain soft pretzels, tasty spent grain cheddar crackers and I made some devilishly fantastic spent grain blondies.  We are running low on spent grain so selfishly I'm hoping Jonathan brews soon to replenish our grain stock.  In addition to baking we have ventured into the world of sashimi or potentially more appropriate, ceviche style dishes with a recipe found on NPR for Ahi Poke. The recipe, or rather my variation of said recipe, can be found below.  My only modification was the use of paper-thin-minced shallot vs the green onion that is listed in the recipe.  Just this last week, I accompanied the Ahi Poke with a tasty kale salad that included Dino kale, pomegranates, chopped almonds, and avocado. For the cooking finale of this post, Tuesday night Jonathan made some fabulous, three meat meatballs. I'm not a meatball fan, but the meatballs he makes are hands down the best I've ever had.

Now that the weather has cooled a bit we will surely be up to more adventures, likely including a few weekend trips, lightning free hikes, and outdoor projects. Hint, said projects will undoubtedly include some more glorious rock moving, woowhoo!

Tuna Poke: http://www.npr.org/2013/07/24/204925394/on-hot-summer-days-cook-your-fish-without-fire

Blondies: http://brooklynbrewshop.com/themash/recipe-spent-grain-blondies/

Fleeting romanticism

This past Thursday morning contained a variety of what I hope to be rare situations. As I walked out the door for my run I noticed a pittance of sprinkles and was quick to dismiss their nuisance. However, with about 2 1/2 miles until my run's completion I realized how quickly the novelty of running in the rain in the desert wares off. Warm rain in 85+ weather is far from romantic. I tried to focus on my stride, but was quite distracted by the amalgamation of rain and sweat imposing on my refreshing spearmint gum. My steadily accumulating annoyance compounded as the rain mixed with sweat, finding a convenient residence in my ever burning eyes.

Once home I dried off a bit and got in a little stretching before taking Jackson for his walk. By this time, the dark rain clouds appeared far enough in the distance that our walk would remain dry and uneventful. Silly me. Just prior to our halfway point moisture started to descend.  Sprinkles became, rain, became barbed tick-tacs, simultaneously pelting and soaking Jackson and myself as we walked back home. Trying to remain optimistic I smiled knowing that thanks to the rain, I'd be far less stinky by the time I arrived home, however, Jackson, the very dog who will damn near water-boards himself when playing with the water from the hose, appeared to be melting like a sugar cube with the ever increasing rainfall. As we turned the corner of our street the rain had decreased to sprinkles, and eventually ceased completely by the time we arrived at our doorstep.  With a little toweling off Jackson was back to his peppy self, and it was time for me to start my daily routine, or so I thought.

Throw in managing to set off our neighbor's house alarm while checking their mail and having to run home to get my phone, then back up the street barefoot to speak with the cop who had already shown up, and you've got one stellar start to the day.

Spent grain goodies

Jonathan's recent interest in home brewing not only produces a plethora of homemade beer, but also something called spent grain.  Spent grain is the byproduct of the grain used during the brewing process and boy oh boy is there a lot of it. Not being once to waste a resource Jonathan discovered some awesome looking spent grain recipes, two of which I've tried, and have been pretty happy with. 

"Spent Grain Cheddar Scones" was my first attempt at baking with these unique hearty grains and my second at scones.  My first scone attempt, a few years back, resulted in what we fondly refer to as "scoffins" (not quite scones, but not quite muffins... aka fail). Thankfully I've learned my scone lesson and took a little more care in making these savory beauties.  As per the recipe's recommendation I added some finely diced jalapenos which contributed just enough heat to complement the savory cheddar.  In addition, per usual, I used an eyeballed, less-than-tablespoon of vinegar added to milk to create a buttermilk substitute to avoid buying an excessive amount of buttermilk. Its rare that I follow a recipe to the T, so I figured I could, and did, get by without "official" buttermilk.  Another recommendation was to add bacon, but I thought the salt factor might be a little overwhelming and decided to go without.  Not only did they look like real scones, but their texture was spot on and they were quite scrumptious.   (Recipe below courtesy of http://brooklynbrewshop.com/themash/recipe-spent-grain-cheddar-scones/)


The second recipe in which I used spent grains was a graham cracker/spent grain crust for a key lime pie.  I've never made a key lime pie before, but was quite satisfied with the outcome.  Admittedly, since key limes are a rare find in Phoenix, per the recipe, I used a substitute of quality lime juice, so I cannot "officially" call what I made "key lime", but so be it, the result was mighty tasty nonetheless.  The grain was processed with the graham crackers and mixed with butter to form the crust.  I enjoyed the underline savory richness that the spent grain contributed to the sweet graham crackers, but I'd recommend pulverizing the spent grain a bit before adding in the graham crackers since on occasion an unprocessed grain could cause quite the texture interruption. Having never made this type of pie before I opted to go big or go home and used an Emeril Lagasse recipe in its full, rich glory.  The pie definitely improved in texture and flavor from one day to the next, but seeing that the pie plate is now vacant, I'd call it an overall success.

Two for two so far... not half bad.

Spent Grain Cheddar Scone Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Spent Grain, dried
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 1/4 cup (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg

What You Do

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, spent grain, baking powder, sugar, and salt. With a pastry blender (or using two knives), cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the cheese to combine.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Add it to your dry ingredients, stirring just until the dough comes together.
4. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and gently flatten into an 8-inch round. Use a knife to cut the circle into eight triangles. Transfer scones onto the sheet pan and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve hot and with butter!

Traveling fool

The last month and a half has cemented my appreciation of purchasing a decent suitcase. My work adventures started in Dallas, then meandered to and from LA, STL and Kansas City, MO.  My trip to Dallas was pretty short, but an overall interesting experience. Nice people, ok food, but a whole lot of sprawl, and let's be honest, it's Texas. While in Dallas I made strides in my fear of skittering bugs (aka the small hotel roach I named Raul whom I smashed upon site, but remained in my bathroom floor post house keeping visit), and also experienced some good ole fashion tornado sirens. Luckily despite the hideously red map to the right, the tornado did not touch ground near my hotel.  Ironically, it just so happens that the last time I was in Texas for work I had to leave a day early thanks to an especially devastating hurricane. Perhaps these reoccurring natural disasters during my visits are an indication that I should stay away from the lone star state.

After being home for memorial day weekend, and enjoying a lovely break from the heat in Flagstaff, I was off to LA for my second in a series of work trips. I usually always enjoy my time in the Golden State and this trip, despite the long work hours, was no different. Part of my time was spent making a solo trip to Malibu (work related), in which I managed to navigate the wicked LA freeways despite my best efforts to tune out the navigation system via excessive radio rocking out. Thank goodness for the reroute!

The STL IT headquarters whale stapler!

It wasn't long after spending time in the City of Angeles that I found myself back in the alphanumeric Southwest boarding line on my way to St. Louis, Missouri.  The office, where I spent most of my hours, is just a few blocks from the Arch, and also has a terrific view of Cardinal's stadium. The only disturbing aspect of my trip had to be my culinary experience. Little did I know, one of the city's claim to fame is something called provel cheese. Yes, it's edible, kind of, but I will not go as far as to call it "food". If you have ever had a "craft single", imagine creating a block of the same rubbery, oil based amalgamation and dying it white, then for kicks, smashing it through some sort of play-dough like processor to create "strings". Said Provel "strings" resemble plump cooked spaghetti noodles but taste like chewing plastic. Not all provel is served in its sting form, in fact sometimes they attempt to melt said "cheese" which, if left to cool for too long results in an eventual rubbery clump drowning in pool of oil. Yummy...
 

Yet another culinary regional favourite is something named "ooey gooey butter cake". Now, I am a sweet tooth through and through, but this was just too much. Imagine a butter saturated graham cracker crust, topped with something akin to sugar cookie dough plus a little extra butter, then sprinkle copious amounts of powdered sugar on the top. I can officially say I tried it, and will never eat it again.



Despite a poor food experience, all was not lost in STL seeing that that I can now add the Arch to my "sights seen" list, and I had the chance to travel to St. Louis' famed science center with a few coworkers. Color me surprised, I was quite impressed with their science center. The space exploration section was my favorite educational wing, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the anamatronic T-Rex and its Dino-prey dinner wasn't my hands down favorite exhibit. Their movements were darn near mesmerising.



Look ma, my foot isn't thaaaat big...
for once.

 
After St Louis I was home for a mere 2 days before returning to my spot in the Southwest line for a return tip to LA. For a delightfully unexpected reason my flight was booked business class and I wound up with an A01 boarding pass. For those non-Southwest flyers this means that I was designated the first person down the jet way to board the plane. Now I usually am not too much of a stickler if I have B12 and B15 steps in front of me; however, when I noticed the guy holding A12 had put himself two feet in front of the designated A01 line position, I wasn't just going to step aside.  Hell no was I going to let my A01 opportunity pass me by!  I had no shame in confidently stepping right in front of him and happily making my way to the plane first. Honestly pal, back off! 
 

Club at LAX, go figgya...

My time in LA was mighty short, not even lasting 2 full days, before I hopped on another flight to Kansas City to help out with the last two tech roll-outs. During my KC stay I managed to stay in 4, yes, 4 separate hotels, each with its unique quirks and benefits. I never expected to be one to enjoy travelling for work since I tend to be quite the home body, but as of late I've very much enjoyed my adventures, especially the time spent getting to know my fellow IT team.  I ended up spending a solid week and a half assisting with two major office roll-outs in Kansas City, and also managed to fit in a little shopping while avoiding the excessive 110+ degree heat of Phoenix.  I finally returned home the evening of July 3rd and will be staying put for some time. Not sure what I'm going to do with myself now that I don't have to pack a suitcase within the very week I've arrived home!