Big City Blues

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My plane to Baltimore was scheduled to leave at 6 AM so I set the alarm for 4 and went to bed by 9:30. I was awake by 2:30 and was too worried about missing the alarm to go back to sleep. So off I went. I took a shuttle to the terminal, struggled to get my shoes off to get through security, waited 45 minutes to board, and was already exhausted by the time the plane left Buffalo. I arrived in Baltimore, but was scheduled to be onsite in Arlington, Virginia so I took a shuttle from the terminal to the Amtrak station. I took the Amtrak to the Subway and caught two trains to Arlington. I arrived at 8 AM - ready for a little nap.

We visited the site, took an elevator up on the side of the building, stayed for better than 3/4 of the day, took three subway rides to Fairfax where I got a cab to the hotel. All the while traffic buzzed all around with thousands and thousands of people hustling for space.

The next day it was more subway rides, another Amtrak trip, a traffic jam in front of the White House - I rode with a guy who voted for McCain - "Too bad the Obama's are going to paint it purple," he said.

I waved to W. and got back on the subway, then the Amtrak, then the shuttle bus, then the freaking airplane.

On the ground in Buffalo, I skipped all of the free rides and walked to my car. Traffic was light as I made the 18 mile drive home in about 15 minutes.

"I don't know how you people live here," the stewardess said as I waited to get off the plane. "It's cold out there."

I'll take the cold. I'll take the slow life - if I see another subway card I might vomit. I don't know how anyone keeps their sanity hustling around every single day to just get to where you're supposed to work.

Let's Go Buffalo! Bills win big this week - 31-14.

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