Tuesday 18 May 2010

Catch-up Blog #2: Livin' the Dream in the QC...

Family,

And a good evening to you from the Queen City in night 3 of my exile. Okay, as part of the continued efforts to fill in the gaps left by last week’s lack of blogging, I present to you catch-up blog #2, covering Monday through Thursday in CLT – presented by Bank of America.

Monday: Where the @#$# is the Ash Cloud now?

So I woke up on Monday just a scant 6 hours after going to bed. It was a cool start to the morning, as there was a private car waiting at the flat to pick me up (apparently, it’s now included in the cost of the flight – I just thought it was REALLY sweet).

80 minutes later, I rock up to the counter at Gatwick to be told, “I’m sorry Mr. Taylor – due to the Ash Cloud, the flight has just been delayed by 3 hours. Whilst not the greatest news ever, I thought, “no worries, I can go to the lounge and get some work done whilst getting some free brekkie.” That opinion changed, however, when I showed up to find that, due to a change in management in the lounge, THERE ARE NO LONGER US PLUGS ANYWHERE. Given that my battery has the longevity of a neutrino in the Hadron Collider, I didn’t get much done during that nice 5 hour stint.

To add to the jokes, I asked for (and received) my eggs benedict. When I asked for another, the conversation went like this:

Happy Sammy: “Can I please have another eggs benedict?”

(Clearly New to the English Language) Server: “I sorry – it gone.”

Confused Sammy: “What do you mean it’s gone.”

Server: “Is out.”

Agitated Sammy: “Define out.”

Server: “Is no more of the egg.”

Grumpy Sammy: “So you have a made to order breakfast buffet and you have run out of eggs at 8:07 AM.”

Server: (just nods)

Sammy: (just shakes head)

Things were compounded when we got to the gate and found we were delayed a FURTHER 2 hours and COULDN’T LEAVE THE GATE. However, we eventually got on and departed (5.5 hours late), and we had to fly over GREENLAND to get home. Regardless, 9 hours and 15 minutes later, I was on the ground in the Queen City.

Monday dinner was Fat Tire and Wild wings with Brother Bill and Big Cat – it was just SO AWESOME to have two items I’ve been craving for MONTHS – good times.

Tuesday: Meet Tom Price – the Hairless Wonder

So Tuesday was a PieTown lunch (hellooooooooooooooo Bacon & Egg pizza) and a VERY productive day at work. At the end of the day, I met Tom for a ride in my dream car (that would be the Nisson Xterra in case anyone’s scoring at home) and went to Hawthorne’s (also known as all that is right and good with the Queen City).

There we had another LoanSolutions reunion, complete with everyone but muffin puffin. GC, Melissa, Mandy, Tom (YES - THE TOM - he's the skinny dude in the back), Stacey, Tripp, and 4 rug rats of varying screams, tears, and messes. Upon further reflection, it’s too bad JT didn’t accompany me to CLT, as that dinner alone could have bought me 5 free years of birth control.

Seriously – we had an absolute BLAST. I tried Blue Point ale, which was quite tasty. Also, I had the Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza, which was EVEN BETTER than I remember. The boys hung out for a 3rd pint before calling it a night, and I even made it over to Ri-Ra before bed to knock down a few more pints of Fat Tire with Big Cat before calling it a night.

Wednesday: The Merciful absence of Bravehearts

After a big day on Wednesday, the team rolled over to Ri-Ra, where we took down a few Fat Tires (MAN, I forgot how good this stuff was on draft) before rolling over to the featured event of the evening – WILD WINGS, BABY!!!!! Honestly, I think those Red, Hot, and Bleu chicken wings really might be the manna from Heaven mentioned in the Bible – those things are pretty much the greatest food on earth – I could go for 600 more right now.

We hung out there for quite a while, but mercifully it wasn’t too late of a night. I say mercifully because, due to Hitman flying home and Grimshaw gallivanting in Monaco for the Grand Prix, Sammy had an EARLY start to Thursday.

Thursday: A long day…and MORE hot wings

So this day started at 6:30 AM with a conference call (one that did NOT go the way I wanted it to, for the record). The day was SUPER busy, and I didn’t actually get out of the office until about 8:05 that evening. However, I did get some lunch with Tom (sorry Mandy – I made him do it!), and MAN was it good. I had feared that I was not going to get sushi on this trip, but Price (who has historically HATED sushi) proved to be an unlikely hero. Can someone say Fusebox?

It was a GREAT meal and a fantabulous walk home. After all, when the sun is shining and the temperature is above 80, who on earth can complain. Can I just say again how TERRIFIC it was to feel hot and actually sweat?

The evening was great as well, as I got to hang out with GC and Channing over at a) Live After 5 and then at b) wait for it…wait for it…WILD WINGS AGAIN, BABY!!!!! And yes, my desert (after 25 wings) was another batch of 8 Red, Hot, and Bleu wings. CHUUUUUUUUUBBYYYYYYYY BUUUNNNNNYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, that’s all the news that’s fit to print from the work week. I’ll be back tomorrow with the recap of Friday and the weekend with the fam!

Love,

Sam and Jenny

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