Cameron Crazie for a day

Thanks to the combination of Parents Weekend at Duke and a friend and housemate of Sarah's, we found ourselves this afternoon sitting with Sarah on the narrow benches of Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium and watching a Duke basketball game. 

The game was an exhibition event, one that would not count against either team's record.  The opponent was Western Washington University, a Division II team, so the outcome was never really in doubt. 

None of that mattered a whit to me.  I had a wonderful time!  I've always wanted to see a game in this famous venue, so it was great to finally get to do that.  It was cool to see a kid playing whom I knew, a guy who went to school with Sarah.  Most of all, though, it was just great to get to see a basketball game!  I had forgotten how much I love this sport.  I was tense and completely engaged the whole time, cheering at each good play and wincing at every terrible one. 

With children in two local schools, I do my best to remain steadfastly neutral in college basketball season, but for a few hours today, I was definitely a Cameron Crazie.  (The spelling is not mine; if you don't believe me, check here.)  I can't wait to attend another game there!

On the road again: Austin, day 5

I'm home after a long day of traveling.  I spent a couple of hours of it in planes fighting turbulent weather, so it wasn't the best trip I've had, but I'm here, so I can't complain.

Austin's airport has to be one of the best anywhere, because it has both an Amy's Ice Creams shop and a Salt Lick BBQ, both of which are terrible for my health but amazing for my mood. Thanks to the Salt Lick, I was able to enjoy this sausage and brisket combo for lunch.

As always, click on the image for a larger version.

I couldn't finish it, but all that I ate was delicious. 

After the meat, we had more time before our delayed flight, so we enjoyed the smallest scoop of ice cream that Amy's would sell us; mine was cinnamon. 

I felt guilty about tormenting family and blog readers with my Amy's desserts, so I might also have brought home six pints of Amy's. 

Hmm.  Yeah, I think I did.

In the process, I learned that when you carry a box of ice cream onto a plane that's sitting on the tarmac for a while, you suddenly find yourself friends with pretty much everyone who saw you put it overhead.  Friends, that is, as long as the plane doesn't sit there too long.  Fortunately, today's didn't, but had we been out there another half hour, things might have turned ugly.

Fortunately, the ice cream survived and is now safely in our freezer.

And I am safely home...but not in the freezer.  They hardly ever lock me in there anymore.  Hardly ever.

I'm just kidding.  Our freezer is nowhere near big enough to hold me.

On the road again: Austin, day 4

Another day, another round of (great) meetings.  Visiting with clients is a truly good thing, but it does leave me with very little I can blog.

In a break right before a visit to a client near an Amy's, our little group by consensus chose to grab a mid-afternoon ice cream snack.  Damn, it was good.  The Amy's franchise will miss me after this trip.

Dinner was at a new (to me) place, the Salty Sow.  I will definitely go back.  Everything we sampled was delicious. 

Sunday night, I watched the fine film, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.  I quite liked it.  Over the beginning of the end credits, the following song played.  I fell hard for the song.  I hope you enjoy it, too.



I definitely must get their album.

On the road again: Austin, day 3

Another day, another slate of meetings I can't discuss, another run of hours of work after the meetings.  Such is the glamor of my business travel.

Dinner was with a friend and client at the wonderful sushi place, Uchi.  We all had the omakase, or chef's menu, and every course was delicious.  Afterward, we retired to the nearest Amy's for our traditional ice-cream dessert.  Three nights in town, and three ice cream selections from Amy's; not healthy, but very tasty.

Today's hotel-room rant concerns the phone. Why do hotel staffs always wrap the cord around the phone?  When you lift the receiver, half the time you also lift the phone.  What's wrong with just letting the cord dangle?  I hate this particular affectation. 

Now, it's time to hit the bed, grab a few hours of sleep, and do it all over again!

On the road again: Austin, day 2

Almost all of today went to business meetings, and what didn't went mostly to work, so I can't say much about it. 

Dinner was, due to a last-minute change in plans, at a Thai place I won't visit again, one where the food was neither bad nor good, just blah.  A quick stop by Amy's for ice-cream dessert, however, saved the entire evening meal. 

Like so many hotel rooms, mine has a closet opposite the bathroom.  The door to the closet is mirrored, so if you're alone and don't close the bathroom door before a sit, you find yourself staring at your image in the mirror while you engage in that decidedly unglamorous activity.  I've always wondered what kind of sadistic jerk is responsible for this troubling bit of room design; if I ever meet the man, I'm giving him a quick kick to the crotch. 

Tomorrow, lots more meetings!

On the road again: Austin, day 1

I'm spending the week in Austin for business meetings, so today was a travel day.  I was fortunate enough to have exit-row seats on both legs and bandwidth on the first, so I was able to work a great deal of the time, but I didn't get any upgrades. 

A trip to Austin usually involves a layover in DFW, and it did today. Fortunately, DFW has Red Mango and an Admiral's Club, both of which I enjoyed. 

The drive from AUS to our hotel normally takes half an hour on the toll road; today, we spent 3X that much time on the road thanks to an accident that, in the brief time I saw it, looked to be a doozy.  I hope no one was badly hurt. 

Thought most of the day went to work, the highlight of this first Austin night was, as per my tradition, dinner at the County Line by the Lake and dessert at the nearby Amy's at the Arboretum.  As you can see, the barbecue plate--beef ribs, sausage, and brisket--was huge and delicious. 

For a larger version, click on the image.

No, I couldn't come anywhere close to finishing it.  (Well, I didn't; ice cream was coming.)

The ice cream was equally but differently delicious.  We ate it outside in the pleasantly cooling air, a lovely way to pass part of an autumn night in Austin.

On my mind tonight for no particular reason

is the fabulous old group, The Yardbirds, and this particular tune. 



I have no clue why.