On the road again: Austin, day 3

I realized late last night that the one thing I was doing wrong this trip was sleeping too much, so I fixed that flaw. Seven a.m. came mighty early. I am just not a morning person.

Thanks to Elizabeth's willingness to brave the morning traffic (and sacrifice some sleep), we were able to bring two dozen Round Rock donuts to an early meeting for a client and her team. These donuts are supposed to be very good, but as fate would have it, I ended up not getting one. It's all for the best, but I certainly would have enjoyed eating it.

The rest of the day was a blur of meetings and frantic email sessions as I struggled to keep up.

In one of those moves that I don't really understand, this hotel--a Marriott--has put a brochure in my room from which I can order Marriott stuff: towels, sheets, robes, a lamp, even an entire bed--all just like what I have in my room!

Who buys this stuff?

What's the thinking process? Wow, I sure wish my bedroom could look like this Marriott room. Maybe if I furnish it and my bathroom with cool Marriott stuff, I can get closer to my dream of living the Marriott lifestyle.

Not for me, not for me.

Dinner tonight was the tasting menu at Hudson's On the Bend, a very tasty combination of small plates heavy on local meats and vegetables. I quite enjoyed it, particularly the foie, which they served seared on top of a Poteet strawberry pound cake with a Cabernet reduction and just the right amount of red onion marmalade. (Yes, I was skeptical of the marmalade, too, but it worked.)

And now, as happens on these trips, I must work until late into the night, so to that work I go.