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 4

Wow, has today been crazily busy and even more insanely cold. I expected the first from a trip to Austin, but the second remains an unpleasant aspect I hope not to repeat anytime soon.

About the only activity I can discuss today was the excellent dinner at Uchiko, the new restaurant from the folks behind the equally fine Uchi. Four of us ordered omakase, which is basically a tasting menu the chef creates. I enjoyed every single dish and will definitely go back there, though the experience was not for the budgetarily weak of heart.

Tomorrow, the possible snow and the already present ice permitting, I head home.

On the road again: Austin, day 4

The weather turned nasty here today, drizzling alternating with light rain, dotted with moments of chilly pre-storm wind and gray skies. Not a nice day, but visually arresting, with big skies plated in soft gray threatening to settle onto the ground like a comforter from heaven. Beautiful.

Work again dominated the day, so I can't really comment on most of my time.

My work on pass two of Children No More proceeds. I'm enjoying this pass very much and wish only that I had more time each day to work on it.

Dinner tonight was at a favorite Austin sushi place, Uchi. As I've said before, if you're in Austin and like sushi, you owe it to yourself to visit Uchi. Chef Tyson Cole is inventive and talented, and every meal I've had there has been delicious. If the foie gras sushi is on the menu, order it.

As much as I like Uchi, I've never eaten dessert there. The reason is that about a mile away is an Amy's ice cream shop, and I consider at least one stop at an Amy's to be a mandatory part of every Austin trip. We had a nice time there tonight, with good food, good conversation, and good people watching. I particularly liked the woman who entered with two friends, chatted up the staff, and then started doing routines with her hula hoop (yes, she brought one). She combined bellydancing moves and hands with classic hula hoop motions, and I enjoyed her impromptu show. I love Amy's.

Tomorrow, I must travel in bad weather all day. I'm hoping to make my escape just ahead of it and not be caught in it, but current forecasts make my chances look slim. I can only hope for the best.

On the road again: Austin, day 4

Today's high point was dinner at Uchi and dessert at Amy's, both with clients who are friends. Executive Chef Tyson Cole had taken the foie gras sushi off the menu, but our server recognized me and offered to speak to him on our behalf. A bit later, Cole arrived at our table with eight lovely pieces of foie gras sushi he had just prepared for us.

You might be thinking that foie gras on sushi rice wouldn't work, but you'd be wrong. Wow, was it great!

The oddest sight of today was in the hotel gym. I and one other fellow, an older gentleman, were walking the treadmills. For the entire half hour I was there, he never opened his eyes. He moved his head back and forth slowly, but his eyes stayed shut. I've never seen anyone walk that long with his eyes closed. He opened them only when he finished, then looked at me, smiled, and left.

Maybe he was living in a great fantasy world. Maybe I should try it.

Of course, given my ability to get lost in my thoughts and mess up on treadmills, maybe not.

On the road again: Austin, day 2

Good and interesting meetings today. I'm lucky to have great clients, great prospects, and tons of opportunities for our company to work in intriguing areas.

Dinner was a fine sushi meal at Uchi, followed by some ice cream at Amy's. I ate too much and didn't need that dessert, but boy, it was all yummy.

In a moment of blazing insight today, I realized that the companies that make pills and tooth-cleaning powder and other medicinal products were missing a great opportunity. Most of them use candy flavorings, but there's a minority of the American population whose members can't stand the smell or taste of candy. (Okay, maybe I'm the only one, but go with me on this.) So, those vendors should expand their product lines by making meat-flavored chewables. Why have a sickly sweet cherry Tum when you could chow down on a steak one? Forget mint! Barbecue will be the next great medicine flavoring.

You get the idea. It works for pets, and it could work for us.

They said Tesla was mad, too.

On the road again: Austin, day 3

The hotel is intensifying its hate campaign against me.

The bandwidth has turned from bad to teasingly bad: working for a few seconds, then cutting out entirely, then sending an entire message as if it were an actual broadband connection, and then sneering at my Outbox queue.

Not content to hurt me only while I'm here, the hotel has now contacted the Schlotzsky's, whose reliable bandwidth of yesterday is now a distant dream. Today, it cut out at a crucial moment in an email interchange, failing entirely, the network itself gone. Some may think it's a coincidence, but I know the hotel is behind it.

The housekeeping staff has joined the battle, too. Today, they stole a bathrobe; fortunately, one was in reserve. They didn't clean the room until late in the afternoon, when I needed to be working in it. I now have to check my towels for scorpions; good thing I'm vigilant.

On the water combat front, I'm sad to report that my shower has game. No longer content to behave randomly, it is now directly targeting me, staying warm until I'm fully under it, then cutting immediately to freezing and from there in mere seconds to scalding.

I hate this hotel. It hates me. I will beg for crash space from friends before I will ever stay here again.

Dinner saved the day by being an excellent time with client friends at Uchi, a sushi place I recommend enthusiastically. I would list for you everything the five of us tried, but I honestly can't remember it all. Suffice to say that we spent enough that as we were leaving the wait staff began dancing and singing that the recession was over.

The bandwidth issues this trip are costing me hours each day, so I must cut short this rant, take last night's coughed-up, slimy chicken and poodle, which we finally trapped, tack them to the floor of my room, and sacrifice them to the hotel's bandwidth gods.

If those demonic creatures judge my little critters to be tasty enough, perhaps I'll even get to send some mail.

Lucky me.