The new toy

Traveling all the time as I do, it is sometimes difficult to stay connected to the world. I do get tons of free copies of the USATODAY (I've never bought one), but I need more. I have carried an older laptop with me in the past, but that one is dead. It was also heavy and cumbersome, and more of a pain than it was worth. For the past year I've carried a small PDA with wifi. Surprisingly I was able to do quite a bit more than you might expect from such a small device.

Recently, however, my job has brought a new requirement. All of our training is being moved to an online format, requiring a little more than a PDA has to offer. I still didn't want to carry a big laptop around, but I needed the performance of a normal computer for web access and online training seminars. Enter the Dell Inspiron Mini-9, I'm typing with the tiny keyboard as we speak. I've been playing with mini for 5 days now, and I'm impressed. For what I need, its perfect, and perfectly sized. And it was the same price as that used beat up old laptop I had before. Now if I can keep it away from the wife and kids...

I am not going to Montreal

I have some training to do for my company, and in the recent past, this particular training has been done in Montreal. I was actually looking forward to it. I was going to have a little time off to walk around, see the sites, etc. Not a lot, but a little. Really, I was kindof getting excited.

I looked at my training schedule last week, and alas, not Montreal. St. Louis. I've been to St. Louis. I've worked there, lived there, traveled there. Been there, done that. It's not Montreal.

So in the spirit of positive thinking, I will pronounce St. Louis with the thickest french-canadian accent I can manage, and then laugh-grunt that deep nasal french laugh three times. Maybe it'll help.

Not Yankee Stadium.

In July I had the privilege of circling/flying/gawking over Yankee Stadium, at blimp-height, on the night of the All-Star game-with the game in progress-on our way into LaGuardia. Very impressive. There were very few other places I would have rather been flying that night. We flew straight up the Hudson and made a right turn around the stadium, at night, at fairly low altitude. New York is an impressive city from that perspective. I know I will never forget it.

But I've been to New York many times, and seen many different things. Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, and, yeah, the rest of it. It's all impressive, don't get me wrong, but it's all been plastered all over postcards, tv shows, movies, etc. I've seen it. I may not have been there but I've seen it.

Last week, while leaving LaGuardia, as I glance down at Yankee Stadium, my eye catches something along the shore of the Hudson. There was a football field. In the Hudson. Well, actually built out on the Hudson River in typical New York Concrete fashion. As I look closer I can see a little more, some b-ball courts, park area, a few buildings. It doesn't really look like a typical college football stadium, but then, nothing in New York is typical. I had to know.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=yankee+stadium&ie=UTF8&ll=40.824916,-73.956807&spn=0.007355,0.013819&t=k&z=16

For those of you who haven't figured it out yet. Riverbank State Park. The only State Park on the island of Manhattan. And all that fancy architecture and concrete coming out of the river...well that would be the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant. I'm probably not going to visit this one.

First of all, let me say, not my picture. Credit Google. I was on my way into Philadelphia the other day, when passing off the left side was an island in the middle of the Delaware river, just north of Delaware Bay and the mouth of the Delaware-Chesapeake canal (look that one up folks). You don't often see five-sided buildings built on islands with moats these days. We entered into a quick discussion. Civil War Fort. Prison. Turns out, both were right. If I ever get a vacation to Delaware this will be on my list. First one, other than my kids, to tell me the name of this location gets a S.O.D.I. and an honorable mention in the blog.

First Post....ready....begin.

After much prodding and persuasion, here we go. Faithful followers, readers, worshipers, interested parties, fans, customers, strangers and friends; welcome to my first blog post. This post will serve as an introduction only...the real meat will come with the second (Yes! Second!) post. Without further flourish...this is my intent. I travel...A LOT..for my work. Occasionally I have the opportunity to see unique sites and interesting places. I plan on sharing these sites with you here. If I can get all the little gadgets to work, you might even get to see pictures! Enjoy.