Time to blog (from DC)

Hey all...I'm in Washington, DC - staying at the Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center. Monday's flight was special. I had a 9:00 am flight out of Oakland that was delayed due to fog in Long Beach so I didn't leave until around 1:30 pm. As I was standing in line to board the plane a lady in front of me nonchalantly said, "Watch my bag" and walked away. She was on her cell phone and headed over to Starbucks to (I assume) buy some food or drink for the plane ride to DC. I watched her walk and watched the line dwindle. I said out loud, "This is like some kind of bad Seinfeld episode", to a group of folks that saw this lady abandon her bag in my care. Folks chuckled as they had be witness to her ditching her bag and my surprised look of uneasy acceptance of the task assigned to me by the stranger. The line further dwindled and my co-worker decided he didn't really want to wait for the crazy lady on the phone to come back (she had moved from Starbucks to the Pyramid Tap Room seeking something...turned out to be water). My co-worker was encouraging me to leave the bag and board the plane, but I felt that even though she hadn't really asked me to watch her bag I felt some sense of obligation. She finally returned with her water, collected her suitcase and without a thank you proceeded to jump in line in front of me (and my co-worker) to board the plane. I overheard the gate agent telling her that she was in 3D (next to my co-worker) and in the same isle as I was in so I was glad I didn't bail on her bag since I would've had to deal with her angst the entire flight. Needless to say neither of us were too happy to be sitting next to her since she was one of those entitled types - not turning off her cell phone when she's supposed to, taking on too many carry on items, making others adjust their lives for her because after all she's the only person in the entire world who exists. She peeled a huge grapefruit letting the juice drip all over the floor of the plane. She ate a stinky salad that had some kind of fish in it. I think ya'll get the picture. (This post mind you is a catharsis - thank you for listening).

So here we were getting ready for the trek East and we notice that our TVs aren't working (we are flying JetBlue and for good reason - legroom and TV). We ask the flight attendant and he tells us that he's been trying to get them to work to no avail. My co-worker spoke up and said, "What are you going to do for us". He offered us free drinks in an effort to liquor us up which we agreed to (we only had two drinks each so we didn't totally take advantage).

The JetBlue TV Experience was a bit maddening though. Although I had no signal I got the constant strobe the the flickering non-working TV. Enjoy this little video of the experience...

Anyhow, got in, Super Shuttle to the hotel. Got in around 10:40 pm and asked the front desk about food - room service and restaurant open until 11:00 pm...ran over there and they close on us early...bummer. Ordered food in...good grub...blah, blah, blah (OK...it is late and eloquence is not in store tonight).

The conference (better known as a dialog) was fruitful. I'm very glad I'm here for this meeting. Afterwards we networked for a bit and then headed off to The Tombs (here). "Situated near the entrance of Georgetown University campus, The Tombs doubles as a sporting saloon and a neighborhood restaurant. Vintage crew and sporting prints, colorful sweeps, high-backed booths, and leaded glass set the tone."

On the way back I took a few pics of a cemetery on campus...cool...

Until later my friends,

Mark Harvey