Flying To Cincinnati

There are few good reasons to a)get up early or b)go to Cincinnati, but we actually had one: his grandfather Henry's 90th birthday party.

We got up at 5:15 or something and went to Burbank Airport, where we got on a plane and I fell asleep. I woke up for the cereal, made snorting noises, and then fell back asleep again. Darin says he can always tell when I'm asleep on a plane because my mouth just hangs open.

We had to wait at DFW for two hours or so for the connection to Cincinnati. I believe that DFW is one of the outer circles of hell (with Atlanta being one of the more innermost). One point in Dallas's favor is the assortment of food shops: I got some pizza and Darin got some Chinese food. I also played a lot of Escape Velocity (though not when eating the pizza).

Yes folks, I'm playing Escape Velocity again. The dangers of a big screen. And it loads so fast.

Anyhow, we met up with Mitch in Dallas and the three of us flew to Cincinnati together. There was such a long backup of flights for the departure runway that I fell asleep again waiting for takeoff.

Darin's Aunt Lil and Cousin Jody picked us up at the airport. Lil is the one who makes Darin and his brother look shy and retiring; Jody is the one who does things like work in the Peace Corps for two years in Benin (which is why I now know where Benin is). Lil hugged us all as we got off and then she grabbed me.

   Lil gets Diane in a hammerlock. They walk towards the
   parking garage, Lil dragging Diane alongside of her.

            LIL
        You are my early morning wake-up
        call. Every morning I get up and
        read your page and I get so angry
        when you don't have something new.

            DIANE
           (turning red)
        Okay...let me breathe...

            LIL
        And I've started reading CJ's page.
        She seems like such a neat person.

            DIANE
        I'll invite her for Thanksgiving.

            LIL
        Oh, that's a good idea!
        

Lil took us to the new suites hotel near her house. It's a nice hotel -- these suites hotel are all over this area of Cincinnati; I don't know if they're for business connected to Proctor & Gamble or what.

However, this hotel introduces a new meaning for the word suite: our room has one room, albeit with a refrigerator and little microwave oven. The bathroom is so tiny you can't use the toilet with the door open -- short shameful secret of Darin and me: we don't always close the bathroom door. Kind of annoying to have to, particularly if you're a tad claustrophobic.

But other than that it's nice. And it has the coolest lamp. The lamp on the desk has both a power outlet and a phone jack, so it was clearly designed for the laptop-enabled. Good thinking. Also: free local phone calls. Whee.

After Darin and I napped a bit and showered, we went out to dinner with Mitch, Jody, and Jody's brothers Matthew and Mark at a local brewpub, Watson Bros. Brewery. (Note to self: have not noticed any brewpubs in LA. Trend not yet hit or already passed?) The band playing on the porch was good, the beer was good, the food was ennnnh. It's a good place for listening to music, playing pool, or playing darts.

Darin and I borrowed Matthew's car and went home before the others, who were drinking and enjoying a few rounds of pool.

While I was in Dallas I picked up a newspaper that was lying around in the waiting area and read something terrifying: the television columnist must have written a column a few days ago about some of the shows coming for the fall season, including Nothing Sacred, which is the new Steven Bochco show about priests. Instead of cops, lawyers, or doctors, it's priests. A reader had written to say (not an exact quote, since I couldn't bring myself to bring the paper with me but pretty damn close):

They're making fun of something sacred. That's just Jews making fun of Catholics. I don't know why they think they have the right to do that.

I read that aloud to Darin and added, "Reason number 548 why we are never moving here."

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Slept a lot.