Big howdy from Texas
Why does it seem so funny to me to be watching “King of the Hill” in my hotel room in Texas? It’s funnier still to me that it came on after the local news, which featured a story on UFO sightings in a nearby town. That could only be funnier if I were in New Mexico.
I am sofa king tired. It’s cold here… well, everywhere, but I was really hoping it would be a bit warmer so I wouldn’t feel so stuck in the hotel. I’d planned to walk a bit, but between the cold, the dark, and the freaking traffic right here at yet another Holiday Inn with a view of an interstate, I’m pretty much “in” for the night.
How funny is it cousin Marc calls me looking for brilliant 30th birthday party ideas in Greenville for Jennie… when I haven’t come up with a good idea for anybody local to me who has or is about to turn 30? What is it with you people turning 30? Knock it off, already. But, I told him I’d “think on it.” Edit: And then I get a grand idea… ROCK ON!
The closet with a treadmill and a TV that this hotel calls a fitness center was occupied when I tried earlier, so I have already given in and had my grocery-store sushi & potstickers for dinner. Just have too much work to do, and didn’t feel like spending all evening sitting in a restaurant. These Holiday Inn Express may not have anything except goose-down pillows, but at least they have microwaves and fridges. Anyway, now I’ve got some digesting time to kill, so I’m goofing instead of doing all that work I needed the time to do. I turned down a trip with co-worker to the mall, Barnes & Noble and dinner out for a night in the hotel by myself with grocery-store sushi. Besides I’m fascinated with understanding how people on central time deal with the eastern time tv schedule…
Maybe it’s a weird thing, but I do like going into grocery stores in different parts of the country. I think they give a bit of insight into the local culture. Not like Texans are foreigners, but something in my brain is fascinated at “what Texans eat”, so I enjoyed going. The H.E.B. was a nice, huge grocery store, but the only item of local flavor I noticed was a big section in the fresh produce where you could buy pre-packaged mixes of cut veggies to make your own soup, featuring one called “King Ranch” that I must lookup. Edit: <-- check out that link, foodies. Your casserole photos are making me hungry!
Mostly, though, perhaps my view is skewed by being here for work instead of fun, but central Texas just seems like repetative, flat sprawl with air full of cedar pollen. Our first appointments yesterday were at the most remote office, where we actually managed to drive out of the sprawl of town, but then it was just dirt and scrub… blah. I haven’t figured out where people actually live here… we haven’t seen the first house, of course, that’s in our view from whatever interstate we’re traveling.
And oh my fucking … people.. even Tom Tom is having problems deciphering these office addresses between North Loop 1604 West and West Loop 1604 North, which are nowhere near each other.. and then throw in West Loop South, East Loop South, and North Loop 1604 West access and… UGH. Also, from the office we were just at, I tried to find a pharmacy near us on Tom Tom. From that point we were less than 2 miles from 7 Walgreens. WTF? Sprawl.
Ugh, okay. This is babble. Time to end it. Cross your fingers I get to see any part of Texas that is cool. I suspect it is here somewhere, just past the darkness.
bigmeanie has made a Comment
Hee. As a converted Midwesterner, I have had a hard time adjusting to the Eastern TV schedule. Y’all show your shows an hour too late! 😀 (Just kidding. Although, I will cop to, well, still being on a Central schedule for silly things like when news programming should be on.)
January 15, 2008 @ 9:51 pm
flerly has made a Comment
It did occur to me that my sister, whom I do vist fairly regularly, lives in this same time zone, and I never thought about the tv schedule while I was there. I guess we never make time to watch tv on those visits. Nothing like boredom in a hotel room to make you find fascination in the the most common of things.
January 15, 2008 @ 10:16 pm
schlemaggle has made a Comment
Same here. It took me the longest time to accept the reality of the Eastern TV schedule. Now, when I go back home for a visit, I’m like, “but how did we miss it?! it’s supposed to start at 8:00!! oh…riiiiight.”
January 16, 2008 @ 12:09 pm
schlemaggle has made a Comment
H.E.B FTW!! That’s like one of the two things I miss about San Antonio. The other being the very first Taco Cabana. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love that place. There are Taco Cabanas in Tulsa too, but I never seem to make it to one when I’m there because everyone I know from home hates it. Hmmm…TexanFOOOOOOOOD.
January 16, 2008 @ 12:19 pm
flerly has made a Comment
OMG I’m so freaking hungry, I hope there is a Taco Cabana at Riverwalk — which is apparently where we’re going tonight. My head asplode from low blood sugar headaches… or something….
(Mac is fetching Subway, in is “i’ll take however the hell long i want to fetch food, because i can eat while Kim talks” way, but whatever. i’m not above giving presentations with my mouth full… i’ve done it before)
Curse you for the evil Taco Cabana link with their evil photos of nummy foodstuffs…
January 16, 2008 @ 2:18 pm
schlemaggle has made a Comment
The Riverwalk in San Antonio? Or Dallas? Where in Texas are you, exactly? Eh, no matter. It seems that every city in Texas has a Riverwalk, but it doesn’t look like Taco Cabana is in the cards at Dallas Riverwalk (or SA for that matter). From this list, there seems to be a Tin Star, but you can have that here, so it wouldn’t be the true Texas dining experience. If you can find a Joe T. Garcia’s, please bypass the Riverwalk, do not pass go, and well, go. Go forth to Joe T’s and fill your belly, and I will just have to live with smelling your breath when you get back home. Curse you for being in Texas and making me hungry!!
January 16, 2008 @ 2:53 pm
flerly has made a Comment
I’m in San Damn Antonio, dear one. And, after having inhaled a tiny sandwich completely unlike the sandwich I requested, I am still cursing your food site links. Love these 10 minute breaks between appointments, though, and this nifty remote control on the projector that hides my screen from the room.
January 16, 2008 @ 4:21 pm
schlemaggle has made a Comment
Booooo! I mean, um, well…hey! At least it’s not SNOWING LIKE THE DICKENS there. Brrrr. But, yay!
Speaking of DICKENS, there is a Dick’s Last Resort on the S.A. Riverwalk. The food isn’t the best around, but the atmosphere and terrible (on purpose) service is fun. If you’re feeling frustrated with someone, that’s a good place to take him, because the servers can be pretty merciless. But if it’s Mexican food everyone’s craving, nearly any restaurant in town will do. Me want Mama Ninfaaaaa’s!! There’s one in Austin, but it’s well worth the drive, in my opinion (There’s also one in Atlanta, but I haven’t been there– and it doesn’t seem like the same place).
Well, I must go. I am all tapped out of food links for now, and I have to go spy on the shitbag kids across the streets having “snowball” fights. 🙂 Ole!
January 16, 2008 @ 5:50 pm