I Digress

Five of us drove up to Atlanta on Tuesday for a one-day seminar on Wednesday. Mark rented a mini-van and picked everyone up. The others are Joe, the Claims Manager and Jerry and Stephanie, Claims Supervisors. We left at 9:30 and stopped around noon for lunch at a place called the Farmhouse Restaurant. All I know is we were still somewhere well south of Atlanta. The food was cheap and filling and it definitely wasn't a chain. By the time we arrived in Atlanta, we had about an hour to kill before it was time to eat again. I can see this is not going to be a good time to try to cut calories. Not a good way to follow up on myThanksgiving overindulgence. We are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn. My room is excellent. The good news is there is a good sized fitness center. I will need that because we ate at a place called 'Houstons' which is a steakhouse. I had prime rib AND dessert.

On Wednesday we got down to business. We took a shuttle bus to Bluelinx, the company that was hosting the seminar. I think they make building supplies. I know they are one of our claimants. The seminar's presenter is The Guru of transportation law and is known in transportation circles for defending the shipper's position. In this case, we railroaders are the enemy. We were the only railroad people in attendance. Most of the rest were shippers. There were a few truckers. The guru's name is William Augello and this is his final seminar. The fact that this was to be his last seminar was the main attraction for us. He has written five texts on transportation law. We purchased his 'Transportation Logistics and the Law' which is a huge textbook---really quite a load to lug around. It looks like one of Harry Potter's schoolbooks. It is that big. Mr. Augello is an elderly gentleman. To give you an idea of his age, he said he had his first experience as a lobbyist when he went to visit Senator John Kennedy in 1956. His efforts resulted in a new law. The young lawyer was amazed that it happened so fast. He couldn't believe it was so easy to make a new law. Senator Kennedy told him, "You will find it is better not to dwell on how laws or sausage are made." The man has got to be in his 80's.

The seminar covered rail, truck, airline and ocean transport of freight. It would have been better for us if it had only dealt with rail but I am sure we all learned something from it. Even though he discovered early on that we were from CSX, he never let on to the rest of the group. We would not have been popular. It was interesting listening to the perspective of the claimants and listening to Mr. Augello advise them on how to handle freight claims. He had such a good time with the attendees that he said he was reconsidering his "retirement." Actually, he still plans to work with the industry, but he is going to stop travelling. The mountain will have to come to Mohammed. Mr. Augello is based in Arizona. Now that would be a nice road trip. We made an early exit (as he was getting into ocean transport) and returned to the hotel for some R&R before our main event--dinner, of course.

I did walk on the treadmill for 45 minutes. It still didn't make up for what I had for dinner. We went to a place called Sal Grosso. It is a Brazilian restaurant. They have one restaurant in the U.S. and five in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It was very pricey but what an experience. It is a one-price buffet. You go and get your vegetables and there are many....some I did not even recognize. I got rice, peas, carrots, potatoes, pasta, asparagus, corn and bread. The wait staff seats you every time you come back to the table. They give you a card with Nao, Obrigado on one side and Sim Por favor on the other. If your Yes side is up, a Gaucho in full costume comes up with roast beef, chicken, lamb, sausage, pork roast, or filet mignon on a skewer. He will keep slicing until you tell him to stop. You have to keep your No side up or they will keep coming. Dessert was extra AND we got it anyway. I am still stuffed.

Tomorrow we are leaving just after rush hour. The plan is to tour the Coca Cola plant before we drive back to Jacksonville. In light of my dining adventures of the past couple of days, I had better stick with Diet Coke.

Later.

We left Jacksonville at 3:30 on Monday afternoon and drove nonstop (almost) to Statesville, NC. It was nearly 10 pm when we picked up dinner at one of Statesville's finer gas stations--Doritos and a 24 oz Bud Ice for Jim and Fritos and a 24 oz Bud Lite for me. Talk about your acid reflux. We were on the road again at 8:30 or so the next morning. No one was home when we arrived at Windy Hill Lane but a key had conveniently been left for us beneath a pot on the front steps. Being the first to arrive, Jimbo and I had our choice of bedrooms. We chose Chris's Pumpkin Room. The walls and bedspread are about the same color as Chris's hair. The mattress is extremely comfortable. Good deal.

Bobby and Gail were next to arrive. Angie and Andrew were scheduled to fly in from Texas on Wednesday morning. Michael, Tim, Mary and Joe would drive up together from Baltimore and arrive sometime late Wednesday night. The party started as soon as Mary and Matt arrived home from work. Mary cooked some killer chili which was not too spicy for me. The others who don't care for bland chili quite as much as I do, were free to add hot peppers, onions and cheese to spice things up a bit.

Matt and Mary have a mini-gym in the basement. Everyone has used the treadmill to "earn" the extra calories we have been taking in. Everyone except Uncle Tim of course. He arrived Wednesday night with flask in hand (and reportedly two more among his baggage). He fashioned a shot glass out of a McDonalds condiment cup. He even offered some Jack Daniels to me of all people, but I politely turned him down. His doctor told him to cut back on the drinking....I wonder how much he was drinking before he started this so-called cut back. He polished off one flask and 6 beers (by his count) by the time he was finished on Wednesday night.

Prior to the arrival of the Baltimore contingent, the rest of us went to The Winking Lizard, as has become customary on the Ohio visits. The wings were very good and a good time was had by all. Usually the trip is made on the Friday after Thanksgiving but since Jimbo and I are leaving on Friday morning, a concession was made and we went on Wednesday evening. Tim may talk everyone else into a return visit on Friday night but by then we will be well on our way through the mountains of West Virginia on our way back to 70 degree weather.

It has been snowing since we got here. There are several inches on the ground and an occasional squall blows more snow on top of what is already there. Ohio does a pretty good job of responding to snow situations so I don't expect we will have too much trouble getting out of here. I certainly hope there is not too much snow in the mountains of WVA because I don't think there is really any other way out. Andrew and Joe were the only ones who ventured out into the snow. Andrew was born and raised in Phoenix so he hasn't had a lot of experience with snow. Joe brought in some wood so we could have a fire in the fireplace.

Ahhhhh.

Dinner was wonderful as usual. Mary is such a good cook. Gail and Jim helped out by making the sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes respectively. Owen and Michelle gave us a bottle of California wine which we brought along for all to share. It didn't take long for it to disappear. I am cooling my heels, avoiding the after dinner dishes by updating my blog. By the time I finish, it should be time for pie! We have pumpkin, pecan and cherry. Yum. Traditionally, the womenfolk take an after dinner walk around the neighborhood. The snow has caused a cancellation to that particular tradition. We have joked that as a substitute for the tradition, one of us can get on the treadmill and the others could walk in place alongside. That way we could still get in our Post Thanksgiving dinner jaunt/talk. Well, I think it is about time for pie so it is time for me to stop rambling. Happy Turkey Day to all who venture here.

Bless me father, for I have sinned. It has been several weeks since my last blog. I have been very, very busy. I went to Tucson for the Annual EWGA Conference. It is a leadership conference AND coincidentally, a lot of golf is played. The most enjoyable part of the event is the annual talent competition. Our chapter won it two years ago but fell to second place in 2004. It may just be a coincidence but I was not there in 2004.

This year our leader, Bonnie, a talented singer-songwriter-choreographer from Tampa, decided that we would do a skit where we would play inebriated prospectors. Nine of us would sing solo parts to the tune of Clementine. Another 15 or so would be our chorus. I was one of the prospectors and I had a simple verse to learn. "At the 6th hole, it's a par 5, think it will eat me alive. I don't care though if I chunk it, 'cause I birdied number 5." I practiced and practiced that line and had it down pat. I drove my roommate crazy. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to remember her own verse because she had heard mine so often. During the business meetings, instead of listening to the speakers, I practiced that line in my head. That night, as we positioned ourselves onstage, I noticed that everyone else was using cue cards. I worked up a pretty decent look of disdain. "Amateurs," I said under my breath.

And so the skit began, each prospector passing the microphone to the next as her verse was finished. Finally, it was my turn. "At the 6th hole, it's a par 5, " I sang, and then NOTHING. I drew a blank. I looked at Bonnie for help. She whispered, "Start over." I started over. "At the 6th hole, it's a par 5." Again, NOTHING. At this point I looked at Bonnie and she said, "don't look at me!" The chorus then started singing MY verse while I slurred and hummed the tune. When we finished, instead of passing the microphone to the next prospector, I fell to my knees and then on my face in a pretty good impression of a drunken prospector passing out. The crowd loved it. The next singer was laughing so hard she could barely get her words out. As we left the stage, Bonnie, who only minutes before had wanted to wring my neck, hugged me and said, "You're the bomb!"

Bottom line, WE WON! Ya gotta be able to think on your feet.