Telling it like it is

Well winter has finally arrived properly. The ski resorts aren't panicky any more and with the fresh snow, it's Mor(m)ons on ice this morning. And the odd redneck. I was parked outside Petco waiting for it to open, in a totally empty parking lot. A blue pickup pulled into the parking lot, orbited once, then parked right next to me, then the 400lb ape wearing special-school-shorts got out slamming his door into the side of my car so hard that the Honda actually rocked. Meanwhile his wife with three teeth who looked like the product of eight generations of inbreeding was hauling her rolls of fat out of the other side of the truck in what looked like a nightgown. The ape looked at where he'd dinged my car, then closed his door and went to walk into Petco without saying anything, so I wound the window down and called him on it. His reply : "Dude don't be such a stupid fucker. You need to mellow the fuck out." ?? Okay fine. I was going to accept an apology but I g...

On the flight back today, as we were pushing back from the terminal, I heard a woman talking to her daughter and husband on the row behind me. The daughter was complaining that her Cinderella doll couldn't see because the hair band was over her eyes, so the mother sorted that out and then said "And why does Cinderella have so many frickin' accessories?" Made me laugh.

Some ripping, hacking and googling later, here's the video from that coaster. I'm front row, far right seat (when sitting) - far left from the front.

I believe that's what I was uttering at this exact moment: It's hard to tell from the photo but we're doing probably 70 or 80mph at this point, having just done a 90 degree, 200ft vertical drop. Everyone's shorts in the front row give the speed away, and that would be me, on the far left of the front row. This is Sheikra - the floorless dropcoaster at Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, where I spent the day doing my own thing. Every time I come down to this damn trade show I forget to schedule a free day and every time I get on the plane to go home I say "buggger!". Not this time though. I rode all the coasters, but I rode this one the most - I lost count. I was expecting Kumba or Montu to be the fave, but for me, this Sheikra thing was the dog's winkie. The weather was great - slightly clouds and mild - and the queue time for all the rides was zero. It was brilliant to be able to just walk up and get on. Having said that, I'm knackered.

Another lengthy day of pounding the floor, making notes, taking photos and videos at the show today. At least Bob was with me for the afternoon, and then we took in a conference meeting that we were scheduled for. Legs tired, feet sore. Sitting down now.

It's so nice not to be doing booth duty this year. I had to help with one of our other booths where we had our equipment but that only took half an hour or so which was fine. In the afternoon I was able to schmooz, make notes, take pictures and shoot video. Well - when I say 'take pictures' and 'shoot video', it has to be understood that both of the above happened on a cellphone so the results won't be stellar. Still - better than nothing.

...bags came with me. In the ongoing saga of not using Delta unless I absolutely have to, I was pleased to arrive in Orlando tonight complete with my luggage. So I'm here for the big trade show, but I'm not on booth duty this year. Which is nice.