Houston we have...

...uh, nevermind, Houston, everything is groovy.

I did miss a flight - first time in 8 years or so, and only the second time ever. And I don't really know why. It seemed like we were moving along fine towards Oakland. But by the time we hit Vallejo, I started thinking out loud, "I'm not sure we're gonna make it." And I didn't. So I got on the next flight which had a two hour layover in Las Vegas.

And even though it is so much fun when you get to spin...

...I really wish I had made the first flight. Although I did pick up a CSI: Las Vegas T-shirt for Rachel.

Anyway - with the later flight and the hour drive to Lake Jackson from Houston, I didn't check in to my hotel until 2:30 AM or so. You know, radio has sucked for a long time, but it sure seems to suck a lot worse now than it did the last time I was stuck in a car without an iPod or XM radio. And it was weird that there was almost no traffic. I can't remember the last time I was the only car on the road. Anyway, with help from NeverLost(TM) I stepped out of my rental car at 2:30 or so AM, and my glasses fogged up from the humidity. And it was in the upper 70s. Weird.

And then I was wound up and couldn't sleep and worried about sleeping through my alarm and so I set out my clothes for the morning and packed up everything else so I would be ready to go while watching Larry King talk about UFOs and even then I still couldn't sleep and by this time it was after 4 and then I think I finally dozed off around 4:45 for a few hours of fitful sleep. And I woke up at 7:40 for a pre-meeting meeting with co-workers at 8:00 in the lobby.

Then off to Texas Dow Employee Credit Union where our goal was to close a deal. And it isn't officially closed- there are a few things that still need to happen, including a board presentation, but I think we did our job well. It felt more like a project kickoff meeting than a deal closing meeting.

Here is what we look like when doing our job well...

That's me, Mary Jo, and John.

Then we went to Fuddrucker's with a couple of the folks from our meeting. And then the flight home. Which was relatively uneventful. I slept through most of it. And I was a little irked that the flight attendant made me turn off and take off my Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones even though the Southwest Spirit magazine says they are OK ANYTIME. But other than that, I slept a lot.

And Rachel and Jake picked me up in Oakland and we stopped at a Denny's in Emeryville that I had only been to once before while at Cal after an all night poker game one Saturday night.

And then the drive home on new tires that Rachel picked up today at Big O.

Things are good. But I am run down and feel like I am going to get what Laurie had or something similar. We'll see tomorrow.