Thursday

July 13, 2000

"I am a friend of the working man, and I would rather be his friend that be one."

Clarence Darrow

something about driving into Houston

long commute

I get up at 4:45 to head to Houston. I should have gotten to bed earlier, for sure. I'm off at 5:30 with about 16 ounces of brew from the Capresso in my Nissan commuter cup. I listen to lectures on the history of the English language, stop for some lesser coffee and a jalapeno cheese and sausage roll at La Grange and arrive at the hotel where the meetings are held at 8:30.

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I always feel a little dislocated when I go to Houston and more so if the meeting is with people from all over the world, some of whom I know but whose names I've forgotten, some of whom I only know as e-mail addresses. They have wired the meeting room so that we can hook up our laptops to the network and see the products and get our mail.

At the break, I check into the hotel. They have a buffet lunch and we all talk a little business.

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I talk to some guys after the meeting. Then we have a beer with one of them and go off to a Mexican restaurant with some of the managers. One of our Japanese colleagues is completely daunted by a plate of fajitas but the younger Japanese guys help him out. He takes a bunch of pictures of us with his tiny digital camera. I have talapia and it is a nice fish dish.

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Sleeping in hotels isn't my favorite. So I buy the movie '28 Days.' It isn't that great but it fails to be as soporific as these $10 in-room movies usually are and I have to read to actually doze off.

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