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Earl and I are sitting in our local Barnes and Noble cafe. This is the closest thing we have to a Starbucks in that all the drinks are branded as Starbucks product but the pastries in the case are from the Cheesecake Factory.  So in a way, this is the closest thing we have to a Cheesecake Factory as well.  All of this is in a Barnes and Nobles built to three-quarter size, because all the stores in this big box center are built to three-quarter scale when compared to similar outlets elsewhere.  Except Wal*mart (Always White Trash, Always).  That store in this plaza is huge.  So, aside from the Wal*mart, I like to think of this plaza as “Barbie’s Dream House Plaza and Playset” because it tries to be quaint with its smaller sized stores. Contrary to a stray thought in my head, I believe the books in this Barnes and Noble are still full sized books. They don’t rip out pages or anything.

I have no idea where the weekend went. I opted to not fly tonight as my head just wasn’t in the game. It’s been a little windy today, which would have made for a bumpy ride but it would have still been manageable. I was originally in the mood to fly an excursion of some sort, but the airplane was reserved before our reservation today, so there wasn’t really time for a jaunt. I was in the mood for a jaunt, not a ride. I’m already planning a jaunt for a future weekend.  I want to go places. 

I’ve spent some of the day “relaxing” trying to get my Linux laptop working again. There’s something to be said for Apple’s “It Just Works” philosophy, even when it doesn’t just work, as it’s easier to get it to work versus the other options out there. By the way, I’m typing this on my iPad because it just works. 

Maybe I need to just give up my legacy computing ways and embrace the future. And the inevitable. 

I wanted to relax outside this afternoon but cooler winds prevailed and did not lend to the atmosphere that one is looking for when one wants to bask in the sun. 

Since there was no basking in the sun, Earl and I are relaxing at the aforementioned Barnes and Noble before calling the weekend a wrap.

And that’s not so bad after all. 

I’m on my way to Greenville, S.C for work. Greenville is rapidly becoming my “second home”. I feel comfortable there, though I do miss my family when I’m away. I’ll be there until Thursday. 

Mother Nature decided to remind us as to who is really in control this morning. We were greeted by lake effect snow squalls. Driving to the airport this morning kept me on my toes; I drove in four wheel drive most of the way and couldn’t safely get over 45 MPH on the New York State Thruway. Several others tried to go faster and I passed six or seven cars off the road during my journey of 45 miles. One of the cars was a state trooper vehicle. 

The flight pushed back from the gate on time but de-icing delayed takeoff by nearly an hour. Folks on the airplane were getting a little antsy. One woman declared that the snow and ice would just blow off the airplane on take-off. I’m happy she’s not sitting in the cockpit because she doesn’t seem to have a good grasp of aerodynamics and the effect of ice on an airplane. Icing changes the shape of an airplane making the aircraft aerodynamically unpredictable and unsafe. I’m happy we took the time to de-ice. 

The lone flight attendant on this CRJ-200 is extremely pleasant and full of smiles, despite the many inquiries and occasional complaints for the passengers. Her name is Tracy. When I encounter exceptional service on a flight I always make a point of letting the airline know. I’m sure the airlines are barraged with complaints; saying nice things is always a good thing to do. Spread the positive vibe. 

I’m always fascinated by flying above lake effect snow squalls. They tend to stay close to the ground and usually you can see the clear bands stretched out below the airplane. It takes just a few moments for an airplane to get above a white out and I think that’s rather nifty. 

  
I’ve mentioned before that I am a fan of Binaural Beats. If you’re not familiar with the term, binaural beats are audio tracks that you listen to with headphones. The binaural beats are two different frequencies, one in each ear, tuned so that they create a certain “beat” in your brain. Binaural beats are best listened in tandem with a music or other ambient noise kind of track, listening to just the beat can become quite tedious.

Back when I was power napping in the Jeep during my lunch hour (due to the fact that my days were extra long because work was 59 miles from home), I would use the Pzizz app on my iPhone to help guide my body through a 15 minute power nap. Pzizz started out as a Mac application and then when the iPhone and its siblings came around, the app was developed for iOS. A year or two ago the separate nap and sleep apps were merged into one app.

Over the past month I’ve been using Pzizz to fall asleep at night. Pzizz combines binaural beats with very stereophonic music that is very lullaby-esque. There’s also an option to have a voice guide you to sleep. The male voice is pleasant with a slight MidAtlantic accent and his voice becomes more subdued as the experience goes on.

To effectively sleep with Pzizz, I have a cheap pair of very comfortable ear buds. I believe they are called “jellies’ or something like that. The soft rubber is not uncomfortable at all and I wear an extension cord so that I’m not tied tightly to the nightstand. I usually pull the headphones out in my sleep, I’m guessing around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m.

My night’s sleeps have become absolutely fantastic and my mood and work productivity have both been positively affected.

If you’re looking for something to try, I believe the Pzizz nap is now free. I recommend giving it a whirl and seeing if it helps you find a better night’s sleep.

  
Earl and I are currently at a local eatery enjoying a dessert after a delicious homemade supper. The local eatery has a decent reputation in these parts. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, it’s called “Café Florentine”.

We don’t have Starbucks within 50 miles of the house. Actually, that’s not true. There’s a Starbucks on the Thruway Service Area about 15 miles from the house, but you’re suppose to get on the Thruway, stop at the service area and then exit the Thruway, paying the appropriate toll along the way. And since the Thruway Starbucks is a service area, it’s not a “real” Starbucks, but rather just a stand in the middle of traveler amenities such as Burger King, S’barro and a mini mart that sells bottles of water for $4.00 a pop. I’m not sure on the price of actual pop.

The Café Florentine display cases featured many delicious desserts this evening. A peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake caught my eye, it looked like regular cheesecake with graham cracker crust, a peanut butter topping and sprinkles of chocolate nuggety goodness. In the mood for such nuggety goodness, I ordered a slice. Earl ordered a raspberry “pusty”, which in these parts is short for pasticiotti.

Earl’s pusty was delicious, judging by the speed in which he consumed it. In reality he didn’t eat it that fast, I’m just consumed with writing this blog entry and that shifts my perception of time a little bit.

The cheesecake with graham cracker crust, peanut butter topping and sprinkles of chocolate nuggety goodness did not meet my expectations.  The cheesecake itself was quite good. The graham cracker crust has a great sweetness to it.  But the peanut butter topping was not what I expected it at all. In fact, I believe the peanut butter was a large, painted swath of Jif or Skippy, as it had the taste, texture and consistency of that which a choosy mother would put on her six-year old’s sandwich. Now, I do enjoy peanut butter, but sandwich peanut butter and cheesecake peanut butter should be two entirely different things. And to add fuel to the fire, the chocolate nuggety goodness tasted a little stale.

Now, I’m not one to complain (well, I guess I really am), but when you’re in the mood for something like a peanut butter laced piece of cheesecake and you get half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich plopped on top of a piece of cheesecake, your senses feel assaulted in a less than orgasmic way. (Mind you, I refuse to talk about “mouth feel” but I don’t mind describing a taste sensation as orgasmic.)

On a scale of one to ten, I’m giving this cheesecake experience a 4, one for each seat, including the extra kitchen chair we never saw, on “The Golden Girls”. No points for the stool that Sophia always dragged to the table.

Perhaps Café Florentine should stick to Ear Salve on Linguini (now known as Pesto Sauce).

Relaxing after quite the day. 

I took Earl on his first flight to Watertown, New York. It’s about a 45 minute flight startup to shut down each way. It was a beautiful afternoon to fly.