Greetings from the shoebox

I’m sitting in my shoebox of a hotel room reflecting on my day. I was thinking today that it hardly feels like I am away from home when I am driving because whether I’m in Marysville or Boston, everything is unfamiliar. The difference in Marysville is that I have Scott to go home to when I’m done with my day. All I have here is a room the size of a shoebox and Seinfield re-runs.

Today was my first day of class. It took me 15 minutes to go .6 miles because I kept going the wrong way. The roads here are not marked as I would have them and since it was rush hour everyone else was in a hurry and I felt such pressure to keep moving that I didn’t take the time needed to go the right way. Finally I made it. I was the last of the three in my class to arrive. My classmates are an older man from Siemens in Atlanta and a young lady from Family Dollar in Charlotte. Our instructor is an attractive and outgoing woman about my age with very short stylish blonde highlighted hair and an easy manner of dress. She informed us was born and raised in Hawaii. She came to the “mainland” for college and ended up staying after getting married.

Class went fine. There was complimentary coffee and tea (I had Earl Grey) as well as soda, Snapple, continental breakfast and salty snacks in the afternoon. I learned a lot about the application, and hopefully I will learn more in the remaining three days. When lunchtime came our instructor gave us some options nearby and I chose a cafeteria in the next building. I had turkey and mashed potatoes that were OK but not great.

We talked at length during class breaks about where we would each go for dinner. There’s a restaurant within walking distance of the hotel called Naked Fish which comes highly recommended. But I didn’t want seafood. I was more interested in something like Friendly’s or Panera Bread. What really caught my attention was the mention of Cheesecake Factory which is about a ten-minute drive North.

When I left class, my immediate thought was to try to find the CVS I had read about on some paperwork at the hotel, so I went there first. I noticed a shop in the same complex called The Paper Store and how could I resist? It was a Hallmark, but I thought perhaps they would have scrapbooking/cardmaking stuff because of the name. Alas I was wrong, although they did have a small selection of books and gifts that I looked at longingly. Farther down the complex I thought I saw Panera but it turned out to be a restaurant called Grassfields.

Grassfields was a bar and grill type of place with one side having large TVs and neon beer signs and the other intimately-lit tables. The décor consisted of ships, animals one would hunt, and botanical drawings framed and matted in cranberry and navy blue. Although the prices and ambiance were kind of nice, the tables and chair-covers were vinyl. I chose one of the specials for today, Chicken Parmesan. It came with linguine and I got a small salad with ranch and they gave me a loaf of bread that was delicious (you know how I love bread) which I only ate one slice of (aren't I being good?). Everything tasted good but it would have fed three people. I ate what I could and didn’t get dessert even though they had three-layer chocolate truffle cake and strawberry shortcake that both sounded really yummy.

Then I returned to the hotel, making no wrong turns for once. I brought my CVS purchases inside, a small pack of Mounds, a bag of Hint of Lime Tostitos and a 2-liter of Coke to snack on over the next few days. It beats going hungry at 9:30 at night and buying 1.50 20-oz bottles of pop and 1.00 packs of Peanut M&M’s from the vending machines.

Now I’m watching the end of Star Wars III while I wait for 8:00 and Prison Break. Gee, I hope they don't get caught. ;-)

Good evening and God bless.