Land of 10,000 lakes

I apologize for the lack of updates. My job again took me on the road. This time I was in Bloomington, Minnesota. I was there from last Wednesday until Friday. I was sent there to fill in for a tech that was out of the office and also, because they were a little back logged with work. Here is a brief rundown of my three days there.

Wednesday 5/10 – My flight was delayed due to mechanical problems so I didn’t get into town until 2:00. I was picked up at the airport by a co-worker and we headed off to grab a bite at off all places Appleby’s. I had only been to that God forsaken place one other time in my life and I was not looking forward to another visit, but I really didn’t have a say in the matter. After eating a revolting chicken sandwich I was off to work.

I had to clear out a training room and set up a couple of computers which all went smooth enough. Since I had a late start I didn’t get out until 7:30. At that point all I wanted to do was check in to my room and relax. I checked in at the Le Bourget hotel in Bloomington and then that chicken sandwich I ate was causing me serious stomach pains. I skipped dinner completely and sat in the hotel room trying not to vomit from that Appleby’s lunch.

Thursday 5/11 – My co-worker and I got up early and headed to breakfast at the Hotel Sofitel. There I had a real good batch of French toast and I was ready for the office. I got into work and started on taking care of some stuff that needed to get done. We ordered some subs in for lunch and I busted some ass to make sure all that needed to get done, got done. My co-worker was heading to TGI Friday’s and as I passed as I wanted to catch the Mall of America.

So, I grabbed a shuttle from my hotel to the giant mall. With my dis-taste for shopping, one may wonder why I even bothered checking out the world’s largest mall. My feeling was hey I am in Minnesota, I have a limited amount of time and what the hell else is there to do. To say the mall is big is like saying Paris Hilton is a skank. It is obvious. It would take a good three days to see it all. I made the best of it by going to the under water aquarium and riding the indoor rollercoaster they have there.

After killing some time there I headed back to the hotel with the intent to order room service and head in for the night. The room service menu offered little so, I decided to hoof it down the road to the Perkins restaurant that was about two blocks away from where I was staying. I hadn’t had the displeasure of eating at a Perkins in years. I ate some turkey roll and instant mashed potatoes and headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

Friday 5/12 – I got up ordered some room service breakfast and met my co-worker in the lobby. We went into work and I finished up everything I had to do. We ordered in some Thai food for lunch and were preparing to head out to catch our 5:00 flight home. However, the weather in Chicago sucked so, our flight got delayed by about an hour.

With the delay, my co-worker and I stopped in a hotel bar and had a couple of beers. So, I was some-what lubricated as I headed onto the plane which took off at 6:30. We landed at O’Hare and I had to catch the shuttle back to where I parked. I got to my car and eventually navigated my way home and slept my ass off in preparation for a busy weekend.