Saturday, October 26, 2019

More Random Thoughts

So I’m subbing and my class was full of kids from Puerto Rico learning English and I asked them a question. They asked one back.

First mine.
Sam Moore up top
Dave Draper down below.
Sam and Dave

When you sleep do you dream in English or Spanish? Everything came to a dead halt while they thought about that. Most of them, if not all, said Spanish but it was a question they hadn’t heard before. I went a step further and asked them that when they speak in what language do they think? They said it depends on what language they’re speaking.

Now their turn.

I was asked do I have a cell phone. Yes. Here came the kicker...when you dream how often is it in your dream? Uh, never and isn’t that weird? I’d never even thought of that before. You?

Salmon is a fish as we all know. For years I've been saying salmon dave whenever anyone says salmon. Get it? It's really Sam and Dave and I have to give a shoutout to my guy Sam Moore. I can remember my mother playing Hold On I’m Coming and dancing around the kitchen with her.

Good times.

Harry Smith, Me, Paula Zahn
Harry Smith was my partner in crime when I worked at CBS. He was from the midwest, Chicago, and went to college at Central in Iowa. He also said things I never heard before. An example...you'd ask him if he wanted a piece of cake and he would say, "Just a skosh." That means just a little. I'd never heard that word. Harry also said something that I say to this day, "Love you like a brother-in-law."


I love research, love homework, when doing interviews.  I used to say as the interviewer I was the matador, the person being interviewed was the bull, and the questions were the cape. File that under too much time on my hands.

When I first moved to Orlando I couldn't believe you could actually swim in the pool on Christmas day. So in I went. I haven't been in on Christmas since.  Too cold.

One other thing.

It seems there are a lot of out of towners here. You see stickers on their cars that proclaim where they came from. Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sawx, LA Dodgers, Detroit Red Wings, and on and on and on.

I was at a Toys Are Us with my twins (when they were little) and as I was leaving I saw a young dad with his kid in the parking lot. He had a Yankee hat on. I said, "Go Yankees." Without skipping a beat he said, "All day."

And that is too funny.








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Sunday, October 13, 2019

Traveling For Business

First the airport.

Every time I go the place is packed. Doesn't matter if it's noon or six in the evening or five in the morning. The question, "Who are these people?" is a good one. Lines, lines, and more lines. I remember when you could get to the airport 20 minutes before your flight and not only would you make it but your bags would make it as well.

Not anymore.

Two hours before your flight is the recommendation and it is a good one. Let's talk about my airport for a minute. I live in Orlando and you know what's here. Kids have Mickey Mouse ears, parents have t-shirts from Disney, Universal, Sea World, you get the picture. So, packed is a good word.

I'll tell you a little secret about the Orlando airport. You can't buy gum there. They don't sell it. And because of that the floor and the carpet both don't have chewing gum on them. File that knowledge under why do I know that?

The security lines seem to go on forever. When I get to the front of one to show my ticket and license I try to look as non threatening as possible. There's a lot of smiling on this end. Next the x-ray machine where there is a whole routine that comes before it. Did I take my belt off, is my iPad out and by itself, are my shoes off, are my hands above my head; these are all going through my mind.

Then on to the gated area.

Seinfeld has a great bit on airports. He asks,"Do airports know what tuna fish sandwiches cost everywhere else in the world?" Go ahead buy something there to eat. I dare ya. You can go broke if you come there with an empty stomach. I try to be full when I go or at least have healthy snacks in my back pack I can munch on. I can spend my fifty bucks elsewhere.

Then the jet.

Can I say something? Air travel used to be fun. Used to be classy. There was an unspoken dress code, people dressed a certain way. Not anymore. Now it's like it's a Greyhound bus and you see a lot of stretch pants, backward ball caps, and tattoos. In the words of Seinfeld the show, "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

It also seems like every flight is full plus the seats are way too close together. High fives between you, on the aisle in coach, and the window seat person when the middle seat is empty.

Two and a half hours of that and you come off the plane like an accordion. And then you take a cab to the hotel.

And that my friends is a story for another time.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           


#MarkMcEwen
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