And so ends the first day. With a deer. Possibly an evil deer.It's Midnight MST and I'm exhausted from jet lag, work, and editing. So this may be a little
My co-worker Marcel and I met for the first time shortly after the previous entry was posted, although we've interacted electronically here and there for a year. He's a super nice guy and the first Venezuelan I've ever met.
Plus we both look younger than we are so that's cool. I pegged him as mid- to late-twenties. Nope. Hermano is thirty-six with three kids. I hope I look that good when I get there.
After spending a few of our remaining Sunday hours on location and meeting Tim (another hella nice IT guy, who says "fer" like me) we decided to get some food. I still felt slightly nauseous if I moved my head too fast, but I was starving. We followed Tim's directions and found a Mexican joint that happened to be closed, but luckily a Thai restaurant was near at hand. Being laid-back fellas we quickly decided that was good enough. Marcel tried a Thai iced tea for the first time and enjoyed it, along with all but licking (ha, butt licking) his plate clean. For my part I made a sizable dent in my tofu Pad Thai but had to take a bunch of it home. In all our getting-to-know-you talk I left the white cube of food at my table, and a very nice Asian woman braved the rain/snow to run it out to me.
Speaking of which, everyone here is nice. I've typed that word a hundred times already, but everyone here is just so nice. Wait staff, other drivers, tourists, everyone. And genuinely, too, not like that east coast stuff we have going for us. I truly believe they're all just good people who'd give me a blanket or a tow if I needed it and wouldn't mind one bit. I love Virginia but it feels good to be in the part of the country I grew up in.
After dinner Marcel and I retired to our rooms and I tried in vain to find something on TV. Really, ScyFy? What is this shit? I used to love you man, but you've changed. All night there was nothing on at all. Have you ever seen the beginning of the original Superman movie? They basically play the whole god-damn film with badly ripped off Star Wars credits. I thought I was watching the end and they were recaping.
Luckily the lovely Kasey was available for phone time, and we talked until we were both exhausted and had to sleep. It reminded me of our long distance courtship. As did the way in which I "slept" like utter shit, if fading out of consciousness for twenty minutes at a time can be called sleep. Sleeping alone is total, total rubbish.
Seven o'clock came early, and I risked a glance in the mirror. I looked and felt like a mugshot. I hopped in the shower and almost orgasmed as both the temperature and pressure melted the tension in my back and made me believe in life again. Which isn't the only great thing about the suite I got put up in. It's spacious, colorful, has a kitchen, desk, big TV, wifi, and comfortable enough bed. I could easily spend more than four days here, if it wasn't for the lack of familial necessities.
I met Marcel for our complimentary breakfast and we both reported slow starts to the day. He read the sports section while I ate grapefruit and yogurt. A multicultural current moved around the compact dining area and I noted two news stories of dangerous animals appearing in populated areas. One was a large alligator in a bathroom and the other was a mountain lion in someone's backyard. I watched as a woman fired a tranquilizer dart from a rifle and mused aloud that I would love that job, as I love to shoot but hate to kill. Marcel told me he doesn't hurt a fly and shoos insects outside (including a tarantula in Haiti once) whenever the occasion calls. Nice guy, that Marcel; he's making a very good impression for Venezuela.
Work went by well. We got a lot done and everyone was helpful and friendly as we discovered the process of moving them over to our network. I took about fifteen pictures of Pike's Peak from office windows as the day went on. In the course of giving us a run down of all the things we had to see in Colorado, one woman off-handedly informed us that the purchase of marijuana was legal in Colorado. I have no idea how this is possible or why I didn't know it before. You'd think it'd be news or something, like when states legalize gay marriage. Maybe I need to read the paper more.
Hunger hit hard around Three and we finally left for lunch. We gave the Mexican place another try, and I had The Best burrito ever. The size of of my son's thigh (which is large, just sayin') and covered in cheese, all the vegetable innards were baked and actually seasoned. I think chefs hate vegetarians and shun us when it comes to giving us the good stuff, but not in Colorado Springs. I wish I had one right now to cuddle with as I fall asleep. Then Marcel busts out with a dessert order of Tres Leches, which is basically a brick of white cake with three kinds of thick, sweet milk poured on it and topped with coconut whipped cream. Yeah, exactly.
I don't know how we did it, being full of that awesomenes, but we got a bit more done at the office before exploring downtown Colorado Springs. We couldn't find any parking so we just drove in circles and took pictures out of the windows before heading to The Garden of the Gods. The visitor center was closed (pft, government hours), but the park itself welcomed us with family photo ops and three deer. We pulled over and took pictures, and I even tried to get Kasey on Skype to show her the prettiness, but I had no signal. Apparently it worked enough though that Jonas saw me and waved, which just breaks my heart. I miss that little jerk.
It kinda started raining so we left and found the Wells Fargo ATM we'd been hunting for down town. Unfamiliar grocery stores always freak me out a little, hitting home the point more than anything that I'm not in Kansas anymore. (I'm not sure if that sentence makes sense, just go with it please.) We took the long way home (thanks entirely to my 3G iPad and Google Maps) and saw more mountains, clouds, and deer. We tried to take pictures, but point-and-shoots can only do so much from a car window in the failing light of evening. I've been spoiled by Kasey's DSLRs and almost can't stand the tiny Olympus I brought with me.
Sadly Jonas fell asleep right as I got in, but Kasey and I spent an enjoyable couple of hours on Skype and our cellies, making faces and watching Cure videos. I showed her my room and she answered Lightroom questions until she needed to go keep Jonas company in our bed.
And then somehow photo/video editing and blogging turned into 1:00am. I suspect I'm getting drone-y, so feast your eyes on yonder Flickr fruits:
Hopefully I'm tired enough to actually sleep, now.
David
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