Aaaaaaaaand it's gone...

After many years of protest and controversy, they've finally shut down the Starbucks located inside the Forbidden City in Beijing. *sigh*

Link

From the un-glamourous diary of a road warrior

Yes, road warrior. Not a jetsetter, because jetsetting would be glamourous. And involve no canceled flights. I'm stuck in Detroit. Yes, good ol' DTW. Which let me tell you, if you are a United frequent flyer, is perhaps one of the worst airports to be stuck in. I knew it was going to be bad when they told us over the PA system that Chicago was shut down. Not just delayed, but shut down due to thunderstorms and other related and equally inclement weather.

It was a reflexive motion when I whipped out my phone and dialed United's number and asked for a rerouting. My fellow passengers were fretting and calling their loved ones (who had no power to get them anywhere, no offense). Before the plane even got to the gate, I was confirmed on the next flight out to Dulles, and connecting home to SFO at 1:38am. Total waiting and travel time today including connections: 14 hours. I didn't really think twice about the fact that I would end up flying farther away from home before actually getting home, but you gotta do what you gotta do. In this case, it was get home. Anything beats being stuck overnight in Chicago. I may end up regretting this statement.

So now I'm hanging out at the gate for my flight to Dulles. The laptop is charging via the power cord plugged into the wall, and my blackberry is charging via the USB cable on my laptop. At least my set up is somewhat ergonomic: my laptop is resting on top of my carry-on, and I'm sitting on my Tempurpedic travel pillow for, um, posterior support.

Anyway, so there you have it. The un-glamourous life of a road warrior. I just had some yogurt and a bottle of coke for dinner. Yay for Detroit.

Drive-by "shooting" of 8 Mile and other tales

Today I saw an ostrich poop. This was soon followed by a sighting of a polar bear laying out, and the most misbehaved kids in the world and their matching parents. And then I drove by and shot (a picture of) 8 Mile from the safety of the car -- all while sipping an iced latte that was procured via the drive-thru Starbucks.

Welcome to Detroit.

...but, but...it's tastes good!

*Sigh* What we always knew and didn't want to admit about bottled water:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/117/features-message-in-a-bottle.html