Sometimes I’m really in awe of modern transportation. It’s crazy to think I can wake up in Texas and then in a matter of hours be at coastal state. This makes me think of an old Louis CK joke. I know he has a bad reputation, but when it comes to commercial flying, he makes a great point.
I was on an airplane and there was high speed internet. That’s the newest thing I know that exists. And I’m sitting there and they go ‘open up your laptops you can go on the internet,’ and it’s fast, and I’m watching YouTube clips, I’m in an airplane! And then it breaks down, and they apologize that the internet’s not working, and the guy next to me goes ‘ugh, this is bullshit.’ Like how quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only like 10 seconds ago!
Flying is the worst one because people come back from flights and they’re telling you their story, and it’s like a horror story. They act like their flight was a cattle car in the 40s in Germany. They’re like, ‘it was the worst day of my life! First of all, we didn’t board for like 20 minutes and then they made us sit there on the runway for 40 minutes! We had to sit there!’ Oh really? What happened next? Did you FLY in the AIR incredibly like a BIRD? Did you partake in the miracle of human flight, you non-contributing zero?! … You’re sitting in a chair in the SKY! Here’s the thing: people say there’s delays. Delays? Really? New York to California in 5 hours. That used to take 30 years! And a bunch of you would die on the way there, and have babies… you’d be a whole different group of people by the time you got there. Now, you watch a movie, you take a dump, and you’re home!”
I’m using Google Travel for the first time, and I’m pretty impressed. Basically, you put your itinerary on there, the date, time and location (confirmation codes, personal notes) of where you’ll be. But what I think is cool is that it calculates the time and distance (walking or driving) between places, so you know when to wrap up what you are doing to leave. Check out the circled items below.
The kids were at their grandparents’ last weekend. Yet, I still got to FaceTime with them for half an hour on Saturday. My ex’s best friend was there and surprisingly came to one of their screens to say hello to me. I thought that was a very noble thing to do. I’ve always admired her integrity.
Thankfully, we’ve had zero trouble at the airports.
This display caught my attention in our hotel lobby.
I’m sure with each vacation, I’ll get used to not having the “family” moments I envisioned because of the divorce. It’s been easier this go around, but there are a lot of moments in which I want to send my ex pictures of the kids doing things I think she would enjoy or appreciate. But, because she doesn’t want that kind of relationship, I have to respect those boundaries. For instance, while at the National Cathedral, I caught both kids sneaking in a prayer. We also ate a place I knew she would have adored.
The kids told me their grandfather gave them money to buy souvenirs from the trip, but both told me they refuse to, and for different reasons. One, felt that it was a way of helping their mother prove I can’t afford to take care of them or financially able to take them on this trip. The other felt it means more if I buy the souvenirs, because it would be a gift from me to them. That the grandfather’s true motive was an act of replacing me, as if the souvenirs were directly coming from him so he could get all the credit. I did my best to broaden their scope, but I do fear the things they might are being told to make them think of such things.
Riding up the elevator last night were two young adult women. For the heck of it, I told them we were from Texas and asked where they were from. They laughed and told me to guess, but I asked them if they could tell me if they were from the U.S. Both giggled, looked at each other, and playfully said, “Do we look like American girls?” I told them we’re a culture pot, so yes, and then one of them gleefully told me Qatar, but with the hard “Q”, and that I probably never heard of it. I said, “Ah yes, it’s spelled with a Q.” Both seemed very surprised, and I followed it up with, “But I know some folks pronounce ‘cutter’.” Both let out loud laughs, pointed at me, and told me, “YES, that’s right. You knew that?!” Then, they walked out of the elevator, never to be seen again. I didn’t take it as flirting, but it seemed to have made their evening.
