Business Trippin'

As previously mentioned, I am swimming my way through a week's worth of business training. For this particular night, I have chosen to skip the commute and stay in a hotel. I picked the hotel via (1) the Internet; and, (2) personal knowledge of the area. The hotel is located within my childhood stomping grounds, so I figured it'd be an okay adventure. I must say that if you like the color puke mustard gold, you'd love this room. If you love the landing pattern of O'Hare (and, I do), you'd find this room to be is orgasmic. It's not exactly like the hotel in Mexi-louis. It's a two-star business hotel, meaning: don't walk on the carpeting without your shoes on and don't sit on the bed spread. Here's the view out the window.


The wife professed concern for my safety. I assured her the only danger I was in was related to eating myself into a food coma. When in training or on the road, I find the most appropriate way to cope is by eating copious amounts (okay, obscene amounts) of food. Right now, I have a horrific stomach ache. Might be due to all the crap I consumed.....or, it might be related to the volume of hot peppers I ate during dinner. Or, maybe it's because I've had three different coffee products today. Hard to tell.

Whatever the reason, I'd pay good money for some Tums right now. Ooof.

I've been to Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, Subway and Mc Donalds today. This does not include the pizza I ate during lunch. There is something very wrong with visiting FOUR fast food places in one day, especially when none of the four trips were for the major meal of the day. I also went to Whole Foods for a latte and some cookies, so that makes FIVE places plus a pizza. See why the wife should fear for my safety? Food. Coma. Extraordinaire. (I am in such a food coma that I'm using actual names of places. I'm too miserable to be creative with franchise names.)

Here I am in front of my place of dinner dessert:


I've made a new little Russian friend--a perky thing who really doesn't understand what is going on in this training. She kept saying, "you vant peee-zza, no?" Russian grrrl was very insistent--she REALLY, REALLY wanted pizza and she wanted her training mates to join her. I was entertained by her and since she reminded me of Yulia, a Russian classmate at NIU during my master's degrees days, I agreed to join the pizza brigade. I had a generous serving of Chicago-greasy-pizza for lunch--I had to eat more than anticipated because one of the four people going in on the pizza backed out once he found out there was meat on half the pizza. I assured him there was no meat on "our" side of the pizza but this was very traumatic for him and he literally ran out of the room. He takes his vegetarianism VERY serious, I'm thinking.

Tomorrow, I'll go back to healthier ways and will eat something like this (see photo) instead of some greasy pizza product. This is a photo of the Whole Foods salad I made myself on Monday. I love Whole Foods. I could live there. I could eat there every day of my life. If only there was one close to our house. If only there was one within 50 miles of our house. Even if Russian grrrrrl begs me to do otherwise, I am going to Whole Foods and I am going to enjoy a beautiful salad.

That and some Whole Foods cookies......

.....Well, and some Dunkin' Donuts coffee.....




........Did I mention the ice cream I'll have on the way home?