Day 15 - Stamford

I took a short drive - 225 miles - to have lunch with a wonderful friend whom I haven't seen in maybe 7-8 years in Stamford, Connecticut. I'll call her Helena.

On the way I had to drive on several thruways in New York City (not downtown, of course) and it is pretty nerve racking for anyone not familiar with the roads. Lots of fast driving and quick decisions. Tommy Jr. got me through it pretty well. It amazes me how we become dependent on new technology and seem to forget the 99% percent of our life when we didn't use it. Funny how I feel naked and vulnerable without my cell phone when I had no such thing for the first 45 years of my life. In Baltimore I got lost without my GPS and it was as though I forgot how to ask for and follow directions. [Aside: After looking all over for the pair of drug store reading glasses I'm currently using, I gave up and went to my back ups to write this. Where were the one's I couldn't find? Where else, hanging in the front of my shirt. Senility is really a swell thing] I'm a notorious technology abuser and skirt chaser. The laptop on which I'm writing this is my 15th. I've had at least 20 cell phones. I like to keep up and new toys have always been big with me. Actually , new anything has always appealed to me. Hope that's not why I go through relationships like shit trough a goose. Staying on the cutting (but not bleeding) edge of technology has not really served me that well because I am not the guy that they are building this shit for. For example, keyboards are a nightmare for me. My son and daughter in law gave me an iPod Touch two Christmases ago and it's a beautiful thing. But trying to type URL's on it is a nightmare for me. So hard that I got a Blackberry for my email. The keys on the Blackberry are too small as well, but they are static not virtual like the IPod. I do have 2000 songs on the iPod which I use religiously during workouts and car trips. Bored?

My lunch with Helena was really nice. She is so smart and refined and totally down to earth and unassuming. I'm no Renaissance Man (well I sort of think I am -- a little) and I love to talk about art and movies and books and television and technology and if I have to, the fucking news. I don't get to do it that much -at least, all at once - except with her. We met ten years ago when I lead the team that bought her company and integrated into my old company. We have gotten to be really good friends since then and stay in touch by email always.

My hotel was a Courtyard in downtown Stamford. I let out a little groan when I saw it because it was soooo much better than that shitrag in Baltimore. Why didn't I come here a day sooner? There are literally more than 50 restaurants in easy walking distance. Unfortunately, I chose Bobby Valentine's Sports Cafe or whatever, and had an overcooked tasteless burger but so what. My stay was short and sweet and I was ready to hit the road again.

Thanks for reading.