May is here already?

Time continues to fly. No posts last week, as I was busy with work, the Steve Howe concert, my lawn (one of the many joys of home ownership), spending time with Diana, then jamming with Jeff, then out of town for two days of training at Waste Management regional HQ. Spring is here, and all of nature is coming alive ... and falling in love. Aren't these two sweet?

Steve Howe was magnificent.

The Magic bag in Ferndale, Michigan is a very small, club atmosphere venue, so there were no bad seats in the house. We chose to sit in the middle (as opposed to crowding the stage, that area being without seating, and The Cribs/Franz Ferdinand/Death Cab For Cutie concert the week before having worn out my Standing Room Only legs).

Solo show, six guitars, only one song with backing track ("Soon" with Steve playing slide & singing). He told wonderful stories, and had a fine sense of humor - I was glad he sang on a few songs too.

He also gave autographs after the show - Amy & I each received one, which was nice in and of itself - but the real treat was saying "hi" to Steve, and seeing up close what a genuinely warm and gracious person he is.

The trip to Lombard, Illinois (SW of Chicago) was fun, as usual. I drove the Kia Spectra, about 625 miles round trip, 30mpg.

When I arrived into town (without hotel reservations - the Embassy Suites - Lombard, hotel of choice, was sold out when I tried to book a room ahead of time), I got lucky and there was one room for one night available - a happy event, as I like the Embassy Suites' swimming pool (had an evening swim Sunday night) and wonderful breakfast (cook-to-order, and many carts of other fruits, beverages, breads, etc) in their picturesque lobby.

The training sessions were for STI's CFST (Certified Field Support Technician) program, given at Waste Management's regional offices. Good sessions, good training, if you can ignore the usual excess of corporate-speak and bad philosophy (e.g. "perception is reality"). WM's presenter did a great job, and in addition to the CFST training, any course which includes a goal-setting workshop has to be a good thing!

Monday night included my first ever visit to P.F. Chang's China Bistro.

Good food with good company. I had Mongolian Beef, good stuff. Vanilla ice cream for dessert, one of my favorites ... but fellow Michigander tech Jeremy ordered the cheesecake for dessert, which was quite an artwork. I'll have to order it next time. Funny, I didn't notice the waitstaff checking Jeremy out when she brought his dessert - Jeremy will have to let us know if she slipped him a phone number ... then a quick stop at Taylor Brewing for a nightcap (OK, non-alcoholic for me, thank you very much).

So ... tried to get a second night at Embassy Suites - no luck - ended up at AmeriSuites instead. An OK second best choice, I suppose.

Free breakfast is Continental style, lots of fruits, juices & starches, but they also have a nifty order station, where you can call up hot food using a touch screen and bill to a credit card or room. I couldn't resist!

Nice.

Second day of training wrapped up well before 5:00 pm, and I missed the worst on Chicagoland traffic (though one accident, not mine{!}, held me up for a while).

Fortunately, Detroit rush hours ain't nothin' like Chicago's.

One the way home, south of Benton Harbor, Michigan, I found a Hardee's! Hooray!

Perhaps my enthusiasm only makes sense if you know I was a manager at Hardee's for eleven years ... and all the Hardee's in Southeastern Michigan are gone, sold & converted to Wendy's & Tim Horton's ... which makes me nostalgic when I see a Hardee's still in operation.

And while I would never make it a habit to eat their massive burgers on a regular basis, I still get a big kick out of their willingness to thumb their noses (via explicit statements, no less) at those who'd accuse them of contributing to obesity in America. How do they do this? By providing more dinner choices to folks. Hooray!

One more picture ...

... what happens when the Speed Limit ends? This happened on Six Mile Road, east of Whitmore Lake, Michigan ... I guess at that point you can go as fast as you like!