Back in Town - Briefly

Okay - so technically, I was back in town as of last Wednesday, but this is really the first time I've felt like posting. Mostly, I've just been trying to get back on to a work schedule - and I've been somewhat successful, although not entirely.

And I'm off again as of this Wednesday. April and I are going out to Disneyland for her birthday. So I'll be gone again until early next week.

Now on to the holiday report. Nothing terribly exciting, just the usual headaches of travel and family which usually accompany this time of year. Luckily I missed the worst of the weather in Colorado. By the time I was flying in, they were starting to get caught up, and there were only a few snags. First, the plane was late getting into Phoenix, which meant it was late leaving Phoenix, which meant it was late getting into Denver. When we landed (about an hour late) and taxied to the gate, we had to wait for someone to come out and direct us in, which took about five minutes. And then we had to wait for them to extend the walkway (another ten minutes). And here's the kicker, we had to wait two and a half fuckin' hours for them to get my bags to baggage claim! As near as we could tell, it was because United only had one ground crew working that night, and they were trying to get all the bags which needed to go on connecting flights taken care of first. Bags which were remaining in Denver were of the lowest priority. This of course, included mine. Luckily, these were the only real travel problems I had.

The rest of the holidays went pretty well. My family and I went out to Hawai'i the day after Christmas, and spend a week out there, which was nice. There were, of course, all the usual family . . . tensions is maybe the right word. I like to think of it as tapping dancing around family landmines. As most people have probably noticed, I'm not exactly one to bite my tongue or pay lip-service. But when it comes to family, I often to have go against my natural inclinations and do exactly that. My grandfather's "companion" is one of the those people who always has to be the center of attention, and no matter what story you might have, she has a bigger and better version which she just has to tell you about. For my part, these conversations involve a lot of smiling and head nodding. I am willing to put up with these, however, in exchange for having views like these:

Looking South, with Mauna Kea in the background

Looking Southwest, and although you can't see it, Hualalai is behind the clouds

Looking West, over the ocean at sunset

And before anyone asks, yes, I took these.

Anyway, hope the holidays went well for everyone else! Now, get back to work!