Vacation Day 1

6 a.m.: Woke up and reminded myself I didn't have to go to work today. Extra points because it's raining outside, so I didn't have to get out of bed to walk in the rain.

8 a.m.: Moved from the bed to the sofa to watch the news in HD. Coffee on. Laptop booting up.

9 a.m.: Read the online news and blogs; checked email. SCORE: The Huffington Post commented on the travel report I've been working on for the past month. Had a few proud, gloating moments to myself before researching the travel news of today.

10 a.m.: The Sound of Music-themed hotel in Salzburg has been put on hold. This put a damper in my day. I am one of "The Sound of Music" fans who was actually considering a trip to Salzburg just to stay at this hotel.

11 a.m.: Off to the dentist to get a cavity re-filled. Not a new cavity, thank you very much, but a crack in the current one.

11:30 a.m.: Big needle in mouth. Hate. This. Part.

11:35 a.m.: Cannot feel my mouth. Tongue numb. Ears tingling. Numb. Nice lady in blue scrubs gives me dark-colored glasses to put over my eyes so random tooth pieces don't go flying into my eyes.

1:00 p.m.: Home from dentist. Still numb. I don't think I have a tongue. Ears still tingling. Novocaine numbed entire right side of my face. Numb, numb, numb...

----

Waiting anxiously for Novocaine to wear off. I hate this part - I hate feeling "not myself." This is likely why I never got into drugs, although I suppose the feeling I get from a good bottle of wine could be considered a good high.

Dinner tonight with a co-worker at one of my favorite restaurants in Boston.

The Starbucks Effect

I'm working on a report due the moment I walk in the office Monday morning. I've spent the past few months working on this in hopes it delivers exactly what we need: notoriety. In working on this report, I've spent countless hours on phone interviews, email chats with analysts overseas and online researching stats and forecasts. Today I devoted all day to completing this report. My reward: window shopping at the Natick Collection tomorrow. I'm a firm believer in window shopping - no need to purchase; a little imagination goes a long way.

In order to stay true to my deadline, I needed a change of scenery. I've worked on this report in the office and in the apartment and everything is just stale. This morning, I bundled up, grabbed my laptop and walked to Starbucks. I grabbed the first table near an outlet, spread out my paper work and powered up the HP. I ordered my grande Pike Place, got my 10 percent off thanks to my Starbucks Gold Card, and started writing.

Louie Armstrong is blowing his horn over the sound system. It's the holidays, and everything from the paper cups to the tracks spinning on the Starbucks stereo system says so.

The lines come and go, and Jenna behind the counter comes out to check on me every so often.

"You doing OK? Can I get you anything?"

"Nah, I'm OK... just plugging away."

"That man would like to buy you a coffee," she says, and points to a white-haired and wrinkled older gentleman who I've seen around the neighborhood. He's a friend of my landlord's; I believe his name is Gus.

"Thanks," I say, and wink in Gus' direction.

The place is filling up again. Starbucks seems like everyone's retreat. Here, there doesn't seem to be a recession - at least not one that a good cappuccino or a salted hot chocolate can't fix.

Thursday Night Drinks...

...for a Friday a.m. hangover.

That's how this day goes.

Gustav, Gustav, Go Away!

MSNBC.com says, "We know it's going to head into the Gulf. After that, we're not sure where it's heading," said Rebecca Waddington, a meteorologist at the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. "For that reason, everyone in Gulf needs to be monitoring the storm. At that point, we're expecting it to be a Category 3 hurricane."

We're still three days away, and according the map (see below) Gustav isn't scheduled to touch the US until Saturday. The fear then becomes getting home... if Gustav is tearing through the Gulf Coast from Saturday on, flying home might be a problem. I realize this blog is focused on travel adventures, but even I have my limits.

It's too early to call it, but it doesn't look good. Stay tuned...

Meanwhile, over at "On Common Ground," MFTM gives you job seekers some sound advice when it comes to applying for jobs. We realize it's a tough job market and we're sympathetic to that but, if you're going to apply for jobs, please pay attention.

Tom the Doorman

This morning, as I was packing up my bag for the day -- shoes, sandwich, banana, cell phone, make-up -- I realized that the scarf I usually have tied on the shoulder strap of my bag was missing. I wasn't devastated -- it wasn't one of my more expensive scarfs or something with sentimental value. It was merely an accessory to my work bag, and so off I went to work.

Stop at Starbucks: One grande dark roast, please. Reminder: Must buy coffee this weekend so I can save on buying coffee during the week.

Coffee in hand, I head to work. Upon entering the building I start to fumble in my big bag for my security card, which I can never find. I say hello to Doorman Tom. He's a pleasant fellow -- smokes about a pack a day, always says "hello" when you walk in, and is either pushing 70 or just looks it because of the decades of cigarette smoking. I've always had suspicions about om being a bit of a pervert. When the building first introduced the security cards, we had to have our picture taken. After Tom asked to take my picture for the fourth time, I started getting a little suspicious. The fifth time he asked to take my photo I ran for the elevators.

However, I was pleasantly surprised this morning when he pulled my scarf out from one of his desk.

"Is this yours?" he asked? "It was left in the elevator last night."

Oh wonderful! Thank you, Tom. And then Tom the Doorman said, "I thought you were trying to leave me a message."

Oh Tom...No.