I decided to start blogging again. My life isn’t that exciting that a blog is necessary, but it is a good way of sharing my thoughts. I suppose this makes my thoughts public, but since few know of my blog, it comes down to security through obscurity.
Sleep
I slept very well last night. Due to a personal situation, I felt it necessary to take a bit more “sleep aid” than usual. I slept for 8 hrs 40 minutes with being asleep 88% of my total duration in bed. I allude to this situation in the post below.
Trip to Indiana
October 17th
Last week, October 17-20 I returned to Indiana to see my friend, Neil. This is the first time I’ve been to Indiana in over ten years. With Neil moving around so much, I never thought I would be back in Indiana. Since this travel involves Newark Liberty International Airport, it is always a bit of a crapshoot if the travel would be problem free. My flight was at 6:57 AM and boarding was at 6:34 AM. I left my house at 3:58 AM and got to the off-airport parking around 4:30 AM. I had to wait a few minutes for the shuttle, but I was at the airport by 5 AM. I was pleasantly surprised in that the TSA process went smoothly and efficiently, even for that time in the morning. I was at the gate one hour before boarding. For those who know me, “only” being an hour early is personal growth. The flight not only took off early from Newark but landed early at Indianapolis. The only unexpected event was that I had to gate check my duffel bag. It is the first time I ever had to gate check a bag. Upon arrival, I was told to not wait at the gate for the bag but rather go to carousel 2. I high-tailed it to the carousel and to my pleasant surprise, my bag (which had no identification on it) was one of the first off of the carousel. Neil met me within 2 minutes of my arrival at the carousel.
We went to Garden Table on Mass Ave. for brunch. I had to drink, a “Hoosier Heater” which contained apple, spinach, kale, cilantro (barely tasted the soap), jalapeño, and lime. It had a nice kick to it and I was thirsty from the travel (a glass of water and a stroopwaffel only goes so far). To eat, I had a nice omelette.
After brunch we went to the Indiana State Museum, which I went to many years earlier. I really enjoy visiting that museum and learning about the notable people of Indiana as well as its rich history.
In the afternoon, Neil, Alex, and I went to see Tron: Ares (3D) in their town of Columbus, Indiana. The nice thing about seeing a movie in a small town in a small state (population wise) is that there are less people at the theater. For our showing of the movie, we were the only ones in the theater (4 PM on a Friday). It was like we had a private showing. Alex didn’t like that, he prefers full theaters. Well, I liked it.
In the evening we had dinner at the Upland Brewing Company. They are a small chain with locations in Indianapolis, Bloomington, Jeffersonville, and Carmel. In the past I have been to the one in Bloomington. I had a burger which was ok, but it had these “hard things” in it that made me not finish it, however, the potato salad was good. Neil and Alex had nachos which they said wasn’t very good. If we went again, I’d likely order something different.
October 18th
On the 18th we first went to Nashville, Indiana. For those familiar with New Hope, PA, it is very much like that, but with better parking. It is an artist’s mecca filled with many cute shops featuring everything from books to crafts. We had brunch there at The Bird’s Nest Cafe. I had some really good French Toast. October 18th was also the day of, what turned out to be, an international No Kings Day protest. In ruby red Indiana I was pleasantly surprised to see such a turnout in Nashville, which is in Brown County.
After Nashville, we went to Bloomington, IN. Alex had homework to do so we dropped him off at IU’s Herman B. Wells Library. I wanted to see the Janeway statue and as luck would have it, we found a space less than two minute’s walk from it.
We walked around campus and ran into Bloomington’s No Kings protest. The turnout in Bloomington was impressive, even if the town is one of the “blue” hotspots of Indiana. The other two are in northwest Indiana in Lake County (near Chicago) and in Indianapolis.
Neil and I relaxed at The Tap Room and had some beers as we watched the IU game (they won). The three of us had dinner at The Uptown Cafe. I had the mushroom jumbalaya which was very good. Afterwards, we went to The Comedy Attic where we saw Nico Carney. Nico was quite funny, their act was mostly regarding life as a transgender person.
October 19th
We had brunch in Columbus at a nice little cafe whose name I forgot. I had an omelette with a side of fruit and a gigantic cup of coffee. We dropped Alex off at a building that he needed to view for some homework he had to do. Neil and I then headed east, first to check out a dispensary in Ohio and then off to Cincinatti to the Hard Rock Casino. We signed up for their free casino cards and got a good deal, $25 in slot play and $25 for food. I was able to stretch that $25 out for quite a few hours. In total, I lost $125. For lunch we had decent pizza and considering it was free, it was a good deal. On the drive back a wrong turn was made and we were briefly in Kentucky.
October 20th
This was a travel day. For various reasons, I did not sleep well. Let’s just say there was a discussion on the way back from Cincinatti that I will never forget. Neil got up early and we drove to the airport. After a brief stop to get fuel and something to drink, the GPS got a bit confused and thought we needed to drive south to the airport. Luckily Neil knew the way and the GPS eventually corrected itself. This was also during the global AWS outage. The two possibly could be related. We got to the airport about 45 minutes before boarding. Neil and I sat down and had a nice chat, then I hugged him goodbye and went to TSA. Surprisingly, TSA out of Indianapolis was slightly more difficult than Newark. I had to go through extra screening due to the size of toothpaste I brought with me. Oddly enough, it wasn’t an issue flying out. I got to the gate about 10 minutes before boarding. Luckily, going back I did not have to gate check my bag. The flight took off early and we landed early (at Newark!). The process for getting the off-airport parking shuttle has changed but was great. The app automatically knows your location and notifies for pickup, no calling necessary. I found the car easily in the large lot (I wrote down the parking space number). The drive back via the NJ Turnpike was uneventful and I got home at 11:58 AM full of memories of a good time and that of a difficult conversation, that I hope someday leads to growth and a stronger friendship…or no friendship at all.