Tails from the road

Points to Shadowrun.  I figured she might know where I was a few weeks back.  After all, I was kinda in the neighborhood (if not across the state).  I had a business conference in Chicago for a few days at the end of June.  I'll admit I've been to Chicago many times but usually it is either passing through or visiting plants on the west side of Chicago.  I have never been downtown so I took the opportunity to check out the local flora and fauna.  I got in a couple of nice long runs along Lake Shore Drive, found an amazing pizza place (Blaze Pizza) that makes your pie in 3 minutes, hiked across downtown to visit some of the tourist sites, took the "L" train back to the airport.  Pretty good conference, a nice break from the daily headaches at the office.  One more city off my bucket list.       

Chicago Skyline

Navy Pier

Cloud Gate

Water wall

Two guesses where what TV show this fountain is featured in

Some really good pizza

Last weekend I took an extended trip up to New Braunfels (south of Austin) with my brother and his family to spend some time tubing on the Guadalupe River.  It's sort of a summer tradition down here in Texas.  Take a scorching day and go spend it floating down the river on inner tubes with a few hundred other people trying not to get fried.  Momma and SIL were not able to go so I took the furry kids instead.  First time they've been to the river.  For two old hot dogs (who don't swim), it was an interesting weekend.  Hot, wet, & overfed but I think they made out just fine.  

We even squeezed in a side trip to a local dog park that just opened up.  

  

Farewell 131

Sad day yesterday as we bid farewell to 131.  Many miles, many memories.  

All hooked up and ready to roll

Passing of the torch

Claire was just overcome with the whole deal.  

Life's a parade

Still working on catching up.  The past two weeks have been busy trying to close out the fiscal year for the company so there are a ton of things that have to get done by the last day (yesterday).  Last minute projects, orders, reports, etc.  Please don't get me wrong - I not complaining about the chaos.  I've been in places and had jobs that were a lot worse.  Besides, being busy keeps me out of mischief (well, almost).  And to top that, I am headed out on the road again on Monday for another supplier audit.  Heading south of the border for this one.  Certainly will make for an interesting road trip.   

Last weekend was the Art Car Parade.  This is a big annual 5 day street festival where people "decorate" there cars or whatever rolls as "art".  This parade has actually been going on in Houston for 28 years, but I have only started going to in the last 4 years.  Pretty crazy cars/contraptions that roll in the parade.  The past two years, I have gone to the parade and thought I would bring the dogs.  Lots of people/activities with more than a few four legged kids on the sidelines.  The parade rule say to leave pets at home but I decided to blow that off this year and take my two kids.  Turned out to be a great time and, as usual, they got plenty of attention.  Some of the same cars as from last year, a lot of new entries.  Interesting what people do to their rides in the name of art.

Kinda makes my ride look boring.  

  

Customer service

Happy 4th of July, ya'll!  This is not the favorite holiday for my two furry children.  Try not to eat too many hot dogs or blow something off in celebration.    

Got myself a father's day present.  I have been eyeballing this trinket for a while.  It is a trailer lock from Deadbolt called a Blockhead.  It is designed to keep someone from hooking up and taking off with a trailer.  Normally, I find it hard to imagine someone would be looking to steal an 18 year old trailer, but chance favors a prepared mind.  Always looking for a deal (translation:  cheapskate), I scoured the net for the best price for this lock and found the best deal at e-trailer.com and placed my order.  Took it a while to get here but when it did, I was mildly disappointed.  Turns out they sent the wrong model.  The model I had ordered was a aluminum block that matched the trailer skin.  There is a second model that is in high visibility yellow that is supposed to be some visual deterrent to someone looking to steal a trailer.  Sort of a clear warning flag that to potential thieves  and miscreants to move on.  

Now, both locks are the exact same.  They cover the tongue and are very secure.  I had just wanted mine to be similar in color to the trailer.  I was debating if it was worth the cost & hassle to send it back and get the original block when I got a follow up e-mail from the company asking for my feedback on my order.  I responded that, while I did get the order, the model of the lock was wrong and I was pondering keeping it or sending it back for the other model.  I wasn't really complaining per se, I was just debating my options and letting them know that their actual inventory might be incorrect.  I hadn't made up my mind on the deal when a day later I got a message from the supervisor of Customer Service apologizing for the mix up and indicating that the correct lock was being shipped down along with a return authorization to ship back the other lock.  Pretty much took all of the headache out of the return.  The lock arrived last week and all I had to do was drop the other one in the box and ship it back out.  Easy-peasy.                   

I have to admit, I was not initially impressed with the company when I got the original order, but their response to make it right has really scored points in my book.  I drafted a response back to them thanking them for their efforts.  Good customer service (especially after the sale) is sometimes a lost art dying, but these guys really stepped up and that puts them high on my list.  

Fall football

Excellent trip.  Short, not much of a drive, ate too much, got sunburned, way too hot, game went well, everything worked as expected, dogs are worn out.  

Saturday was our first game of the season.  We've been doing this for about 10 years now, so it is pretty much old hat.  Load up the trailers, head north to campus, set up camp, pull out the awnings/canopies, fire up the A/Cs, set out the fans.  When I hit the parking lot Friday afternoon, the truck was reading 101.  At those temps, it takes a while for the A/C units to cool things off.  

    

I took the opportunity to walk the dogs over to campus.  They love the exercise and chance to meet new people.  Of course everyone loves Goldens, so they got more than their fair share of attention.  I was thinking I was going to have to ice down Claire's tongue.  Along the way, I spotted all sorts of tailgate set ups.  I've seen this one for several years.  Look closely and you'll see it is a BBQ smoker.  
  

With the temps hovering near 100, I am always mindful of the dogs.  I carry water and a collapsible bowl for them, but I worry that the heat will be too much for them (especially Claire).  That's why I map out my route to take us to several fountains on campus.  Now most are inaccessible for the dogs - bench/lip too high, water too deep.  However, one on campus is a pond with a low access that is easy for the dogs.  When it is this hot, I normally wind up taking them there to cool off and get a drink.  Of course this garners them more attention (aww, How cute).      

Packed up early Sunday for the short trip back home.  We had hoped to head to Austin, but we'll have to leave that for another day.  Glad to have the extra day in the weekend to catch up on my chores/projects.  From the look at the dogs on the way home, I'd say this weekend was a success in their book.
     

Next weekend is another game I am planning to attend.  I only hope that the temps are a bit more fall like.  The following weekend I am out on the road again for a week to an undisclosed destination.  Flights are booked, agenda in place, reservations made at the site. For this trip, I have set aside a few extra days to explore/visit.  I am looking at a set of accommodations today that are totally different than my normal haunts.  No Grand Hyatt this time.