Not Necessarily Interesting News

For the day 4 trip report see Shannon’s blog here: Sacred walls, famous malls, and batting balls – Day 4

All three of us were wide awake again at 4:30 this morning. Jet lag is no party. Japan is 14 hours ahead of home meaning we are essentially flipping night and day as far as our bodies care. If you’ve ever experienced it you know what I mean. There’s not a whole lot you can do at that time of day but sit around and read. Watching tv is useless as it’s all in a language you don’t speak. No place is yet open that you can get breakfast either. The Executive Lounge of the Tokyo Hilton finally opened at 6:30 so we could get some eats.

This was to be a nice easy morning as we had tickets for Kabuki at the Tokyo National Theatre at noon. As the Kabuki didn’t start until noon we had a bit of time to waste. We left the hotel around 10 and headed towards the theater across the moat from the Imperial Palace. We rode the Maranouichi Line over. It’s amazing how familiar it felt to be walking around Tokyo. It’s always an adventure to roam a different city. We wandered around about an hour before arriving at the National Theatre. There was a bit of trouble sorting out our tickets. We finally figured out where we needed to be. As the entire play is in japanese we needed to pick up translators. We found our seats in the balcony and settled in for what was a four hour play.

One thing I’ve noticed time and again is that the Japanese do not size things for people over six feet tall. I got to sit with my knees crammed into the back of the seat in front of me the entire time. The discomfort was worth it. The play was amazing. The sets were stunning. I’m an old theater stagehand and this stage was huge! They had about a 20 meter turntable that could swap an entire set in less than 30 seconds. It had about 6 elevators too. They used wires for flying actors over the audience in a dream sequence. The costumes were beautiful and extremely detailed. You didn’t even notice time passing and 4 magical hours were gone before you knew it. Sorry, no pics as photography was mercifully not permitted.

After the play we dragged ourselves back to the hotel and took a nap. We were wiped out. After a couple hour nap we drug ourselves out of bed. We could have slept through the night but knew that was bad for adjusting to Japan time. We went down to the subway stop in the basement of the hotel and rode a few stops down the line to Shibuya. Shibuya is _the_ place to be seen for kids in their 20s. Imagine Times Square in NYC. Now grow that out in all directions about 10-15 blocks. At night it’s lit up like Times Square and Las Vegas. The sound of music and people calling from stores to try to get you to come in assaults you from all directions. Even on a Monday night it was packed. Add this to jetlag and it’s like walking through a dreamy haze. We could only manage an hour here before our bodies could take no more. We made out way back to the station and our hotel. At the hotel we took advantage of the free drinks in the Executive Lounge and had a couple vodka cranberries to help us sleep. We collapsed about 10pm hoping we’d be able to sleep longer than a couple hours

After work today I was walking up Broadway and passed Century 21, a huge department store in Manhattan. I thought I’d duck in and look at shoes really quick. Little did I know that a few minutes later I’d be threatening someone with serious bodily injury.

So I went in and looked around for a few minutes. After about 5 mins I decided their prices really weren’t that great and they had nothing I liked. The entire time I had my Shure earphones in and was listening to the latest ‘This American Life’. With those things in I can hear nothing but my music/podcast.

Once I decided the place sucked, I headed towards the door on to Cortlandt. There was a lady in front of me lugging a big ass suitcase trying to get out so I waited a sec for her to get out the door then followed her. I get about 20 feet down the sidewalk and I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look over and there’s a dude in a blazer talking at me. I pop out a headphone and he says ‘Would you mind following me, sir?’ I looked him up and down and said ‘Actually, yes, I do mind.’ then turned and continued on down towards the subway entrance. I feel another tap and turn around, this time a bit more pissed and say ‘What?’. He kid of steps in front of me and says ‘Our door beeped when you left and I need to look in your backpack.’ I told him ‘Like hell you do.’ then stepped around him and kept walking.

Next thing I know there’s about 7-8 of these blazer clad goons standing around me on the sidewalk telling me to follow them. I looked at the guy there that looked like he was in charge and said ‘You guys better get the fuck out of my way or we’re going to have a problem.’ They continued to follow me and another one stepped in front of me blocking my path. I then dared him to ‘fucking touch me and find out what happens.’ I stepped around that goon and got to the top of the stairs headed down to the Cortlandt Street subway stop. As I approached the stairs two of these large guys turned to face me and completely blocked the subway entrance. I walked right up two one of them and said you better get out of my way or you’re going down those stairs the hard way. About now a few people behind me start yelling at them to get the fuck out of the way. I love New Yorkers. 🙂

These two morons stepped aside and I continued down the stairs. Guess who kept following me. By now there were probably 10 of these guys. I get to the turnstile and swipe my card and one of them jumps in front of me and says that I really need to follow them. I again said get out of my way and tried to push past. He kept dancing in front of me. I looked at shorty in front of me and told him he was intimidating me and I will be calling the cops and pulled out my phone. He told me to ‘Go right ahead. They’ll search you and your bags.’ I told him he was full of shit because there’s no probable cause and that he and his buddies had no right to detain me and if he didn’t move he’d be seeing me in court or be hurt. His choice. He apparently got the nod from the leader over my shoulder because he then stepped out of my way.

By then my swipe of the card had expired and I had to re-swipe to get in. I think that’s what pisses me off the most. Those fuckers cost me an extra fare because of their bullshit.

Seriously, do I match the profile of a shoplifter? Those that know me know I do not fit the ‘shoplifter’ profile. I’m so far from that profile it’s not even funny. I’ve never experienced anything like I did today. They knew they couldn’t touch me and I knew that too. I wasn’t intimidated by their antics as much as pissed off that they were getting in my way and implying that I was a shoplifter.

So, in closing: Fuck you, Century 21!

• Went out car looking again today. Found a nice looking 545i locally. Gonna go back tomorrow possibly and test drive it. #
• The mailman brought presents. I'm so excited to have to do this for the third time in 8 years. http://twitpic.com/2o6mxj #
• Shannon on car shopping:"Now I know why I like stick shifts, it reminds me of my penis!" Me:"Wait, what? Do you need to tell me something?" #

• After 2 wonderful weekends at home it's time to hit the road again. I'm DC bound this week. #
• Yesterday my right eye was clearer than the left. Now the opposite. Whee for uneven healing. 🙂 #
• Being right eye dominant and having your right eye be the blurry one is verrrry annoying. #
• #BWI your rental car shuttles suck balls. Too few, too full, too far apart. #

I was asked by a friend how to pack for a long trip using only a carryon bag. As I travel somewhere about 35-40 weeks a year I guess I might know a thing or two about packing light/efficiently.

Before I show the best way to pack first I’ll abuse my power on this site and make you listen to some other rules for travel. If you’d like to get straight to the packing and miss my rant click here:

Some basic rules for travel:

• Never check bags if at all possible. For me, the biggest reason is that I spend enough time in airports as it is without having to show up early to check a bag or wait around 20+ minutes waiting on the bag lottery with 150 other people. I have places to be. I sure don’t want to spend more time in an airport. Another reason is that the airlines can’t lose what they don’t have.
• You know you’re going to go through a metal detector. While you’re waiting in line get all that metal into your bag ahead of time(Keys, change, watch, phone, belt buckle, etc). Unzip your laptop bag. Untie your laces if you have to. In other words “BE READY WHEN YOU GET TO THE XRAY MACHINE.” Stop acting like it’s some sort of surprise that they’re gonna make you take off your shoes or that your belt buckle will set off the detector. If it’s taking you a while, let others past you. Again, I have places to be, grandpa. You’re slowing me down.
• Yes, the TSA agents are surly. Get over it. They get paid no more than a burger flipper and now they are in a position of power. Of course they’re going to abuse it. You _will_ lose any argument with them no matter how right you are.
• When it comes time to board the plane stand back until your group is called. Crowding the agent isn’t going to make her call your group any sooner. And while you’re at it standing back, stop muttering under your breath how unfair it is that Exec Platinum and Platinum members get to board first. I racked up 150,000 Fequent Flyer miles last year. You’re damn straight I feel I should be treated special. The airline knows I paid $700 for my last minute ticket and you paid $125 3 months ago. It’s us business travelers that keep the airlines alive so they can sell you cheap seats. Get over it.
• Once you’re on the plane find your row and get in it. Don’t stand there with your fat ass blocking the aisle while you dig around for a book. There’s 100 other people out on the jet way that would love to get in from the heat/cold too.
• Yes, I know that most airlines don’t serve food anymore. You know why? Because you’re too cheap to buy a ticket that would cover a meal. It’s called competition. When consumers only look at one thing, price, they don’t realize what else they are losing. I’m paying a lot more for my ticket than you and I don’t get a meal either if I’m back in coach. Bring snacks from home. It’s a lot cheaper than $3 for a cookie from the stewardesses.
• Yes, babies happen. You’re gonna end up next to one. One of the best traveling gadgets I’ve bought is a nice set of expensive Shure noise-isolation earbuds. No more baby sounds.

Ok, enough griping. Here’s how to fit 2 weeks of clothes into a single carryon bag.

Start with a decent carryon. There’s two schools of thought when it comes to carryon bags. Buy cheap so it’s cheap to replace it when it falls apart under the strain of a lot of travel or buy expensive with a really good manufacturer’s warranty against damage. My choice is a really nice Briggs and Riley. They have the best warranty around. They replace it if it’s ever damaged, even by the airlines. No questions asked. The only time you need to buy another is if you get bored with the old one.

I’m going to show how to pack all this into this bag with plenty of room to spare.

I’ll pack the following:

• 4 pairs of pants
• 4 polo shirts
• 2 long sleeve dress shirts
• 3 t-shirts
• Workout clothes
• Jammies
• 6 pairs of socks
• 6 pairs of boxers
• 1 pair of shoes
• toiletries
• Room to spare

Start with layering the pants along the bottom of the bag. Let them hang over the edges like in the pictures. Alternate the overhanging layers.

Now is where the art comes into packing this tightly. Forget everything your mother ever taught you about how to fold clothes. Her method is totally wrong when it comes to packing bags. Instead of folding our clothes we’re going to roll them. If we do this step right we will also minimize wrinkles and ironing time when we get to our destination. A good thing in those countries that don’t stock ironing boards as standard in all rooms.

First, lay the shirt out flat on its front.

Then fold it on half.

Fold the sleeves over the shirt.

Start rolling from the bottom. This is where you need to slow down and do it right. If you take the time to smooth wrinkles as you roll that means you’ll have less wrinkles when you unpack. Remember, wrinkles are the enemy. Both for packing and in a business meeting. Wrinkles eat packing space.

When you’re done you’ll have a nice little shirt sausage.

In this pic you can see a single folded tshirt takes about the same space as 4 rolled tshirts. That’s a dramatic difference.

Do the same for your dress shirts. Spend the time now to keep wrinkles out of the shirts. Mine are a bit wrinkly as I pulled them out of the laundry for this demo. For a real trip I’d probably iron mine first. Yours should have less wrinkles at this point.

Once you’re done rolling you’ll have a nice pile like this.

That’s 4 polo shirts, 2 dress shirts, 4 t-shirts, and 5 pairs of boxers in the space that just a few folded shirts would occupy.

Now it’s time to get them in the bag. This is the easy part. I put my shoes along the top. On a real trip I’d put them into plastic bags to keep them from dirtying the clothes. Before you pack the shoes in put your toiletries into the shoes to avoid dead space. It’s a good spot for bulky things like deodorant or electric razors if you like. Then start putting your sausages in. Make sure not to crush them in too tightly or you’ll add wrinkles.

Add another layer on top of those. For this packing that is only two more shirts. I could easily fit in another few shirts, a sport jacket, or maybe some books or business documents. For me, I pack a GPS between layers and put a small bedside fan in one corner of the bag.

After all the rolls are in start folding the pants in over the top and alternate sides.

From the side you can see I’m nowhere near capacity of this bag.

I place all my socks unfolded in the upper compartment.

Ready to zip closed.

Lid is closed. Notice that no stuffing will be necessary to zip it shut. Also see that I didn’t use the bellows that could give me an extra 2 inches of depth. If you use that the bag will not fit in an overhead.

Closing thoughts.
Wrinkles are the enemy. Wrinkles trap air. Trapped air is wasted space. Take the time and roll those shirts tightly/neatly.
Make sure to pack all the rolls with the loose end down or they’ll all unravel on you.
Bring along an e-reader and MP3 player to fight boredom on the flight. Or watch movies on your laptop. Rip the movies to your hard drive so you don’t need to carry DVDs.
Enjoy your trip.

If you found this useful please leave me a comment telling me so.

• Out at the lake trying to stay cool. http://twitpic.com/2h8chf #
• I just bought my first new pair of sunglasses in 20 years. Getting ready for not needing prescription lenses any longer. #
• Now lunch time at EZ's. Shannon's favorite Burger joint. Yum. #
• Yes, that is the correct temperature of Lake Travis right now. 89.9 degrees. http://twitpic.com/2hbezz #
• My first solo week of grading exams. Also have electricians here wiring up the new whirlpool tub. Busy day. #
• Eye doc called to confirm. I'm a go for eye lasering Wednesday afternoon. Whee! #
• From an email in my queue:
  "dear
  sir,
  i want to job plz…….."

  Uh, yeah. You sound qualified. You start Monday. #

• 106degrees outside. I can hear the thunder. Come on, rain! #
• Is it wrong that I greatly enjoy telling exam cheaters that they failed the exam and please don't ever come to another exam again? #
• Really, are glasses such a big hassle that I think it's a good idea to let some stranger cut on my eyeballs with lasers this afternoon? #
• Ok. Let's get this over with. #
• All lasered. Now to wait for blurry to go away. #
• This is so bizarre. Peripheral vision that isn't blurry. Here's a pic seconds after surgery was done. http://twitpic.com/2i6ij3 #
• Lasik + day 1. Sight is amazingly better. Getting halos but that's expected for the first few days until swelling goes down. Liking so far. #
• Just left followup with eye doc. I'm already at 20/25. Much better than my former 20/200. He said it'll get even better to right at 20/20 #
• Getting fun 'new prescription' headaches that I always got after changing eyeglasses in the past. Makes concentrating on work a bit tough. #
• Such an odd thing to get in the mail. How'd they know Swedish Fish are one of my favorites? Spooky. http://twitpic.com/2iegqc #
• Every time I stand up I look for my glasses because I'm not used to a breeze on my eyeballs. #
• My eyes itch so badly but rubbing them is the absolute worst thing I could do to them at this point. I need more 'Eye-lenol'. #
• Busy day. Helped friends moved in the morning and spent a while in the bilge of my parent's boat looking for a hydraulic leak. Wore out now. #

• That's my boy. He loves him some good sushi. http://twitpic.com/2f5id4 #
• I used to have mad gaming skillz. Now I'm getting schooled by my son and his friends. *sigh* Guess I'll go back to board games. #
• Just bumped the #nexusone up to #cyanogen mod 6.0-RC3. Thanks to the guys for all the hard awesome work. #
• I really have no idea what I'm supposed to do with free time anymore. Home is where I do laundry, repack, and leave again the next day. #
• Woohoo! Rain in North AUS. Oh no! Throttle cable broke in Series almost stranding us in the downpour. #
• Starting on filling out expenses for Rio. I don't have receipts for everything because they like cash down there. This should be fun. #
• I'd rather go through a vasectomy without anesthesia than have to deal with #Oracle for doing expense reports. It'd be less painful. #
• My wife is cleaning out the bathroom. She says I have a problem and might need an intervention. http://twitpic.com/2fx8hg #
• At the Apple store. Guy looked funny at me using my Nexus. #
• Is it weird that when working from home I insist on getting fully dressed before starting? I can't get in the right mindset in my jammies. #
• Ok, chrome2phone is pretty damn sweet. #
• At the eye doc seeing if I'm eligible for getting lasered. #
• Just finished poker night at my place. First time in months. Good to see old friends. Even better to take their money. 🙂 #
• I've got the go ahead for lasik. I go in next Wednesday. No more glasses after 32 years if wearing them. #
• Yep. 100+ degrees outside so I decide to do shocks and struts on Shannon's Mustang. Yeah, I'm not too bright. #

• Yep. Sitting on Ipanema Beach sipping fresh coconut juice out of a just opened coconut. http://twitgoo.com/1grrmh #
• I must keep telling myself. Two more days, two more days. #
• Just got off the phone with the doc's office. Going in to see about getting me some lasik all up in my face when I get back from Rio. #
• I just ate what has to be one of the best meals of my life at a true Brazilian churrascaria. God, the meat was amazing. I'm ruined for life. #
• I ate hearts. I don't know what animal they came from but they actually didn't taste bad. A bit chewy. http://twitpic.com/2du4mf #
• I'm torn now. Eye surgery or do I buy back the first car I ever owned? A 1970 Mercury Cougar with a 351 Cleveland. http://twitpic.com/2dz91b #
• My favorite night of my trips: Packing night! #
• Last day. I get to come home. 16 hours of travel ahead tonite. http://twitpic.com/2ea1u9 #
• Made it to the airport in one piece. In 19 short hours I'll be home. #
• I made it back to the States. Woohoo! Now to get hone from Miami. #
• Miami airport at 4am is a little desolate. http://spo.gs/FWxx. #
• Made it into DFW and they cancelled my flight to AUS. I've now been awake 30 straight hours. I wanna be home! #
• Let's try that deserted Miami airport pic again. http://twitpic.com/2eo737 #
• Home at last! #
• At 36 hours my body says it's done. Good night, all. #
• Why, yes, I do believe I'll sit on my ass and play MW2 all day with my son. It's my first full 24 hours at home in over a month. #

• Now that the beach is empty and the traffic is gone I'll get to fall asleep to the sounds of the surf. Ahhhhh. #
• Day one done in Rio. That sure was, um, interesting? This is gonna be fun. (Warning: Fun may not include actual fun.) #
• Picked up some banana strudel from the bakery down the street. OMG, where have you been my whole life? #
• I found where I'll be camped most nights. The small bar/cafe down the street has wifi. Beer and internet. Good enough. #
• Tony the Tiger's evil Brazilian cousin. http://twitpic.com/2bkg2m #
• It is weird to look at my schedule and see zero plane or hotel reservations. #
• 72 degrees in Rio and every student in my class is wearing a sweater or jacket. Lightweights. #
• Just rode past the Land Rover dealer here in Rio. It's physically painful to see a brand new 110 Hi-Cap on the lot and know I can't have one #
• A little something to drink while waiting on some tasty Brazilian prime rib. http://twitpic.com/2bmgui #
• Ok, I booked a tour for tomorrow. I'm gonna go see Jesus and climb to the top of a Sugar Loaf. #
• Walked out my hotel this morning and found a farmer's market that wasn't there before. http://twitpic.com/2c60qn #
• Suck: Getting cash from ATM in Brazil. Getting denied.
  Suckier: Bank in the US is closed until Monday.
  Suckiest: Stuck in hotel all weekend. #
• Mission successful. Spoon acquired. Commence puddification. #
• Raining in Rio this evening. I have the balcony doors open and am listening to the sounds of rain and surf. I'm getting sleepy. 🙂 #
• Wanna be frustrated, Rover buddies? Check out this pic from Rio. http://twitpic.com/2cilt7 #
• Stuck in hotel room all weekend due to credit card company bullshit. I can't leave the hotel as you need cash to move around this shithole. #
• I have become comfortably numb. #
• Send lawyers, guns, and money. The shit has hit the fan. #
• I don't know why Frodo had so much trouble getting past this gate. Couldn't he just walk under it? http://twitpic.com/2cl39z #
• I can now say I've walked on the beach at Ipanema. http://twitpic.com/2ct7no #
• They are serious about their 'smoking is bad for you're messages. http://twitpic.com/2cu9uu #