Au Bon Painful

Early this morning before dawn we washed up on Croc Island, a small traffic island in the middle of downtown Detroit. It was an unfortunate spot, and led to our worst finish line day this tour. We were well away from the main foot traffic from the finish line, and I have to wonder who we ticked off to get sent to the corner for time-out.



In my sleep-deprived state at five in the morning, this fountain was mesmerizing. It was particularly interesting because it would shoot up streams of water and then shoot a secondary stream to collide with the first one to make the water appear to explode in midair.



It was also cold out, and even with bundling up, we were still inclined to huddle up to conserve heat.



I also had one of the worst cafe experiences of my life this morning at Au Bon Pain. I had never experienced an Au Bon Pain before, but I'd heard they were supposed to be good. My experience doesn't jive with that reputation. They were understaffed, and the employees that were there were for the most part freaking out running around like chickens with their heads cut off doing nothing in particular. I waited to order a drink for nearly five minutes while one of them got angry looking for cream cheese. I decided to get some hot chocolate, and immediately regretted it as I watched them steam milk and add some Herseys chocolate syrup to it. I was willing to reserve judgement until after tasting it, but after tasting it I was not surprised to find it tasted like steamed milk with a hint of Herseys syrup. At least I got in and out before the line got obscenely long (below).



Our resident Texan had an interesting sense of style when it came to cold-weather gear.



After waiting around to sell approximately 4 pairs of shoes this morning, we headed back to the hotel and decided to try White Castle for lunch. I didn't really know what to expect, but apparently all they have are sliders (mini-burgers) and sides. Stephen decided we were getting a case of sliders (30 of them). We managed to finish 21 between five of us, but Nate and I were responsible for more than half of them. Somehow it was brought up that this supposed eating contest that's going to take place between Nate and I should be to each try to finish a case of 30. I hope they for get this idea quickly. I'd much rather attempt the 72oz steak than 30 greasy mini-burgers.



In other news, there are multiple honors for the caption contest for the last post. Derek for the obscene amount of word-play on Crocs, Joey for making me laugh the most, and my mom for identifying several things correctly (probably more than she knows), including picture #1.

That first photo is what happens when labor union rules get overcomplicated to the point of being absurd. We're not allowed to put down our own flooring at many expos in union buildings, so instead guys my dad's age show up and crawl around putting together our puzzle-piece floor that a four year old could figure out. And then charge us a large sum of money for their time.

Caption Contest

So this will be a good old fashioned caption contest. Quotations or humorous comments also work. The winner, as judged by me, wins a free dinner courtesy of me next time I'm in your neck of the woods, (or if you're traveling with me, sooner). The rules stipulate that you have to come up with responses for at least four of the six images in the comments to this post. Other than that, it's a free-for-all. I'll probably pick a winner by the end of the weekend. GO!

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6)


Bonus points to anyone who isn't a part of the tour that can identify what's going on in #1.

Thinking

Today I did stuff! Molly and I went for lunch at Jimmie John's. After that, we picked up Lyndsay and did what is apparently THE fall activity for Michgan residents in the fall when the leaves fall and fall is in the air. We headed out to the Franklin Cider Mill. There we found all manner of pumpkins, gourds, jams, jejjjjjjjjjjuujjjjjjjjjj oh crap the _ key on my keyboard _ust broke off. Where was I? - _ellies, applesauce, carmelized popcorn, cheese, meats, apples, fudge, baked goods, apple pie, and of course, apple cider and fresh donuts.



We didn't really get to see the whole cider press process, but it was interesting to see a water wheel in motion.



they also had done some interesting work using license plates. See Molly's blog for some more examples.



I went with the classic cider and donut combo, and also bought some apple bread and a half gallon of cider for breakfast in the morning. I opted out of getting "a apple" as I was confused by which way the apple would keep the doctor and if that was a good thing or not.



After a stop at Walmart to fix a taillight, I returned to the hotel where I had a fairly productive afternoon. I did my monthy expense report, and after that I sat down and pondered what exactly happens to me as of December 7th. I pulled up blank text documents in order to put some thoughts down on (electronic) paper. - things like how I will translate this _ob onto my resume, what I want from my next _ob, places I'd like to live (below), and resources I should utilize in pursuing a _ob. While I didn't actually do any specific work on getting a _ob (here on called a "position"), I now feel much more focused. I refocused goals, prioritized, and now comes the action.



No, I don't know why I seem to have taken to taking pictures of my laptop screen rather than _ust a screenshot or something. Get over it.

After all that thinking, I needed some food. Nate and I headed over to Olive Garden where, thankfully, nothing awkward happened and the waitress even brought extra mints with the check (SCORE!).

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Best Buy. Nate and I spent a while looking at TVs while he pondered which model he'd like for his apartment he's moving into in Dallas.



I also stumbled upon a glorious sight, the new Macbook! I'm still drooling over it (or the pro, can't decide which I'd want more), and now that I don't have a friggin' _ key, I have another excuse for why I should think strongly about replacing my four and a half year old laptop with one infinitely superior. I spent a while messing around with it and simply admiring it's asthetic qualities, and I was amazed by the new three and four fingered gestures for the touchpad.



So, tomorrow it's back to work. Things are good. Yeah, the economy sucks, "position" prospects aren't good as a result, I'm hungry and I _ust recently ate, and I'm lacking a key on my keyboard. But things are really good.