August 28, 2011

• Last Week In Iowa

  So based on my previous post you may know that I was in Iowa for the past week for work. Well there was nothing too overwhelmingly exciting that happened to me, at the very least I should briefly summarize the trip. The car service picked me up about 2:25 in the P.M. for my 5:15 flight. By the time we got to our hotel right near the Des Moines airport it was nearly 7, which means that I could have driven it in the time it took from me to go from my door to the hotel. And I wouldn't have had to deal with all the bullshit of flying and could have packed as much as I wanted. But, I would have missed the chance at a full body pat down!

  We wound up staying at the Hampton Inn. Nothing extravagant, although my cab driver claimed sitting U.S. presidents stay there when in town. I did like the hotel though, it was clean, they had a workout room, free internet access in the lobby and a free breakfast every morning. When I say breakfast I mean an actual breakfast, not just a bagel and coffee. They had free eggs and potatoes and you could make your own waffle as well. Why is it that the ritzy four star hotels don't have free breakfast but the cheapo hotels do? Shit, if I'm paying a left testicle for a room the least they can do is throw in breakfast.

  The car I wound up renting was a Chevy Impala, which is a big upgrade from my 10 year old Cavalier. We also had a GPS which did and did not come in handy, at least when it wasn't busy leading us down the incorrect roads. Still it was a nice change of pace to have a car that had good pick up and the ability to play my IPOD and whatnot.

  The lady I was with was old enough to be  my mom and although very nice, not the type that went out at night. So, pretty much every night I went out it was by myself. Sunday night I took a cab into downtown Des Moines and went to a couple of bars. Nothing too exciting though. Sunday night was the last night of the Iowa State Fair, so I think a lot of people were out that way instead of downtown.

  Monday was a half day at the company we were going to about 70 miles south of Des Moines. We had to be there by 12:30 and after getting a little lost on the way down there, we arrived right about noon. The place was tiny and to be honest, kind of primitive. The training would be held in a little conference room right next to the presidents office. I will have to go into more detail about the actual training in a separate, protected post. The rest of this post will focus on non work stuff.

  Monday evening we went to dinner at a really good pizza place in Des Moines. I didn't do anything Monday night after dinner except talk on the phone to some friends. Tuesday night though, after dinner at a great Mexican place, I went to a couple of gay bars in Des Moines. Nothing too exciting, I couldn't even get somebody even talk to me.

  The next night I went out was on Thursday. I went to a piano bar called Blue Moon. I love piano bars. Even though I was by myself, I knew I would have a good time and this was no exception. For those of you who have never been to a dueling piano bar, you might not know what to expect. People seem to think piano bars are classy, lounge type music but that couldn't be further from the case. What it actually involves is the piano players taking requests from the audience along with making up songs about sex and drinking and making fun of people in the audience. For example, I brought up a song request and when I was walking back to my seat one of the piano players called me an Israeli Forrest Gump! I was dressed kind of nerdy but am Italian and not Israeli. I found it funny though. For those of you keeping track, I have now  been confused for being Israeli, Arabic, black and most commonly, Hispanic of some sort.

  After a half day on Friday morning, we headed back home. Although I had been to Iowa before, it was never for more then a couple of hours or to just drive through. It is not a bad place, however I think there is not much more to do besides Des Moines, which is even limited as well when it comes to entertainment. I suspect though that there is a chance I may have to go back out there again in the future for work.

  • 2:00 pm
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