Geoffrey DeFilippi

Business Travel, so exciting it drips with its own enthusiams. I can remember (it wasn’t that long ago) getting ready for my first business trip all on my ownsome, headed out west to do the unknown. Wow. I’ve got to admit it sure was fun the first time.

Well… kind of fun. I got to the airport late. Opps. Missed that first flight. Opps. Had to call in all fluster and let the boss know. Opps. That sure was scary and I bet that the boss was laughing her head off at me. Rookies.

So there you are out on the road, doing the airplane thing. Your a member of the jet set crew; one of the people that buys funny pillows for sleeping upright. You’re the guy with the funny red light blocking out background noise. You’ve become the woman that tries to get on the plane as fast as possible so she can stow her carry on bag which never quites fits without a fight. You get to talk about things like leg room and the guy that took the whole arm rest. You’re really concerned about personal comfort.

Its a mysterious club, full of veterns, and hidden privelege.

Frequent flyer miles leading to the promise of silver then gold, and the coveted platinum memberships all of which are a swelling wave of rank and power.

You’re are not a rookie anymore.

The best part of the deal is seeing all of these wonderful places: Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, California…

In the end its kind of sad though. With a few treasured exceptions what have your really seen to say you’ve been somewhere. Another Marriott or if your lucky a Double Tree (they do have fresh cookies). Better yet a delicious and healthy meal at Outback with the other people trying to eat at the bar before it gets busy; or maybe your brave enough to bring a book and risk social outkast status as you sit solo in your booth trying to keep a low profile.

You’re feeling like you’ve seen the same airline hostess before and you know her routine…

So my friends if your stuck in that rut make sure you get out farther than the starbucks and PF Changs. Don’t visit the mall, take a tour with out a guide. Go see the band in a smoky dilapidated shack an hour outside of Baton Rouge or get lost in the Pecan tree lined roads on your way out of Sacramento to Modesto. Play some golf in the nameless city course in Parker Arizonia and take the picture out of your window on your way back to Vegas when you segway through Bullhead city and please, please stop at the vineyard you noticed and have a taste for.

You will thank me; I promise.

Its basically unbelievable in a bunch of ways.

1. How is is that I just found out that these are bad?  Its March of 07.
2. How is it that its possible (again in March of 07) that this is in almost every food?

I figure I am a pretty docile consumer.  I don’t rock the boat or stage sit ins or write letter after letter (not that this is a bad thing), but I’m feeling physically ill at the thought of what I have been eating over the last 10? or more years.

Lied to.  I feel lied to.  I mean common after we discovered the terrible effects of “Partially Hydrogenated Oils” this week we can’t find anything in our kitchen without them.  Our oatmeal (yeah I know its just to easy) has this in it.  Its not like a bag of chips.  I knew that was bad, but common bread, meats, the roast in the freezer we were going to eat. 

Boy is going to the store fun now. 

All I can say is I’m sick and its probably from all the disgusting food I’ve eaten.  I want to be healthy I really do.

 So bye bye evil instant oats.  Hello butter.

Here is an interesting site to read about what I’m complaining about:

What’s wrong with Partially Hydrogenated Oils?

Setup and Play

Kings is a game that involves shuffling a deck and spreading the cards face down around an empty pitcher. Each person playing in turn draws a single card (their choice). They then perform the associated feat from the list below based on the card drawn. Play continues until the fourth king is drawn at which point the unlucky (or lucky depending on how you look at it) player has to drink whatever has been poured into the pitcher.

Card Feats:

2. Red Give 2 drinks Black Take 2 drinks
3. Red Give 3 drinks black Take 3 drinks
4. Social
5. Take a rule away
6. Categories (or cataseries depending on who wrote it!)
7. Waterfall
8. Make a rule (cheebeejah anyone?)
9. Rhyme time
10. Thumb rule
11. Jack - Guys drink
12. Queen - Ladies drink
13. King - Pour & on 4th game over and you drink the pot
14. Ace - social
15. Joker - Pick any feat

Explanations of Feats:

Take away a rule:
The player drawing this card may remove a rule from play of their choice. If there are no rules in play their is no action. Take away a rule can not be saved for later use. The player may choose to do nothing if they do not want to eliminate a rule from play.

Categories:
The drawing player picks a catagory and names an item in the category. Each player in turn must name an item in the category. The first person to repeat an item or who can not name an item in the category in a reasonable amount of time takes a drink. The combined players decide when a reasonable amount of time has passed.

Waterfall:
The drawing player and all players begin drinking at the same time. Players can not stop drinking until the player before them in turn order has put down their drink. The drawing player is the first person to put down their drink. The player after may at this point stop as well or continue to drink. The next player may stop after this player has put down their drink. This process continues in order until the last player has stopped drinking.\r\n\r\nMake a Rule:\r\nMake any rule you so desire. Any player that fails to follow the rule and is caught by the playing collective must drink. We have used rules like: No one can say any version of the word drink or No one can use a swear word or After every drink you must say “Chicken Ball Johnny”. Rules stand until a game is completed by the drawing of the fourth king. Rules never pass to the next game. The only way to eliminate a rule is by drawing the take away a rule card. The combined collective of players may over-rule a rule before it is put into play if it is deemed inappropriate etc… All players except the player that is making the rule must agree to over-rule the new rule. The drawing player may make choose a different rule is his/her rule is disallowed.

Rhyme Time:
The player drawing this card says a word or phrase. All players in order must then pick a different word or phrase that rhymes. This continues until a word or phrase is repeated or a player is unable to make a rhyme. The player collective is the judge on whether a word or phrase is in fact a rhyme or not. There have been some arguements about “loose” rhymes in the past.

Thumb Rule:
The player drawing the card at any time before the game places the pad of his/her thumb on the table (playing surface). All other players must follow suit. The last player to put their thumb down has to drink. The thumb rule can be invoked at anytime by the draw-er. If the thumb rule is not played before the end of the game it is void.

-Please don’t drink and drive!

Watch an entire football game with the following rules:

• 2 drinks per turnover\r\n1 shot blocked fieldgoal
• 1 shot blocked punt\r\n3 drinks sack
• 1 drink per 10 yards of penalty (round up)
• 1 shot at each 2 minute warning
• 1 drink first down\r\n2 drinks 4th down conversion made
• 1 drink per point scored (4 * for a safety i.e. safety = 8 drinks)

Have fun, don’t drink and drive