Well, I suppose that it

Well, I suppose that it is time I post about my trip. I arrived On Wednesday evening (June 16) to Detroit Metro Airport. I rented a car and drove to my hotel in Southfield. I had 2 days of meetings (Thursday and Friday) with a new customer/partner. Technical meetings, not sales - those were already done weeks before. Friday I swung down to Ann Arbor (where my University was) to have dinner with Derek, Sid, Matt, and Joanne. We ate Pizza House, a classic. Following that, we went to Pin Ball Pete’s and did some airhockey, DDR, and the other classics. Then went to Bubble Island for some bubble team and UNO action. On Saturday, I went to my Sister’s house. Had a home cooked steak dinner (mmm). That night, I went to see the movie Dodge Ball with Dave and Loren (and a bunch of their friends) because Loren was leaving for Taiwan the next day (Sunday) and I wanted to see him before he left. The movie was alright. Sunday I went down to Ann Arbor, again, and saw Janet, Jason, Derek, Sid, and Ryan (first) at Janet’s house - we didn’t go at the best time as she was showing the house to new potential buyers. After we left (she had to stay a bit longer to show the house to others), we went to Good Time Charlie’s, one of the bars we frequented back in the day for a late afternoon snack. Matt and Joanne showed up. After that, we to play pool in the University pool hall. Janet joined us, then, um, can’t remember what we did next… No, it didn’t involve the consumption of an excessive amount of alcohol. I was still able to drive the ~40minutes to my Sister’s. Monday, I had to take an unexpected trip to Chicago. Took the train (6 hours 1 way). Left around 7am, and returned about 1:30am. Had to see a different new client. The round-trip train ticket cost me $60. The station in Chicago is pretty much in the center of town. The office of the client I visited was out near the airport. So, I took the subway to the airport (about 40 minutes) for $1.75. Then from the airport, I took a taxi (about a 15 minute ride) and paid $30. It was an extra $10 due to rain. Yeah, I know… jeez, After the meeting, i took another cab back to the airport, but it wasn’t raining, so it only cost me $20. Kind of a weird system, no? Oh, by the way, i went through about 4 or 5 taxis at the airport to find one who know where i was going - yes, I came equipped with mapquest.com maps, but… i don’t know.. I guess these guys know the airport-city route, and that’s about it. Of the two taxi’s i took, both drivers were foreign. Nothing wrong with that, but i generally would think a native Chicago-ite would make a better driver in terms of knowing the city. Kind of like a waidi ren here in Beijing (non-Beijing native). So, I returned to my sister’s around 1:45 in the morning, Tuesday. On Tuesday, I went back to Ann Arbor, but this time, I had errands to run, so it wasn’t all fun. Yes, I had lunch with Bryan and Ted, but after that, I went to buy books and some parts for my motorbike. That night, I had dinner with Josh and then some drinks - Jason showed up at some point. Wednesday I hung out with my Sister until i had to go to the airport for a 7:30 flight. Let me tell you something, the Detroit - Chicago - Los Angeles - Beijing route is probably the worse route you could take. 45 minutes + 4 hours + 12 hours = 16+ hours, just air time. I flew to detroit from Beijing only via Chicago. That Beijing - Chicago route was just over 12 hours, so some how, that Los Angeles - Beijing flight was really long, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense… Any way, basically, Thursday disappeared - I arrived on Friday morning, 5:30. In work by 7:30. It was nice being back, driving a car with other capable drivers, finding anything and everything at a jumbo super market, etc… But, I was happy to return to Beijing, so that is a good sign, right? I am sorry to the guys I didn’t have a chance to see - that trip to Chicago on Monday kind of put a kink in my plans a bit. :-/ I will be back at some point.. I will make it a priority to see you guys, provided you are still in town.