3 hours to kill

So instead of writing this in the cramped confines of a plane seat I am working from the slightly less cramped confines of an airport departure gate.  I have three hours to kill so I figured this will eat up some of it.

So as I mentioned in my last entry, I hit the streets of Philly last night to do some sight seeing.  It did not take long until I encountered my first of many homeless people along the way.  I did not hand out any cash because all I had was 20’s at the time.

I first walked to city hall.  I found it to be quite interesting architecturally since it is quite large while being ornate.  I took pictures of it from at least 5 or 6 different angles.  I also found it interesting seeing the dozens of window shaker ac units peppering the sides of the building since obviously central air is not an option with a building that old. I saw a couple old churches that were also just amazing to stare at and take in the detail in their appearance.

I also found it very interesting checking out the various small storefronts.  In most cases the first floor was refaced and updated to varying degrees to suit the tenant however the additional floors in many cases looked untouched.  Some of the upper floors looked like they would be condemned but somehow businesses continued to operate at street level.

I thought it might be interesting to see the Liberty Bell, something I probably saw as a kid in the 70’s on some field trip or family vacation but never as an adult.  I looked it up on my phone and saw it was about 3/4 of mile away and closed at 7pm.  It was a little after 6 so I figured I could make it no problem.

On the way there I briefly ducked into one of the subway entrances.  I was curious how it compared to the NYC subways which I traveled quite a bit the last time I was there.  It didn’t take long for that same musty mixed with urine smell to flood my nostrils.  The look and feel was similar to what I experienced before but the density of people, at least where I was, was non-existent.  I actually snapped a picture of a tunnel with nobody in it.

So I made it to the Liberty Bell with around 20 minutes to spare.  I briefly looked at the various history of the bell exhibits but I was primarily interested in just seeing the bell.  When I got to it there was a line of about 10 people waiting to get their picture taken in front of it.  The security guard was nice enough to take pictures for anyone that needed it.  When I got to the front he told me that I picked the perfect time to show up.  He said sometimes the line to see the bell literally can take a couple hours to traverse which sounded like pure insanity to me.

I spent maybe 10 seconds looking at the bell.  To be honest it almost looked fake.  Perhaps it is because of whatever process has been used to preserve the bell.    It just looked odd to me.  The guard snapped my selfie and I was out of there.

My plan was to grab something to eat on my way back.  I wanted to eat somewhere authentic, not a chain.  I also did not want to go to some sort of formal sit down restaurant, doing that myself just didn’t seem to make much sense.  About halfway back I spotted a sign for Paulie’s Pizza, that sounded promising.

It was a small little pizza shop with maybe 10 booths that only had a couple occupied, perfect.  Paulie was actually behind the counter making pies.  The place was cramped, old fashioned, and dirty, which somehow felt perfect to me.

After getting my two slices of plain cheese pizza I positioned myself in the rear booth facing the TV mounted high on the wall above the drink cooler.  I was amazed when I realized it was tuned to the Science channel, one of my favorite tv destinations.  I guess Paulie is a science buff.

The pizza was greasy but good, pretty much how you would imagine a Philly pizza would be.  There was no air conditioning in the place.  Their comfort system was comprised of a large rusted stand fan placed in front of the open rear door.  Despite the warm temperatures outside I was not really uncomfortable while I ate.  I emerged from the shop full and satisfied I experienced a small slice (pun intended) of authentic Philly cuisine. I finished my walk back to the hotel.  I would imagine in total I covered over three miles.  My legs felt like I went further.  My shins were already sore from walking back from the party the night before in my docksider shoes.

After taking my shower I read a few chapters of Artie Lange’s second book , “Crash and Burn” which documents his drug induced self destruction which lead him to leaving the Stern Show and ultimately trying to commit suicide.  The book was interesting enough that I was disappointed I was too tired to continue reading for more than an hour.

This morning I awoke on my own about 6:15.  I read a few more chapters of the book as I got ready at a casual pace.  I packed my things but I had made arrangements to do a delayed checkout so I wouldn’t have to take my luggage with me to the conference.  On my way out the door I was flagged down by Bryan Jenkins, my main contact for RunSignUp.  He was eating breakfast so I hung out and talked to him while he ate.  I planned to score the free breakfast over at the conference.

In addition to being one of the best individuals I ever met in terms of customer service, Bryan is also just an interesting guy to talk to.  We talked about a variety of subjects, several of which had absolutely nothing to do with event registration or race timing.  Our conversation meant we got into the conference just as it was starting up.  My breakfast turned out to be a cup of coffee with a couple muffins that I quickly devoured at my table in the conference room.

I found I paid much more attention during the entire four hours session today because the subject matter was all about race timing, specifically the software I use to do it.  There were a lot of tips and good information thrown out there which will help me going forward.  It also gave us ideas about what improvements we can see in the future.

After the conference wrapped up I quickly grabbed some food from the lunch spread that was provided.  The food that was provided to us was all top notch and delicious.  Other than my dinner at Paulie’s I did not have to pay for a single meal.  After downing my food I said a few quick goodbyes and shot across the street to the hotel to grab my stuff.  I checked out and was back out on the street hoofing it.

I decided I would just walk to Suburban Station, there wasn’t really anything else I needed to see in the time I had left.  I grabbed a large coffee from the subterranean Dunkin Donuts they have there and found my departure area.  The ride back to the airport was quick and uneventful.  Much like with my trips to NYC, I found delving into mass transit options interesting and different compared to renting a car. (and much less expensive)

When I got to the airport I still had 3/4 of my coffee left.  The train drops you off right at the security checkpoint so I didn’t want to waste my drink.  I found a seat and just people watched while I finished it.  The security line was quite long but it moved along at a decent pace.  After clearing the line I grabbed a water and started pounding out this entry.

My flight is scheduled to touch down in Fort Myers around 9:15.  Cindy will have already picked up and dropped off the dogs at the house when she comes to get me.  We are watching them for a week.  I will be back at work tomorrow, a practice I don’t normally engage in.  I always try to give myself at least one day of padding after traveling to get things in order but since Cindy has been home manning the ship while I was gone there wasn’t a real need.

It’s been a quick but enjoyable trip.  It somewhat recharged my depleted race timer batteries.  The influx of fresh ideas and new possibilities gave me a long list of things I want to work on and try out.  Onward and upward.