Don't worry everyone, I made it to Austin fine. :-)
My flight to Chicago was uneventful (did crossword puzzles the entire time). The flight from Chicago to Austin was rather fun. I sat with a hardware guy from Apple (in Austin) named Dan. We BSed about computers and our thoughts on Apple, Microsoft, etc. Made the flight more enjoyable.
I got into Austin, and promptly took Lis out for some good Mexican food and a margarita. :-) It was a blast.
Tonight, I'm heading out of work early to go help Lis do some grackle research. After that's done with, I dunno what's up. I'm sure she's got some homework or something to do, so I'll probably end up geeking out in some fashion. :-)
Can you explain one thing for me ? Where do you live ? I thought you worked for Real Software in Austin Texas, don't you live there ? do you telecommute ?
LoL, sure! I live in St Augusta, MN and telecommute to Austin, TX. I do work for REAL Software.
Make sure you use a flat balded grackle knife, it makes for a smoother coat, and saves from having to sand too much on final coat.
Obviously, that is supposed to be Bladed, not balded. Sigh.
@ bill: http://content.ornith.cornell.edu/UEWebApp/images/MAT_080502_00622A_S.jpg
Grackle. SPackle. You get it? Help me out here, try the veal, I will be here all week.
Have fun Lis, Aaron needs a break.
Mmmmm...margarita.
How funny. I went on a birding trip to TX in '98, and Great-tailed Grackle was one of our first birds. Of course, our target bird that day was somethine else entirely, a little passerine with a very gold cheek.
Ah, that was a good day. :-)
Lots of Common Grackles around here (NC) in the warm months, Boat-tailed Grackles along the coast.
Ok, now I have to go post something about RealBasic in some birdwatching forum to keep the universe in balance.
@Russ - Lis was wondering if you were looking for golden-cheeked warblers?
@Aaron, @Lis: Yes, of course! :-) Golden-cheeked is a dream bird for lots of people and I knew she would know what I was talking about.
By far the Golden-cheeked Warbler was the highlight of our only TX trip.
TX has lots of other exciting birds (hard to see anywhere else in the U.S.).
We (my wife and I, not the royal "we") were there for a little over a week, and traveled a big "loop" from San Antonio to the Davis Mountains, then down to Big Bend and the valley all the way to Brownsville. Texas is really cool.
This was the year all the terrible forest fires were in Mexico. The whole region smelt of smoke.
We'll come again one day and try to see the bird species we missed.
@Russ -- awesome! :-) Lis was excited to "meet" someone else interested in birds -- thru REALbasic, of all things!
So your girl lives in Texas, your work is in Texas, the only sun I've seen so far this year was in Texas, and you prefer to stay in Minnesota?
@Peter -- yes, strange, isn't it? ;-) I actually really love MN, even though I miss Lis when I'm up there.
Yeah! I'm with Peter!