Hi there and hello again. Yes, it’s me, back at the keyboard and also back on the road. I’m in Chicago this time around and lemme tell ya, it’s fuggin’ COLD here, kids. Also, it’s snowing! — which might not be a big deal for some of you readers, but gimme a break here, I’m from sunny Southern California — snow’s a big deal to those of us in the palm tree set. So: snow = “Cool!” To give you an idea just how much snow we’ve had, I’m including it in my regular crowd-pleasing feature “The View From Here.”

So, here’s the view from my hotel room window Saturday morning at about 9:00:

…and here’s the exact same view about 20 minutes later:

Now that’s something you don’t see every day in L.A. And that’s why I’m a big ol’ geek and took pictures of it.

This whole Chicago trip is working out pretty well. First of all, The Company put me up in a pretty swank hotel. I usually stay in a Hilton property, which usually means staying in Motel 6’s big brother, Hampton Inn. But this time they put me up in a lux Hilton property: The Drake. Sah-weet!!! Princess Di stayed here once, which I’m pretty sure the Fort Smith, AR Hampton Inn can’t say. And since I’ve reached the diamond level in Hilton’s frequent flier program, they upgraded me to an Executive Suite, which is, as you might have guessed, Executive Shweet!

So that was pretty cool, but even cooler than that: Beth flew out to spend the weekend with me! Shweet! (Also “shwing,” but we won’t go into that.) We had a great time together walking all over downtown and hanging out and enjoying the novelty of being two married adults doing adult things together without a small child insisting on doing small child things. (No worries, Zoe was safe — Beth left her locked in a closet back home with a damp washcloth.)

And because we’re California geeks, we took pictures of each other in the snow:

Beth on the Magnificent Mile:

Me in the same place:

We went into a store to get out of the cold and look for parkas but didn’t buy anything. Here’s the hat Beth tried to talk me into, promising that it looked great on me. Fortunately, the store had mirrors:

Back out into the cold, here’s me and Beth on the Chicago River:

And because, as I’ve already pointed out, I’m a big ol’ SoCal palm tree set geek, this is me making a snow angel on Lake Shore Drive:

Virgin, untouched snow:

Fat guy thrashing around in previously virgin, untouched snow:

Ooh, a snow angel!

So that was fun. After tramping around in the snow and freezing our asses off, we scurried back to the room, wrapped up in the hotel’s complimentary bathrobes, and ordered room service like civilized people with per diem cash and a corporate AmEx card. Here’s Beth recovering from the cold, smoking a cigarette in my no-smoking room, and wondering just who she should call on the cell phone to gloat to next:

And finally, because no entry with pictures is complete without one of Zoe (and also because she wasn’t really locked in a closet), here’s one from a few weeks ago of my little peanut with her long-suffering cat Sparkle:

(No, she’s not strangling the cat, she’s “posing” it. There’s a subtle difference. Really.)

So there you have it, that’s my whirlwind weekend in the Windy City. This was the best travel weekend I’ve had since I started this too-much-traveling job. The weather, the wife and the … (damn, I can’t think of another “w” word) — it was all great.

And so in closing, because I know logging on and checking in here to see if there’s a new entry up is the first thing Beth will do on getting home tonight: Thanks for coming out, honey, I loved having you here with me. I love you.

All together now: “Aaaawwww…..”

But it’s true.

Since I went home over the weekend for Thanksgiving I had to check out of good old Room 301 — which was fine with me, since the view sucked from there. Now I’m in Room 445 with a much better view.

Here’s the view out the window:

…and here’s the view of the hotel’s atrium just outside my door:

And directly beneath my feet, three floors down as I took the picture? Free breakfast. Woo.

Back by popular demand (Okay, it was me who demanded it, but I’m popular. With me, at least.), here’s the view from my hotel window here in Colorado Springs.

Yes, kids, that’s real snow. And when I took this picture it was real cold — my sliding glass door to my balcony was frozen shut and I had to break the ice loose to open it. And, yes, I was in my underwear. The sight of it sparked a mass exodus from the hotel across the way.

…and yet so far. I got to the airport just in time to watch my flight leave without me.

The plane was still at the gate when I arrived, but “regulations” prevented them from opening the door they’d just closed for the passenger they’d waited for before closing it. Stupid. So I watched through the window as it sat there for another five minutes before pushing back and taxiing out to the runway for takeoff. So I took the next flight and made it to Fresno two hours later. Woo.

Of course at this point you’re wondering, “Hey Chuck, where’s the taxi picture?” Why, it’s right here:

My driver, Gevork, assured me that I did not need help.

And of course you’re wondering what the view out my hotel window is. Well, it’s dark outside right now so it’s difficult to see much of anything, but I think there’s enough light for you to make out the friggin’ VOLLEYBALL GAME going on right outside my window:

I especially liked all the times my side’s defense sucked and the other team was able to spike the ball against my wall. That was grreeaatt.

Fresno does have its bright side, though: One casino downtown and two others within a 30 minute drive. This trip might not be so bad after all.

You thought I was going to forget the seat belt and parking lot pictures, didn’t you? Oh ye of little faith!

I guess I’m good with seat belts. I never seem to need help.
(Yes, I know these seat belt signs are stupid, but I think they’re funny anyway. Maybe I’m just overly proud of myself for knowing how to work the buckle, who knows?)

The view from my room here in beautiful Fort Smith, AR. I’m pretty sure they roped off the parking lot as a crowd control measure for when my groupies get here.

That’s about all I can say about ol’ Bozeman right now: it’s in Montana. I haven’t seen much of it yet but it looks like I might have missed it while blinking. It reminds me of Loveland, CO, where I lived when I was 13. That’s not a bad thing.

Because I know you’re on the edge of your seat waiting for it, here’s the regular feature The View From My Room:

Like I said, there’s not much to see. But I like the hotel anyway: I was Guest Of The Day, or so the cute 20-ish desk clerk sex kitten told me when I checked in. I’m not sure how I achieved that honor — frankly, I think I did it by walking in the door — but it was a nice way to be checked in. I was hoping being GotD might come with sex kitten privileges, but instead she sent a bellboy to my room with a gift bag — a bottle of water, a package of cheese crackers, package of Chips Ahoy cookies, and three wrapped chocolates. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers. And besides, I like cheese crackers.

Ah, yes, it’s that monthly favorite feature, The View From My Hotel Room Window. This is the vista I wake up to here in room 437 in a Hampton Inn somewhere near Manchester, New Hampshire.

I know, I know. I have to pinch myself sometimes to be sure I’m not dreaming.

Because I’m in Akron and because I’m bored and because I feel like it, here’s a rundown of my activities this evening.

1. Dinner with co-workers at a restaurant next door to the hotel, “Damians” or something like that. I had a prime rib sandwich that wasn’t very prime, although it at least was juicy after I drowned it with A1 steak sauce.

2. Shopping at Wal-Mart. Items purchased include:

• One pair cheap-ass sneakers, because I melted my last pair in the firepit during a barbeque at my place over the weekend
• 2 pair boxer briefs, because I didn’t get quite enough laundry done before I had to leave for this trip
• 1 12-pack Diet Pepsi, because there’s a mini-fridge in my room and the hotel vending machine wants $1.50 a freakin’ can
• 1 box Ritz Bits Sandwiches made with Real Cheese for serious, hard-core in-room late-night snacking
• 1 Steno notebook, because all day today at work I’d go charging down the hall to check with someone about something or other and I’d get there and forget what I was checking on, so clearly I need to take notes on my own damned thoughts
• 1 yellow legal pad, because damn it I’m going to start working on a screenplay this week if it kills me
• 1 toenail clipper, because I can’t find any one of the three or four we have at home and my toes are starting to scare me
• 1 Sunbeam Home Haircutting Kit, because my beardtrimmer at home keeps cutting out in mid-trim and ripping out huge chunks of my goatee, which makes me scream like a girl, and this one was only eight bucks
• 1 box Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Cookies, because they were there and dear God I love them so

3. Write this entry.

Yes, kids, Akron is a seething hotbed of activity. You have to pace yourself here, you really do.

And finally, because I have it and nobody asked, here’s a shot of the view from my hotel room window in Salt Lake City last month:

Click it for full-size SLC-ness

I’m here in one of the fabulous Hilton hotels in the Akron area, and it’s so fabulous here that I just had to share. So here’s the fabulous view from my fabulous window:

(Click on the thumbnail for the full-size fabulousness.)

This is mine, all mine, for the next 8 nights. It’s like a dream come true… only not so much.