Hello once again everyone. I returned (semi-triumphantly) from Memphis early this evening. Surprisingly, my parents haven't returned home yet with my brother. He had to be out of the dorms today, so they were driving out to La Crosse to move him back home. I would expect them back home soon, but, then again, that has been the expectation for the last several hours.

I know everyone is just dying to hear about my trip. Okay, maybe not, but I'm telling you anyway. Running on a total of about 4 hours of sleep from the previous two nights combined, I showed up at work at 4:30 Wednesday morning. I ended up working right up until I hopped on the plane to Detroit at 10:30. It was about 4:30 when we (Krista, Amy, and I) arrived in Memphis. Shortly after checking in at the hotel the two of them got the itch to head out, so I joined them in a taxi downtown to Beale Street. I should point out immediately that the last two days were spent with a pair of shopoholics, so one can imagine how bored I was. Anyway, we split our time between bars and clubs and tacky little souvenir shops. We also ate there. The Holiday Inn, very much unlike the lesser Courtyard, ran a shuttle to Beale Street, which picked us up at 10. That was a late evening for middle-aged Krista, who refuses to believe that nobody really goes out drinking until at least 11. Didn't bother me any to get back so early, for I was tired, and the bar scene there is really overrated as far as I'm concerned. I could just as happily drink on College Avenue for half the price.

I was awoken four times this morning. The first was at 4:30 with the tv and lights still on, so I turned those off and fell back asleep. The second was at 6, at which time I decided that I didn't need to get up because my alarm would wake me at 6:30. At 6:30 the alarm woke me up, so I turned it off and promptly rolled over and fell back asleep. And then at 7:40 Krista called me to tell me that she and Amy were leaving on the shuttle for the airport. I figured that by that time I should probably think about getting up. Class was more a waste of my time than anything. With the test it was only about 4 hours long, and most of the people just sat there in their seats dumbfounded. In fact, Krista and I were the only ones really talking. Krista, Amy, and I hopped on a flight to Minneapolis at 1:30. There was plenty of room on that flight - enough so that we were able to fly first class. Of course, I came back to Earth on the flight back to Appleton, where I shared the exit row with a pair of heifers. The 250+ pounder sitting next to me forced me to squeeze into only about half my seat, which is small enough as is. He ended up having to sit next to me because Mr. 400+ pounder needed 2 seats for himself on the other side. Of course, dumb ditz flight attendant didn't know any better that guys who require two seats - and thereby also require the seatbelt extention - are prohibited from sitting in the exit row. Good thing we didn't have an emergency, because I don't think that guy could have fit through the door, let alone "assist" in the case of an emergency. I was just happy to be back home with my own bed and my own car and my own bars. I may work for the airline, but it sure as hell doesn't mean that I like flying.