I had every intention of being asleep by now. I unpacked (even hung up all my shirts and pants), showered, returned email, made some calls, phoned a goodnight to my girlfriend, and laid down in my bed. I stared at the ceiling for a while and realized that my body just wasn’t on the right schedule to make this work. So you shall be the beneficiary of my insomnia…

I’m in Florida… Walt Disney World to be specific. I’m here on business, but I make no bones about the fact that I am planning to fit fun in anywhere it’s possible. I do have a pretty tight schedule lined up but I think I’ll be able to fit in a show here and a ride there. So far the trip has been quite an adventure.

Here’s the readers digest version of the day:

It all started about 4:30 this morning when I got up and finished the last bit of my packing. On my way out I stopped by Janey’s place to say goodbye then I was on the road. The trip to the airport was fine. I had a bit of trouble with security but it was no big deal. I flew from Long Beach to Salt Lake in a VW Bug with wings. The main cabin was hardly larger then my apartment (and those close to me can attest to the miniscule size of that). I had a 30 minute layover in Salt Lake and boarded a much more sturdy Boeing 757 for the remainder of the trip to Orlando.

Upon arrival I headed for baggage claim only to find that the wonderful TSA had rummaged through my carefully packed suitcase. I hate this, and think it’s very very very stupid. I could go on for hours about why… but I won’t. From their I headed to the rental car area and spoke to a very cranky woman named Elise who took my credit card information as if I had spit on her first. She handed me some paperwork and when I asked if she could give me driving directions to Disney Property she says “There’s a map in the folder” and turned away. She must have had a rough morning. But I was in a fantastic mood. A little tired and ready for a shower… but happy.

I finally did get some driving directions from the very nice girl working the exit booth at the rental car lot and I was on my way (although about 30 minutes behind where I wanted to be). While driving the 30ish miles to Disney property I was slammed with this amazing downpour of rain. It actually made me a little shakey. I haven’t driven in real weather like that in some time. Nothing like that happens in So Cal.

I got a little lost along the way and must have missed my turn because before I know it I was pulling up to the Animal Kingdom Lodge… but I was shooting for the Contemporary. A very nice security guard turned me around and set me in the right direction. 10 mintues later I was standing in the Contemporary lobby getting checked in.

Fast forward a bit… I had just enough time to throw my suitcase in my room, splash some water on my face, and it was time to go out to a dinner meeting with the team I will be working with down here in FL. They were great folks and it was fascinating to hear stories of the kind of volume they work with down here as compared to Disneyland. It was a setup to what promises to be a fun and very challenging week.

So dinner was over and I made it back to my room… now here I am not sleeping when I should be.

Alrighty, now that I’ve got it all down on paper I’m actually tired.

This is the beginning of what I hope will be a good string of blog entries this week. Who know’s how tired I will be… but I will do my best. more to come…