I finished the last of my pre-travel prep work at 12:45 am. Packing took me about 45 minutes and by 1:30 am I was lying in bed trying to settle my nerves and grab a few hours of sleep. I have no idea how much sleep I am going to get down there but I' thinking, not much. Early rising and late crashing will most likely be the rule my stay.

I pushed myself out of bed at bout 10 after 8 this morning and managed to get through security by 10:45 am. Though mellow and low-key, security was a mini-scene, as the 86-yr old Gestapo Capt. checking ID decided to ask each passenger 99 questions for verification of identity. It was frustratingly-hilarious - amusing probably to only me as I was in no hurry with plenty of time before my flight.

It really is a pleasure to not have to always feel rushed when flying. Even if I have to leave an hour earlier than I would to drive a car, Portland transit is so fantastic. I planned my whole trip on trimet.org - bus to the max, $2 and at my gate within an hour. That's another thing I love about this town -outstanding public transit system.

Traveling on the precipice of being sick is not something I prefer doing either, but it was pretty clear by the time I caught my MAX transfer that I was just going to have to deal with not being 100% physically healthy. I concerned that there will be no opportunity for me to recover over the next 8 days. This means danger for me. I will be keeping a close eye my body and the physical demands.

I am really looking forward to using the different multi-media tools I recently purchased. Did you know that you could run a video camera on your way to the airport, mini-document the journey, go through security, and have the 10-minute video up on the web before your flight even leaves the gate!! Take that Dan Ilman!! BTW, as long as we're talking about Illman for a second; Why doesn't that guy have a Wikipedia page? I just checked it on the 'net(s) and there's no posting. Dan, if you read this head over to Wikipedia and get one going. In fact, I think the TBA should have as well. Not sure if I'll get to it this week, so if anyone wants to head overt o Wikipedia and start a page for the TBA or Dan Illman please do so! In fact I encourage you to do that, as well as add any other horse pertinent pages you think the world could use.