Mel is on vacation through January 6, 2009. In his absence, Waldo will be blogging on his behalf.
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When I started the day, I just wanted to roar in frustration. (But for some reason that never seems to impress humans around me. I don't get that.)
The indignities of air travel came flooding back to me on this first day. I had forgotten about that part of the whole road warrior/guest-blogger thing. It it weren't for the fact that I'm a professional, I would have bagged (no pun intended) this whole guest blogger gig right then and there.
As grumpy as I was during the traveling leg of this gig, I have to admit, it got better as the day wore on.
After the wonderful rectal examination I had to endure through airport security, Mel and I finally squirmed into our assigned seats on an American Airlines flight from Phoenix to New Orleans, connecting through Dallas. (Mel's wife, Tobi, had a seat someplace else on the crowded plane. I didn't see where she went. For all I know, while Mel and I suffered with the coach inmates, she was probably lounging in first class somewhere. I didn't see her again until we touched down in New Orleans. Good riddance. It was bad enough I had to share a seat with gassy 'ol Mel the whole flight.)
As we squirmed into our row, a center seat no less with leg room barely enough to fit me and my laptop, I could immediately see that, on top of everything else, we were gonna have to babysit some snotty little 8-year old Dennis the Menace-looking red head kid who was traveling alone to go see his mommhy.
"Great," I thought. The kid's going to cry the whole time for his mommy while Mel disappears into his iPod leaving me stuck with the brat.
Turns out Mel stepped up. For a human he's pretty cool that way. He and the kid hit it off straightaway. I guess it helped that the kid was pretty soft-spoken, smart, articulate and amazingly well-mannered.
"Hi, my name's David. I'm eight years old. What's your name?"
It went like that.
From what I could see, Mel was hooked. That didn't initially square with me. After all, from my first impressions about Mel coming into this guest-blogger gig, I didn't really think he was much of a "people person." Hell, neither am I for that matter, preferring instead those with more of a, uh, furry persuasion.
But who woulda thunk that he and the kid, David, would be chatting away within minutes of meeting each other. It almost looked like they had some kind of shared male bonding thing going on. I couldn't really understand the draw: They chatted away about splitting life on the road between two parents. One in Phoenix, the other in Louisiana. Talking about airplanes, frequent flying and how Christmas this year was with Dad while New Years would be with Mom in Louisiana.
Like I said, I didn't really understand it all. But, hey, different strokes, as they say. And, just as long as he did all the baby-sitting, I was content to sip on my carrot juice and tap away on my laptop from 8 inches above the ground.
It turns out, David is also thinking about becoming a doctor when he grows up. He likes online educational games and had a lot to tell Mel about edheads.org, a free site offering educational games online. With game titles like "virtual knee surgery" and "virtual hip replacement," I think that impressive little eight year old kid with the Dad in Phoenix and the Mom in Louisiana is gonna do alright when he gets older.
I think I've since changed my tune about 8-year old kids. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt in the future. Besides, I understand they're s'posed to be pretty good with technology. Ya never know when I'll need to tap into David to help program my Tivo.
Mel's turning out okay, too. I guess he gets the benefit of the doubt anyway seeing as he was nice enough to think of me for this guest blogger gig. I understand he picked me over someone like Chris Brogan or that guy over at ProBlogger, Darren something... Rowse, or something like that.
Yeah, those other two might be huge in the blogging world, but not wanting to toot my own horn and all, I think Mel made the right choice with me. Humans just don't appreciate the unique perspective I can give from 8-inches above the ground. (Hmmm... I can feel a whole new blog concept bubbling to the surface.)
You'll see. I'm along for the ride for the next 10 days. Let's see what a bunny-blogger has to say about a Caribbean cruise.
Now, if we can just ditch that short little "brown-eyed girl" in first class...
~W
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