04.10.08
Posted in Sports, Travels
at 9:24 pm
There’s nothing quite like getting an e-mail from your airline that says “CANCELED” when you’re on your way to the airport.
Then again, you weren’t surprised, since you’re flying on an American Airlines MD-80, which has been grounded due to someone forgetting to use the proper colored tie-wrap.
(changing to first tense) So I went home while getting American Airlines on the phone and checked my options. Fly into San Antonio with another airline? See what American could do for me? DRIVE for 20 hours halfway across the country?? (Yes, I was willing to do this since all you donators [who will be thanked later]) didn’t pay money to see me get stuck in LA!
Finally, I got a nice young woman on the line, and explained to her that I’d love to see if I could get flown into Austin by Friday or Houston by Saturday, but would need to fly out of Austin regardless. Feeling the confused expression on her face, I explained the bike race, the Multiple-Sclerosis Foundation, and was generally flexible and charming (I only have about 10 minutes of this superpower per day, and wisely used it then).
She then booked me on a non-MD-80 flight to Dallas, after which she’d get me to Austin tomorrow 3 hours before our bus leaves for Houston. Perfect!
Little did I know that this wonderful woman also booked me on first class! So while 250,000 travelers are stranded, I’m sitting there flying to Texas in first class with a glass of wine, a real meal, and plenty of legroom! Thank you so much random customer service representative - Let’s get married!
Not wanting to get stuck in Dallas, I rented a car and drove to Austin.
So greetings from Austin, fortune has lied in our favor and we’re ready to ROCK!
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03.11.08
Posted in Life, The Universe, and Everything
at 11:40 pm
About a month ago MikeRoberto.com’s oft-quoted friend, Dan, introduced me to a term that his friend had coined: Sailor’s Choice.
Sailor’s Choice is a saying that encapsulates the state of having the perfect buzz while drinking alcohol. This condition is ideally suited towards having insightful, witty conversation while losing most, if not all social anxieties. Although erroneously named, it has quite a charming ring to it that I’ve decided to adopt.
Sailor’s Choice has one major problem, however: it feels so good to have, one continues to drink more to extend this sensational feeling. Soon after this point, drunkenness ensues, which leads to more worthless, shameless, and wreckless behavior. I’ll be the first to admit that there is a time and place for such inappropriateness, but when attempting to casually and socially drink, straddling the line of Sailor’s Choice is much more preferable.
In an effort to be a more responsible human being, I’ve decided to dedicate the month of March to Sailor’s Choice. For me, this often occurs around 5-6 beers. However, once I hit 8 beers, you can completely forget about it. Please join me in the challenge for the perfect buzz - and with it, the perfect, memorable conversation!
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03.04.08
Posted in Life, The Universe, and Everything
at 9:47 pm
I just noticed that I haven’t been hit on by a single gay guy since growing my beard out.
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02.27.08
Posted in Politics
at 9:35 pm
Representative Conyers,
This brief message is with regard to the Sirius / XM Satellite radio merger that you and your committee have the ultimate approval of:
Please stop impeding business. It is unethical and un-American. I, the paying customer, will decide what business transactions are worthy of success or failure.
Sincerely,
Mike Roberto
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02.19.08
Posted in Fitness, Sports, Travels
at 6:00 pm
Hey everyone!
On April 12, I will be joining the MS 150, a 2-day biking adventure from Houston to Austin to help raise funds for people living with Multiple Sclerosis.
The path is roughly 165 miles long. The 2008 tour map isn’t out yet, but you can see the 2007 map here.
I need to raise $400.00 to the MS Society to ride. Please help me by donating a few bucks to my MS150 fund.
In return for your donations, I promise to work very hard and finish the race (barring any major catastrophes).
Most of you know that I’m a swimmer and not a biker. In order to learn more about the hardcore training that bikers go through, I’ve been reading Cyclist’s Training Bible
by Joel Friel. It is for bikers way more experienced than myself, but I enjoy the technical and scientific aspects of the sport.
I’ve been training along the South Bay Bike Path, which gets extremely interesting once you make it past the airport and into Venice Beach. For hill work, I will begin going to parts of this Palos Verdes Peninsula path.
Thanks for your endless support!
berto
PS: I am going to be taking a break from writing for a while. My past few articles have received a great amount of traffic, and I should ride that momentum, but I have too many projects going on for now. I’ll be back later, feel free to contact me.
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Uncle A said,
04.11.08 at 3:18 am
Glad to hear you used your charming and flexible 10 minute a day trait to good advantage. I know where you inherited that Gene, no name mentioned. Good luck and have a safe ride. I plan on using my 10 minutes later today.
Uncle A said,
04.11.08 at 3:23 am
Glad you used your charming and flexible 10 minute trait to good advantage. I know where you inherited that gene, no name mentioned. Good luck and have a safe ride. I’m goin to use my 10 minutes later today
Uncle A said,
04.11.08 at 4:01 am
Opps. Didn’t think the first one transmited. By the way your clock in wrong. It’s 7:57 am here and 4:57 there. No wonder you get phone calls so early
lon said,
04.11.08 at 1:21 pm
Glad to see you made it there on time. I will track you periodically as I have no life. On another completely unrelated note, why in the world to Browns players continue to get surgery performed at the Cleveland Clinic? Any new signees should demand treatment at another facility in their contract!