Just got back from Philly and boy are my jokes tired.

(cheesesteak as seen from a first-person perspective. Click for more.)

MARCH 14, 2005 - Phlying to Philly

It's funny, but in Houston. People flying to Philly will bring Charles Philly Cheesesteaks onto the plane... We are GOING to Philly. Wouldn't you WAIT until you got there to buy a cheesteak? Just curious. I almost asked someone, but he appeared like the uptight sort, like he might snap if questioned. You never know nowadays. I've seen some belligerent people on flights.

And another thing... and this is something I hate. When people THROW their seat back when reclining. Like they're trying to do a backward somersault. PLEASE, you do not have to get a running start to recline your seat. Show some friggin' courtesy for your fellow flyer. Sometimes I'll glance back to see if someone is using their space before reclining. When I do recline I do it slowly and gently. NOT like I'm hoping the person behind me is bent forward so I can knock them unconscious. It is NOT an Olympic sport. I for one have been pummled by a highspeed recline and it sucks, especially if the person is clueless about their attack.

Speaking of flying... I hate having to feel like I need to work while on a flight. Flying is a much different experience for someone who is 5'5" than 6'2". As a "big mofo", I find it hard to work in the confines of my seat with my laptop pushed up to my belt... and if you have an Olympic recliner sitting in front of you, forGET about it. I have to resort to resting the keyboard on my gut and placing the display on the foldout tray and typing with my elbows akimbo.

Oh yeah. One last thing about flying. You ever get a isle seat in a row where someone has the window seat? You know it's a full flight (it seems ALL flights are full today), so you sit and wait to see who will be the "middleman". A small Asian girl walks toward you glancing upward toward the seat numbers... YES! But alas, she passes and as she does you notice 3 Cornfed Hustonians following closely behind. "Please don't be the middleman, PLEASE don't be the middleman" you think to yourself. I was lucky this flight, but I've had my share of tight squeezes. Once I was the middle man with a football player on my left and a fightfighter on my right. I felt cozy, like a banana.

Anyway... I know this is long-winded, but I wrote most of it on the flight. Not a whole lot to say about my 48 hour trip to Philly. The highlight of the trip was a stop by Dalessandro's (on Henry Ave & Walnut Lane). It is there that I consumed my FIRST Native Philly Cheesteak. It was great... but you know what made it great? The roll... It was a local that pointed that out for me. If you could overnight some of those rolls, you TOO could make a killer cheesesteak. Click on the image above to see who the secret roll supplier is.