Why Tom Merritt flew in and out of Vegas in One Day
Hey folks,
This past Wednesday I took the day off of DTNS and flew to Las Vegas for The Morning Stream meetup. To be clear, I flew out of LAX at 7 AM and flew back to LAX at 6PM. All in one day.
Which means I missed the Tuesday evening get together and the actual Morning Stream live show.
So why the heck did I bother?
Well there are two big reasons. One was-- man, it's kind of fun to do crazy stuff like that! I'm sorry, I just get a kick out of the fact that it's possible for me to wake up in my bed, get on a plane and be in an entirely different state, then get on a plane and be back in my bed that night. I'm super lucky that this is possible of course. I have a lot of points on Delta, so it helps keep the cost down for crazy stunts like that. And I'm incredibly appreciative that I get to work for myself and have an understanding team that will step in and make a KILLER SHOW when I'm out.
But there's the other and probably the bigger reason. I missed these folks. I wanted the chance to see Scott Johnson and Brian Ibbott in person. These are among my podcasting brothers and we had been only flat pictures on a screen to each other for far too long.
But not just them! I knew I'd get to see loads of other people. I got to meet our DTNS science correspondent Dr. Niki Ackermans for the first time ever. I even got to play card games with her! I also got to see our DTNS social media producer and moderator ZoeBringsBacon for the first time in years. I didn't spend nearly enough time with either of them but I'm glad I got some time.
Then there were the unexpected meetings, like Bobby who works on America's Next Top podcaster. I talk to Bobby every week but I had never seen his face. I got to play cards with him too.
And there were lots more folks I'm so glad I got a chance to talk to. I'm tempted to start naming them but I know I'll forget somebody. There were the chat room names become real. Some I had met before others got the "OMG Your CHATNAME!!! So good to meet you!" There were folks who kindly talked about watching me from way back in the TechTV and Buzz Out Loud days which always blows me away. There were folks who had no clue who I was and were just as nice to meet and chat with as anyone. And there were the folks who I knew we could have spent the whole day talking about writing or tech or podcasting.
It was worth every minute. I got to spend breakfast with the Frogpants crew. I got to record a bit for TMS solving a puzzle which I kept saying reminded me of Run BTS. To the very tolerant nods of everyone around me who has never seen an episode of Run BTS. I spent the majority of the day playing games, like Secret Hitler and Inhuman Conditions. Shout out to Dusey who was an excellent volunteer game runner!
And at the end of the day I got to knock back a drink With the Fletchers and the Ibbots before hopping in a cab, and talk video games with my cab driver all the way to the terminal.
It almost ended in minor tragedy though. I was halfway down the jetway and realized my wedding ring was not on my hand. I raced back up and asked the gate agent if I could go look for it.Gate agents don't liek to let you leave the plane after they've boarded you, but this one had no problem letting me look. Thank you gate agent!
I knew it had been on my hand moments before, so it couldn't have gone far but I had no luck finding it. But as I was walking back up to the gate agent, imagining explaining it to Eileen and how much a new one would costs, she held up a silver band. "Is this it?" It was. One of the people in line behind me had found it on the ground. It must have slipped off my hand as I pulled my phone out to get my boarding pass. It turned out that the person who found it had the seat next to me. They slept most of the way to LAX but I thanked them profusely before we got off the plane. Thank you again ring finder person! I will always remember you and your sea foam blue t-shirt fondly.
I landed at LAX, drove home and had beef stroganoff with Eileen.
You may wonder why I didn't stay overnight. One, it was cheaper, and two, I have lots of other stuff going on that just made it difficult to take any more time. Plus see point one about it just feeling cool to fly in and out of a city on the same day.
REY THE DOG UPDATE
One of the things I have to do these days, is help take care of Rey the dog. When last I wrote you, she was in the vet hospital. Well, she came back Saturday and she's in WAY better shape then she had been. The medication is working! She's eating again, she's going for her full walk again and she's barking at squirrels and postal carriers again. That is to say, she's on the mend. We have 9 weeks of Saturday vet visits for meds ahead of us, but it looks like we'll be getting a few years of bonus time with Rey and I'm treasuring every second.
Thanks folks for being awesome. Talk to you soon.
Tom
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