Omaha and My New Office

Now that we're in a new hotel, I'm back in my old office, i.e., the bathroom. American bathrooms are different from European bathrooms (I'm including a pictures of my office in Rome and the current one-see if you can tell the difference) in that they are newer and usually much bigger. This is good when you have children and need to give them a bath and want to brush your teeth at the same time. This is not good when you need to use it as an office, because smaller bathrooms mean things are closer together, and usually you can use the toilet as a seat and prop your computer on the counter. You can't do this in a big American bathroom, but then again, maybe it wasn't meant to be used as an office.
Just another side note, the mirror trim fell off while I was typing. Kind of freaked me out because it's only glued onto the mirror, but I didn't know this, so when the trim started to slide off, I assumed the whole darn thing would coming crashing down. Fortunately, it was only the cheap plastic piece on the perimeter, the glass is still attached, but I don't think I'll be renewing my lease.

We arrived in Omaha last night and I was blown away by the scale of the place. It's huge, and again, it looked just like West Lebanon, only on a much larger scale. Definitely can compete with New Jersey or LA. Just mile after mile of chain store after chain store. And as Bill Bryson pointed out, absolutely no attention paid to encouraging people to walk. If you do, you're not only setting yourself up for unwanted scrutiny, but you're taking your life into your own hands.

It makes you realize, as if you didn't already know, that the whole American Dream is predicated on one thing: shopping. The mall should be the national symbol, it's where everyone feels at home. Makes you really feel lucky to live in a place like Vermont, where not only are there no malls, but there are no billboards and outdoor advertising, either. I love our state!

And let us not forget the other favorite past time: eating. We encountered this firsthand because even though we were sick, we were still a little hungry. And boy were we inundated with choices. I wanted something within walking distance so I was immediately setting myself up for disaster, but it wasn't so bad. In fact, it took me all of two minutes to get to the place. I'd opted for a Mexican-ish place called Chipotle, which looked nice and sounded good, but basically got the generic TGI Friday's version of Mexican food. In a pinch, it would have to do.

Ate a little and went to bed. Woke up feeling a little better, but we'll see how this day goes. Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Paul Szustka for the pic.