Rambling Rhodes

So, yeah, Baltimore

Not surprisingly, airport security at Rochester, Minn., airport wasn't slowed all that much by the increased precautions, although a Muslim family consisting of a mother, father, two little children, and a baby in a carriage, well, they got the full screening treatment. Of course, it didn't help that both children wore backbacks filled to the brim, and the mother had a thermos of baby formula. In all, it took over 20 minutes for the whole family to get scanned and wanded. Once they were through, however, things went pretty much like normal (and, yes, three other Muslim women went through without a hitch, for those of you about to cry murderous foul "profiling").

Baltimore, near as I can tell, is a more run down version of Boston. Oh, it has its charm down at the inner harbor, but mostly, the farther you range from the inner harbor, the more you tend to notice the increasing grime. My hotel is smack in the middle of the city, practically a stone's throw away from Camden Yards. You can actually see my hotel in the background of that picture. I'll let you guess which it is.

Thanks to a busy conference/meeting schedule, I haven't eaten for shit since Sunday night, when I foolishly ordered a spinich and cheese calzone, thinking that East coast calzones = Midwest calzones. They do not equal each other, in case you're wondering.

The Baltimore Convention Center is, generally, pretty nice. The Seattle Convention Center was probably nicer, but Baltimore has its own unique charm.

I return to Minnesota early tomorrow afternoon, at which point I imagine I'll see a little more delaying security than what I experienced in Rochester. But, maybe not. Everyone I've talked to here says the media reports have been overblown, at least compared to what they experienced, so who knows.