The Lygers » Texas http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog Sun, 04 Dec 2011 06:32:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Texas pics http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/12/texas-pics/ http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/12/texas-pics/#comments Sun, 10 Dec 2006 21:48:00 +0000 Ryan http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/?p=277 Houston (Galleria) by night
The “Life sized mural of Texas history” in the Nacodoches Inn lobby

The beautiful Nacognoches Inn (notice the small plastic banner sign above the door)

More of the beautiful Nacognoches Inn

]]> http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/12/texas-pics/feed/ 1 Ya’ll Come Back Saloon http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/12/yall-come-back-saloon/ http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/12/yall-come-back-saloon/#comments Sun, 10 Dec 2006 21:46:00 +0000 Ryan http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/?p=276 This past week I was in East Texas – yee-haw! I flew into Houston and then drove to Nacogdoches (about a 2.5 hour drive north of Houston). The hotels that were recommended to me were all booked (who knew that Nacogdoches was such a popular place to be on a Monday night) so I went on Hotels.com to pick something out. I was drawn to the Nacogdoches Inn because it touted free internet and a “life size mural of Texas history in the lobby.” Now that was something I had to see.

There were no problems getting up to Nacogdoches, but I had a small problem finding the hotel. The problem was that the inn was marked by only a small plastic sign above the door. From the outside it actually looked like an abandoned building. It was, in fact, in operation. They also had a sign outside showing they were charging a “renovation special” of only $50/night. Damn – too bad I already paid $80 to hotels.com for the evening and they couldn’t undo the charges (or didn’t want to).

The “Life sized mural of Texas history” was also a disappointment. Apparently Texas history consists of 5 things: 1) Stephen A. Austin University football, 2) women’s basketball, 3) really muscular Native Americans, 4) bull riding and 5) fishing.

The hotel had not aged well. The rugs in the hallways were pretty worn. I also think there were people living in the hotel – full time. When I came in the back door there was a lady moving stuff out that you definitely don’t need for a hotel stay (do you need a kitchen table in your hotel room?). I dropped the stuff off in my room and set out to see what other adventures were in the hotel. There was a pool – as advertised. The pool was quite dirty, but it was there. A hot tub also existed, but it was the same temperature as the pool – in other words, cold. I’m pretty sure my sheets hadn’t been washed in a while either because I had to brush several unidentified hairs out of it before going to bed. At least the shower had hot water.

Ian, the consultant I was shadowing for the week, met me the next morning at 7am and we went to work. The next three days were long, but very educational. I also got to hear more deer hunting stories during the week than I can count.

For Friday night I stayed at the same Houston hotel I was in for my interview a few weeks ago. This time, however, I had to wade through about 8 company Christmas parties to get to the reception desk.

Friday I spent the day with another consultant then flew back Friday night without incident.

]]> http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/12/yall-come-back-saloon/feed/ 0 Houston http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/11/houston/ http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/11/houston/#comments Fri, 17 Nov 2006 15:15:00 +0000 Ryan http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/?p=270 This past week I flew down to Houston for an interview with a consulting firm (not necessarily for a job in Houston – that’s just where the interview was). It was my first time to Houston (outside the airport anyway) and I really didn’t get to see much more of it on this trip. We were put up in the Intercontinental Hotel – the hotel of choice when OPEC ministers come to town. My hotel window on the 16th floor had a lovely view of the Galleria mall and a very large Starbucks – and of course lots of parking lot pavement because Texas is basically a continuous string of strip malls. The interview lasted all day – from 10am to 9pm. Needless to say I was exhausted at the end of it. Stay tuned for results of the interview.

One of the best things about Houston is the Houston Chronicle newspaper. The Houston Chronicle has 3 full pages of comics. 3 full pages. Make of that what you will. One of my favorite newspaper quotes also came from the Houston Chronicle. Across the top of the front page they give a summary of the weather for the day. The weather for Wednesday, November 15th was listed as, “Sunny, Chilly, High 70”. Houston is one of the few cities where 70 degrees (that’s 21 degrees Celsius for all you non-Americans) is “chilly”. I’ll bet they were runing for the goose down coats when they saw that one.

For the flight back to Boston I made the mistake of drinking a bottle of water right before getting on the plane. As soon as the plane pulled away I started to feel the pressure on my bladder. Well, I figured no problem – we’d be airborne soon and I could use the lavatory then. The day I left had very high winds in Houston. As a result the planes were taking off slowly. It turned out there were about 20 planes in front of us waiting to take off. Oh no. That’s not good. Of course you can’t leave your seat while taxiing. It took us nearly an hour of waiting on the tarmac before we finally took off. I thought I was going to burst. Because of the high winds the plane was all over the place as soon as it got airborne. That didn’t help anything. Finally we got above the clouds and I was staring at the “fasten seatbelt” sign willing it to turn off. Finally I could wait no more. I just jumped up and ran to the bathroom. Thankfully no one stop me and I was finally able to relieve myself. Note to readers: do not drink a bottle of water right before getting on the plane. You will regret it.

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