Arrival.

I'm here, safe and sound. We're staying at a Marriott, predictably a nice hotel. It has a restaurant which, for being a hotel restaurant, isn't too spendy, in the end. Still not planning to eat there much but, last night, it was nice.

There's a flower arrangement in the lobby that caught my eye this morning. It's beautiful - or should be. Brilliant colors, greens, etc. Fake or real, I didn't check. In a glossy black vase that's two feet high, the flowers total probably three.

Only one problem: some idiot put it up on a glass table. So it's taller than my head. I don't care for craning my neck, so I reflexively look down before I look up....

...and the base is badly scratched brass over something that looks cheap through the scratches.

If you're going to put that on a table, clean it up first. If it had been on the floor, I would never have noticed the base.

Usually when I order a bagel + cream cheese, they give me a bagel and a packet of cream cheese. The Dunkin' Donuts out here gives you a bagel, cut in two, with cream cheese thick on it. Thicker than I'd have done, but oh well.