Day 4 - Ann Arbor

Things have been aiiiiight here in freezy MI... even though it is single digit temps, it has been sunny and of course the folks are super nice.

Get this- last night I was invited to speak at a UMich business club meeting. I thought it would be full of frat boys and followers.... but nope. It was the 'Investors Club' better known as the 'Alex P. Keaton future Repubs of Amer.' All these juniors show up in suits on a Wednesday night talking about their portfolios and the current situation of stocks in the market..... UH!!! How did I get there?!?!?! I was in jeans that I had spilled all over and a hooded sweater. But it ended up being cool because I got to play devil's advocate to their sales pitch. They would try to pitch something like a golf club to me, but for an alternate purpose. This one guy called an envelope 'the world's smallest machete for self defense' and claimed that it got past security gates. hilarious. Another kid told me that he had put a formula on the under side of a deck of playing cards that was for hair regrowth so men could rub it on their head- so bizarre.

Night was good, ended by me eating a burrito in a fast food chain reading the Alchemist in my booth before entering into 'girl talk' in corporate housingville.

Ann Arbor is Friggin' Freezin.

So today marks Day 1- Ann Arbor. I really do think I lost my mind. I heaved my massive luggage (one 78.5lb, one 47lb) into the back of my Dodge Caliber rental. It has been around 20 with whippin' winds and I am painfully aware of what a Cali lightweight I have become.

I spent the day driving in circles and stopping in Borders to hop online to check out more armpit apartments online and schedule drop-ins. I am writing this from a Best Western 'Executive' hotel... and how one defines 'Executive' is a mystery to me. The hotel looks as though the neon lights tracing the indoor pool, as well as the dramatic magenta window treatments haven't been updated since Cyndi Lauper was toppin' the charts with "Time after Time" in '84. On the elavator ride up to my room, the doors did not close all the way. But at least there is wireless and HBO.

The highlight of the trip, thus far, has been Zingermans. This is going to be one of those places you try to take every visitor so they don't think the place you reside sucks major buttocks.

I'll stop being bitter tomorrow.