The thing about working in the second largest banking city in the country is that you don't realize the sheer volume of people who are employed by the banks. On a bank holiday like today (Veteran's Day) when regular people have to go to work you quickly realize that a full 60% of Charlotte must work for the banks because there is no traffic at all on the interstate, even during rush hour. And while it's nice today, tomorrow I'll have just one more reason to curse those evil banks when I'm stuck in traffic even though I don't leave work until 6:15.

My travels to various parts of the country for work are finally over. Las Vegas was a decent time - I got to see Penn & Teller perform and they were spectacular. That was definitely the most fun on that trip. Any show that involves putting a bunny rabbit into a chip shredder and juggling broken glass bottles and ends with the two performers shooting real guns at each other's face has all the makings of a fun time. Chicago was nice too, albeit freezingly cold despite the Weather Channel's reassurance that it would be fantabulous weather. My favorite restaurant of the Chicago trip had to be Weber Grill, although there were some close seconds in there. I am very glad to be home and look forward to no more travel for a while.

On my in-between week from Vegas and Chicago I got front-ended. One might ask "How does one get front-ended?" It was actually a piece of cake. Whilst in line at the Burger King one morning for breakfast I was waiting like a good citizen and there were two vehicles in front of me. The van at the window was taking a long time and this was no good for the bumpkin in front of me in his big utility vehicle (the kind the power company drives, not an SUV). I'm watching him in his big oversized side mirrors as he gets visibly perturbed and then he proceeds to START BACKING UP! Mind you there is only about a foot and a half in between my car and his truck. I lay on the horn but it's too late, his dumb ass has backed right into me. We get out and he apologizes and says he got tired of waiting and didn't look in his rear view mirror when he decided he'd back up and leave. Imagine cars being behind you in a drive-thru! I know that's a highly advanced concept that probably only someone with an MBA (at a bare minimum) could grasp, and I assure you this man not only didn't have an MBA but probably had no idea what MBA stands for. His truck didn't hit me hard, but I was worried that it might have done some damage due to the sheer size of it. Luckily there was no visible damage and everything was cool. He drove off and I drove up (by putting the car in drive instead of in reverse like some people I know) and got my food and went on with my life. The moral of the story? I think God doesn't want me to eat at Burger King.

The day I got back from Chicago I had one of those weird events that blows your mind happen at work. I was trying to decide what time it was so I looked at the clock on my desk, which read 3:30. I was taken back because I didn't realize it was so late. I looked at the clock on my computer and it read 2:30, which made me wonder about the desk clock, so I looked at my watch for clarification and it read 1:30. It took a minute for me to piece the puzzle together. Here's what happened: I left for Chicago on a Sunday, the day we set the clocks back for daylight savings time. I didn't come to work on Sunday so my desk clock was still running an hour ahead. I took two watches to Chicago, which is Central Time and an hour behind Charlotte (Eastern Time). On the plane ride back I always set my watch back to the correct time, but I wasn't wearing this watch on the plane. So my watch was still set on Chicago time. The clock on my computer is really smart and automatically adjusted itself for daylight savings time. Hence three different clocks with three different opinions on the time. Stupidly confusing, I know.

We were at the Panthers-Bucs game on Sunday and that was without a doubt the best game I've ever seen in person. Maybe the best game I've ever seen period. I'm convinced my purchase of officially licensed Carolina Panthers merchandise had something to do with our win. At the very least I'm sure it didn't hurt.

Thanks to everyone who got me birthday presents from my wishlist. You know who you are!