Phoenix Airport -- What to do?

Well, I'm only in the airport -- but the obvious answer is to pick up the signal of the US Airways Lounge, which offers free internet. Well, free internet brought to me by a Verizon ad. Yes, I'm laying over here for a few hours and reflecting on the half-weekend in Austin.

The food at South Congress Cafe is still great. I just wish they were better on the service-end. Last time I was in Austin, the waiter dumped all of our food on the ground as he was setting up the serving stand. This morning, we had a 45 minute wait (no problem, cuz we just strolled around the neighborhood), that turned into a lot longer wait. That, of itself, isn't so much of a problem. I don't expect the greeter's estimate to be exact. But, when we came back and were assured that "you're up next" -- and 15 minutes later (after a few parties were seated) we were told that there were only 2 parties in front of us (later, when I looked at the list "2" actually meant "3"!) -- I was a bit frustrated. You see, we were already on a tight timeframe: I had to catch a flight. Saying "Up next" in this case really was the difference between staying and going. So, I bullied them about this little fact -- and they seated us immediately (i.e. "up next" -- sorry, other people) and had an awesome meal. The funny thing was, right before we were seated, and after her boss told us he'd fix the problem and seat us next -- the same greeter assured another party that they were "up next" -- then proceeded to seat not just us, but two other parties ahead of them. Maybe I need to learn to speak Texas if I want to move to Austin. Or maybe it's just a South Austin thing -- and I need to be more laid-back.

Other things I learned:

I would like to have attended the University of Texas.

The peach cobbler at Kerbey Lane is a good substitute for birthday cake. The Hole in the Wall is a cool place (as is probably any place with that name). The Red House has pretty good pizza. Veggie Chorizo can be pretty good.

One day I will go to Allen's and indulge in some cowboy boot super-consumerism. They had boots with a $1299.00 price tag -- and probably others that were more expensive if I had looked harder. But, boy oh boy, did I ever want to have some of those boots.

And Austin is a place I would love to live. I wonder how I could make that happen?

Also, and I didn't learn this first-hand, but it's still on my mind: if you must ride a motorcycle, do not ride it around well past midnight on graduation night in a college town in the area of a bunch of bars. Just not a good idea.