First off, I must say that every single person I've interacted with in the past 24 hours in Billings Montana has been wonderful: When I checked in at midnight last night, the clerk not only guided me in by phone (the area of the hotel is too new to be on GPS yet), but also chatted me up with talk about the Portal video game, and the observation that I have a laugh just like George McFly (Crispin Glover) in Back to the Future. From there, I've had coffee shop gals who just wanted to chat for a while, waitresses who were forthright in their recommendations, hospital secretaries who actually walked me 2 blocks to the right office instead of just telling me where to go....
Our meetings here in Billings are going very well: For a small town, they're actually very tech savvy and have big intentions that I think I can help them out with. Plus, they don't mind spending an hour just talking about the industry and trends and whatnot. Given that in Seattle, I'm pulling teeth to get 15 minutes, having 6 hours scheduled with all levels of management, plus a 3 hour dinner with two key decision makers (with way too many belly laughs to be reasonable), it could make me feel spoiled.
All that said, there are a few things I need to mention:
1) The billboard for "Scary Larry's" - Pawn Shop, 24 hour loans, Native American Crafts, and Adult Superstore. I'm wondering if I can maybe get an off-color dreamcatcher there.
2) The 10 foot high billboard with a lady realtor holding a fancy dressed poodle.
3) The fact that there are pawn shops on every block... it makes hocking things almost seem... normal...
4) Casinos Casinos Casinos. Every single place with a liquor license also purports to be a casino, of which there are around a million in this town. And they have such ritzy aspirations: "Monte Carlo", "Big Texas", "Attached to Old Chicago Pizza".
So another day of meetings tomorrow, then off to Denver! Wish me luck!
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General Thoughts from Jimmy B
1 comment:
Luck o the Irish to you, laddie. How wonderful to read your post. Good to see that traveler's eye is still working well, evolving. Carrie and I drove down the Rockies into Great Falls when the Kretz's lived there - it's where Juan Carlos' family still lives. Somewhere we picked up our twin eagles on elastic - you could bounce them like paddle balls. Carrie's eagle's wing, one of them, never left the upright position so it looked like he was always either wanting to ask a question or making a statement about being a symbol of an economic/political system that insisted on always being "up". We called him "Special Ed". Here's to the memories you are making and the stories you will tell.
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