After a gloomy, gray, cold and damp two week stint in Columbus, Ohio, I am finally going to be winging my way westward later today. Unfortunately, I won't be quite making it all the way back to Nevada, as I have a weekend of pain awaiting me in Denver, and will make it all the way home on Monday afternoon. 
Speaking of Carson City, it was recently ranked as the number one American city to have not recovered, Reno/Sparks followed at second worst. Of course local officials dispute the claim. Another interesting read is about the top 10 large metropolitan areas in the world that haven't recovered.
In my opinion, statistics are like a lamp post to a drunk: theoretically to be used for illumination but more often for support. Or they can be likened to a bikini on a hot woman, revealing, but still hiding that which is critical.
I find it interesting that the news article, though the mentioning the site by name (247wallst.com), doesn't actually link to the report. 

As the last post stated, I am in OH for a couple of weeks, it dealt with the business stuff. On to the running front. Hmm. This week I was only able to escape for a run twice, the first one being Monday: a dreadmill grind of 3 miles. It only seemed like 30. God, how I abhor gerbiling. I set the machine for a fast pace and tried to ignore the voices in my head telling me that I needed to kill, KILL KILL! I did notice the guy next to me doing speed work. Set the machine at 8+ mph, sprint for a minute, then step to the sides while the machine whirrs along for a couple minutes. Wow. Great way to rack up the miles on the display. I'm a little unclear on the workout performance, though.
The rest of the workweek, I was in a monkey suit and tie from before dawn to well past dark. I was advised not to run at night by hotel staff, and the gym itself closed at 8. Even if I could have gone for a run, all motivation to do so was gone. I crawled to my hotel room and stared at the walls until 2 or 3 when the mind chatter eventually ceased, and I finally dropped off.
The second run was in the cold, gray and breezy weather early Saturday morning. with temps in the mid 20s, I crawled along the Scioto River trail north-ishly to the Olentangy River Trail, where I headed more north-ishly to The Ohio State University campus. The 1/2 inch of snow on the concrete/asphalt trail made it a bit easier on my joints. Though as I neared the end of the return of the out-and-back, my IT band was playing up. (Get it? Band-->playing? Ha.) 
Seems when I have a run like that, my enthusiasm for ever running drains away. I'm sure it will return. It usually does when I see a dirt trailhead. But as of the here and now, the gray, flat concrete and asphalt encourages me to do nothing.

I am in Ohio until the end of the week doing a consulting gig for the legislature. A few things have surprised me and a few haven't. The weather has been exactly what I expected when I left sunny and cold Carson City. Gray? - check. Cold? - check. Humid? - check. I had no expectations regarding wind, but it's there, and cold. If wind could be gray, it would be gray, too.
On the surprise side, for a large population (7th most populous in the US, according to Not-Dark-Today Wikipedia), the non-automated way they do business kind of surprises me. As a co-worker put it, the process is "paper and people." True that. In my professional capacity, I am here poking and prodding to see what documents they create and to stitch a narrative together describing the process end to end. It's not surprising to me after doing this a few times, how few people in the organization have a comprehensive view of the enterprise workflow. That is probably because of the need to focus on the piece of the puzzle that directly relates to your own existence to keep your head above water. My goal over the next couple of weeks it do document  how they can get a bigger bang per technology buck. A short and intense couple of weeks that will hopefully pay off in the longer run with a contract to do some automation. For me, if they decided to incorporate bill drafting in the mix of new tech, I'll likely be involved.
I have to say, I am unpleasantly surprised at the ghost town quality of the area around the Capitol at night and on weekends. I'm shocked, shocked! at the dearth of Starbucks and the hours the one that I did find keeps - close at 3? seriously? Also, there are only two restaurants I've found within easy walking distance of my hotel that are even open past 4 pm, and neither is open weekends. Good if you are on a diet, I suppose.
I'm looking forward to blitzing this bad boy this week and jetting home.