You're Getting Very Sleepy

Until I’m six feet under
Baby I don’t need a bed
Gonna live while I’m alive
I’ll sleep when I’m dead
- Bon Jovi

If I don’t get some sleep
I’m going to die and/or kill someone
- Clear Plastic Bag

My sister and brother-in-law bought a condo just one street over from Austin’s famed bar-lined Sixth Street. Very hip. Very cool. Very loud. It wasn’t so much the shouting of drunken revelers at midnight, but the 3 a.m. “bottle toss” that put a big, sleepless damper on their real estate acquisition. Their building is separated from Sixth Street by an alley running in the back of the bars lining the street, and at about 3 a.m. every morning, a trash truck runs down that alley. Thousands of empty bottles are tossed into the truck as it stops at each and every bar’s dumpster, every breaking bottle resulting in sleepless nights and splitting headaches. I was determined to solve the problem, and with a little research discovered the Marpac White Noise Machine Sleep Mate Sound Screen 980 Dual Speed Sound Conditioner.

This thing is miraculous. With a sort of whirring, whooshing air sound it drowns out any irritating noises around you. Unlike sound machines that produce rain sounds or maybe ocean sounds, you don’t focus on the sound, rather, it just seamlessly blends into your consciousness and before you know it you’re unconscious, drooling into your pillow. Moreover, unlike earplugs, it also lets you hear any important sounds you would want to hear.

After using it at their condo, I became addicted and now bring one with me when I travel. For rooms on the busy street side, hotels undergoing renovations, new travel companions whose charms do not include their snoring, or for rooms with “honeymooners” just one thin wall away, the Marpac can save a trip from sleepless disaster. The machine is just 3.25 inch high and 5.75 inches in diameter, and while the company says it weighs 1.6 pounds, it feels much lighter than that. Or maybe that’s just me, light on my toes after a restful night sleep. In any event, it tucks conveniently into a suitcase or overnight bag.

Thanks for the fist-pumping, rock ‘n roll anthem, Jon, but I’ll sleep when I turn on my Marpac White Noise Machine Sleep Mate Sound Screen 980 Dual Speed Sound Conditioner.

-- Clear Plastic Bag

Indique, So Chic My Sweet

If there’s one thing for sure it’s that it’s tough to get good Indian food in the middle of the country, so whenever High Flying Bird heads to one of the coasts, we land at whatever Indian we can find. In Washington D.C., that’s Indique. With a décor that takes you to the balcony of the Lake Palace Hotel floating on Lake Piccola in Udaipur, and vegetarian dishes that are so light and delightful you won’t miss the meat, the restaurant (which does have plenty of meat entrees) is directly across from the Cleveland Park Metro stop on the red line. Absolute don’t miss: the mini-dosa first plate – lighter than air lentil pancakes stuffed with spiced potatoes and other veggies, served with several delicious chutneys.
www.indique.com

Travel Privacy Tip: Strategies for the Vented Louver Bathroom Door

An ex loved to stay at the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica. The hotel is certainly gorgeous but -- and, perhaps, I am overly self-conscious -- beware the vented louver bathroom doors.

What is a vented louver door? Here is a definition from door dealer site: "Vented louver doors permit air flow and passage, making them ideal for applications like closets and laundry rooms where ventilation is preferred. This promotes some visibility through the door on the non-blind side."

Yes, ideal for applications like closets and laundry rooms, but not so much for posh hotel rooms presumably created to set romantic moods. All the fluffy down comforters and ocean views will not disguise the personal business being conducted in the bathroom. What to do in this travel situation?

You have a couple of strategies in the vented louver bathroom bathroom door quandary:

The Hotel Lobby Bathroom Approach: This strategy is 100% effective and can completely avoid an open and honest discussion of the vented louver bathroom door situation. However, it is often difficult to implement without potentially uncomfortable and probing questions and/or if you have had far too much to drink the night before and distance to the bathroom is an issue.

The "God Save the Queen" Tactic (Plus Perfume Blast Supplement): Ultimately, after several stays at the Miramar, this became my chosen strategy. I couldn't come up with any new reasons as to why I needed to leave the room and, with the truth-inducing services of too much wine, I explained my discomfort with the vented louver bathroom doors. It was thusly agreed that whenever one of us was in the bathroom, the other would remain on the far side of the room while both singing (rather loudly) "God Save the Queen". Success with this tactic is not dependent on "God Save the Queen", per se. Entirely song optional. Perfume Blast Supplement should be self-explanatory.

Unfortunately, the "God Save the Queen" tactic was only implemented a few more times as I was unceremoniously, errr, dumped a short time later (as foreshadowed in the beginning of this entry). However, I do not attribute the break-up to the vented louver bathroom tactic.

-- Clear Plastic Bag