Osmotic Pillowcases

I'm writing this entry on a train from Portland, Maine, to Providence, Rhode Island. I just took off my tie and am fighting off a cheerful drowsiness that comes in the aftermath of my second latte (the first one was white chocolate blackberry from a drive-through coffeehouse in Kinnelon, the second a more traditional Starbucks toffee nut.)

Today I announced a potential new DemiDec product, osmotic pillowcases, to much amusement and interest among coaches and Decathletes in both New Jersey and Maine. I think we'll have to produce them, if we can figure out how. The idea would be to fill these pillowcases with facts for Decathletes to absorb about the curriculum while sleeping.

Based on how much this train is honking, there must be a lot of other trains on the tracks. However, there aren't very many other passengers--just two, an older couple that is debating the squishiness of various seats.

My taxi driver in Portland didn't understand the word "train" very well, so took me to the Grayhound Station. He insisted it was the train station, though I pointed out the window several times at the street and repeated, "No tracks. No train." Eventually he called a friend for help. I made it, naturally, in the nick of time.

A small DemiDec crisis presents itself: we're running out of alpacas! If you read this and would like to visit Ecuador Monday to pick some up from an indigenous market in Otavalo, please let me know.

Munching on a pastrami sandwich. I hesitated asking the sleepy-looking cafe manager to make one, but felt better after he pulled it, pre-manufactured, from a refrigerator. Not bad at all, and somehow, like ginger ale on planes, appropriate.