Life is such a sweet insanity.

Earl and I made the trek to Buffalo yesterday to entertain one of his customers at a Buffalo Bandits LaCrosse game. We decided to make a day of it, leaving at noon and then heading to the largest mall in Buffalo, Walden Galleria.

With my interest in diners increasing, much to Earl's delight, we started out with breakfast at a local diner that I have driven past for the 15 years. It's simply called "Betty's Diner", and it's a popular stop for locals and truck drivers alike. It's a classic diner, in that it's a pre-fabricated building from the 1950s, has a counter up one side and booths on the other side. Earl and I opted to eat at the counter and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. I had french toast and bacon with a nice big glass of juice. There's just something about diner food that fast food can not emulate. It has that certain homemade touch and taste to it that makes it feel familiar. The portions were not outrageously huge; they were typical of what you would make yourself at home. I liked that.

So then we hit the road and stopped in Rochester for lunch. Rochester is somewhat the technology hub of Upstate N.Y., with Xerox and Kodak, and many other high-tech industries maintaining shop in the area. Unfortunately I'm not as familiar with Rochester as I'd like to be, because it always seems like we're passing through to go to another destination.

We found another diner that I had researched online. It's called "Highland Park Diner" and is in what seems to be an artsy part of town. We're going to be visiting this little gem again, and probably soon, as the food was outstanding (again, no outrageously sized portions), the atmosphere was pleasant and the location is just off the interstate. We did indulge a bit and added dessert to the fun. I had rhubarb and three berries pie.

Finally we were off to Buffalo and the Walden Galleria. Apple store time! We picked up iWork '05 and iLife '05 for our notebooks, and I picked up the Omniweb 5 web browser software as well. I'm a big fan of Safari, but I always like to try something different, so I'm giving Omniweb a whirl. So far, I like it a lot.

Being gay men, we lived up to a stereotype and bought new shoes at DSW. I needed something a little more sturdy for work. I'm big on workboots, but they don't look that good with the khakis and other dress pants I wear at work, so I found a pair that feels like a workboot but looks a little more appropriate for work.

We then headed to HSBC arena, where we entertained and watched my first LaCrosse game. No offense to LaCrosse fans, but I can tell you that I'm not really that big a fan of the sport. They had music blaring during game play and the players beat each other with their sticks (which seems to be rather unsporting). At least in hockey they have to stay up on their skates. Oh well, at least I can chalk the game up to experience.

And the customer that joined us was very hot and had sent our gaydar off the scale.

On the way home, we stopped at the ever present Little Gem Diner in Syracuse for a 12:30 a.m. breakfast. We were both curious to see how busy the diner gets for the after bar crowd and it indeed gets very busy. Stuffed (with ham and cheese) French Toast and homefries. Outstanding. Not very healthy, but at 12:30 a.m., who's eating healthy?

Today is 'catch up day' around the house, as the laundry pile is frightening the cat, the dishes in the dishwasher have begun to rattle themselves and there's not a drop of milk or juice or a crumb of bread left in the kitchen. Time to move to huzbear mode.