As I type this, Mayor Mike Rawlings is in a room at Shanghai's Purple Palace Hotel, 7,000 miles away and 13 hours ahead of us. That makes it about 1 a.m. over there, so you might expect him to be sleeping, resting up for another big day at the U.S.-China Mayors Conference, or, if Mayor Mike rolls that way, knocking back shots of baijiu with the mayor of Chongqing.
You'd be wrong. Instead, Mayor Mike is awake despite another long day, clutching his mobile device and pacing. He may be in China, but his thoughts are in Dallas. Just a bit ago, he reminded his Twitter followers of the Deep Ellum Food Truck Rally and a while before that about today's Living Plaza project at City Hall.
No, being Mayor Mike is a 24-7 job no matter where you may find yourself, as you will see from a quick review of his Twitter account.
Mayor Mike left for his trade mission to Asia on June 17. He showed up at DFW, already missing his family, so he sent out a Happy Father's Day tweet to his thousand-or-so followers. He turns off his phone per the flight attendant's request but later, about 9 p.m. Central, his jet somewhere above the Pacific Ocean, he has to check on the game. He surreptitiously turns on his phone and checks his Twitter feed and has to stifle a laugh to avoid drawing the attention of the flight attendant. LOL. So true! Dallas, you just have to see this:
LeBron's headband is pretty much a beanie with the top cut out twitpic.com/9xpd1e
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 18, 2012
He arrives in Seoul at 4:30 p.m. local time and meets representatives of Korean Air over dinner. It's been a long day and he's jet-lagged, so he turns in early. But he can't sleep. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees water from automatic sprinklers streaming into gutters -- on a non-watering day no less! Meanwhile, the reservoirs dry up and Dallas is transformed into a parched, uninhabitable wasteland. It may be 3:56 a.m. in Korea, but damn it, people need to know:
Outdoor water use in Texas can be more than 50% of total summer water use. See 2X weekly watering schedule savedallaswater.com/twice-weekly-w... #GreenDallas
— Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) June 18, 2012
Phew. Glad to have that off his chest. But since he's already up, see if you can spot Mayor Mike!
MOD in Sickle Cell motorcycle ride with Iron Knightsinstagr.am/p/MBsVGVL05L/
— Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) June 18, 2012
Rawlings, weary from a restless night, nevertheless prepares to seize the day. It's a busy one, after all, and that's how Mike Rawlings rolls. He has breakfast with one Mr. Bum-Coo Cho (real name) of Samsung and a series of meetings with Korean officials before hopping on a plane to Shanghai. No time for Twitter until the evening when he dines on beggar's chicken, a dish consisting of an entire chicken, baked in mud. Check out these karate skills:
Photo: MOD breaking beggars chicken at dinner hosted by American business owner Felix Chen. Chicken is baked in mud. twitter.com/Mike_Rawlings/...
— Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) June 19, 2012
Rawlings is stuffed after the dinner and sleepy, but it's the same as the previous night. Just tossing and turning, unable to get the post-apocalyptic vision of Dallas out of his head. One tweet simply won't cut it.
One qt of motor oil washed down storm drains can pollute up to 250K gallons of water. We need this water for drinking. #GreenDallas
— Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) June 19, 2012
And the next night, 3:30 a.m.:
Turn the water off when brushing your teeth or shaving. This can save 4 gallons of water per minute. #GreenDallas
— Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) June 20, 2012
And again last night, at 4 a.m.:
One gallon of detergent washed down the storm drain can pollute up to 200K gallons of water. #GreenDallas
— Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) June 21, 2012
But even for Mayor Mike can't be consumed by thoughts of the impending water apocalypse 24/7. After all, there's a certain prime time soap opera that just launched...
Reminder: Dallas Episode 3 tonight at 8 PM CST on TNT. #dallastnt
— Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) June 20, 2012
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And this, from only moments ago:
What are you reading? Tell us. Dallas Reads! recently launched to promote reading for adults & children. dallasreads.com
— Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) June 22, 2012
Well, I for one feel blessed to have a mayor who is so robotically dedicated to the city, or at least had the sense to let Shawn Williams handle his Twitter feed.
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