No Exaggeration Here

To skew the saying slightly, reports of my death are not far off... I started my latest journey in the Emergency Room, and I'll save the editorial about the state of our healthcare system for another column. Suffice it to say, it's really screwed up. I was not in the right state of mind to go on my latest adventure to Omaha, since I never got any sleep before my flight. The fact that the flight to Omaha from Chicago was canceled did not help matters. I rerouted myself to Kansas City, bought a Wal-Mart suit, and drove all night to Omaha. Then, in their infinite wisdom, the airline computer system cancelled all my subsequent flights, since the system thought I was still in Chicago. I wonder where my luggage was, and I wonder if it is getting the appropriate frequent flyer mileage. Anyhow, I think this adventure is worthy of my monthly column, so I guess I'll update that later this week.

Later.

Eye Of The Storm

It was a week of thunder and lightning storms throughout the journey into Seattle and Kansas City. I went out to dinner with a few collegaues last evening, and when we left the restaurant, the rain was coming down in sheets. The next morning, there was no trace of the storm. It's amazing to me how fast the storms of the evenings got erased from existence with such great speed. Okay, enough about the weather report. I'm back to my old schedule, and there's no stopping me now. Tomorrow, the world... or at least Portland. Later.

Not Frozen Over Yet

I feel like a trailblazer once again. It's surprisingly warm in the evening in the little town of Blue Springs, Missouri, tonight. I'm in the middle of a quick trip to Kansas City to do a repeat of whatever magical sales presentation that I did earlier this year in Springfield. I've got a morning appointment that could have been done over the phone, but one of the upper echelons wanted a personal visit, so I'm on a quick overnight trip to wear my tie and shake a few hands. Hopefully, I'll be able to get out of here a little early. These days the travel seems to just get in the way of the day job. Now that's a real switch from the old days.

One thing's for sure, hell would have to freeze over, thaw out, and then freeze over again before I'd ever want to think about even wanting to work at my old company again. In the last job, it was one of the most dysfunctional experiences with some of the most destructive and sadistic management that I've ever seen. It was an eye-opening experience to finally be part of something special in this last year. Even with all of the extra corporate strategic work that I've taken on in the last several months, I don't think I'd ever want to trade it in for anything.

Boycott Continental. Yes, I still mean it.

Later.

There's No Place Like Springfield (Again) . . .

This time, it's Springfield, MO. Yes, once again I returned to Springfield. To the left, there's an empty field. To the right, another empty field. Hmm. I'm sensing a pattern here. Anyhow, this is my only trip for the month, so I guess I'd better write about it. It was a quick trip up to Springfield, but the flights were busier than normal. In fact, even with my multi-million-miler status, I couldn't get out of those center seats on the way up and back. Despite that, I still say . . .

Boycott Continental! Yes, I really mean it.

Later.

End Of The Line

Well, it's over. My career as a full-time road warrior has come to and end. All that's left is the annoying paperwork that goes along with the job. I just flew on Southwest to get back home from Kansas City. I don't know which is more ironic, Kansas City as the last trip, or the fact that I actually flew on Southwest. My last day is tomorrow, and I have a lot of administrative stuff to take care of, so I'll be out of the office most of the day. After that, I focus on the move for a couple of days, and then it's life in San Diego.

Boycott Continental. I'm not kidding!

Later.

Twisted Traditions

I'm back in St. Louis, once again. My long-time readers already know this, but I started my rantings on this website because I had some travel issues on the way back from a trip to St. Louis two years ago. I got searched in baggage claim --BAGGAGE CLAIM, I tell you! Anyhow, that's was only the beginning. Last year around this time, I also returned to St. Louis in order to get diverted to Cleveland for the previously mentioned Falling Down incident. So, I guess my return into St. Louis (and Cleveland) is now becoming an annual tradition. It's a bit twisted, but it's still a tradition. Later.

Prelude To A Trip

It's another Sunday night before I fly out once again. This is going to be yet another flight of insanity, which will take me into Dallas, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, back to Dallas, onward to Houston, back to Dallas again, then onward to Chicago, and back to Dallas before returning home. You see, in order to take a trip into the fiery depths of hell, you have to connect in either Dallas or Chicago, even if hell has frozen over. Sometimes, it will take a double connection with Atlanta or St. Louis thrown into the mix. It's true -- hell froze over last week, and it hasn't thawed out yet. I'm on my way to Cleveland, and I think the following movie moment expresses exactly how I feel:

Movie moment:
Delirious (1990)

John Candy: "What're you doing here? I sent you to Cleveland."
Robert Wagner: "I ought to kill you for just that."

Later.

Hell Freezes Over

Hell has frozen over. It's the only explanation for it all. I'm in Bloomington, IL, and it's COLD. I mean really, really, really cold. I got rerouted through St. Louis in order to get here, several hours later that my regularly scheduled time. So, naturally, since it's darker and later in the day, the temperature seems to have dropped quite a bit. I had problems with the airline today. They took my computer and electronics from me at the plane. I told the guy not to take it, but he grabbed it from me. I told him to expect my lawsuit when things don't work in the morning. I haven't tested all my electronics, so we'll see what happens in the morning. I'm writing a rare letter to the airline about this one. We landed in Bloomington, and were greeted by extremely harsh winds and a temperature of 8 degrees, with a wind chill well below zero. I have one more trip to Sacramento tomorrow, but I connect in St. Louis and Dallas, so I'm not sure if I'll make it all the way. Later.

Let It Snow . . . NOT!

A light snow was falling earlier this week in Youngstown, OH, and Kansas City, MO. I typically don't like to drive in snow, but these days, I really don't have much of a choice. I'm on my way to New York on Monday, and I've heard that they are expecting 18 inches of snow with no relief in sight until Tuesday. Not a good thing when you have to do the Los Angeles-Boston-New York-Boston-Los Angeles-Las Vegas-San Francisco-Los Angeles run within a four day span. Of course, at least I'm hitting major cities for the most part. My days in Hawaii and California (excuse me, Cah-LEE-forn-yah -- the new approved state pronounciation from our governator) have not really prepared me for any type of cold weather. In fact, driving in snow, looking at snow, being snowed on, or being within a 100-mile radius of snow, are things that I really try to avoid as much as possible. Get me back to my tropical island in the Pacific. . . Later.

Out Of Range

Well, my e-mail isn't working, but since I have an internet connection, I thought I'd blog a little. Allow me to catch up on my adventures of the week. I started in Springfield, once again. Actually, I had to drive an hour or two into Joplin, MO, for the evening. After an odd drive back into Springfield (by the way, there's no place like Springfield), I caught an early flight into Cleveland, which was delayed anyway. I was going to stay in Cleveland and drive tomorrow, but that plan got shattered when my partner for this trip had to fly into Pittsburgh. So, I rented a car and drove a couple hours into lovely Youngstown. Way too much driving on this trip... My cell phone has been in roaming for most of the trip, too. That means that I haven't been in what my cell phone company considers "civilization." My phone has been going in and out of service every few minutes in my hotel room. I guess this room in this hotel is the outer limit of civilization, at least, according to the phone company. Back to Kansas City for me tomorrow... Later.

Motor City Madness

After a long absence from the area, I returned to Detroit. I left San Francisco on a 6am flight, which is very unusual for me. Anyhow, this has been another one of those weeks that is worse than the baseline "Week in the Life" column that I wrote in my editorials last week. It's been a week of really tight connections, long sprints in Chicago and St. Louis, and the post-million mile depression. Anyhow, I'm in Pontiac, MI, a suburb of Detroit, and will be finally returning home tomorrow, if all goes well. I'm still sick, and coughing my lungs out, and I now have a few new opportunities to consider. The adventure continues... for now. Later.

This Is Living!?

Just made it back home from one of my less than stellar travel weeks. Urbana, IL; Meridian, MS, and Cape Girardeau, MO -- All in THREE DAYS!! These were some of the most horrendous flights I have been on in recent weeks. The turbulence was enough to make me worry. And let me tell you, it takes quite a bit of turbulence to get me concerned about landing in one piece. Delta lost my luggage, and when I got it back it looked like someone had run over it a few times. I've also been branded as an official oddity in Mississippi. Apparently, everyone was coming over to look at the "strange Asian feller" who got profiled at the airport. They must think I'm some sort of drug lord or terrorist. I probably should not have started this journey in the first place, after the ER incident earlier this week, but it's a living... I'm going to do a little work tonight, so I can take tomorrow off completely. Maybe I can get back to the doctor's office. Also promised a friend that I would help him out tomorrow... I've got to travel to Cleveland on Sunday, so it's off to work for me. Later.

And so I returned home . . .

. . . not exactly in one piece. Anyhow, I just got back in from Nashville. I was coughing all the way back. A very disturbing woman in front of me on the airplane kept leaning her seat back all the way to annoy me, so I'm sort of glad my coughing was annoying to her as well. Looking back at the week, I spent over 30 hours in transit. That's more than one whole day out of my week just traveling. If there's anything that can make you sick and irritable, it's that. I'm in town for a few days, then I'm off to some of those hard-to-reach cities: Urbana, IL; Meridian, MS; and Cape Girardeau, MO. That sounds like a fun week... NOT. Now I need some sleep -- in my own bed. Maybe I can get up early enough to get to the doctor. See you later.