The Longest Week Of The Year

I returned to my old schedule, just for a week.  It all started on an overnight New York flight on Sunday.  Since flights have been so inconsistent lately, I had to stop in Washington DC for a "quick" connection, which turned out to be several hours.  Delays are pretty common these days.  However, if you're meeting a large group of people from all over the country and no one makes it on time, it may be time to look at our air travel system. 

In the middle of the week, I rerouted myself to a last minute job in Texas.  I had a 20 minute connection in Cleveland, so the airline decided to reroute me through Chicago. It took an extra 10 hours to get to my destination, since I missed the last connecting flight.  In the tradition of a true road warrior, I decided to reroute myself to the closest available airport with a flight and drive through the night.

This was one of the few times that I didn't pack too much extra stuff for an "emergency" add-on trip.  After all, it's been almost a year and over 200,000 miles since I had to add a few days to an existing trip. At least I didn't tear the seam of my pants like I did in Cleveland several years ago.  Also, I didn't give the airline a reason to lose my luggage, as I carried everything on the plane.  However, I still needed to get the WalMart suit, and get some other extra clothes and stuff.  I did still manage to twist my ankle and wind up in extreme amounts of pain on Saturday.  Some things never change...

I finally limped my way back home, and I'm still limping along.  That was one of the longest weeks I've had in a while.  Let's not do that again.

Later

Let It Snow, Just Not On Me...

There's something about this time of year that reminds me that I'm supposed to stop traveling during the winter months. I decided to get snowed on in Columbus, Ohio, this week. It did make me long for the nice heat wave we were experiencing in California while attempting to get through the highway into frozen remote parts of Ohio. I've got to remember to start checking the weather before I start on these trips. I must be getting forgetful these days. Anyhow, as the song says, let it snow. . . just not on me.

Later.

Surfing The Hubs

I've been absent from this column for a little too long, so I just wanted to mention that I haven't faded into the background -- at least not just yet. I spent some time in Huntington, WV, earlier this month. Due to aircraft maintenance issues, they had to call in some mechanical help from Charleston, which is over an hour away from the Tri-State Airport in Huntington. Needless to say, I missed my connection in Cincinnati, and I did have to double-connect in Atlanta, and again in Salt Lake City in order to get home. I've gotten to the point where I expect the delays, and I just plan an extra "lost" day due to the missed connections. It's a really good policy, because perfect flight schedules are as unattainable as that mirage of water in the desert. The days on the road are starting to lessen, but I'm not getting off the field completely. There are still a few more stories out there. Later.

In The District

These field reports are starting to get a bit rare. I'm reporting from within the beltway. Yes, I'm actually staying in the District. You know, Washington, DC. That's right. I'm back to my old habits. I've probably overextended myself again, and am living on that miracle drug, Dayquil. I decided to try to get back in training again, and overdid it before I got on the plane. I always seem to have that bad habit of forgetting that I'm not eighteen any more. Anyhow, I'm here until Wednesday morning, and back for a couple of days at home before I leave again for Hawaii. I am one of many people in my group from San Diego at this conference in DC. It was strange that we all seemed to take different routes to get here, and we all seem to have different disaster stories of how we all got here. One person connected in Los Angeles, another in Atlanta, someone else in Chicago, yet another in Cincinnati, and someone went through Phoenix. Just about everyone experienced some sort of flight delay. I connected in Dallas without any flight delay, but getting out of the airport was an adventure. Let's just say it involves a minivan and step ladder... Anyhow, this is a long update, so I'd better get some rest. After all, I should probably sleep this cold away. Later.

Ripped From The Headlines

I had yet another one of those moments that just begs the question, "Why haven't I retired from this yet?" has happened. It was one of those moments reminiscent of the time I slipped on the ice three times in Cleveland on the same ice patch. This time, there was no ice, but I did manage to rip the back of my pants. Everything I did made the stupid hole in my pants even larger. I went to check on the rip in a bathroom at a customer site, when I accidentally ripped the entire seat out of my pants. This just wasn't one of my better days, to say the least. Anyhow, I was fortunate enough to have a spare pair of pants to change into. I think this day will probably be in the top ten, at least. I think it will probably be right after the "Falling Down" incidents. Later.

Moon Over Parma, Revisited

I just spent a couple of days in Cleveland. There were really no unusal events this time round. However, I didn't rent a car this time, so I guess there wasn't too much circumstance that could get me into trouble. I was in Continental land. After all, one of the Continental hubs is Cleveland. Even though I had the wonderful experience of having some big guy jabbing his elbow into my gut on a commuter flight from Dallas, I still prefer that experience to flying on Continental. Yes, I'm still holding a grudge.

Boycott Continental! I mean it. Really. No joke.

Later.

Moon Over Parma, Yet Again

From what I've heard, Cleveland rocks. One of these days, I'll figure out what the big deal is about this. Yes, I'm back in Cleveland again. I've got to stop coming here in the winter. Anyway, I almost never see anyone I know at the airport, but this time, I unexpectedly met up with one of our VP's from North Carolina, so we rode over to the hotel together in my rental car. It's a good thing she was here, because I would have gotten lost trying to find our new office in Cleveland. I almost never visit our corporate offices these days, so finding them is a challenge. Anyhow, Delta redeemed itself today. I was really late for the flight out of LAX, and, in addition, I had a 20-minute connection in Atlanta. My luggage actually made it with me. Kudos to Delta on this one. I don't know how they were able to pull this one off. By the way, Boycott Continental Airlines. They suck. Yes, my holy war with Continental continues. Later.

Trapped In Chicago

I had a choice -- be trapped in Dallas without luggage, or be trapped in Chicago with luggage. Since I still experience the common psychosis of luggage separation anxiety, I opted with the latter. I spent the night at the Hilton by O'Hare airport, and got a good night's sleep, for the first time in quite a while. I'm not going to make it to my regular Saturday routine, so it's a good thing that I'm taking Monday off. Anyhow, hopefully I'll get home today at some point. I've got a whole lot of laundry to do. I just learned that I'm back in Cleveland later this month. By now, I'm sure you all know my feelings about Cleveland in February. Anyhow, I've got to check out, and get to my newly delayed flight. Onward to the ticket counter. 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.

Another Moon Over Parma

I'm back in Cleveland, back at the same Courtyard where my Falling Down incident happened around the same time last year. Spooky -- It's Groundhog Day all over again. . . Getting here was half the fun, once again. I booked a room in Middleburg Heights, but I wound up back in North Olmstead, right where I was about a year ago. As I recall, I was heading to a meeting with people from Youngstown during that visit, too. After I stopped in Middleburg Heights, they told me that I was booked in North Olmstead, which is pretty annoying, since it's in the wrong direction. It's pretty sad when you live in Los Angeles, and can make the distinction of traffic patterns in Cleveland. There's slush or whatever you call that icy, gooky stuff that I had to wade through once at each hotel. It's been raining here, so I got soaked through the five layers of clothes that I was wearing. I'm beat to the socks, but I heard somewhere that Cleveland Rocks! I'm beginning to feel like Robert Wagner. 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.

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.

Lost Between The States

It was a pretty rocky start to the week. My pants split on the way to San Diego, so I had to make a quick detour to pick up some new pants. Then, I caught an uncharacteristically early flight into Cincinnati from San Diego this morning. I connecting to Chicago on a 6am flight, which was quite painful. The worst part was the fact that the Cincinnati airport is really in Northern Kentucky, so I proceeded to get lost in both states today. I wonder if I can count that twice. Guess not. Anyhow, that brings my count to 207. After two painful hours, I finally made my way to the hotel, where it's time for dinner. So, I'm off. I kind of have to be in order to do this for a living, don't I? :-) Later.

Moon Over Parma Again

My colleague came in from Chicago, and we're both waiting on the boss to go to dinner. Hope he gets here pretty fast. I'm starving. Apparently, it rained really hard in Cleveland, as the ground seem really wet outside. I had the drapes closed all day while I was doing my work, so I never really noticed. No moon over Parma tonight. It's starting to look really nasty out there. I guess the storm isn't over. Hope it blows away soon. I've got a job to do in Cleveland tomorrow, and then I'm due in San Francisco in the evening. Still have the cold and cough, and I'm still feeling rather miserable. Got to find some food, so catch you later.

Moon Over Parma

... or at least, North Olmstead. Close enough, since we're all near Cleveland. Just got in to Cleveland. Unfortunately, there's no food after midnight (bear in mind that posting time is noted in Pacific Time). To top things off, my hotel reservation was cancelled on Friday for some mysterious reason. Not the thing you want to hear at midnight when you haven't eaten all day, and are scrounging around the vending machines for potato chips and other strange looking expired food substitutes. Anyway, I got the hotel mess settled, and got some chips and cookies, so I'm happy now. I've got to get this internet connection straightened out before my projects in the morning, so I've got to go. 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.

Burritos In Ohio, Indigestion At 35,000 Feet

I'm reporting from Columbus, Ohio. It was a bit of a rough trip, thanks to the weather, and the fact that I got stuck in one of those nasty coach seats with no leg room. Bear in mind that I am a relatively short person, and when I complain about leg room, it's really got to be bad. I got in really late, too. It was another one of those microwaveable burritos for me tonight. One of these days, the airlines really need to start feeding us more than peanuts when we cross the country (or at least more than two time zones).