Canada Revisted

It is easy to forget that Canada is a country separate from the USA.  I recently got back from a quick trip north, and found that travel problems exist no matter where you go.  In this adventure, I found that we have really set travel backward in the last twelve years.  Bear in mind, during this entire trip, I was wearing a leg brace due to the injury that was chronicled in the last two posts.

In Canada, it seemed to be a lot easier to get around in the airports.  I noted that even though we did have metal detectors, there were no intrusive x-ray machines or other invasive technologies designed to make the traveler uncomfortable.  There was sufficient security, and it wasn't disruptive either.  The airports were designed to make it as painless for the traveler.  What a concept!  This is what travel used to be like twelve years ago.

Even though the airports were not the issue, I still had a few problems with this trip.  It was just before school started, and there were quite a few children on the plane.  One of them accidentally splashed me with some water on the airplane (at least I hope it was water).  Kids will be kids, I suppose.  It has also been a while since I had my last border crossing, so I forgot that different currency is used in Canada.  I had the hardest time finding places to eat that took my brand of credit card.

After an unexpected flight delay and missed connection, I got reroute to Seattle.  The airline wasn't able to get me back to the right airport, but at least I made it back to the general area of Southern California.  Close enough.  After all that, I eventually returned back home, and am awaiting the next adventure. Until then, I'll continue to limp along.

Later.

The Road Warrior Recovers . . .

I was looking back at the last time I took a vacation, and it seems that it was a little over two years ago. Coincidentally, the last real vacation that I took in 2006 also revolved around my best friends. I guess history does repeat itself, only this time I had a bit of an expanded version of the vacation.

First, my friend Jon got married halfway across the world in Shanghai. That was an event that I wasn't about to miss, so I got an extra few days off from work, even at the end of the fiscal year. Last vacation in 2006, I think Jon and I went in search of hot dogs at a shopping mall in Buffalo. Unquestionably, this vacation (well, it was a vacation for me, at least) was one of the best adventures that I've been on in quite a while. I got to play best man for the first time, and managed to look decent in a tuxedo. Who could ask for anything more, right? Shanghai was a great adventure, especially the taxi rides which reminded me of a cross between demolition derby and the Indy 500.

To top things off, my young friend James graduated from high school, and it was time to take him on a tour of the USA -- a day after I returned from Shanghai. We managed to tackle Dallas, Worcester, New Haven, Redmond, and Atlanta in less than ten days. We even returned to the same hotel in Redmond from two years ago. I knew we would return there someday. I think I even mentioned that in my post from 2006. It was a lot of fun, and I can still keep up with a teenager, which was surprising to even me. We both really, really, really needed a vacation. That was our tagline. I think it was just what we both needed before he goes off to college.

In both cases, it really wasn't the destination that mattered. What mattered most was the fact that I got to catch up with my friends. So, now it's time to return to the perils of the day job, and start planning the next set of travels. I have some time in Orlando next month, and perhaps a few more adventures before that. I also know that I'm not going to let another two years pass without scheduling some time with my friends. Again, I've been listening to too many movies lately, but I remember someone saying that if something is important, you need to make the time.

Later.

The Road Warrior Returns

While I was on vacation, I had an epiphany. Well, maybe not so much an epiphany as a self-realization that I'm at my best whenever I'm on the road. It took a conversation around two in the morning at a Denny's in the Seattle area for me to begin to realize this. A young friend of mine wanted to hear my life story during vacation. I was talking about various things which led me to the road warrior game. I had decided to give it up last year, and go into semi-retirement, and I had to stop and think if that was the right decision for me. I recounted the good times and the bad times on the road. If anyone has actually been reading any of this stuff, you'll know that I've had some strange adventures on the road, balanced with some of the less intelligent things that happened out there. To borrow from Dickens, I guess it has been the best of times and the worst of times.

In my absence, I apparently was promoted at work. I've also decided to get myself back on the road from time to time. A year-long absence made me realize that I was at my best when I was out there on the playing field. Though I'm not going to knock myself out by traveling every single week any more, I'm still going to be out there more often than as of late. It's been a really good vacation. I should take a couple of weeks off more often. Now, it's back to life at 35,000 feet.

Later.

Ultimate Road Warrior

I've been neglecting this blog for a bit, so I'll need to relate some of the adventures at a later time. Right now, I'm in the middle of an "ultimate road warrior" challenge. I've managed to keep up with a teenager for the last week, and we've had quite an adventure so far. Based upon past history, this is probably the last time we'll be able to do this type of trip to this extent. So, I'm enjoying the moment for now. I'm sleepless in Seattle at the moment, on the way to Dallas and Atlanta when day breaks again. Later.

Sleepless In Seattle ... The Next Generation

I'm winding down from my vacation. As always, I decided that I needed to make the most out of my vacation time, so I did a double vacation for the week. I met up with Jon in Buffalo, which was great, though I was spending the weekend in Pittsburgh. I think I spent more time in the car driving than I did with Jon and his girlfriend. It was about nine hours in the car for the day.

The rest of my vacation was spent in the Pacific Northwest. My young friend James and I were scouting colleges in Oregon and Washington. We were staying in Redmond near his friends, so the day trip into central Oregon took a little more than five-and-a-half hours each way. That was a bit exhausting, but we really had a great time. I really didn't get too much sleep throughout the week. After all, I was on vacation, and why waste it sleeping the night away? I had a lot of stuff to do, and James had a lot of stuff going on with his friends, so we both had a great time. I think we both want to go back in the not too distant future.

It's back to work for me tomorrow. At least I've got another journey into Washington ahead. Only this time, it's Washington, DC, on Friday.

Later.

Those Pesky Delays

I spent the day in Philadelphia, and caught what I thought was a quick flight into Pittsburgh. Well, I guess I should have rethought my travels. It seems that the weather just was not cooperative today. First of all, traffic patterns were a little crazy in Philly today. For some reason, the town was trying to emulate Los Angeles. There was stop-and-go traffic on most of the freeways, apparently in the wrong direction, according to my colleague who was driving me around. Anyhow, I got to the airport in time, and managed to get to the gate without incident. However, we did manage to sit on the plane for many hours, in which it became obvious that it was likely much faster to drive over to Pittsburgh instead of being trapped in large metallic cylinder shaped like a big Tylenol capsule, or whatever the pill was in the movie Airplane. Ok, enough ranting for now. I've got a big day in Pittsburgh tomorrow, and then I'm taking the weekend off in Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Then I'm off to Seattle for a quick vacation. 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.

Sleepless In Seattle Again

I'm back in Seattle, after a wild ride to Savannah, Detroit, Lexington, and Louisville last week. Showtime begins at six in the morning, and setup starts at four, so I will truly be sleepless in Seattle once more. I'm playing technical advisor to a client that's visiting Seattle for a conference, and we just got through a dry run of the presentation tomorrow. It's been a bad set of travel weeks, thanks to some really bad adventures on Delta and America West. When you don't have top tier status on an airline, they really have a license to treat you like crap. It was nothing out of the ordinary -- late flights, early connections, giving away your seat even though you landed late and are on the other side of the terminal in Phoenix... You know, the usual stuff. I'd rant some more here, but I've got some work to do, so I'll catch you later.

Boycott Continental! I'm serious.

Later.

Proof Of Flogging

I drew one of the SSSS tickets again today, thanks to my one-way trip from Portland to Long Beach through Seattle. Anyhow, I got to go into the "flogging lane" in security. If they are going to frisk you anyway, why do they make you go through the exercise of taking all the stuff out of your pockets, shoes off, etc., and then do it all over again once you pass through the magic gate. That just doesn't make any sense to me. But then again, it's the TSA, who, by the way, once again locked me out of my luggage in Portland when I arrived from Baton Rouge. When all was said and done, they stamped my boarding pass, so I wouldn't be flogged in Seattle again. It's the Proof of Flogging stamp, issued by the TSA. This is one seal of approval that I could do without. Later.

Sleepless in Seattle

I've wanted to borrow that title for a while now. I landed at SEA-TAC earlier today, and it wasn't raining, which was a big surprise. After all, it rains over nine months out of the year in Seattle. Anyhow, my colleague and I drove from the airport into Bellevue, one of the suburbs in the area. I'm still not functioning on all thrusters from last week's adventures, but I'll get by. I haven't been able to sleep very well in the last few days, and I'm sure tonight will be no exception. I don't leave for Washington, DC, until Wednesday, but I'll move to a closer airport hotel tomorrow night. Back to work for me. Later.

Escape From The Third Ring Of Hell

I'm back at home, after escaping from Phoenix. This week really wasn't supposed to happen. I traveled across the country to Durham, NC, and caught the last flight out to Phoenix. I woke up at a reeeeeeally early hour for a conference call that never happened. I still have my cold, apparently. I had terrible muscle spasms throughout the trip, and I fell down on a short set of stairs after one of my meetings, and sprained my ankle, once again. I'm taking the rest of the week (or at least what's left of it) off. Next week, it's Washington state and Washington, DC, in that order. Later.