Taking Inventory

It's that time of the year again. I'm taking inventory of all of those pesky frequent flyer and points accounts. All road warriors go through this around this time of year. You see, as a freqent traveler, we all need to actually go through our accounts to see where we stand in all of those frequent-use programs. I've discovered that I actually did cut back this year. I'm going to give up on one of the programs, and I'm about 15,000 miles short on two airline programs to keep my status going. That means that I need to fly at least 30,000 miles within the next couple of months. In the last few years, I would probably say that it would be no sweat. However, this time around, I am attempting to slow down, and it would be a bit of a stretch to come up with that amount of travel in a short two months.

So, the race is on. I'm traveling to Houston and Detroit this week, with all of the appropriate connecting flights. I have a San Francisco trip next week. After that, I've got a quick trip back to Detroit and Minneapolis. Then, I'm ending the month in Toronto for good measure. That should take care of the first airline, and maybe a little bit of the other one. Now, as for December, I've got a quick trip to Las Vegas and Norfolk, VA, so far. I might squeeze in a short weekend in the northeast to make up the difference, if any. After all, I'm so close that it would still be worth it to make up the difference for another year.

Whew. So much for semi-retirement from all of this. Maybe next year. . . 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.