One More Time

I just returned from Minnesota, and one of the better vacations that I've had in quite a while, despite the snow and freezing weather. I can finally call it a year. It's been one of those months that has allowed me to reconnect with a lot of people. In the last decade, I really haven't had the opportunity to take control of the travel like I have this month. I managed to connect with friends in Toronto, Portland, and Albuquerque. I even got to spend some time with a friend in Minneapolis. I now have regained my elite status on my airlines and hotels, so it's finally over for the year. Still, I think I might take a road trip to visit my friends in Northern California. After all, you can't keep a good road warrior down. Later.

Fighting Every Step Of The Way

Another year has quickly passed, and I think I have aged more in the past year than the rest of my collective years as a road warrior. I've often contemplated retirement, but that wouldn't be a good idea. You see, people like me don't do well in retirement. I keep saying that this will be the last year of this. My boss has decided to promote me into a desk job in the coming months, which will severely curtail my field activities. But since I can see through the erroneous vision statement in my new job description, I know I will still be out in the field almost as much.

I'm still going out to Minnesota on Sunday to capture the last 3,000 miles to keep top-tier status on one of my airlines. The road warrior in me is still fighting desk duty every step of the way, but my aging body is starting to accept the desk job. Maybe I'll start keeping my feet on the ground next year. Happy Birthday to me!

Later.

Temporary Insanity

I keep telling myself that this is only temporary. You see, things usually pick up at the end of year and end of fiscal year due to requirements in my particular segment of the market. Translated, that means I've been on the road again like crazy, alongside the craziness of the holiday travelers. Standard road warriors and holiday travelers mix like oil and water. There are some things that the holiday traveler just doesn't appreciate about those of us that have to do this year round.

Anyhow, I just got back from Atlanta, a relatively uneventful (but long) trip. Before that, I had a quick trip to Portland and Houston. Unfortunately, I had a cancellation in Houston, so I had to make a u-turn in Dallas. There were many strange adventures along the way. I had sushi at the Portland airport, and it still shocks me that you can get sushi at an airport. There was a series of incidents with many of those holiday travelers in the last couple of week, ranging from stepped on toes to hecklers in the ticket line. It annoys me that some of these travelers have developed attitude problems, and just don't display common courtesy any more. So much for the holiday spirit. This road warrior has one more trip left this year. Let's see how it goes...

Later.