O Canada . . . Again

And so I returned from another exciting adventure to Western Canada.  Between the low visibility due to the blizzard-like conditions and the challenge of the day job, it was one of those experiences that I just don't want to repeat.  At temperatures averaging twenty below zero, it made me realize that I need to get back into semi-retirement.

I do have to admit that getting in to Canada was much easier than getting back in to the United States.  Of course, I really should not have attempted to do so on the day before Thanksgiving.  What was I thinking??  The interesting part of the experience in US Customs today is that our border patrol seems to favor anyone but US citizens.  The customs officers paraded a lot of the returning US citizens into different lines that took ten times longer than visitors from other countries.  I was first off my plane from Canada and the entire plane beat me through the customs lines.  My luggage was the last piece waiting on the carousel, and I almost missed my connecting flight.  Two hours in customs is a bit much, but I guess it was compounded by the holiday.

I have one more major trip this year, and then I can rest for a little while.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  May your travels be less complicated than mine...

Later.

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.

Limping Along

It's been over a month since my ankle injury in Texas.  I've hobbled along for brief day trips to San Francisco, Sacramento, and Minneapolis in the intervening weeks.  Before my heralded return to Canada (for a day), I am attempting to remember how to deal with the intricacies of the international aspect of travel.  Many years ago I used to travel frequently into Canada, and had many difficulties.  This time I'm fortunate enough to be traveling between a couple of smaller airports, so I think it shouldn't be too difficult.

Fortunately my travel schedule has become a lot more manageable.  The last round of constant travel over the past three years has made me realize that semi-retirement really wasn't a bad thing.  Anyway, it's time to get back to business.  It has been several years since my last opportunity to cross the border, and I am trying to remember where I left my passport and other documents while limping along.

Later.

Exceeding Capacity

For the last few decades, I've consistently made a habit of exceeding my capabilities on the road. It has worked for me in the past, but maybe there is some wisdom in slowing down. I got back to New York a couple of times in the last few weeks. Both trips required hundreds of miles of driving.

It was quite disturbing for me to discover that I just couldn't successfully fight off the fatigue. Since my days in college and earlier, I've always pushed harder in order to keep going. This last time I just didn't make it. During my four-hour drive to visit a friend, I needed to pull off the road in Canada to rest in order to safely make it to my hotel. I guess I didn't have too much time to rest during the trip, but when I did have a moment, I took the opportunity for a nap instead of providing my normal updates from the road. On the way back, It took roughly twice the time, and there was no difference in traffic. No, I didn't get lost. The fatigue finally caught up, and I had to pull over multiple times or truly risk an accident.

Maybe I'm just getting old. Maybe I just shouldn't pack my schedule the way I used to. I guess I finally got knocked down by that invisible age barrier. I guess it's time to adjust my capacity settings. And now, it's time for that nap.

Later.

Excuses

This entry was supposed to relay an interesting journey into the Deep South with many pearls of wisdom and the many roads less traveled. Instead, I remain in San Diego working on various projects, and planning for the road ahead. I was also supposed to see my friend Ruth in Las Vegas next week. Unfortunately, I'm still not able to work out the details of the trip, and probably won't be able to squeeze it into my schedule due to work meetings and other projects that seemed to pop into my calendar.

I've been anxiously awaiting an excuse to write about something in this column, but I've got to admit -- I've got nothing. It's pretty hard doing a continuing blog about being a road warrior when I can't seem to get myself on the road for any period of time this past month.

Things should be picking up soon. I'm scheduled to visit my friend James in New York in a couple of weeks. After that, it's time for Jon's third wedding this year. In between that, I've got a quick trip to Chicago, and perhaps a couple of other quick trips in November. No more excuses, I need to get back on the road!

Later.

Taking Control

I remember when August in Orlando was supposed to be hot and humid. I had forgotten the one rule of meetings -- never underestimate the power of air conditioning. It seems that at every meeting in extreme climates, people tend to over compensate. In our meeting rooms today with the full blast of the air conditioning, it rivaled a cold winter night. In one of my meetings this past winter in Canada, I noticed the over compensation factor also existed. Most indoor rooms were built too much like saunas.

There seems to be a control factor that people want to exert upon their environment. Why else could one freeze at the hottest time of the year in Orlando, and melt in the arctic climate of Canada in mid-winter? I'd buy a jacket before my next session, but they seem to be out of season in Orlando in August. Go figure.

Later.

The International Post

I'm reporting from Montreal. It's cold outside, and our friends at American Airlines decided to ground over 600 flights this week due to wiring issues on their fleet of MD-8o aircraft. I was among the thousands of travelers impacted by the shuffling of schedules. Having been a scheduling professional in my past, I do have a lot of empathy for the eight people that contacted me about flight changes. I'm sure that this goes way beyond their job descriptions.

This is the first time in years that I've ventured into Canada. I had to brush the dust off my passport for the next few months. When I go international, I go all the way. You see, I have the Montreal trip this week, and I'm booked in Edmonton next week. For the greater part of the decade, I've stuck with domestic travel. In the span of the next few months, I've got a few Canada trips and a quick trip to China. Well, I'd better get back to work.

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.

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.

The Barriers Return

I made it to Toronto last night with great difficulty. Remember all of those barriers and hoops you have to jump through to get onto an airplane? Well, I hit every one of them on my way to Toronto. I even had the same issues through customs. It all started with my overly intrusive pat-down in San Diego. The alarm went off for the first time in over a year. It seems that they must have a different policy when traveling on Saturday, so beware! After that, I had the gut who wouldn't cover his mouth when coughing sitting next to me on the plane. In addition, the annoying bald guy in front had to lean back all the way and crush my legs, and then have the audacity to claim that my knee was in the back of his chair. Then there was the normal issue of entering Canada on business. The whole experience must have taken a lot out of me, because I needed a nap for the first time in quite a while.

Boycott Continental! I mean it, you know.

Later.

Alarms Don't Go Off In Weiner-Mobiles

I was shopping in the Baltimore area with a friend earlier this week. When we finished with our meetings, we stopped at Westfield Mall in Annapolis. We heard a car alarm go off as I opened the door to my rental car. As a seasoned road warrior, I often get cars with cool little clicker gadgets that turn on the alarm or open the trunk. I love gadgets. They're really cool. But I digress... This time round, the rental car company must have been running out of cars, because they gave me a downgrade into a really small red car, which we christened the weinermobile. When you have a Geo Metro-sized vehicle, you can bet that it doesn't come standard with an alarm system and cool clicker gadgets. After all, alarms don't go off in weinermobiles. It must be the fact that I'm a realtively short person, because logic never seems to prevail in any travel occurrence. That's why I get convertibles during the winter in the northeast, and minivans for which I can't reach the pedals in Canada. Oh, well. Later.