Unplugged

It's kind of nice being unplugged from the office for a few days. Though in this day and age, it's really hard to be totally disconnected from the rigors of the working world. I spent yesterday driving around New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, in search of a cheeseburger. I did reach the target objective in New Haven, CT, and dragged along a friend. An experience like this is something that is best shared. You really have to experience the burger to fully understand. It's that good. I could go on and on about different restaurants across the country, but that's not the point of today's post.

As I was mentioning earlier, being unplugged from the office has been a great thing. The hotel and airline experience seems a bit weird without the rigors and pressures of the office beating you down. It did give me some insight into the fact that travel has really gotten to be a horrible experience if you don't have the status (or even if you do, in some cases.) Airlines have turned into freight services, and passengers are looked upon as cattle. I do think that FedEx and UPS have a chance to break into the market. My packages seem to get there intact most of the time. I'm sure they couldn't do any worse with actual people. Hey, it could happen.

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.

Home For The Holidays

There's no place like home for the holidays. Actually, with the mounds of papers and other junk around here, I can honestly say that there really is no other place like it. I'm finally catching up on what I've been attempting to do for the last few years -- all the paperwork. You see, in the last few years, I've spent so much time in the air that I've been ignoring all of the mail and other stuff that has been piling up throughout the years. There's now a visible path between my door and my desk, which hasn't existed since I moved in a few years back.

I did manage to make a couple of leisure trips this month, though. I made it over to New Haven, CT, for a burger. Then I thawed out in Honolulu for a couple of days for a retirement party for one of my friends. Travel is much lighter these days, but the problems still abound. I haven't had a problem-free flight in several months, even though I relented and threw away all of my over-sized tubes of toothpaste in favor of the travel versions. I'm staying home for the rest of the holiday season. Maybe my sensitivity has been heightened or my tolerance has just been shattered, but I just can't get back into another airport during holiday traveler season. If people are going to travel these days, perhaps a little preparation might be in order, you think?

It's been a nice break, but I'll be back on the playing field early next year starting the journey in Delaware. Until then, safe travels to all of you out there.

Later.

I Have My Connections

Once again, it would have been kinder to shoot me instead of having to actually go through this horrible travel week. I'm never, ever, ever, ever, ever going to consider doing a day trip again. I got up at 4 this morning to catch a quick flight to Hartford. For those of you who don't know me by now, I am NOT a morning person. I go to bed at 4 am. I usually reserve that time for sleeping. After a long, tortuous presentation, I headed back to the airport. Because of the cheapskates in my company, I was not allowed to return on a direct flight back to RDU, so I could get more than three consecutive hours of sleep at any point in time this week. Instead of returning at dinnertime, I just now got back to my hotel in Durham. Connecting in Baltimore, and being forced to fly Southwest is cruel and unusual punishment indeed. I'm getting too old for this . . . Tomorrow night, after a long day at the office, I have the journey into the depths of hell on the way to the long road home. Yes, I'm connecting in Atlanta in a non-upgradable fare. Onward to Los Angeles! Later.

Triple The Torture

They should have just shot me today. It would have been kinder than what they put me through in Indianapolis. I'm beginning to hate Delta, because this is yet another SSSS ticket that they gave me. Then they delayed the flight, which almost stranded me in Indianapolis. Fortunately (depending upon how you look at it), I talked my way into a reroute. Unfortunately, that meant a trip outside of security and a triple search in Indy. I've been poked, prodded, and zapped too many times today at the same stupid airport. I think I'm radioactive from that wand that kept beeping over my head. Someone must have implanted a metal plate or something. Anyhow, they made me undo my pants three times, probably just to see what color underwear I was wearing. I just got to RDU after a reroute through Pittsburgh, and my luggage actually arrived here. Someone ran it over about three or four more times, based upon tire track marks, and the fact that it was caked and covered with mud. But I'm here, and it's just past 1am, so I've got to get some sleep. I just have to survive a quick side trip to Hartford tomorrow and the long road home the next day, and then I can put this week behind me. Later.