Tag Archives: business travel

Style and comfort…

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In the few brief decades I’ve considered myself a traveler, I’ve come to loath almost everything associated with getting from Point A to Point B. The one grand exception is when I get to drive to wherever I’m going. I still love going, but I really, really wish there were better options when it comes to getting there from here.

Since age 18, my ire is almost exclusively reserved for airlines and the whole air travel experience in general. Today, though I’m reminded that there is one mode even more evil than your standard issue economy flight… That would be the bus. If airlines have become the busses of the air, I suppose busses have become, well, nothing really. They’re still loud, slow, uncomfortable, and leave you feeling vaguely grimy at the end of the trip. At least that part has stayed consistent down through the years.

Whoever it was that said “getting there is half the fun” must have been functionally retarded. Being there can absolutely be both fun and educational. Getting there, on the other hand, has all the style and comfort of dead moose. Let’s just say for the record that I’m happy to be in the last 90 minutes of this trip. I’m looking forward to unfolding myself from this seat, getting back in the truck, and then backtracking 40 minutes to get to the house.

Get back…

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Between vacation and a few days on the road for work, I’ve been gone for almost two weeks. Time was that I would eat that kind of road stand for breakfast and ask for more, but the truth is that I find it all rather wearing these days. It seems that at the house with the dogs is the only place I really want to be for any extended time. Being a hermit by nature, that’s not really surprising, but it’s something that’s become more pronounced over the last few years. I wonder if it has something to do with picking up a few more birthdays or if seeking “home” is something we’re just hardwired to do. No real theories on it, just an observation made from one more hotel room on one more Thursday night on the road. Hopefully I’ll be able to clear out of here early enough to pick up the dogs tomorrow evening and then settle in for the weekend. Here’s hoping.

Road stand…

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After what seems like weeks, this four day road stand is coming to an end. I’m obviously rusty at this since I’m headed back to Memphis just about wiped out. I’ve probably been spoiled by too many trips where I’m the one setting the agenda. Four days of team cohesion seems to be just about the limit of my endurance these days. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to getting back to a place where I have the only set of keys to my vehicle, where dinner isn’t a lesson in group decision making, and where I don’t need someone to walk me around the building to unlock doors. I miss my little kingdom and look forward to getting back to it.

With less than three weeks back, I’m totally ready for another vacation. Now if there were just something worth doing within driving distance of Memphis. Where is the guy serving rum punch when you need him…

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Use or lose…

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In the current economic climate, there are all sorts of glorious things about being in the employ of Uncle Sam. At the moment, though, my favorite perk is the concept of use-or-lose leave. How can you not enjoy working for an outfit that essentially forces you to take vacation before the end of the year. So here I am sitting in Western Maryland with nothing but free time on my hands enjoying the first of two weeks of use or lose between now and the end of the year. At the moment, I’m planning on wandering back in to the office some time on or about next Tuesday. Between traveling for work and taking some vacation time, I’ll have been gone for a month. I vaguely remember that I have a job at this point. It’s not quite the white sand beaches and rum-based economy I was planning on for my next vacation, but it’s definitely been nice getting away for a while. And if you’re in the WMD between now and Wednesday, look me up and say hello.

Like a bat outta hell…

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I’m trying to get ready for a three-four week road stand starting Friday morning so there seems to be too much to do and not enough time in which to do it. Leaving on one of these trips at the end of a week always leaves me feeling like I’ve forgotten to do something important, even though packing out and driving halfway across the country has gotten old hat and I can do most of the preparation on auto-pilot. Excuse the all too brief post tonight as I get back to the giant pile of laundry in the middle of the living room floor.

The saga continues…

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OK, I’ve filed my plans (for the second time) and have all the paperwork cut, reservations made, all the appropriate notifications that I’ll be floating around the old homestead over the weekend have happened (almost). When everything is going according to schedule, my day ends at 3:30. At 3:19 I got an email that I had been “uninvited” to the DC meeting on Friday. At 3:26 another email hit my inbox that I was “reinvited.” I appreciate you boys fighting over me, I really do, but this whole plan has all the classic hallmarks of a typical government operation… no one has a damned clue what is actually going on.

As of 8:30, I’m planning to fly out tomorrow. That, of course, is subject to the requirements of the service and can change at any time before “the cabin door has been closed and customers are asked to turn off their cell phones, pagers, and other electronic devices.” If you don’t see a stark, raving post about government ineptitude by 6:00 PM eastern time tomorrow, you’ll know I’m winging my way somewhere over the Eastern half of the country. Stay tuned for developments as they happen.

Weekend update…

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The best way to end your Monday is to find out you will be hitting the road again on Thursday night. As it happens, I have to be in DC for meetings on Friday and due to arcane federal regulations, I can’t technically be forced to travel outside “normal duty hours.” What that effectively means is that Uncle is going to pick up the tab for me to spend the weekend at home and that I’ll fly back here to Memphis on Monday morning.

So, cool cats and kittens, I’ll be in town sometime late Friday afternoon. Hope to see ya’ll there!

Live from Cincinnati…

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I’ve been incredibly lucky to travel to some of the world’s great cities over the years. I’ve been even more fortunate to usually be traveling on someone else’s nickel. Though this is on Uncle’s nickel, rest assured, Cincinnati is not one of the cities I mentioned above. The hotel I am staying in, on the other hand, certainly has a “wow” factor, especially if you like “old stuff.” It’s a 30s vintage hotel and Deco to the core. It’s amazing that it’s still around. Sitting here in one of the very basic (i.e. cheap government rate) rooms, you can see that it was built at a time when there was true craftsmanship and thought put into the details. Even my simple room has 6 inch crown molding and 10 inch toe molding. Seven decades of paint don’t hide all the nicks and scuffs at the edges, nor do they hide the beadwork that was probably done by hand in all 500 rooms. It’s a real privilege to stay in places like this, even if they are in places like Cincinnati.

It’s a show about nothing…

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After a full 24 hours of having no commitments other than showing up to work at what seems like the ridiculously late hour of 8:30, and walking around Capitol Hill for the better part of an hour and a half taking pictures, and walking to the Chinese place down the street for General Tso’s, it occurs to me that when I don’t have class (and don’t really have any reason to work OT), I have absolutely no idea what to do with myself. I think someone once referred to the concept as “free time.” I don’t really even have clue one what I want to do. Well, that’s not entirely true, but in the interests of maintaining this blog’s PG-13 rating, I’ll spare you the details.

Suffice to say that it’s taken a grand total of 24 hours for me to start going stir crazy. I just can’t quite shake the feeling that I should be doing something. I’m not sure, but I think I might have the DTs.

4740…

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That’s the number of air miles I will have earned for the month of May when this week’s road stand wraps up. True, taken as a single trip, that distance would be something approximating the trip from here to London – only a 7 ½ hour hop. My 4740 will all be accrued on the trip between Memphis International and Reagan. There’s a certain wear and tear of three weeks of back and forth, of packing, doing laundry, and repacking. I’m a little frayed at the edges, but that’s nothing that won’t be solved by spending a long weekend firmly planted on the ground.

Here’s hoping I won’t see 6320.