What i did last week, by Robert Mount. - Posted by Rob
I'm going to try to top Steve :-)
Monday: Gave notice at the only "professional" job i've ever known. I've been there ten and a half years. I've accepted a position working for GE Healthcare (where Steve works) doing something similar to what i do now, and completely different than what Steve does. Lesson one: Giving notice for a job that you've been at for ten years is difficult.
Tuesday was uneventful, but stay tuned, it gets better.
Wednesday: Go to work for 8am, at 10:30 leave for the airport for quick trip to Los Angeles. Lesson two: Exit rows are great (lots of legroom) except for the fact that the armrests don't go up (on CRJ-700 anyway).
My current employer will be selling some new software and one requirement was to attend a one day training. The training happened to be in LA the week that i chose to go. I flew in arriving at 5:30pm local time, took a cab to the Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Ray where i got wined and dined by the vendor. Lesson two: Trying to move three time zones is difficult when alcohol is involved. I was ready to crash at 10:30 local time -- Of course, it was 1:30am for my body, alcohol or not, it was time for bed!
Thursday: Up at 7 for an 8am seminar, which was uneventful. I took a long lunch and met my friend from EA Games in the same town. Back to the seminar an hour later which rounded up at 5:30pm and was followed by dinner. I shared a cab with some other attendees to LAX at 7:30pm for my 10:30pm flight. Lesson three: Some cab drivers have really bad BO. The "little tree" hanging from the rear view mirror lost its valiant battle for odorous domination and was now just hanging there for looks.
United overbooked the flight by 10 people. I was #2 in the "willing to be bumped" line. I knew it was late in Vermont, but called Bridget to make sure she'd be okay with it. I wasn't expecting her to answer the phone at 1:30am, but she did and she was fine with the bump. I'd much rather sleep in a hotel than on an airplane. Lesson four: Red eye flights suck, get bumped and sleep in a hotel if you can, airlines buy nice rooms (and the free round-trip ticket is nice too!).
While sitting in the bump line, the guy behind me struck up conversation "so... where you headed?". I replied "Vermont" thinking he'd relate it to Ben and Jerry's, Maple Syrup, Skiing or (the worst insult) 'what state is that in?'. But instead, he said "me too!". We ended up on the same flights back to Vermont, and sat together on the plane. Turns out he was leaving his job as well and moving off to Portland Maine to work for one of my favorite bands: Guster.
Friday: Wake up at 6am for a 9:30 flight. Hit the Hilton breakfast buffet for a quick bite, having no idea what kind of hassle i'd have at the airport, i wanted to get there early. I downed a plate of pancakes, eggs, and sausage and two glasses of fresh squeezed OJ. I stayed away from the coffee cause on many prior trips i can say that i learned my lesson about trying to keep my 6'3" frame out of airplane lavatories. When on an airplane, it's best to be a "pee camel" and wait until the next airport. Anyway, back to breakfast and lesson Five: Always ask before eating if the voucher for food the airlines gave you will cover the cost of your meal. My voucher said "$10" in tiny print that i didn't notice until after i was done my $20 breakfast... Oh well.
My flight was uneventful, by the time i got to Chicago, i was starving. I usually hit a McDonalds or some other fast food in airports as everything else is way over priced. The chains usually have the same or very similar pricing and the food is 100% predictable. However, sitting in the airport the night before, i was full up on double cheeseburgers, so i looked for something else. I found an unexpected family-run Greek restaurant and had an amazing Gyro with rice and potatoes on the side. Very good and under $10 for a nice sized portion. That's lesson number six: look for the family run restaurants at airports, they are rare, but a nice find!
My connecting flight was on another CRJ-700, i requested an exit row from booking agent at "bump time" and got it (actually, i requested first class and got a nice laugh from the stressed out lady)... I got a window. As Steve said in one of his lessons, those are the worst seats for a tall person. I'm stealing a lesson from Steve, but we probably learned it on the same day! Lesson number seven: Window seats on regional jets are not good for tall people, exit row or not.
Saturday was uneventful, then on Sunday we attended the graduation party as well. Congratulations Richard!
Monday: Gave notice at the only "professional" job i've ever known. I've been there ten and a half years. I've accepted a position working for GE Healthcare (where Steve works) doing something similar to what i do now, and completely different than what Steve does. Lesson one: Giving notice for a job that you've been at for ten years is difficult.
Tuesday was uneventful, but stay tuned, it gets better.
Wednesday: Go to work for 8am, at 10:30 leave for the airport for quick trip to Los Angeles. Lesson two: Exit rows are great (lots of legroom) except for the fact that the armrests don't go up (on CRJ-700 anyway).
My current employer will be selling some new software and one requirement was to attend a one day training. The training happened to be in LA the week that i chose to go. I flew in arriving at 5:30pm local time, took a cab to the Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Ray where i got wined and dined by the vendor. Lesson two: Trying to move three time zones is difficult when alcohol is involved. I was ready to crash at 10:30 local time -- Of course, it was 1:30am for my body, alcohol or not, it was time for bed!
Thursday: Up at 7 for an 8am seminar, which was uneventful. I took a long lunch and met my friend from EA Games in the same town. Back to the seminar an hour later which rounded up at 5:30pm and was followed by dinner. I shared a cab with some other attendees to LAX at 7:30pm for my 10:30pm flight. Lesson three: Some cab drivers have really bad BO. The "little tree" hanging from the rear view mirror lost its valiant battle for odorous domination and was now just hanging there for looks.
United overbooked the flight by 10 people. I was #2 in the "willing to be bumped" line. I knew it was late in Vermont, but called Bridget to make sure she'd be okay with it. I wasn't expecting her to answer the phone at 1:30am, but she did and she was fine with the bump. I'd much rather sleep in a hotel than on an airplane. Lesson four: Red eye flights suck, get bumped and sleep in a hotel if you can, airlines buy nice rooms (and the free round-trip ticket is nice too!).
While sitting in the bump line, the guy behind me struck up conversation "so... where you headed?". I replied "Vermont" thinking he'd relate it to Ben and Jerry's, Maple Syrup, Skiing or (the worst insult) 'what state is that in?'. But instead, he said "me too!". We ended up on the same flights back to Vermont, and sat together on the plane. Turns out he was leaving his job as well and moving off to Portland Maine to work for one of my favorite bands: Guster.
Friday: Wake up at 6am for a 9:30 flight. Hit the Hilton breakfast buffet for a quick bite, having no idea what kind of hassle i'd have at the airport, i wanted to get there early. I downed a plate of pancakes, eggs, and sausage and two glasses of fresh squeezed OJ. I stayed away from the coffee cause on many prior trips i can say that i learned my lesson about trying to keep my 6'3" frame out of airplane lavatories. When on an airplane, it's best to be a "pee camel" and wait until the next airport. Anyway, back to breakfast and lesson Five: Always ask before eating if the voucher for food the airlines gave you will cover the cost of your meal. My voucher said "$10" in tiny print that i didn't notice until after i was done my $20 breakfast... Oh well.
My flight was uneventful, by the time i got to Chicago, i was starving. I usually hit a McDonalds or some other fast food in airports as everything else is way over priced. The chains usually have the same or very similar pricing and the food is 100% predictable. However, sitting in the airport the night before, i was full up on double cheeseburgers, so i looked for something else. I found an unexpected family-run Greek restaurant and had an amazing Gyro with rice and potatoes on the side. Very good and under $10 for a nice sized portion. That's lesson number six: look for the family run restaurants at airports, they are rare, but a nice find!
My connecting flight was on another CRJ-700, i requested an exit row from booking agent at "bump time" and got it (actually, i requested first class and got a nice laugh from the stressed out lady)... I got a window. As Steve said in one of his lessons, those are the worst seats for a tall person. I'm stealing a lesson from Steve, but we probably learned it on the same day! Lesson number seven: Window seats on regional jets are not good for tall people, exit row or not.
Saturday was uneventful, then on Sunday we attended the graduation party as well. Congratulations Richard!
posted by Rob at
8:25 PM
1 Comments:
I made the mistake of using the lavatory in the Embraer from Dallas to Chicago - the McD's in Dallas opened 10 minutes before boarding, so I had no chance to empty out before boarding, and, in fact, I was still sipping my coffee after we took off. Anyway, the thing was obviously designed by someone who sits to pee, or a stander of very short stature. Why does the toilet have to be against the fuselage? If they turned the whole damn room 90 degrees, there would be no problem. Sheesh.
By
Steve Mount, at 6:49 AM
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