Exactly why they canceled my first flight

is not clear--the most consistent mumbling involved "equipment" (read: airplane) issues--but I got up this morning to learn that my day was not going to be what I expected.

When you travel as much as I do, this sort of annoying change happens from time to time, but it's still no fun.

I stayed up and worked from home while Gina worked her magic and booked our whole team on a new set of flights.

From that point on, the day has gone pretty much as it should.  I even enjoyed a Red Mango parfait in the Charlotte airport.

I'm writing this post from a plane, though, because by the time we land, collect our bags, acquire our rental van, drive to the hotel, check in, and finally make it to our rooms, it's going to be very late, and I'm going to crash.

Tomorrow, we begin the set-up work for our event, and we also will shoot some b-roll for the video we will eventually create about the event.

On the road again: Portland, day 5

I'm home, and I'm quite happy to be here.

The day started at 2:30 a.m. after about two and a half hours in bed.  Unsurprisingly, the drive to the airport at that time of the morning proved to be extremely short and free of traffic.

I did not score any upgrades, so today's flights resembled nothing so much as being packed into sardine cans and thrown through the air; no fun for anyone.  I dozed a bit but mostly worked.

Lunch was a delightful Red Mango parfait in DFW.  I've praised them before, but these creations provide quite a lot of volume, fruit, and granola, along with some tasty frozen yogurt, for a mere 300 calories.

Dinner was a Farm to Fork 2015 event at Duke Gardens.  I was attending because PT this year became a sponsor of Farm to Fork, a cause I've supported now for several years.  I enjoyed the food, the talk of special guest Paul Greenberg, and the chance to hear the chefs speak about their dishes.  If you're not familiar with Farm to Fork, definitely check it out.

And now, to crash.

On the road again: Austin, day 1

The storms that are about to hit the northeast part of the U.S. affected me today in only two small ways:  rain on the drive to the airport, and a much lower than normal headwind for the flight to DFW that led to us arriving there half an hour early.  Not bad, not bad at all.

With a long layover in DFW, what else was I to have for lunch except a Red Mango berry parfait?  I've eaten a lot of these creations over the years, and every single one has been tasty.

I'm skipping all the work on planes and in my hotel room because, as always, I can't say anything about it.

Dinner was my usual trip to The County Line by the Lake, where I ordered what I always do.

Click an image to see a larger version.

My drinks were the usual vats of water and Diet Coke; nothing is small at this restaurant.

The sugar container just behind the water should serve to illustrate just how big these glasses were.

My meal was the three-meat combo, which features brisket, sausage, and a beef rib.

All three were delicious, though I could not finish all this meat.  (I don't even touch the sides.  I've tried to get them to serve me the meat without the sides, but that's never gone well, so I've stopped trying.)

For dessert, I headed to the nearby Amy's Ice Creams, where I enjoyed a small cup with three flavors:  mango, chocoberry (strawberry ice cream with chunks of chocolate), and sweet cream.

You cannot go wrong with Amy's.

And so another trip to Austin begins auspiciously. 

On the road again: Austin, day 1

I'm writing this post while enduring the worst hotel bandwidth in recent memory.  The Round Rock Marriott, where I'm staying (and where I usually stay when here), is delivering simply the slowest, most terrible bandwidth I've experienced in a very long while.  A 6.5MB email message attachment took 12 minutes to download.  12 minutes.

I can only hope the situation improves.

Much of today, as bad luck would have it, has been about slowness.  My plane out of New Orleans was slow and ultimately late to depart, because it was late to arrive.  I thus missed my flight out of DFW, a development whose only up side was getting to enjoy a lovely Red Mango parfait.  I caught the next flight, which promptly...sat and was late, thanks to a late-arriving crew. 

My checked bag did reach Austin with me, for which I am grateful.

My next frustration came courtesy of Dollar Rent-a-Car, where the service was the worst I've yet experienced from a rental car company.  This picture of the slot through which they used to slide the key and contract (they've now blocked the slot with some computer gear) really sums up the sad state of that place. 

Yes, that roach is dead, no doubt from waiting for the key to its vehicle. 

I spent most of the next many hours working while cursing the horrid bandwidth.  The exceptions were not quite two hours for dinner and dessert, my traditional visits to The County Line On the Lake and the Arboretum Amy's.  Both were, as always, delicious.

Now, finally, I can crash.

On the road again: Austin, day 1

I didn't sleep a ton last night, but I slept more than the previous Sunday night thanks to a far more reasonable departure time today.  I was also blessed by upgrades on both flights, a big treat indeed.

I'm also happy to report that I encountered no egregious etiquette violations on either flight, though my row mate on the first leg was enough of an asshat that our interchanges were terse and infrequent.  (No, I'm not a demanding row-mate; I just don't think you should stick your banana--I mean a literal piece of fruit here, no hidden meanings--on my half of the drink area and then be a jerk when I ask you to please move it.  Okay, maybe I did encounter an etiquette violation.)  

I enjoyed a green salad on a plane and then a Red Mango parfait for lunch.  Yum. 

After an amazingly slow time with the rental-car attendant, I finally hit the hotel and got to work.

Dinner was my normal first-night-in-Austin tradition:  barbecue at The County Line By the Lake, followed by ice cream at Amy's.  Delicious, as always. 

Tomorrow morning quite early, the meetings begin, so I'm going to cut this off and crash.

On the road again: Portland, day 5

I'm home. 

For 2.5 days, and then Monday morning, I leave for Austin.

Travelin' times, travelin' times.

I awoke today at 5:10 a.m. after very little sleep.  Not a great start to the day. 

I did have the privilege of an upgrade on the first leg of the flight and a lunch of a Red Mango parfait in DFW.

I worked every minute of the flights that the crappy bandwidth--and my sleepiness--permitted.

I intend to sleep most of Saturday.  Right now, that's a lovely prospect.

On the road again: Portland, day 1

I was up in the sixes after very few hours in bed, not the best way to return to work from vacation, but the way it worked out for me. 

Travel went reasonably smoothly, with an upgrade on the first flight and a quick Red Mango snack in DFW.  I spent every second I could working on email, trying to catch up.  (I'm still not caught up but am finally crashing after having been up over 21 hours.) 

After I hit the hotel, I went for a long walk to get some exercise and clear my tired head.  The long walk turned into a stroll of about four and a half miles, a nice treat. 

While walking, I stopped for a snack at the Kargi Gogo food truck, which features food from the country of Georgia. 

Click an image to see a larger version.

I ordered the Khinkali, which as the menu

explains are "juicy bundles of joy".  I opted for the meat-filled ones.

They were indeed juicy and also very tasty.  I look forward to trying more Georgian food.

After some hours of further email work, we headed to dinner at Andy Ricker's Thai noodle house, Sen Yai.  Wow, was its food delicious!  The Khai Mangkawn, or Dragon Egg, was basically a sort of Scotch egg, served in slices. 

Good on its own, it was even better dipped in the sauce that came with it. 

My main course was the Phat Sii Eew, a noodles and pork dish that was simply lovely.

I definitely recommend Sen Yai and look forward to returning there.

Though Sen Yai did offer some interesting desserts, we chose instead to walk across the street and down a few doors to a nearby Salt & Straw, a superb ice cream shop I've recommended many times before.  The evening's specials all involved Oregon berries of various types, and I sampled four of the five special flavors.  Each was delicious.

From there I returned to work, and then to blog, and now to crash.

On the road again: Portland, day 5

Ah, the joys of travel.  Today's trip started with a wake-up call at 5:15 a.m., a time when I am vastly more likely to be going to bed than getting up.  The next couple of hours went to the usual drill:  shower, check out, drive to airport, turn in rental car, check in, go through security, get some food for the plane, go to gate, etc.  No upgrades for me today, though I can't complain too much, because I had exit-row, aisle seats on both flights.

The first flight passed reasonably quickly, and I landed nearly caught up on work.

The time to the second flight was initially tight but grew a bit due to flight delays.  The extra minutes, even after the additional walking time necessary to change gates, still left room for a quick stop at a Red Mango for one of their delicious parfaits.  Red Mango makes every day better.

We boarded the second plane at the new gate and...sat.  And sat.  And sat.  A part necessary to make the captain-to-passenger intercom work had broken, so maintenance had to find and bring a new part.  Unfortunately, they brought the wrong part.  Repeat.

A couple of hours later, we took off. 

I'm home safely now, and I get to stay home until CES in early January.  That's a nice treat. 

On the road again: CONtraflow, New Orleans, day 4

After some morning work and a shower, I headed to the airport. The rental car return area at New Orleans airport is about as inconvenient as anyone could make it and still have it on the airport grounds, but after dropping off the car and walking the block or so back to the terminal, everything went swimmingly.

Flight times meant I had to grab lunch at the airport, but with a chicken po boy easily available, that wasn't the bad meal some airports guarantee.

The first flight departed and landed on schedule, so I had plenty of time in DFW to grab a tasty Red Mango parfait. I even went crazy and substituted the vanilla bean frozen yogurt for the normal "traditional" flavor.

After over an hour of work in the Admirals Club, I made the long walk to my gate and arrived just in time to learn that the flight was going to be an hour and a quarter late.

Back to the Admirals Club, back to work. 

All of that is behind me now, though, and I am happy to be home.  This week promises to be a very busy one, but it will include a visit to the North Carolina State Fair, so I can hardly complain.

At a dinner this weekend, I mentioned to some folks that one of my favorite short movie speeches was the Count's final words into the microphone at the end of The Boat That Rocked. Most had not heard it before, so I will end this trip's report with it.  Enjoy.

On the road again: Austin, day 4

Almost all of today's daylight hours went to travel, with work filling the rest.  I had exit-row seats, which was great, but both planes were crowded and no fun at all.  Still, I was able to work on the long flight, which helped stop me from falling insanely behind.

Now, I'm home, exhausted, and ready to hit the hay.

So, have a little Fitz and the Tantrums, a song from their new album, which I intend to pick up soon.

On the road again: Silicon Valley, day 6

Early morning wake-ups are my kryptonite.  When I know I have to wake up in the sixes, I sleep poorly, awaken many times throughout the night, and am always tired when I finally have to hit the shower.  The fact that I go to bed late doesn't help, of course, but the fact remains that single-digit wake-up calls ruin sleep for me.  I clearly need to work on this area.

Despite that, and despite the joy of hitting the 101 in the morning, everything went smoothly in my journey from hotel room to checkout to rental car to airport to check-in to gate.  Amazing.  I was so pleased by my steady and uneventful progress that when the woman in front of me in security blocked all passengers for several minutes while she fiddled with her just-screened belongings, I didn't say a word.

No upgrades were available for me today, but I was lucky enough to get an exit-row seat on the first leg, so I could work the whole flight.

After that flight, my connection time was long enough that I was able to stop into a nearby Red Mango and enjoy their delicious berry parfait.  I'm very lucky I don't have one of these franchises anywhere near my house. 

A lot of walking and a ride on the tram later, and I was at my gate.  We boarded only ten minutes late, fastened our seat belts, closed the door...and sat.  And sat.  And sat some more, as the pilot had maintenance investigate a potential problem.  The issue proved to be a flaw in the rudder, which I am quite pleased they found before we took off.  After an hour on the plane, though, we got off, sat around, and eventually headed to another gate where a new plane awaited us.  I was happy to have a new plane, of course, but the long delays were no fun. 

Eventually, though, they told us to board this sold-out plane, a process that had previously taken 40 minutes, and they told us that we had only 17 minutes to do it or the crew would "go illegal" and we'd lose this plane.  I wasn't at all sure we could do it, but we did, with two minutes to spare. 

We landed in RDU more than two hours later than the original schedule, but at least we made it.  I'm happy to be home for a whole three days.

Monday, I head to Austin. 

On the road again: Silicon Valley, day 5

All of my daylight hours today went to travel.  I left the hotel at 6:15 a.m. in the rainy darkness, and I arrived in Raleigh at 6:15 p.m. in the cool darkness.  In between, I saw daylight only through airplane and airport windows and, twice at DFW, directly through small openings in the seal between the jetway and the plane.  An odd way to pass a day.

In between, I sat in exit-row seats--good for leg room and working--but not on the aisle, which meant that by the end of the day my shoulders and back were sore from curling inward to try to avoid invading the space of my seatmates.  That part sucks.

The best parts of this trip were that both planes offered bandwidth and the first was early enough that I had time to enjoy a delicious Red Mango parfait at DFW. 

Now, to catch up on the mail and bills and other life that happened on this coast while I was on the other one. 

On the road again: Austin, day 1

I'm spending the week in Austin for business meetings, so today was a travel day.  I was fortunate enough to have exit-row seats on both legs and bandwidth on the first, so I was able to work a great deal of the time, but I didn't get any upgrades. 

A trip to Austin usually involves a layover in DFW, and it did today. Fortunately, DFW has Red Mango and an Admiral's Club, both of which I enjoyed. 

The drive from AUS to our hotel normally takes half an hour on the toll road; today, we spent 3X that much time on the road thanks to an accident that, in the brief time I saw it, looked to be a doozy.  I hope no one was badly hurt. 

Thought most of the day went to work, the highlight of this first Austin night was, as per my tradition, dinner at the County Line by the Lake and dessert at the nearby Amy's at the Arboretum.  As you can see, the barbecue plate--beef ribs, sausage, and brisket--was huge and delicious. 

For a larger version, click on the image.

No, I couldn't come anywhere close to finishing it.  (Well, I didn't; ice cream was coming.)

The ice cream was equally but differently delicious.  We ate it outside in the pleasantly cooling air, a lovely way to pass part of an autumn night in Austin.

On the road again: San Francisco, day 6

These early-morning wake-up travel days continue to plague me.  You might think I'd be used to them by now, but I'm not.  Still, once I was up and moving after very little sleep, the day went well.  Checkout was painless, the cab ride was quick (and cheaper than the one from the airport to the hotel), and though a couple hundred flights out of SFO were delayed, mine was on time.  I grabbed a sandwich for lunch on the plane, worked in the Admirals Club, and boarded and took my exit-row aisle seat.

Normally, that location would be pretty much a guarantee of a good ride, but not today.  Today, I was seated next to a six-foot-three, two-seventy-five ex-football player.  He was as nice as he could be, and I stayed nice, but we both spent over three hours sitting with our shoulders curled.  It's hard to work in that situation, but I managed, and the distraction helped.  He put himself to sleep.  I think we'll both be happy if we never see each other again.

I rushed like mad to make my gate in DFW, only to find my flight had slipped an hour.  That was okay, though, because it gave me time to grab my now traditional and always delicious Red Mango parfait and to do some more work in another Admirals Club.

I was lucky enough to get a first-class upgrade, which was great, but the woman in the seat next to me was a nervous passenger who hated flying and so who really wanted to talk.  I preferred to work.  We compromised on a fair amount of talking.  So it goes.

I'm home safely, so I can't complain but so much.

Tomorrow, an Escapist Expo panel!

On the road again: Portland, day 4

I'm home, which is a very nice place to be indeed.  I actually got some sleep last night, nearly eight hours, which was also quite nice.

Most of today went to travel.  On these days, I divide the trip into a series of steps, and I focus only on the one in front of me.  Get up.  Check.  Catch up on email.  Check.  Pack.  Check.  Shower.  Dress.  Check out of hotel.  Drive to airport.  Drop off rental car.  Get boarding pass and check luggage.  Get to security.  Go through security.  Check check check check check check check check.  And on and on.  One foot in front of the other, Marine, as I heard first when I was ten.

The first flight was a mixed bag.  On the one hand, I was in an exit-row seat, which is awesome.  On the other hand, I was on the window, and the guy next to me checked in at six-five and 320 easy, probably more.  Even though we leaned as far from each other as we could manage, his left shoulder and my right shoulder became better friends than either of us wanted.

DFW brought the delicious Red Mango parfait, which I ate in a chair with no one touching me.  Both were excellent experiences.

On the second flight, I lucked into a first-class upgrade, so I was able to work in comfort and have all the Diet Coke (no Coke Zero, alas) I wanted.

Our flight was slightly over an hour late, but it landed safely, and our bags eventually came off the carousel, so it's hard to complain.

And I'm home.

On the road again: Bay area, day 3

I'm on a plane now and will shortly have to shut down.  From the moment we land, I'll be rushing so I can catch as much as possible of the opening act for Josh Ritter--and then, of course, Ritter himself.  I'm quite looking forward to the show and will write about it tomorrow.

Today was another of those travel days with a six-something wake-up, so I didn't start the day very happy.  That said, the first leg of our travel went well.  When we landed in DFW, we had only 40 minutes to make our connection.  That time evaporated as people filed slowly off the plane, so by the time we hit the terminal, we were down to 25 minutes.  Fortunately for us, the connecting flight was rather late, so late that we had time to eat delicious Red Mango parfaits, do some work in the Admiral's Club, stroll to the new, very close gate, and then wait some more.

Even better, at the gate I learned that American had upgraded me, so the flight home was pleasant and, thanks to the on-plane bandwidth, quite productive.

All in all, it's hard to complain about travel that works out this way, even with the rough start.

Now, I must shut down.  Soon, Josh Ritter live!

On the road again: Bay area, day 1

I am never going to love a day that begins with me getting up at 6:30 a.m., so today had lost my heart before it started.

The rest of the trip went about as well as one could reasonably expect.  I was fortunate enough to get an upgrade for the first flight, and the plane offered WiFi, so that leg of the trip was pleasant and productive.  In DFW, I had time to do more work and also grab some Red Mango; a day that includes Red Mango's delicious berry parfait cannot be all bad.  The second flight was nowhere near as good as the first, but I did have an exit row aisle seat, so I cannot complain but so much.

I can't talk much about work trips, so I'll conclude by mentioning a phrase I read recently, in Nick Harkaway's The Gone-Away World,  and quite love:  "sheer furious affection."  Something wonderful right there, something powerful and wonderful indeed.  The paragraph surrounding it is almost as lovely. 

Another reason to love Red Mango

In many trip reports, I've written of how much I love the Red Mango parfaits.  They are delicious and filling and have a tolerable number of calories.

Now, though, we have another great reason for loving this company's products: 

Any company willing to use the tag line

TRY IT...OR NOT. WE DON'T CARE.

has earned my interest.

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to try some Honey Badger frozen yogurt!