On the road again: Portland, day 5

Another of those days that travel ate, today began too early and ended too late. Still, I can’t really complain. I slept a reasonable amount, was lucky enough to land first class upgrades for both legs, and encountered no issues at any of the three airports through which I passed. All in all, a successful travel experience.

If you travel enough, you sometimes come to believe you’ve seen every type of problem your plane can have, but you’re never right. Today’s first plane had a stripped valve that stopped it from being able to deliver potable water to any of the spigots. As good fortune would have it, this particular failure does not force you to get on a new plane. Instead, you simply have to live without coffee or tea (no water to the brewing area), and you can’t wash your hands after using the bathroom. They addressed the latter by filling the restroom sinks with wet-wipe packets, a sight that for no good reason I found amusing.

In another bit of good news, it turns out that the bandwidth at PDX, at least on a Saturday morning, was five times faster than what my hotel offered, so working while waiting was a snap. I need to figure out how to persuade the hotel’s owners to invest in high-quality Internet connectivity.

Dinner at DFW, by the way, was the incredibly tasty and vaguely healthy combination of a pretzel dog and a Red Mango parfait. I do love me some Red Mango.

I’m home now, bag and all, and still on the other coast’s time. I DVR’d the UFC PPV, so I’m heading downstairs to catch the fights, and then to sleep. I’m happy to be home for a few weeks.

On the road again: Austin, day 4

Today passed in a blur. Early wake-up. Work. Shower. Check-out. Drive. Check in. Work. Fly. Grab lunch (health food: a pretzel dog and a Red Mango parfait). Work. Fly and work. Wait for bags. Ride. Work.

You get the picture.

Despite the timestamp on this entry, it's after five in the morning, but I'm finally caught up with Thursday's work.

Time to crash.

Morning is already almost here.

On the road again: Austin, day 5

After my usual business trip luxurious sleep (about three and a half hours last night), I woke with a start this morning two minutes late. The hotel had forgotten to make my wake-up call, but I've developed the skill of waking myself within five minutes of it anyway. That skill served me well today.

Work, shower, and then checking out with a brain-trust that made what is normally a simple process look like defusing a three-trigger bomb while blindfolded. My blood was boiling but I managed to smile and say as little as possible.

The flights were the usual fun times, with no bandwidth or upgrades today. I did get to enjoy some Red Mango in DFW, which is always a treat.

Today's bit of flying weirdness occurred on the long leg from DFW to RDU. A small Hispanic woman occupied the window seat next to me. She had almost no English, and her English was better than my Spanish. She kept elbowing me in the ribs as she took the whole armrest and then spilled into my space. I kept pushing back with my body, at which point she would say something I could not understand. I would point at my body, at the armrest, etc., but nothing worked.

Finally, I took a pen out of my backpack, drew a line down the middle of the armrest, pointed at her half and then at her, and did the same with my half. She nodded agreement, and we flew the rest of the way in peace.

If you ever get on an American Airlines plane, are in row 16, and spot the line down the armrest, that's my work.

Now, to unpack and do some more work.