Travel Log, Stardate....
Aug. 7th, 2006 12:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pen_gruntDallas. Again. Seriously people. After the (very, very) rough/tough week I've had, traveling is really the last possible thing I want to do. And yet, it means that I don't have to be in the office--so it's the only thing I should do right now.
This time I'm actually a tad disappointed that we don't have more "bumper" time. It's a one-night stay in a hotel I actually enjoy (the Hilton Anatole--not too posh, but with 100x nicer decor than the standard pastel hotel fare). I've been in this hotel before, and coming here again makes me think of the previous hell-type event I was at (disasters abound!). It's funny that I can still remember which event goes with each hotel. It IS starting to blur together a bit, and it seems the more places I visit, the more that they seem different in the exact same way. Maybe this is the curse of only having traveled for business and never for vacation or pleasure--places rarely hold their own special kind of vibe.
The three places in the US that I've actually enjoyed the MOST whilst working:
1. Monterey, CA (it was the frolicking ocean otters that seduced me, mostly...and Cannery Row)
2. Philadelphia, PA (a city with a great vibe)
3. New Orleans, LA (pre-Hurricane Katrina, lucky me)
Of course, Montreal Canada has my undying affection for non-business travel.
Two interesting airport things:
1. Auto-soap dispensers. You're already dealing with auto-faucets where you have to kind of keep waving your hands around to make them work, but then you add in an auto-soap dispenser that keeps randomly and arbitrarily vomiting soap (not in the general vicinity of your hands) and it makes for a jolly good time.
2. The please put your bomb back in your car sign. I travel so much that I barely read airport security signs anymore--I know what I can and can't do/bring on/wear through the security screening already. However, this sign caught my eye.
In big text at the top, it said: "The following items are prohibited".
It then had pictures (without text descriptions) of things that weren't allowed. There were the standards: a knife, a gun, a scissors, etc., but then there was a picture of a bomb with a lit fuse.
It then said: "If you are carrying any of these items, please check them with an attendant, or return them to your car."
You seriously want me to put my bomb back in my car in the airport parking garage? Really?
I'm always amazed how many adults at the airport are flying for the FIRST time (or for the first time in YEARS). It seems such a natural thing to me that seeing their confusion and disorientation is kind of puzzling. It's okay, you really don't have to be at the airport 5 hours early if you can help it (especially not with small, bored-too-easily children). Yes, you really have to take your shoes off. Yes, you have to remove your bag from your shoulder as you're going through security screening. No, just because you've been selected for screening doesn't mean they think you're a terrorist--it just means they hate you.
This time I'm actually a tad disappointed that we don't have more "bumper" time. It's a one-night stay in a hotel I actually enjoy (the Hilton Anatole--not too posh, but with 100x nicer decor than the standard pastel hotel fare). I've been in this hotel before, and coming here again makes me think of the previous hell-type event I was at (disasters abound!). It's funny that I can still remember which event goes with each hotel. It IS starting to blur together a bit, and it seems the more places I visit, the more that they seem different in the exact same way. Maybe this is the curse of only having traveled for business and never for vacation or pleasure--places rarely hold their own special kind of vibe.
The three places in the US that I've actually enjoyed the MOST whilst working:
1. Monterey, CA (it was the frolicking ocean otters that seduced me, mostly...and Cannery Row)
2. Philadelphia, PA (a city with a great vibe)
3. New Orleans, LA (pre-Hurricane Katrina, lucky me)
Of course, Montreal Canada has my undying affection for non-business travel.
Two interesting airport things:
1. Auto-soap dispensers. You're already dealing with auto-faucets where you have to kind of keep waving your hands around to make them work, but then you add in an auto-soap dispenser that keeps randomly and arbitrarily vomiting soap (not in the general vicinity of your hands) and it makes for a jolly good time.
2. The please put your bomb back in your car sign. I travel so much that I barely read airport security signs anymore--I know what I can and can't do/bring on/wear through the security screening already. However, this sign caught my eye.
In big text at the top, it said: "The following items are prohibited".
It then had pictures (without text descriptions) of things that weren't allowed. There were the standards: a knife, a gun, a scissors, etc., but then there was a picture of a bomb with a lit fuse.
It then said: "If you are carrying any of these items, please check them with an attendant, or return them to your car."
You seriously want me to put my bomb back in my car in the airport parking garage? Really?
I'm always amazed how many adults at the airport are flying for the FIRST time (or for the first time in YEARS). It seems such a natural thing to me that seeing their confusion and disorientation is kind of puzzling. It's okay, you really don't have to be at the airport 5 hours early if you can help it (especially not with small, bored-too-easily children). Yes, you really have to take your shoes off. Yes, you have to remove your bag from your shoulder as you're going through security screening. No, just because you've been selected for screening doesn't mean they think you're a terrorist--it just means they hate you.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-07 06:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-08 02:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-09 04:56 am (UTC)Actually, there are otters at the Long Beach Aquarium. So, we are not utterly otterless after all.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-07 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-08 02:17 pm (UTC)