June 28, 2008

Trip #005. Las Vegas. POST.

This was without a doubt the shortest time I’ve spent in Vegas.  I didn’t even get to the strip once…and no gambling.  Kind of weird being in Vegas and not seeing a casino once.  It was a pretty uneventful trip.

One thing about the flight home…  I was in a window (I always choose a window on red-eyes so I can sleep).  There was nobody in the middle seat.  Great…more space.  We took off and I fell asleep.  Maybe 20 minute later, I woke up…and there’s this VERY large woman sitting in the middle seat.  WTF?  She looked like she was about 20 years old…the woman in the aisle seat must have been her mom, because she was cozying up next to her.  So there are two problems with this (aside from the fact that I was quite happy without anyone next to me).  First, she was 20 years old…what 20 year old decides to sit next to their mom so they can cuddle up??  Secondly…she moved from the AISLE seat across from her.   Um….  Aisle seat or middle seat?  Which would you choose?  Which would any normal person choose?  Anyway…

The biggest story of my trip?  I thought the dry air was doing a number on my throat - it was scratchy the first day I was there, but had gotten better the second day.  But no…I went to a doc-in-a-box and lo and behold…it looks like I have strep.  The only place I can figure I got it was on the flight to Vegas.  I guess it was only a matter of time before I caught something on a flight…it’s never happened to me before.

Next trip…Houston in a week.

June 27, 2008

Trip #005. Las Vegas. Day 3.

Today was another full work day.  After physically building the encoders yesterday, the only remaining job was installing all the software.  Through a glitch (ok, a dork move on my part), about 4 hours were lost and we had to start over.  I finished right about 8pm.  I’m now at the airport waiting on my redeye back to DC.

As I write this, a huge group of kids just passed by…on their way home, I assume.  Why the heck would a kids group have something in Vegas?  I supposed they could be Vegas residents going somewhere else.  But the hotel I stayed at did mention that there was some sort of kids sports thing going on.  I know Andre Agassi has his tennis camp here.  Maybe it was along those lines.

I’ll post a little more in the wrap-up post.

June 26, 2008

Trip #005. Las Vegas. Day 2.

Didn’t get much sleep.  After finally getting to bed at 3:00am, I woke up four hours later…and couldn’t fall back asleep.  Guess I jumped to Vegas time instantly.

Today consisted of filling out some paperwork and building encoders.  Seven of them…  1 flight case, 1 CPU, 1 audio compressor/gate, 1 rack mount power strip and 1 keyboard drawer.  It took a little bit longer than expected…we didn’t get out until about 7:30pm.

After that, we went to eat and came back to the hotel and I promptly fell asleep. (Yeah, waking at 4:00am came back to haunt me.)

June 25, 2008

Trip #005. Las Vegas. Day 1.

Today was pretty much travel only.  I had a flight at 8:30pm out of Dulles.  Nonstop on JetBlue.

It was the epitome of stupidity at the security line.  But it wasn’t TSA.  Oh no.  First, some woman (couldn’t have been more than 25) comes up and has bottles.  LOTS of bottles.  Lots of HUGE bottles.  I mean seriously…are people this idiotic to still be carrying bottles like that around?  She had full sized bottles of hand lotion, shampoo, condition and who knows what else.  So of course she had to be pulled aside.  But here’s the kicker…the security guy went over the stuff and….let her through.

The very next person…bottles, too.  She had the right size.  BUT… she apparently had decided at home that she didn’t need to put them in the baggie until she was putting everything on the conveyor belt to go through the x-ray machine.  Seriously?  Are people this idiotic?

Come on people…it’s been well over 6 years since 9/11.  Get with the frickin’ program.

I arrived in Las Vegas at 10:30pm.  That would be 1:30am my time.  I didn’t get to the hotel and asleep until about 3:00am.

June 24, 2008

Trip #005. Las Vegas. PREP.

So here’s my schedule for my first trip with the new company.

  • Wednesday: travel to Las Vegas.
  • Thursday: work all day.
  • Friday: work all day, fly back home.

I was wondering when I’d get back to Vegas, after missing NAB this year.  If you would have asked me a month ago when I would be returning, I would have said I had no clue.

January 19, 2008

Trip # 004. Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia. POST.

Well, my travelling for this job is complete.  Since the California shoot was a bust, we still have to do it…but I will not be on it.  They are getting a freelancer to shoot it.

My next travel will be personal travel - in two weeks I go back to Indianapolis to help my parents celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary (the actual date was yesterday).

As far as work goes - there are a couple possibilities on the horizon that I’ve heard about.  One is San Diego (oh please, oh please!).  Another, which I just caught wind of, is Miami.  I’ve never been there, so that could be cool.  A third, which has only been mentioned in passing, so I doubt it’ll happen any time soon, is somewhere down south - maybe Mississippi or Alabama?  That should tell you how remote the possibility is - I’m not even sure where it is at.

January 17, 2008

Trip # 004. Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia. Day 5.

Maybe I spoke too soon, part 2.

Hilton Garden Inn Atlanta.  This one needs some help.

I walk into my room, and it’s a furnace.  Some idiot has the thermostat set at 85 degrees.  The windows do not open.  It’s nearly midnight when I get there, so I don’t have time to wait for it to cool down so I can fall asleep.  Now put on top of that – the smoke alarm’s battery is obviously dead, because it’s chirping.  Add on to that – the lights are all fluorescents.  That in itself isn’t a big deal…I have CFLs in all my fixtures at home.  But at the Hilton… they aren’t working properly.  Flickering for a little while and then shutting off (bedside) or simply not working (floor stand light).

I did get to switch rooms, but they put me in a smoking room – said they didn’t have any others available.  Thankfully, there wasn’t much of a smell.  Hilton should REALLY follow Marriott’s lead and go completely smoke-free.

Atlanta Airport.

Did I mention how I don’t care for this airport?  The security line was massive.  But it’s quite obvious they have learned how to handle it (Dulles should take a lesson from them).  I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say the line was close to a tenth of a mile long (that’s long when you’re walking).  But we were through it in 30 minutes.  It was constantly moving.

Bad seats.

When I reserved my seat on my flight, I could have sworn there were seats behind it.  Not the case.  I was in the last row.  What I *thought* was a window seat.  Not the case.  Sitting back there is VERY disconcerting.  Next time I will pay attention when I select my seat.

January 16, 2008

Trip # 004. Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia. Day 4.

Maybe I spoke too soon.

Hilton Garden Inn.  I applauded them yesterday.  That was before a minor problem (minor, but still annoying).  I went down to the lobby to get a soda.  I had no cash, so I couldn’t use a vending machine.  This hotel doesn’t have a true gift shop, so everything is paid for at the reception desk.  I take a bottle of soda to the counter to pay for it.  I am going to pay with my credit card.  The first clue I should have gotten that something was amiss was when they asked me what room I was staying in.  Huh?  I’m not charging it to the room.  I’m using a credit card.  After waiting a few minutes, they said they can’t charge the card because my room was paid for in cash (it wasn’t actually…it was pre-paid).  Again…huh?  Why does that matter?  Does that mean if I were just someone at the hotel who wasn’t actually staying there, I couldn’t buy anything with a credit card?

Yes, every once in a while, you find something that a business hasn’t really thought through…when they set up their computer system…this got skipped.  Whatever.  I ended up walking to the gas station next door.

Oh, and when I tried to check out, the soda was on my room bill.  Thankfully, all I had to do was tell them I didn’t buy it, and they took it off the bill.

Easy day.

Today was *supposed* to be an easy day – travel only.  But leave it to one of my least favorite airlines to screw that up.  Atlantic Southeast Airlines.  They are one of the regionals serving as Delta Connection.  They absolutely suck.  I have NEVER had a good experience with them.  This time, our 3:30pm flight was delayed.  And delayed.  And delayed.  7:15PM departure (don’t you love out they manage to get *just* under that 4 hour deadline?).

I think the worst part is that they simply do not keep everyone apprised of what is going on.  I think they made one announcement.  They never said when it would take off.  I had to go online to find out – Delta’s website seemed more up to date than the gate attendant.

Personally, if I were in charge of Delta, I’d cancel the contract with ASA and bring ComAir in.  It certainly couldn’t be any worse.

Amusing airport observations.

One of the fun things of sitting in an airport is hearing what people are talking about…

Example #1…

Young couple with two girls (maybe 8-12 years old?).  Father gets on the phone and is talking to someone about their trip.  They are headed to see Hannah Montana.   In Vegas.  Does anyone else see the problem here?  OK, you have one night taken care of when you see the show.  But what do you do with two young children the rest of the time…in Vegas?

Example #2…

Older woman on the phone with who I assume is a family member (or maybe friend).  She is talking about a couple that she obviously does not like.  Lisa and her boyfriend/husband.  As this woman said, “they are moochers.”  Lisa must have worked at the same place as this woman, because she was complaining about Lisa’s work ethics.  Lisa would constantly call in sick.  Finally, Lisa was told she had to bring in a doctor’s note the next time.  She didn’t.  This woman told the boss to “terminate her.  TERMINATE her.” 

Well, now any time Lisa comes over to this woman’s house, she refused to talk or look at this woman.  “Lisa knows I’m pissed at her.”  Ya think?

Last day coming up.

I am in Atlanta now.  Tuesday was a long day, and Tuesday night was too short (we only got about 4 hours of sleep).  Needless to say, everyone was wiped out at the end of the shoot on Wednesday.  Getting to sleep in today was a huge help.  I don’t like Atlanta’s airport.  Never really have.  But at least today, I wasn’t flying out of Atlanta.  Flying in isn’t nearly as bad.  Tomorrow is the bad…flying out of Atlanta.  We are scheduled for the 9:50PM flight.  But if we get done early (hopefully), we’ll head to the airport to try and get an earlier flight (there is a 2:15PM, a 5:30PM and a 7:30PM flight).

Trip # 004. Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia. Day 3.

Nice Airports

One good thing about going to some of these locations – small airports.  Also known as nice airports.  Nice to deal with, anyway.  Here are the airports I have dealt with (and will deal with) on this job: 

  • Washington Dulles (large).  My home airport.  Pain to get through security, but I’m used to it.
  • Minneapolis (medium).  Not horrible.  Except they have two terminals that are about 2 miles apart.  That is a pain, especially when dealing with the rental cars.
  • Chicago O’Hare (enormous).  Major pain in the ass.  Don’t like this airport, even for stopovers.
  • Providence, RI (small).  Not horrible.  But in a highly congested area.
  • Portland, OR (medium).  Not bad at all.  Security was easier than most.
  • San Francisco (large).  Only a stopover, but it was an easy trip from one gate to the other, so I wouldn’t say it’s horrible based on that.
  • San Luis Obispo (tiny).  Fantastic.  1 gate.  Rental car was 100 yards from the entrance.  Easy in/easy out.
  • Los Angeles (large).  LAX at Christmas.  Enough said.
  • Austin (small).  Suprisingly nice.  Not a huge airport, only one terminal.  Rental car checkout was probably the best I’ve ever had.
  • Dallas-Fort Worth (large).  Only a stopover.  Pretty much the same reaction as San Francisco.
  • Tulsa (small).  Easy in/easy out.  Rental car was easy to get to.
  • Atlanta (enormous).  Another one I do not like dealing with.  Except for a handful of times (including this trip), it’s always a stopover.  I have had good layovers (a couple of gates away) and really bad ones (going about the longest distance you can at the airport between gates).  Usually, it’s Delta I’m flying if I end up at Atlanta.  I’d prefer to avoid it.  If I’m flying Delta, I’ll try for Cincinnati as a stopover instead of Atlanta.

Dollar V. Thrifty

On my post of Day 1, I lamented the idea Thrifty has that a Pontiac Vibe is a mid-size SUV.  That was Austin.  I’m in Tulsa now, and I am renting from Dollar.  I reserved an intermediate vehicle.  What did I get?  A Jeep Commander.  Huh?  Apparently Thrifty and Dollar have major differences in what they think an SUV is.  I won’t complain about the Commander.  Well, except for the gas mileage.   About 15 miles per gallon.  In Austin, that would have been fine…we only traveled about 45 miles total.  But here in Tulsa…it’s going to be about 150 miles.

Hilton Garden Inn

Thumbs up to Hilton Garden Inn hotels.  I have not been disappointed yet by them.  I will probably look for them for every trip.  The one I’m staying at now – in Tulsa – has everything I need…comfortable bed, free wireless, free printing, fridge, good channel choices and a big thumbs up to the shower.  Too often I stay at a hotel where the shower is horrible – not enough pressure, or the temperature just doesn’t cut it.  Here, it’s great.

Another bonus to this one…the person I am traveling with (client) and I were talking about how hard it is to get everything plugged in when in a hotel room.  There simply aren’t enough outlets.  Let’s see…  laptop, cell phone, PDA, iPod, batteries to charge for work…that’s a minimum of 5 or 6 plugs I need.  At most hotels, I have to end up using the bathroom outlets.  Not here.  The desk alone has five (instead of what seems to be the usual ONE).  I know most people may not think this is a big deal…but it really is.

January 14, 2008

Trip # 004. Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia. Day 2.

Austin

I have always said I hate Texas. Nearly everything about it. The only good thing I have been able to say is that San Antonio isn’t *that* bad. But even there – not my kind of place. Austin has the potential to change that. I didn’t really have time to explore, but just based on what I’ve seen…it’s not *horrible.*

But the sad thing is, I didn’t really get to experience Austin properly. It doesn’t seem like it really wakes up until the evening. Or at least, I assume that’s the case…Austin being known as the live music capitol and all. Everything seemed pretty sleepy during the day.

I must make it back at some point.

LONG day.

Today was a long day (though not as involved as I thought it would be). The work day started at 7:00AM. It just finished…at 1:00AM. 18 hours. 7 of which was travel. Now I’m in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tomorrow won’t be nearly as bad – we aren’t pressed for time at all. No flights to catch, no deadlines to finish up. There isn’t really much more I can say about today, so I end here and climb into bed.