The good and the bad of last minute travel plans

Let's start with the bad:

• Flights are expensive
• Flights are sold out (or only have first available)
• Flight times are inconvenient so one must drive 3 hours to Kansas City to get a direct flight back to the DC area
• Flights back to the DC area actually arrive into Dulles (ugh)
• Hotels are sold out so one cannot stay in the same hotel as colleagues
• One must stress about how one is going to get from hotel to hospital in an area not known for their taxi availability
• Plans for doing laundry on Thursday night get thrown out the window
• Apples bought yesterday might go bad before one can eat them all
• Plans to work out get squashed due to late travel Wednesday, early morning meeting Thursday and late night travel Thursday
• Packing for vacation gets puts off until Friday (although, let's face it, probably wasn't going to do it any sooner than that anyway)

The good:

• One gets to fly direct to Des Moines in First Class as opposed to in Economy (Plus) through Chicago

The 8 hour trip to nowhere

I don't have it in me to recount today. The best way to tell the story is in my emails to Jenny (or my facebook status updates). Please find (a slightly edited version and some additional color commentary) our emails over the last 8 hours

From: Allison
To: Jenny
Sent: Wed Jan 26 11:41:23 2011

Well getting a taxi was no problem! I'm going to be super early to my flight (Wishful thinking apparently)

From: Allison
To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 11:55 AM

Aaaaand my flight is delayed (The beginning of the end)

From: Jenny
To: Allison
Sent: Wed Jan 26 11:58:39 2011

delayed why? it's raining, right?!

From: Allison
To: Jenny

On Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 12:00 PM,

Its delayed out of chicago. Hasn't even left yet

From: Jenny
To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 12:01:22 2011

i feel like that's not a good sign for you to then GO to chicago and beyond! are there weather issues in chicago or just traffic?

From: Allison
To: Jenny

Sent:  Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 12:12 PM

No idea. Fortunately they reserved a seat for me on the same flight as my colleague (At one point or another I had seats on 3 different flights from Chicago to Des Moines, none of which I actually made)

From: Jenny
To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 12:53:27 2011

same flight out of chicago?

From: Allison
To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 1:08 PM

Yep. Although I just heard an announcement that all flights to LGA have been cancelled at all carriers except for the one leaving here next. That will be the last flight.

That's the airport my colleague is flying out of

From: Jenny

To: Allison
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 1:14 PM

Yeah I think you're gonna be cooling your heels in Iowa alone, my friend.  Hope you have a good book!

From: Allison
To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 1:49 PM

Ugh I really don't want to eat Panda Express if I don't have to! But I'm hungry!

From: Allison
To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 3:48 PM

So I boarded. Then they had to deice the plane. Then they heard there are ice pellets so they had to stop deicing the plane and they're not sure what's going to happen. So we're sitting

From: Jenny
To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 15:49:55 2011

this is the most ill fated trip! (and it's only half way through!)

From: Allison
To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 3:52 PM

Seriously. I left my apt at 11:40! I haven't gone anywhere! I don't know if I should take out my laptop and try to be productive or if it is going to be a matter of minutes

 From: Jenny

 To: Allison

 Sent: Wed Jan 26 16:08:30 2011

 any progress?

 From: Allison

 To: Jenny

 Sent: Wed Jan 26 16:23:36 2011

 Ok so we are leaving? But I might miss my connection

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: 1/26/11

 Just kidding! Now they need to treat the runways so its going to be another  45 minutes

From: Jenny
To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 17:21:06 2011

Did they treat them? I heard some domestic flights were being cancelled...

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 5:30 PM

I wish they would!

I was supposed to be getting in to des moines right about now and still haven't left.

I was able to be productive initially but since then everything has been stops and starts. Sit in one place for 20 minutes. All electronics off for 20 minutes etc. So I haven't been able to get nearly enough done. And our meetings start at 6am tomorrow. Awesome.

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent:  Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 5:47 PM

They boarded us just to tell us its taking longer to plow the runways than expected. And we still need to de ice

From: Jenny
To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 17:48:57 2011

you deserve a big, giant, glass or 3 of wine en route/when you arrive!  i havent heard any planes in quite a while... (This is why I shouldn't get used to First Class. I really wanted that wine...but they don't serve it in Economy plus!)

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 5:52 PM

They closed the airport for the plowing. Apparently there are flights that have pulled away from the gate and been deiced only to need to come back and get deiced again (we never made it past the gate!)

From: Jenny
To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 17:53:02 2011

yeah, conditions are not good! so what does it mean if the airport is closed?  can your flight still take off?  if not, can you get back in?  i realize you prob dk the answers, but yikes!

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 5:54 PM

Its just "closed" during the plowing. So no planes have been taking off or landing. The actual building is open, and plenty busy!

From: Jenny
To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 17:56:01 2011

What a mess! Speaking of, I just looked out the window to check the snow, and approx half of a tree has fallen on 2 cars in the lot! YIKES.  That best not happen to me!! (Another example of perspective being everything. My day was frustrating but at least I didn't sustain property damage!)

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 6:02 PM

Oh my gosh! That truly sucks

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent 1/26/11

One of the deicing trucks broke, The other is getting refilled, Its taking multiple applications to get the ice off

From: Jenny

To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 18:27:47 2011

How long have you been on this plane on the ground now? 3 hrs? Miserable! (yes, yes it is)

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent:  1/26/11

well we've been on and off. But about 3 hours since we first boarded.

Its been over 6.5 hours since I first got to the airport

From: Jenny

To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 18:34:37 2011

Even if you don't take off, I'm not sure how you'll get home! At least you live so close to the metro! My power keeps flickering...

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:38:07

We're being deiced now.

Take 7

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:58:56

Guess what (!!!)

From: Jenny

To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 18:59:45 2011

You're coming home?

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:02:05

Well probably. They closed DCA again. I don't think I can get to chicago tonight and I don't think I'll be able to get anything to DSM if I do get to ORD

From: Jenny

To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 19:03:36 2011

Bummer for you, but good for me :) Now, let's have a snow play date tomorrow?

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:05:44

Haha we'll do something for sure...but I'll still have to work! We don't really get snow days! Has OPM said anything about tomorrow yet? (For those that don't work in DC - OPM is the Office of Personnel Management and they decide if federal offices are open or closed, my company follow OPMs decisions during inclement weather)

From: Jenny

To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 19:06:38 2011

Oh I for sure have to work, too, even if the gov is closed. Haven't seen a status for tmrw yet.

(we are such good employees!)

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:07:48

Its official the flight is cancelled. I can't get in touch w my colleague so I imagine he's flying

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:12:14

I hope I can get a taxi!

From: Jenny

To: Allison

Sent: Wed Jan 26 19:16:48 2011

You honestly might be better of trying to metro?

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed Jan 26 19:17:23 2011

Subject: Re: Fw:

Ugh probably

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed Jan 26 19:24:48 2011

Yep you were right. Metro it is

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:48:25

Seriously? I'm stuck on the metro now

From: Allison

To: Jenny

Sent: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:05:01

Home

From: Jenny

To: Allison
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 8:06 PM

Good! Now you should have the wine! (And I did)

Parking Garage Rage

My colleagues and I made it safely to Raleigh this morning and after a brief stop at Kinko's arrived at the hospital. Everything was running pretty smoothly up to that point. The bus to Hertz was right there when I stepped out of the airport, my car was mere feet away and I didn't have to stand at rental car counter, the copies were ready, waiting and paid for when I arrived at Kinkos.

All was good.

Until I got to the hospital and started driving around. There was no parking to be found. The first time through the garage I noticed 2 things.

1. An entire level of parking was roped off because it was open air
2. Some (insert expletive here) one parked across 2 spots.

After 2 additional trips through the 4 story garage I finally found parking when they opened the roof (or someone just decided to rip down the yellow caution tape)....which was still a sheet of ice...and I  had a serious urge to key someone's car. (I should note that I did not, nor have I ever, keyed anyone's car).

2010 In Review

Is anyone else having trouble comprehending 2010 is ending? It feels like the year passed by in a second.

2010 in Numbers:

-39 Flights on United/Continental/US Airways
-6 Flights on Delta
-1 Flight on American Airlines

-10 stays at Sheraton hotels
-4 stays at Hilton hotels
-2 stays at Priority Club hotels


-12 rentals with Hertz
-1 rental with Thrifty

-14 hospitals visited

-Way too many miles driven

-2 different jobs (at 1 company)

My thoughts on 2010:

It was a busy year but a good year! I think the overarching theme for me when I look back on the year is how much I appreciate the people I interacted with throughout the year. From my colleagues to the characters I met at hotel bars to the toll collectors when I had no money to pay to my clients at the various hospitals I have worked or with whom I am still working it was a good year for people. I continued to be surprised throughout the year how nice and interesting some of the people I met were.  Here's hoping that continues into 2011!

Thankful.

As one of my colleagues called it - today was definitely a marathon. I was up at 3:00am and I'm hoping to be home by 2:00am.  I was a little bitter about having to travel at all today as I was initially scheduled to be on PTO. But as I reflect on my day and put it into perspective, I'm a little ashamed of my initial bitter feelings!

I was upset to miss 1 day of vacation while traveling in relative luxury. I was picked up by a car service this morning, sat in Economy Plus for my flights to Des Moines and I'm currently sitting in the Delta Sky Club waiting for my last flight home sipping a glass of red wine. Meanwhile, men and women around the world won't be home at all for the holidays.  When I think in terms of the sacrifices others are making, I'm both supremely thankful for their service and appreciative of my life and opportunities.

I think this little dose of reality was brought upon by an email update from my cousin yesterday, a Marine who is currently stationed in Afghanistan. Hearing from him about their work in counter IED operations makes my concerns about having enough overhead luggage space seem just a bit ridiculous.

So with that all said - thank you again to all our Armed Forces who are always in my thoughts and prayers but never more so as during this holiday season.

So about that light at the end of the tunnel...

I thought it was supposed to get closer instead of farther??

Initially I was going to be on vacation starting this Monday through next Friday for a full 2 weeks. Unfortunately things happen and I have to go to Des Moines, IA on Monday. What I didn't consider when that was scheduled initially was that instead of giving up just 1 day of vacation, I sort of feel like I've given up 3. I haven't been able to enjoy my weekend like I otherwise would if I was going to be on vacation, instead I have this last trip hanging over my head. Maybe because the travel is going to be so ridiculous...

3:00am - Wake up
4:00am - Car service picking me up
5:00am - Check-in/security
6:00am - Flight
10:00am - Land in Des Moines and taxi to hospital
11:00am - Meeting
4:00pm - Leave hospital
5:00pm - Check-in/security
6:00pm - Flight
12:00am - Land/Car Service picking me up
1:00am - sleep!!

Fortunately I'll have quite a few days to recover from that long day!

Keeping my cool...

Last night was one of the more frustrating travel experiences, not bad, just frustrating. We were scheduled to leave the hospital at 4:00pm but didn't get out of a meeting until at least 4:20. Every minute that ticked by increased my anxiety!

When we finally did get out my NeverLost (Hertz's GPS system) said it would take 2 hours to get to Boston which would put us at the Hertz drop-off at 6:30, not enough time to get to my 7pm flight.

So I spent the whole 90 minutes speeding and anxious but did get to Hertz around 6pm. Fortunately I'm able to just park my car and run, they'll email me my receipt. We took a bus to the terminal only to find they closed one of their security check points and there were extremely long lines to get to the gates.

I was actually about to get through security somewhat quickly because they were only letting people through with flights at 7pm or earlier. Other people were not so happy about this and started to get in the faces of the TSA personnel (fight #1).

When I did finally get through I had just enough time to get to my gate at the end of the hall before they started boarding. But while I was fast-walking I was able to watch (fight #2) someone open a closed gate door and yell to the US Airways gate agent to "Check his damn bags". The agent called security.

When I did get to my gate I found out they were boarding by rows from back to front instead of zones. I was zone 2!! and seated in Row 6!! When I did finally get on the plane there was no where to put my luggage. So they made those of us with luggage go all the way to the back of the plane while we waited for everyone else to get situated so that we could then get off the plane and check our luggage. While we were waiting for other people to clear out of the guys I was with started complaining about the entire airline industry to the flight attendant.

The poor flight attendant! Clearly she can't fix an entire industry! Even if she does agree that it would be better for people to be allowed to check their luggage for free and leave space available in the overheads!

Apparently they had just gotten off a flight that had been delayed by 4 hours! They wanted to offer the passengers cookies just a token. They need expressed, written permission from a pilot to even give out cookies!! They can't even open the box containing the cookies. It's locked and wrapped in tape which they have no scissors to cut - another thing they need to get from the pilot. And when you finally do get to the cookies they are wrapped in plastic with a form and large warning sign letting the attendants know they can't open it without the permission I mentioned earlier. That's an awful lot of work for approximately 60 calories!  I commiserated with her and then had to go check my luggage.

The rest of the flight was fine, fairly uneventful, just how I like them! Except my new Flight Attendant friend came over at one point to thank me for being accommodating and then offered me complimentary wine. Naturally I accepted and she gave me 2 (little) bottles! (Does anyone else find it ironic that they can't give out cookies but can give me 2 bottles of wine?).

Finally I got to DCA, where apparently they got 3 inches of snow! I totally missed that memo. After waiting for my luggage I got out to the taxi stand and was at the front of the line when a taxi pulled up, cutting another taxi off. The driver got out of the car and started asking people who was going to DC. The Taxi Stand Attendant got upset and told him to get back in his car, causing the driver to fly off the handle (flight #3) and start yelling at the attendant, including some not very nice names which will not be repeated here! The problem was prolonged because now no one wanted to get in that cab!

Anyway. I got home. I got some Thai food. A lot of anxiety but everything worked out.

Not what I expected New Hampshire...

What a difference a week makes! Last week was pretty busy on my end with trips to North Carolina and New Hampshire. This week I have no plans at all (other than a haircut today) and I'm ok with that!

Thursday I flew to New Hampshire for my first meeting with a new client.  I had never been to New Hampshire. I don't think I realized it would be quite as rural as it was. I flew into Manchester which is a fairly small airport and has very few direct flights from DCA. The hospital I was meeting with was actually in New London, NH, about an hour away but there are no major chain hotels near the hospital so I elected to stay in Manchester at the Four Points by Sheraton. The hotel was in the middle of a bunch of big box stores. The GPS said "I had arrived" when I was outside Sam's Club and across the street from Walmart. But a quick call to the hotel informed me I just had to drive up next to the Harley Davidson dealership and I would see it.

There wasn't a ton in the area to eat so I ended up at the hotel bar. I find that I prefer to eat the bar rather than the hotel restaurant. The menu is usually the same and it's slightly less awkward to sit alone at the bar than alone a table. Plus the bar usually has better people watching...especially this bar!

There was no one in the bar or restaurant when I arrived but shortly after I ordered my meal a woman walked in and ordered a glass of Chardonnay and sat down with a stack of scratch-offs. She was quite chatty and I quickly learned she waiting for her son to finish hockey practice. She drives a bus for a retirement home and never finished college, her husband is a botanist with a PhD. She has a son whose birthday is February 14th. They had his birthday at the hotel this year in the in-door pool. You can rent the pool for $25/hour and get pizza's for $10/pizza. They did the whole party for less than $200 last year!  When the manager came in she started chatting with him about having the party there next year and kept chatting with him like they were old friends and she knew a lot about him. She said things like "How many hours do you sleep a night?" "How many hours do you drive a day?" "How late do you work?" "Last time I was here you were dating anyone"..."actually I was"..."oh, well my friend was slipping you her number"..."I know, I still have it"...Did I mention the bartender was a creeper? Other topics of the night included male PMS and if they should hire a male bartender.  After a second glass of wine (and no food) my new friend left to go pick up her son.

The next morning I had to get up early to drive from Manchester to my meeting in New London. I was planning to meet my colleague at 7:45 (our meeting was at 8:15) as he was coming from another hospital in NH. The ride was easy and picturesque. I especially enjoyed all of the signs for the NH State Liquor Store and Rest Stop. One would think those two things shouldn't be housed together...but apparently one would be wrong...

 (*The larger building is the liquor store, the smaller one the rest stop)
As I neared the hospital it started snow. It was just enough snow to be pretty and not enough to actually stick, which I consider to be the perfect amount of snow. Although apparently the hospital is near some ski resorts and I'm hoping to work that into a future trip, so I'm sure I'll be hoping for some snow then.  I arrived early (naturally) only to hear from my colleague that the road he was driving on had been closed. As he had been driving down the road a pickup truck in front of him stopped, turn around and flagged him down, letting him know the road was closed. Unsure if this was just something a random person decided my colleague pressed for more info. Apparently there was an accident and the road was in fact closed. Unfortunately, said random person, did not know where New London was! So my colleague meandered through the state hoping to arrive in time for our meetings (and fortunately, he did)!

Following our meetings I drove to Boston for my flight out. Initially I was planning to fly out of Manchester but I wouldn't have been able to leave until after 5pm. Fortunately I was able to drive the 2 hours to Boston and still get out earlier, landing in DCA at 4:30. I will be flying in and out of BOS next week when I go back for meetings on Monday and Tuesday.  Hopefully the driving remains fairly uneventful!

Getting Vetted.

My only travel this week was a quick trip to NY/NJ. I was able to fly into Newark and drove to Mahwah where I stayed in a Sheraton. The hospital I was visiting was actually in NY and I drove the 3 miles there the next day.

I struggled with the logistics for this trip. Our meeting was at 10am and there was a flight into EWR (yes, I now talk in airport acronyms) that was supposed to land at 8am. It was only about an hour from the airport to the hospital, but I would need to deplane and pick up the car before I could get on the road. I also didn't know what the traffic situation would be at 8:30am between Newark and Suffern, NY. (Plus the flight left at 6:50am, which would have meant an early morning for me!) So I erred on the side of caution and arrived the night before.

I got into the hotel at 8pm. Had a quick dinner at the hotel bar (tilapia that was over sauteed spinach and topped with essentially salsa that they called "tapenade"). I tried to get together with some friends in the area for dinner but it turns out they were not around. It looks like I'll be going back on a regular basis so hopefully we'll be in the same place at the same time at some point! Working time in with friends to business travel is definitely one of the perks of this job!  Other than that it was a pretty boring night.

We were scheduled to meet with folks at this hospital system between 10am to 12:30pm. I arrived at the hospital around 9:45 and drove around for 5 minutes or so looking for parking (there were approximately 3 rows of parking available) to no avail. I was stressing about being on time so I took my rental car to the $2 (!) valet parking. I was probably in the hospital by 9:52. Meanwhile my colleague took a red eye from LAX to JFK and was still driving! He arrived with seconds to spare.

The 2 1/2 hour meeting was designed for me to meet various folks at this system and for them to "vet" me to determine if I'm appropriate to do some analyst work for them over the next few months. That was shortened to about an hour and half and I was back on the road.

Back at EWR I returned my car, took the train to the terminal and was through security  (behind a woman with a gallon sized bag of liquids) with seconds to spare before a conference call. I took 2 conference calls from the airport, grabbed some lunch, and hung out with my new friend.

Fortunately I was back in DC just before 5pm and was able to get into Georgetown from DCA by 5:30 and join my cousins, aunt and uncle for dinner! After dinner my cousin and I met some friends at bar to watch the election results come in (only in dc!).  While I'm loving this job it can definitely have repercussions for one's social life so I'm always happy when I can successfully manage both my work and my life in one day.

Grand Rapids...It's in Minnesota!

I've traveled quite a bit in my last year in health care consulting. But I've just started a new role which will require significantly more travel.  In fact last week was my first full week of travel. I started out in North Carolina Monday night through Tuesday. We flew in and out of Raleigh but had to drive about an hour to Dunn for our meetings. We were supposed to fly out at 7:25 on Tuesday but made it in time for the 6:20. I cut it super close...which anyone who knows me knows this is something I hate...but it was totally worth it as the later flight was delayed. And it meant I got 13 hours in DC instead of just 12!
Wednesday morning I flew from Washington National to Duluth, MN through Minneapolis St. Paul.  I was not expecting MSP to be quite so huge! My 30 minute layover was just enough time to get to my flight. On the flip side I wasn't expecting the Duluth airport to be so small! It made getting to the car rental desk pretty easy though (all 20 steps it took). I was excited as first because I thought I was upgraded to a Ford Escape with satellite radio.  But right as I was about to right about to drive away I noticed there was a check engine light on. After trekking back into the airport I was chastised for being overly precautions, but given the 75+ mile ride I was about to depart for, I insisted on a new car. And quite the car I received! It was a bright bright blue Dodge Caliber...did I mention it was bright?  Also it had no GPS!

With some sketchy directions and a limited about of battery on my phone I set out for Grand Rapids. Fortunately the vast majority of the ride was on one road. Unfortunately that road was 1 lane, had a lot of trucks and a 60mph speed limit. There wasn't much too look at along the way in terms of civilization, but the scenery had its moments...sometimes.  I think my favorite was the giant sign that read "Wanted: Hides, Heads and Legs".

I arrived in Grand Rapids just in time for my meetings and didn't have much time to look around, let alone check into my hotel. Turns out that was a good thing! The less time I spent in that hotel the better. It was the Country Inn & Suites. It was very old, with punch card keys, overly perfumed air and hypervigilant front desk attendants who cared a little too much about who was coming and going.

We decided not to spend the next night there and to drive to Duluth instead as we were flying out from there Friday morning. I didn't get to see much of Grand Rapids but I particularly loved the water tower with the huge print that said: Grand Rapids It's In Minnesota.  After all the weird looks I received when I told people I was traveling to Grand Rapids, MN I can understand how the corrections or assumptions that you're wrong about the state could get old!

So after a long day of meetings, back to back from 7:30 to 5:30, we drove to Duluth. I stayed at the Sheraton right on Lake Superior. The area actually looked really cute with lots of shops and restaurants.  Unfortunately I was too tired and Duluth was too cold for me to explore much!

I flew out from Duluth the next morning. The airport is so small you don't go through security until right before your flight. There is an air force base right near the airport and 2 younger men were leaving to deploy off to somewhere. It was heartwarming to see how many people showed up to send them off!  The flights back were fairly uneventful, and after 6 flights, 3 hotels and 2 rental cars...uneventful was what I was hoping for!