Friday, April 01, 2011

Premature Assumptions

Best Laid Plans Gone Wrong...


The good news is that I was finally able to leave Maryland yesterday.

The bad news is that my contraption wasn't quite working 100% and I actually managed to fiddle around with it enough to go BACKWARDS and undo some the previous days' progress.

So now I'm faced with returning again at my own expense (they paid for this trip) sometime in the next month to hopefully finish things up after doing some software re-design.

And any wayyyyy... I was worn out by the time my 10:45 PM flight was ready to board in Charlotte, NC heading back on the final leg of this epic saga to Knoxtown, and when they offered a $150 travel voucher and a free night in a local hotel I decided I'd rather go to bed here before midnight instead of getting home at 1:00 AM.

As a result I'll be back to the Turbo Pup Compound on the Banks of the Mighty Tennessee River by sometime mid-morning.

Talk to Y'all later I guess...

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Headin' Home Shortly

...And Am I Ever Ready To Get There...


Well, the good news is I managed to get this festering business trip back on track yesterday.

In fact, if I hadn't changed my travel plans from last night till tonight I'd already be home, but I couldn't take the chance that things would go as good as they did.

So now I'm stuck pretty much just wandering around Maryland today as I head back toward the airport and eventually Knoxtown arriving just before midnight tonight.

Wish me luck and safe travels...if you will...  

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Living In Hell A Bed And Breakfast

Some People Just Don't Get It...


I've pretty much had it up to here (pointing to the top of my ever greying, ever balding head) right now ladies and gentlemen, thinking that this traveling for a living crap is for the birds.

This trip started out bad with the flight schedules and cost and has proceeded down hill from there.

I wandered on to an airliner in Knoxville at about 8:45 AM yesterday, proceeding through Cleveland, Ohio then on to Baltimore on another flight, then on Amtrak to Aberdeen, MD with a taxi finishing the final 5 or 10 miles of the journey.

In the middle of the proceedings I managed have the bad judgement to eat a quick snack of "Maryland Crab Cake Sliders" in the Baltimore airport.

I've incrementally lived with the realization  that I must have obtained a good dose of food poisoning in the process, because starting before midnight last night and proceeding through NOON TODAY I've basically lived in the bed or the bathroom.

The good news is that I'm a heck of a lot better now, but I had to call my client and reschedule everything I was supposed to do today for tomorrow and I may be forced into paying the airline ticket change fee and stay another night in this so-called "Bed and Breakfast" Inn.

I'm sorry to say that these people running this place are %$#@ incredibly unprofessional and have proceeded to annoy the crap out of me in every way possible...all because apparently I wanted to actually USE THE SUITE I have rented from them for two nights.

As I was trying to sleep off my illness the idiots kept coming by wanting to clean the room, and some guy banged on my door twice wanting to come in and access the basement of this old house I'm staying in ostensibly to get to the circuit breaker panel.

I finally realized that the room telephone didn't work and since there was not a "do not disturb" sign in the room they apparently just felt like they could come and go as they pleased.

And then to add insult to injury when I finally fell back asleep the yard guy came over and ran the lawnmower and weed eater for a half hour as an irritating bonus prize.

So now I'm faced with rescheduling the entire week and my room is not available for an additional night because they're putting in new carpet so I either leave the property or pack up all of my crap and change rooms.

I'm thinking that I'll try another Inn based on my experience so far.

Talk to y'all later....

Monday, March 28, 2011

Time To Fly Again

My Arms Are Already Tired...


Two airliner rides and one train trip are on my itinerary today. The worst part is I have to go through the Baltimore, MD airport.

Thinking about Baltimore's airport...the closest one outside Washington DC...there's a T-Shirt with this saying on it that I always thought was funny.

Goes like this:

"If Assholes were Airplanes...this place would need a control tower."

BWI (Baltimore's Airport) would need a half dozen control towers if that saying was really true.

Things like traveling for a living aren't as much fun as they seemed thirty years ago.

Wish me luck not getting arrested for beating some asshole to death with his own arm today...