The Dobrindt Family

Runners at the NY Hilton

I checked into the NY Hilton, near Central Park, and the largest hotel in NYC by rooms and visits, on Wed around 6PM. I looked around the huge lobby and saw a bunch of people in running gear.

Me Thinking: What the frig is going on here?

A half hour later as I came back down to go for a run around Central Park, I saw even more, and at least half were African-American, or so I thought.

Me Thinking: What IS GOING ON?

Then I looked around and saw orange signs with inspirational slogans like "Hit The Ground Running" and "Lead The Pack" and "Runner with a Sole" and realized the NY Marathon was on Sunday. DAMN IT, I should have known because I applied to get into the marathon but they didn't want me. For non-NY Runners Club members its a lottery when you apply, and they looked at my application and threw it in the garbage and just like that my hopes of running in the same boro I went to college in (and B school) were trashed. PUN INTENDED MO-FO.

Then I thought...

Me Thinking: Hmm, the race is on Sunday, why are they here on Wed?

Then I thought...

Me Thinking: Well, for me and others who live close by, we would get to town probably on Friday. But if I lived on the west coast, I would want to get here on Thursday.

Then I thought...

Me Thinking: And what if I lived very far away, like in AFRICA. Where there are Kenyan runners. And Ethiopian runners. ELITE marathon runners. Then what Dave? When would I come in? DAMN RIGHT I would come in on Wednesday.

So as I looked around, every black runner I saw I thought was a world class elite marathon runner from Africa. The best of the best since NY Marathon attracts the best field. Although, most of the African American runners I saw probably grew up in Murray Hill, attended Fordham and work on Wall Street. But in my world, I was walking around running superstars, and trust me, for me to say superstars and runners in the same sentence would get me beat up in a Patriots tail gate party or the bleachers at Fenway.

So it was pretty cool. Thursday morning as I was heading to the subway, I saw a bunch of runners. Thursday night as I went for another run, I saw a bunch of runners. Oh, that reminds me. The park is setting up for the marathon so I got to run through the finishers shoot, or whatever its called. I got to see the trucks with seats on the back that will hold the cameras, and all of the other fun stuff being assembled for this huge event. And then I got melancholy because my first choice this year was to run NY and it didn't happen. And I work there, I went to school there, I grew up about 30 miles east on Long Island, I feel like its my town. And they are getting ready for this huge event while I am getting ready to fly home. Oh well.

On another note, kind of related, I left my hotel room earlier tonight to go for a run and forgot my key. So I stopped at the desk in the lobby to ask for another one and I was told by the clerk that he would have security meet me outside the door, they would let me in.

Me: How do they know its my room.

Desk Clerk: You have to tell them something that is in the room and they will verify before letting you in.

Me: Like a pillow or a TV?

Clerk: (not really picking up on my humor) No, like a personal item that is specific to you.

Me: Like the dead body in the tub or  knitting gear in my suitcase?

So I decided to wait until I got back from my run and went to the Diamond Desk. I told the guy my room and he said "Oh, Mr Dobrindt, I know you".

Hmm, interesting comment to make. Not sure how to take it. "I Know You" as in you are a preferred guest, or "I Know You" as in you are a huge pain in what a jerk. He said he sees my name all the time because I stay there. He graciously didn't mention that I always forget to cancel rooms after the cut off date and beg for a refund.

So thats my story for this week. Goodnight and be well.

Hilton Hotel

I stay at Hilton often, about once or twice a week, and I just got off the phone with them about two stays in August that they billed me for when I was not there (NY Hilton). And you know what? They just put me on "notice" for cancelling too often. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?? A hotel chain that I CHOOSE to stay at over 50 times a year just said they are making a note in my Hilton Honors profile about MY activity. Well, HILTON, I am making a note on YOUR activity.

A-holes. I guess they want me to take my 330 dollar a night EVERY WEEK business elsewhere.

Note to Hilton: DO...NOT...mess with me on this, I am tired of traveling and bitter about airlines, hotels and rental cars, hate restaurants and airport food, and sitting in traffic, grumpy about missing my kids activities and ignorning stuff I need to do around my house. Now is NOT the time to push back when I have to cancel a room and ask for a refund when YOU charge me.

NYC Barber Shop

 

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Goodbye Barber Shop, I hardly knew ye

For the most part, when I travel for work, which is a lot, I go to NY City. I love it, and while I don’t think I could raise a family there, I am fascinated by the city. I’ve been heading to NY pretty much nonstop since 1998 when I moved from NY to Boston, kind of ironic.

There is this great, really great, Indian roti place I go to on Lex and 27th, near one of the offices I work out of. I’ve been going there for years. I am not sure what the official definition of “roti” is, I think it’s a kind of Indian bread, but it’s a popular wrap where you can get traditional Indian food in a flat bread wrap for lunch. The place I love is tiny with a couple of Formica tables and plastic chairs and about enough room for 8 people and is one of the things I look forward to most when in NY.

Anyway, it kind of takes a while for them to make the wraps, so I always stand outside and watch people or talk on the phone or look through my BlackBerry. For years there has been this tiny mom-and-pop barber shop across the street from the Indian place, with a homemade sign and a heavy set older barber with a big white mustache inside. I never saw him cut anyone’s hair but was always in a barber jacket and sweeping, or talking to someone else in there, or standing outside enjoying the weather. It reminded me of this barbershop I used to go to in Davis Square, and brought me back to images of NY City a hundred years ago when ALL shops looked like his store front.

Well, one day I went to get lunch in January and there was a note in the window that said “closed”, with a “Store for Rent” sign. The barbershop stuff – chairs and combs and mirrors – were all taken out of the store. It was empty. No more heavy barber to watch while I wait for my lunch.

I kind of regret never getting my hair cut. And I wonder when it first opened, and what the barber is going to do now. I wonder if there was a time when it was filled with people who traded stories and passed gossip, and if he employed other barbers. I wonder when the barber started, and if this was his first shop. Does he have a family.

I wonder if anyone else noticed it closed, and cared.

Posted by David_Dobrindt on March 07, 2008 at 06:02 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

GPS for my Car

I’ve been looking at GPS systems for my car. While I don’t drive that often, I live near a city and do most of my travel for work in or near a city, there have been times over the last few months where I could have really used one. So I did some research and since the prices are coming down, decided to get one.

There are three popular brands – Garmin, TomTom and Magellan. I am not going to get into the differences, but wanted to pose a question.

The Russians can take credit for the popularity and proliferation of many lower cost GPS systems, like the ones I want to use in my car. Do you know why?

For the answer, click on "continue reading...:

Continue reading "GPS for my Car" »

Posted by David_Dobrindt on March 07, 2008 at 03:48 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

February 25, 2008

Useless Travel Story

Let it be known to the 3 people who read my blog that this post has nothing insightful or meaningful. It’s basically me complaining about a tough week I had.

Last Monday, a week ago, I woke up in Boston (I refer to our home in Milton as Boston since it conveys a city, not so much the exact location I live in). The kids had off from school (eldest in kindergarten, middle in pre-school, youngest in nothing), so Patti was going to head to NY for the week to stay with her parents and see a friend in NYC.

Monday I worked from home and they left...

Continue reading "Useless Travel Story" »

Posted by David_Dobrindt on February 25, 2008 at 03:28 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

February 12, 2008

Overheard in Atlantic City

I was in Atlantic City, NJ the past two days (more on that later, ugh) and I overheard the following comment

"It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, like swallowing a cat"

Posted by David_Dobrindt on February 12, 2008 at 08:30 AM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

February 05, 2008

Airplane Hit By Lightning

Something happened today that has never happened in my years of flying - the airplane I was in was hit by lightning. Or at least that’s what we were told.

I was flying from Boston to NY on the Delta Shuttle, and we were in the clouds. The weather in the northeast today is terrible. The flight was really bumpy and we were jumping around, and I was having a hard time working on my laptop.

I looked out the window, I was in a seat near the wing, and all of a sudden there was a flash and a really loud BOOM! It felt like watching a canon fired at a reenactment, with that feeling of reverberation. You could feel the plane vibrate at the shock of the lightning. I think it hit on my side. I was looking right at it, I might have an ability to summon lightning.

So of course everyone stopped what they were doing and gave the "what the (expletive deleted) was that?" look. One of the flight attendants who was sitting (the pilot made the attendants sit) turned to me and said we were just hit by lightning.

I have to be honest, for the first time in my life, at least that I can remember, I was a little nervous.

Of course, IF I am going to die, the most lucrative is to die in a plane crash while traveling for work. In fact, the MOST lucrative is to get mugged on a plane flying in a dangerous country, for work, that crashes. That way I get hazard pay, assault that leads to death, and a death resulting from an airplane crash while at work. For many of us, our companies offer free life insurance that goes up if death occurs while at work. I told Patti that if I have a heart attack while mowing the lawn, to put a briefcase in my hand.

Anyway, we landed fine and no harm was done.

PS. I have some pictures I need to post, and some interesting things I need to write about, but I have been on the road Monday AM to Friday night. Working way too many hours for a good looking guy like me. I'll get to it soon though.

Posted by David_Dobrindt on February 05, 2008 at 12:58 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

January 19, 2008

Security Conveyer Belt

Some times I’m the tornado, sometimes I’m the trailer.

There were two conveyer belts working at the Delta Shuttle terminal security in NY late Friday afternoon. One security screen, but two belts. I got to the airport at 4:30PM, and since the 4:30 was delayed, I was told I could get on it. Nice.

I walked up to get through the painful process of security, with only my briefcase, and said to myself “great, two conveyer belts, this is going to be a breeze”.

Wrong.

I chose the one on the left. There were two ladies in front of me, moving kind of slow taking out all of their jewelry and toiletries and crap, but not painfully slow. Just as I got out my laptop and took my jacket and shoes off, the guy watching the x-ray TV left…to collect bins. UGHH. The other belt had THREE people working it, one watching the TV and two bringing bins. The one I chose, of course, had one guy doing everything.

So I sat there while he took his sweet ass time getting the bins back. Looking at the other side moving like a conga line.

He got back to his TV, viewed one bag, and left his TV to take a look at the 15 bottles of crap this lady had in her bag. SHE did not read the 3-1-1 instructions. WHY NOT did she read the instructions. All of our lives would get along much quicker if she only took what she was allowed. 311 my friends, 311.

So I sat there. The other line looked like the starting gate at a horserace. People who were behind me before were now getting off their plane at their final destination. I sat there collecting dust.

So I picked up all of my crap, asked the person at the other belt if I could cut in line, very nicely, she let me, and I put my stuff down.

The belt stopped. AAAHHHH. Oh no oh no oh no, why did it stop.

Apparently someone put his bag OVER his laptop in the bin and put it through. Violation…5 minute major.

So the belt had to back out everything, the guy had to come BACK through the scanner, and take it out.

And what was the belt I was previously at doing…YEP. Moving like a cashier at a grocery store checkout contest. My treadmill at home at 7 miles per hour. A UPS processing line two weeks before Christmas.

So I cursed myself for moving to the other lane, waited it out, and finally got through.

Oh well. I should just have waited it out on the first line, things will even out over time.

PS. There is a nice ending to this.

I got on the plane and the pilot said that it was delayed because right before take-off, the co pilot (or maybe it was the first officer, whatever) got sick and had to leave. There is a stomach virus going around the NY and Boston area, something that I have detailed knowledge of myself (got sick while on a business trip, ugh), more on that in another post, maybe. So the pilot was on the PA system, and this is what he said…

“Right before we were to pull back the first officer got sick and we are waiting on another pilot who is coming in from a flight from Boston…not sure when the plane is supposed to land but should be no more than 30 minutes…wait, the plane is pulling up to the gate next to us. We should be pulling back in a couple of minutes.”

I looked out the window and sure enough the plane was there.

Then as we were taxing out.

“Earlier today there was about a 50 minute wait to take off so…we are second in line, flight attendants please prepare the cabin for take off.”

AND I got the last open seat without someone next to me, a window seat and I got an amazing view of Manhattan just as the sun was below the horizon, with a bright red glow in the sky and lights in the building starting to come on. It was beautiful. I really should travel with a digital camera, pictures of the urban landscape can be amazing.

I got home in time to see all three kids before they went to bed.

Posted by David_Dobrindt on January 19, 2008 at 07:30 AM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

November 08, 2007

Delta Shuttle, under 4 minutes

It was 4:24PM when the New York City cab I was in pulled up to the curb in front of the Delta Shuttle terminal.

“The Triborough was the fastest way” the cab driver said apologetically.

“I’ll make it”, I reassured him, referring to my 4:30 flight, as I handed him exact change from the backseat.

“I have plenty of time”.

Truth be told, I didn’t think I had a chance at all of making the 4:30. The shuttle runs hourly and when I stepped out of the office building on 57th and Madison at 4PM, I just assumed I would be on the 5:30.

So as I got out of the cab, I hit the ‘start’ button on my running watch, which has a timer.

I walked up to the kiosk, purchased a ticket, got through security (no overnight bag, just a briefcase), walked up the ramp to the gate, and got on the plane as the last person before they closed the door. I looked at my watch and it was 4:27. I did all of that in under 4 minutes.

And more anecdotal evidence I plan on using when I award the Delta Shuttle my annual Green Cookie Handshake Award to the services company that best exemplifies an organization that meets or exceeds my often unrealistic expectations while traveling.

Delta Shuttle, you are the wind beneath my wings.

Posted by David_Dobrindt on November 08, 2007 at 07:46 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 18, 2007

Flight delay

I was on a very delayed flight from NY to Boston earlier tonight. It was 7:15 PM on a scheduled 5:30 flight, we were all sitting on the plane but it hadn’t pulled away from the gate yet. In fact, the engines were still off. We had been given updates about every 15 minutes with new wheels up times – 7:20, 6:30, 7:05, 6:45.

It was maddening and torturous.

Every seat was taken. The plane was packed and it was unseasonably warm in NY so people were edgy and sweaty.

Suddenly the pilot got on and said that air traffic control gave a new wheels-up time of 8:45. EIGHT FORTY FIVE. Huge groan from the packed plane. Women screaming. Men crying. Someone fainted. Chaos. An empty 12 ounce water bottle was thrown from the back of the plane. It was like Lord of the Flies but with Blackberries and sports jackets, pant suits and copies of the Wall Street Journal.

About 30 seconds later a flight attendant got on and said the pilot meant 7:45. And we needed to get ready to take off.

DOH!

We landed in Boston about an hour later.

Posted by David_Dobrindt on October 18, 2007 at 09:51 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Next »

I’ve been looking at GPS systems for my car. While I don’t drive that often, I live near a city and do most of my travel for work in or near a city, there have been times over the last few months where I could have really used one. So I did some research and since the prices are coming down, decided to get one.

There are three popular brands – Garmin, TomTom and Magellan. I am not going to get into the differences, but wanted to pose a question.

The Russians can take credit for the popularity and proliferation of many lower cost GPS systems, like the ones I want to use in my car. Do you know why?

For the answer, click on "continue reading...:

Let it be known to the 3 people who read my blog that this post has nothing insightful or meaningful. It’s basically me complaining about a tough week I had.

Last Monday, a week ago, I woke up in Boston (I refer to our home in Milton as Boston since it conveys a city, not so much the exact location I live in). The kids had off from school (eldest in kindergarten, middle in pre-school, youngest in nothing), so Patti was going to head to NY for the week to stay with her parents and see a friend in NYC.

Monday I worked from home and they left...

I was in Atlantic City, NJ the past two days (more on that later, ugh) and I overheard the following comment

"It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, like swallowing a cat"

Something happened today that has never happened in my years of flying - the airplane I was in was hit by lightning. Or at least that’s what we were told.

I was flying from Boston to NY on the Delta Shuttle, and we were in the clouds. The weather in the northeast today is terrible. The flight was really bumpy and we were jumping around, and I was having a hard time working on my laptop.

I looked out the window, I was in a seat near the wing, and all of a sudden there was a flash and a really loud BOOM! It felt like watching a canon fired at a reenactment, with that feeling of reverberation. You could feel the plane vibrate at the shock of the lightning. I think it hit on my side. I was looking right at it, I might have an ability to summon lightning.

So of course everyone stopped what they were doing and gave the "what the (expletive deleted) was that?" look. One of the flight attendants who was sitting (the pilot made the attendants sit) turned to me and said we were just hit by lightning.

I have to be honest, for the first time in my life, at least that I can remember, I was a little nervous.

Of course, IF I am going to die, the most lucrative is to die in a plane crash while traveling for work. In fact, the MOST lucrative is to get mugged on a plane flying in a dangerous country, for work, that crashes. That way I get hazard pay, assault that leads to death, and a death resulting from an airplane crash while at work. For many of us, our companies offer free life insurance that goes up if death occurs while at work. I told Patti that if I have a heart attack while mowing the lawn, to put a briefcase in my hand.

Anyway, we landed fine and no harm was done.

PS. I have some pictures I need to post, and some interesting things I need to write about, but I have been on the road Monday AM to Friday night. Working way too many hours for a good looking guy like me. I'll get to it soon though.

Some times I’m the tornado, sometimes I’m the trailer.

There were two conveyer belts working at the Delta Shuttle terminal security in NY late Friday afternoon. One security screen, but two belts. I got to the airport at 4:30PM, and since the 4:30 was delayed, I was told I could get on it. Nice.

I walked up to get through the painful process of security, with only my briefcase, and said to myself “great, two conveyer belts, this is going to be a breeze”.

Wrong.

I chose the one on the left. There were two ladies in front of me, moving kind of slow taking out all of their jewelry and toiletries and crap, but not painfully slow. Just as I got out my laptop and took my jacket and shoes off, the guy watching the x-ray TV left…to collect bins. UGHH. The other belt had THREE people working it, one watching the TV and two bringing bins. The one I chose, of course, had one guy doing everything.

So I sat there while he took his sweet ass time getting the bins back. Looking at the other side moving like a conga line.

He got back to his TV, viewed one bag, and left his TV to take a look at the 15 bottles of crap this lady had in her bag. SHE did not read the 3-1-1 instructions. WHY NOT did she read the instructions. All of our lives would get along much quicker if she only took what she was allowed. 311 my friends, 311.

So I sat there. The other line looked like the starting gate at a horserace. People who were behind me before were now getting off their plane at their final destination. I sat there collecting dust.

So I picked up all of my crap, asked the person at the other belt if I could cut in line, very nicely, she let me, and I put my stuff down.

The belt stopped. AAAHHHH. Oh no oh no oh no, why did it stop.

Apparently someone put his bag OVER his laptop in the bin and put it through. Violation…5 minute major.

So the belt had to back out everything, the guy had to come BACK through the scanner, and take it out.

And what was the belt I was previously at doing…YEP. Moving like a cashier at a grocery store checkout contest. My treadmill at home at 7 miles per hour. A UPS processing line two weeks before Christmas.

So I cursed myself for moving to the other lane, waited it out, and finally got through.

Oh well. I should just have waited it out on the first line, things will even out over time.

PS. There is a nice ending to this.

I got on the plane and the pilot said that it was delayed because right before take-off, the co pilot (or maybe it was the first officer, whatever) got sick and had to leave. There is a stomach virus going around the NY and Boston area, something that I have detailed knowledge of myself (got sick while on a business trip, ugh), more on that in another post, maybe. So the pilot was on the PA system, and this is what he said…

“Right before we were to pull back the first officer got sick and we are waiting on another pilot who is coming in from a flight from Boston…not sure when the plane is supposed to land but should be no more than 30 minutes…wait, the plane is pulling up to the gate next to us. We should be pulling back in a couple of minutes.”

I looked out the window and sure enough the plane was there.

Then as we were taxing out.

“Earlier today there was about a 50 minute wait to take off so…we are second in line, flight attendants please prepare the cabin for take off.”

AND I got the last open seat without someone next to me, a window seat and I got an amazing view of Manhattan just as the sun was below the horizon, with a bright red glow in the sky and lights in the building starting to come on. It was beautiful. I really should travel with a digital camera, pictures of the urban landscape can be amazing.

I got home in time to see all three kids before they went to bed.

It was 4:24PM when the New York City cab I was in pulled up to the curb in front of the Delta Shuttle terminal.

“The Triborough was the fastest way” the cab driver said apologetically.

“I’ll make it”, I reassured him, referring to my 4:30 flight, as I handed him exact change from the backseat.

“I have plenty of time”.

Truth be told, I didn’t think I had a chance at all of making the 4:30. The shuttle runs hourly and when I stepped out of the office building on 57th and Madison at 4PM, I just assumed I would be on the 5:30.

So as I got out of the cab, I hit the ‘start’ button on my running watch, which has a timer.

I walked up to the kiosk, purchased a ticket, got through security (no overnight bag, just a briefcase), walked up the ramp to the gate, and got on the plane as the last person before they closed the door. I looked at my watch and it was 4:27. I did all of that in under 4 minutes.

And more anecdotal evidence I plan on using when I award the Delta Shuttle my annual Green Cookie Handshake Award to the services company that best exemplifies an organization that meets or exceeds my often unrealistic expectations while traveling.

Delta Shuttle, you are the wind beneath my wings.

I was on a very delayed flight from NY to Boston earlier tonight. It was 7:15 PM on a scheduled 5:30 flight, we were all sitting on the plane but it hadn’t pulled away from the gate yet. In fact, the engines were still off. We had been given updates about every 15 minutes with new wheels up times – 7:20, 6:30, 7:05, 6:45.

It was maddening and torturous.

Every seat was taken. The plane was packed and it was unseasonably warm in NY so people were edgy and sweaty.

Suddenly the pilot got on and said that air traffic control gave a new wheels-up time of 8:45. EIGHT FORTY FIVE. Huge groan from the packed plane. Women screaming. Men crying. Someone fainted. Chaos. An empty 12 ounce water bottle was thrown from the back of the plane. It was like Lord of the Flies but with Blackberries and sports jackets, pant suits and copies of the Wall Street Journal.

About 30 seconds later a flight attendant got on and said the pilot meant 7:45. And we needed to get ready to take off.

DOH!

We landed in Boston about an hour later.

GPS for my Car

I’ve been looking at GPS systems for my car. While I don’t drive that often, I live near a city and do most of my travel for work in or near a city, there have been times over the last few months where I could have really used one. So I did some research and since the prices are coming down, decided to get one.

There are three popular brands – Garmin, TomTom and Magellan. I am not going to get into the differences, but wanted to pose a question.

The Russians can take credit for the popularity and proliferation of many lower cost GPS systems, like the ones I want to use in my car. Do you know why?

For the answer, click on "continue reading...:

Useless Travel Story

Let it be known to the 3 people who read my blog that this post has nothing insightful or meaningful. It’s basically me complaining about a tough week I had.

Last Monday, a week ago, I woke up in Boston (I refer to our home in Milton as Boston since it conveys a city, not so much the exact location I live in). The kids had off from school (eldest in kindergarten, middle in pre-school, youngest in nothing), so Patti was going to head to NY for the week to stay with her parents and see a friend in NYC.

Monday I worked from home and they left...

Overheard in Atlantic City

I was in Atlantic City, NJ the past two days (more on that later, ugh) and I overheard the following comment

"It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, like swallowing a cat"

Airplane Hit By Lightning

Something happened today that has never happened in my years of flying - the airplane I was in was hit by lightning. Or at least that’s what we were told.

I was flying from Boston to NY on the Delta Shuttle, and we were in the clouds. The weather in the northeast today is terrible. The flight was really bumpy and we were jumping around, and I was having a hard time working on my laptop.

I looked out the window, I was in a seat near the wing, and all of a sudden there was a flash and a really loud BOOM! It felt like watching a canon fired at a reenactment, with that feeling of reverberation. You could feel the plane vibrate at the shock of the lightning. I think it hit on my side. I was looking right at it, I might have an ability to summon lightning.

So of course everyone stopped what they were doing and gave the "what the (expletive deleted) was that?" look. One of the flight attendants who was sitting (the pilot made the attendants sit) turned to me and said we were just hit by lightning.

I have to be honest, for the first time in my life, at least that I can remember, I was a little nervous.

Of course, IF I am going to die, the most lucrative is to die in a plane crash while traveling for work. In fact, the MOST lucrative is to get mugged on a plane flying in a dangerous country, for work, that crashes. That way I get hazard pay, assault that leads to death, and a death resulting from an airplane crash while at work. For many of us, our companies offer free life insurance that goes up if death occurs while at work. I told Patti that if I have a heart attack while mowing the lawn, to put a briefcase in my hand.

Anyway, we landed fine and no harm was done.

PS. I have some pictures I need to post, and some interesting things I need to write about, but I have been on the road Monday AM to Friday night. Working way too many hours for a good looking guy like me. I'll get to it soon though.

Security Conveyer Belt

Some times I’m the tornado, sometimes I’m the trailer.

There were two conveyer belts working at the Delta Shuttle terminal security in NY late Friday afternoon. One security screen, but two belts. I got to the airport at 4:30PM, and since the 4:30 was delayed, I was told I could get on it. Nice.

I walked up to get through the painful process of security, with only my briefcase, and said to myself “great, two conveyer belts, this is going to be a breeze”.

Wrong.

I chose the one on the left. There were two ladies in front of me, moving kind of slow taking out all of their jewelry and toiletries and crap, but not painfully slow. Just as I got out my laptop and took my jacket and shoes off, the guy watching the x-ray TV left…to collect bins. UGHH. The other belt had THREE people working it, one watching the TV and two bringing bins. The one I chose, of course, had one guy doing everything.

So I sat there while he took his sweet ass time getting the bins back. Looking at the other side moving like a conga line.

He got back to his TV, viewed one bag, and left his TV to take a look at the 15 bottles of crap this lady had in her bag. SHE did not read the 3-1-1 instructions. WHY NOT did she read the instructions. All of our lives would get along much quicker if she only took what she was allowed. 311 my friends, 311.

So I sat there. The other line looked like the starting gate at a horserace. People who were behind me before were now getting off their plane at their final destination. I sat there collecting dust.

So I picked up all of my crap, asked the person at the other belt if I could cut in line, very nicely, she let me, and I put my stuff down.

The belt stopped. AAAHHHH. Oh no oh no oh no, why did it stop.

Apparently someone put his bag OVER his laptop in the bin and put it through. Violation…5 minute major.

So the belt had to back out everything, the guy had to come BACK through the scanner, and take it out.

And what was the belt I was previously at doing…YEP. Moving like a cashier at a grocery store checkout contest. My treadmill at home at 7 miles per hour. A UPS processing line two weeks before Christmas.

So I cursed myself for moving to the other lane, waited it out, and finally got through.

Oh well. I should just have waited it out on the first line, things will even out over time.

PS. There is a nice ending to this.

I got on the plane and the pilot said that it was delayed because right before take-off, the co pilot (or maybe it was the first officer, whatever) got sick and had to leave. There is a stomach virus going around the NY and Boston area, something that I have detailed knowledge of myself (got sick while on a business trip, ugh), more on that in another post, maybe. So the pilot was on the PA system, and this is what he said…

“Right before we were to pull back the first officer got sick and we are waiting on another pilot who is coming in from a flight from Boston…not sure when the plane is supposed to land but should be no more than 30 minutes…wait, the plane is pulling up to the gate next to us. We should be pulling back in a couple of minutes.”

I looked out the window and sure enough the plane was there.

Then as we were taxing out.

“Earlier today there was about a 50 minute wait to take off so…we are second in line, flight attendants please prepare the cabin for take off.”

AND I got the last open seat without someone next to me, a window seat and I got an amazing view of Manhattan just as the sun was below the horizon, with a bright red glow in the sky and lights in the building starting to come on. It was beautiful. I really should travel with a digital camera, pictures of the urban landscape can be amazing.

I got home in time to see all three kids before they went to bed.

Delta Shuttle, under 4 minutes

It was 4:24PM when the New York City cab I was in pulled up to the curb in front of the Delta Shuttle terminal.

“The Triborough was the fastest way” the cab driver said apologetically.

“I’ll make it”, I reassured him, referring to my 4:30 flight, as I handed him exact change from the backseat.

“I have plenty of time”.

Truth be told, I didn’t think I had a chance at all of making the 4:30. The shuttle runs hourly and when I stepped out of the office building on 57th and Madison at 4PM, I just assumed I would be on the 5:30.

So as I got out of the cab, I hit the ‘start’ button on my running watch, which has a timer.

I walked up to the kiosk, purchased a ticket, got through security (no overnight bag, just a briefcase), walked up the ramp to the gate, and got on the plane as the last person before they closed the door. I looked at my watch and it was 4:27. I did all of that in under 4 minutes.

And more anecdotal evidence I plan on using when I award the Delta Shuttle my annual Green Cookie Handshake Award to the services company that best exemplifies an organization that meets or exceeds my often unrealistic expectations while traveling.

Delta Shuttle, you are the wind beneath my wings.

Flight delay

I was on a very delayed flight from NY to Boston earlier tonight. It was 7:15 PM on a scheduled 5:30 flight, we were all sitting on the plane but it hadn’t pulled away from the gate yet. In fact, the engines were still off. We had been given updates about every 15 minutes with new wheels up times – 7:20, 6:30, 7:05, 6:45.

It was maddening and torturous.

Every seat was taken. The plane was packed and it was unseasonably warm in NY so people were edgy and sweaty.

Suddenly the pilot got on and said that air traffic control gave a new wheels-up time of 8:45. EIGHT FORTY FIVE. Huge groan from the packed plane. Women screaming. Men crying. Someone fainted. Chaos. An empty 12 ounce water bottle was thrown from the back of the plane. It was like Lord of the Flies but with Blackberries and sports jackets, pant suits and copies of the Wall Street Journal.

About 30 seconds later a flight attendant got on and said the pilot meant 7:45. And we needed to get ready to take off.

DOH!

We landed in Boston about an hour later.