Apr 18 - of rain and toilets

It was way, way, way past my bedtime by the time I headed out to pick up David, Kim and Megan at the airport.  Finally due in at 1:40 a.m., they were "on time", just like many projects that are called on time after the schedule is revised over and over and over again.  In this case they were actually on budget, if you don't count extra food and drinks necessitated by the long trip -- 15/16 hours ?  It takes just a little longer to drive !

First they drove from Barrie to Buffalo, spending mucho time at the border where all three bridges were clogged with almost 2 hour waits.  Next they found that their direct flight to Florida was way delayed so they switched to another routing via Baltimore.  They would have actually gotten in earlier than the original flight, had there not been a broken toilet on the Baltimore => Orlando flight that held it on the ground for hours.  Ultimately a 9:40 p.m. arrival became next day ...

So that's how the day ended for all of us -- success of a sort.  It began with John at the gym, moved on to another trip to Costco and installation of two more wifi thermostats, this and that around the house, shrimp/rice/spinach for dinner, sleep and then up and at 'em to the Orlando airport, then more sleep.

Most people thought that I had an enviable life doing a lot of business travel.  They didn't realize that yesterday's flight for our kids wasn't that unusual.  Prior to laptops I read a lot of books.  After laptops, I would catch up with email, bombarding others with email once I plugged in again.  Getting to the airport and finding short or long delays was just the norm.  I was very good at re-routing ... so how far can you get me ?  Flying into Philadelphia, I lost count of the number of times that I went to Allentown (north), Washington (south) and Pittsburgh (west).  Rent a car and drive to my car.

Usually alone, one of those Washington landings was with Bob Lopes; a notable one via Pittsburgh was with Sandy.  Most of those types of re-routings were weather related.  Flying so much, my status did help get priority and respite in the airline clubs.  The ordinary traveling public would think of those as perquisites; they were not.  After 9/11, I spent almost as much time working in the Philadelphia Airport USAir club as in my own office, it seemed.  A break in meetings / conference calls ?  Head to the airport and work out of a small carrel in the club.

Anyhooo ... all that's past and traveling fun was partially what triggered my retirement.  I just didn't look forward to years more travel, to Plano (Dallas) especially.

I actually saw an advertisement for Xerox in some publication the other day.  Xerox bought ACS, which then owned the benefits admin business that Towers Perrin sold to EDS.  That's where Angelika, Alice and many other friends work today.  No, I'm not jealous nor am I nostalgic.  May 1 will mark eight years since my retirement, actually almost nine years since I got one foot out of the door while working for EDS.  That was definitely a life-extending decision !

Today ... not sure.  I probably should have planned an early bike ride while everyone else recovers.

Onward !