Today I was afforded the opportunity to spend a great deal of time in airports and on the road between airports. Four states (MD, NC, FL, and AL) and the District of Columbia (DC). It was not the smoothest travel day I've ever experienced, and the scenery for a number of hours looked like this:
Even though I was on the road again, I was accompanied on my journey by some lovely ladies:
I did manage to get in a relatively short pedestrian excursion earlier in the morning, so I kept my running streak going, and I'm still on track for the daily average over the course of August although it cost me all of my cushion.
At the end of a day like this it's probably best if I end with some gratitude, so with that in mind I am grateful:
1. For having a good job that never really gets boring...much to my chagrin at times.
2. For being able to get into an aluminum tube, travel about 500 mph over 1500 miles, at 30K feet (that's 5 miles) above the surface of the earth and ultimately arrive safely. It's pushes the limits of sanity if you think about it too much, so I don't.
3. For the noticeable uptick in the quality of foods available in airport terminals. It's still delivered to you at company store rates (another First World Problem), but gone are the days of the soggy gas station sandwich delivered at those same usurous rates.
4. Air conditioning. You only have to step in the elephant like blanket of heat and humidity in the deep south once to be grateful for the engineering behind this little luxury, but it's good to be reminded of the benefits from time to time.
5. Hotels that know me at the front desk and have the room key ready after a long day of travel.
6. Connectivity, so I can make quick in-stride adjustments that suit my plans and requirements. At one point today, I was simultaneously on the phone, talking in person to a ticket agent, and using the Oracle (Google) to provide insight into optimal routing and rental car reservation adjustments on the fly. I remember when I used to get once a week phone calls from Rory Conlan from England through the SATCOM network for about $8/min. You could actually hear the echo and feedback as the radio waves made the measurable travel up into orbit and back down again to the ground station for further processing. These were analog lines for the last mile. The rise of the connected individual is truly remarkable in the last quarter century.
There are so many more things to be grateful for, but for now I'll leave the scene with these. It's an early morning tomorrow, and I've got a comfortable bed that's calling my name.
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| Actually this was one of the better scenes - Notice that there are only embryonic thunderstorms and not the fully developed variety that was the source of some delay later in the day. |
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| Beth and Kristy were there for me from the start. |
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| Stranded in Charlotte, NC for a little bit, but at least I was with the Twins |
At the end of a day like this it's probably best if I end with some gratitude, so with that in mind I am grateful:
1. For having a good job that never really gets boring...much to my chagrin at times.
2. For being able to get into an aluminum tube, travel about 500 mph over 1500 miles, at 30K feet (that's 5 miles) above the surface of the earth and ultimately arrive safely. It's pushes the limits of sanity if you think about it too much, so I don't.
3. For the noticeable uptick in the quality of foods available in airport terminals. It's still delivered to you at company store rates (another First World Problem), but gone are the days of the soggy gas station sandwich delivered at those same usurous rates.
4. Air conditioning. You only have to step in the elephant like blanket of heat and humidity in the deep south once to be grateful for the engineering behind this little luxury, but it's good to be reminded of the benefits from time to time.
5. Hotels that know me at the front desk and have the room key ready after a long day of travel.
6. Connectivity, so I can make quick in-stride adjustments that suit my plans and requirements. At one point today, I was simultaneously on the phone, talking in person to a ticket agent, and using the Oracle (Google) to provide insight into optimal routing and rental car reservation adjustments on the fly. I remember when I used to get once a week phone calls from Rory Conlan from England through the SATCOM network for about $8/min. You could actually hear the echo and feedback as the radio waves made the measurable travel up into orbit and back down again to the ground station for further processing. These were analog lines for the last mile. The rise of the connected individual is truly remarkable in the last quarter century.
There are so many more things to be grateful for, but for now I'll leave the scene with these. It's an early morning tomorrow, and I've got a comfortable bed that's calling my name.
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