The travails of travel

Dear Delta Airlines,

I can’t decide whether to be mad with you or not. I was definitely not pleased with a 2.5 hour delay in Cedar Rapids and a missed connection + 1.5 hour delay in Atlanta. But I was happy with how easy it was to get booked onto the later flight, and the first-class seat was nice, given that I had to sit in it for an hour on the ground before we ever took off.

Hoping for better luck on the way home, Chris

Dear National Car Rental,

I’m not sure why my reservation was with you instead of Hertz, but it was really lame that your employee was still there at 1:30 a.m. but told me you were closed and I couldn’t get my car.

Hoping to not deal with you again, Chris

Dear Hertz,

Thanks for staying open past your posted 1 a.m. closing time. I wish I could’ve gotten a nav system in the car, but the map worked OK.

Your loyal customer, Chris

Dear Hilton Savannah Desoto,

I was so glad you still had my room reserved when I showed up at 2:30 a.m. The bed was comfortable, too, Five hours in it was definitely not long enough. And kudos on the free wi-fi. Here’s a hint: if you use the same SSID throughout the building and just vary the channel, it makes it less hassle connecting as I move around the building.

Feeling bad for bringing up such a minor point, Chris

On the road again...

So it’s been a nice weekend. Ryan decided at the last minute to come visit for the holiday, so we’ve enjoyed his company over the long weekend. Watched a lot of football, ate a bunch of tasty food, and now the weekend is over. Still, only a month until Christmas. :-)

At the moment I’m waiting for my flight from Cedar Rapids to take me to Atlanta, which in turn will connect to Savannah, GA. This flight was supposed to leave about 3 pm today, but is now looking more like 5:20 pm. I think my connection in Atlanta will be delayed enough that I can make it. I’m happy that Atlanta is getting rain and all, but couldn’t they have gotten it tomorrow after I’m there?!? This is the part of air travel that I so dislike. Ah well.

Tomorrow evening I’m planning on meeting a college friend (Daniel Schaffhauser, if that name rings a bell) and his family for some supper and time to visit. Should be a good time. Otherwise, I don’t know what Savannah will hold for me, though I’ve had a slew of recommendations. So little time to play tourist… but ya gotta roll with it. What else can you do?

Oklahoma City

Business has brought me this week to Oklahoma City, square in the middle of the Sooner state. I’ve been to the Tulsa area many times (my grandparents having lived in Collinsville for twenty years), but while I’ve driven through OKC on I-35 a multitude of times, I don’t recall ever having stopped; certainly I’ve never stayed here overnight. So it’s like visiting a new place, which I really enjoy - a chance for observations, to learn a new city.

My first impression of OKC was at the airport. I like the OKC airport. It appears to be fairly new, is large, open, airy, and bright. It’s a fair bit larger than my home port of Cedar Rapids, but not immense; twenty-some gates and a three-story parking garage. It was only a short walk through the terminal to the Hertz desk to pick up my key, then a short stroll to the parking structure to my car (a Toyota Corolla, very nice). The Hertz #1 Club Gold, letting me skip the paperwork and head straight to the car, is worth every penny.

Shortly after leaving the airport, I ran into the seemingly inevitable road construction. In this case, the construction is on Meridian Ave, the main drag that heads north out of the airport and up to I-44 and my hotel. This trimmed a four-lane highway down to two rather narrow lanes, and made the waits at traffic lights frustratingly long. Still, the trusty Never-Lost GPS system in the car got me within visual distance of the hotel before announcing “You have arrived.”, and I could handle it from there.

My next impression of OKC came from the hotel that the Federal Aviation Administration selected for our training this week: the Clarion Meridian Hotel and Convention Center. The hotel seems to be a microcosm of the city as a whole, trying to move forward from the dusty, tired, and worn trappings of the old oil and ranch business into the technology of the twenty-first century. The hotel dates to probably the 1970’s. It was originally all exterior-entry rooms, but some time later in an attempt to upgrade an additional hallway was built outside the room doors, allowing for climate-controlled access to the hotel lobby from the rooms. The room itself has had fresh paint and sports two 25-inch televisions with local cable, but it’s still obviously a remodel and the layout just isn’t quite right.

Driving through the city the past couple of nights I have seen the same contrasts; on one side, dusty, dated businesses feeling like the older southwest of the 70’s and 80’s; on the other side, a trendy, new city whose Dell Computer campus gives you another reason to compare it to Austin, TX. My restaurant choices thus far have been limited to the “new” side of things; I ate at a “grill and brewhouse” on the north side of town tonight that was very tasty. I might still be tempted to try an older steakhouse tomorrow night… I guess I’ll see what sounds good when my class has wrapped up.

The instructor at our class today told us he’s lived in Oklahoma for most of his life. He described OKC as “a great place to live, and an OK place to visit.” Now, when the Oklahoma tourism folks originally created the “Oklahoma is OK” slogan, I’m guessing they weren’t intending the suggestion of mediocrity that our instructor gave us, but after being here two days I’m thinking he’s closer to the truth. In many ways, the situation that OKC finds itself in reminds me of my home state of Iowa; a good, solid midwestern state, a good place to raise a family, a place struggling to find its way beyond its agricultural roots into technological opportunities. Not a super-exciting place to visit, but that’s OK. It’s a lot less hassle than the more exotic destinations, too. For this traveler, this week, Oklahoma is, indeed, OK.

Happiness is... a new pen.

Back in February I bought my first-ever fountain pen. I knew nothing about them, but had always thought they would be cool, so when I encountered a pen shop in a mall in Washington, DC, I was a goner. I ended up with a cheap Retro 51 pen with a nib that was really too wide and that didn’t lay down ink very well at all. But I was hooked.

In May, back in DC, I had done my research, and bought another pen, similar in price to the Retro 51, but far superior in function: a Lamy Safari Al Star. The lightweight aluminum body was stylish and the Fine nib ended up being just to my liking. Along with the pen I purchased an ink adapter and a bottle of blue ink. I really enjoyed that pen.

I use the past tense in the previous sentence because on my trip to Orlando in June I lost it somewhere on an airplane. I was bummed. Not having a lot of disposable income this summer, I knew it would be a good lesson to me to just deal with ballpoint pens again for a while… maybe I’d hold onto the next pen more carefully. (Am I sounding like a parent here? I think I am. Scary.)

A couple weeks ago I was given a very nice gift for playing the organ for a wedding. So as a little gift to myself I went online and ordered a replacement Safari Al Star. It arrived in the mail late last week and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Writing is so much more fun with a pen like this.

Last time I was in that pen shop in DC they were trying hard to sell me a pen that ran about $150. I don’t know that I could ever really understand why I should spend that much for a pen… but I’m sure happy with my $30 cheap-o.

Bullet Points for a Monday

How can it have been a week since I last posted? Well, it has been busy. So in the spirit of “short updates are better than none”, here we go.

  • Airline travel can be a pain in the backside. After two canceled flights on Monday, flew to Seattle early Tuesday morning. Got to my committee meeting a couple of hours late.
  • Kudos to the hotel (the Hilton Garden Inn in Renton) for being nicely setup for wi-fi access; seamless transitions between the meeting room, lobby, and bedroom.
  • Got to see my college roommate Matt and his wife Abbie one evening. Had a good time catching up.
  • Got to meet my partner-in-crime TK for some breakfast and Starbucks on Thursday morning. Also took a couple of cheesy pictures and some even cheesier video.
  • Managed to leave a library book in my hotel room in Seattle. :-( They said they didn’t find anything, but I’m sure I left it there. I’ll call again today and see if it turned up.
  • Finished the Harry Potter series while on the trip. The ending to Book 7 was almost perfect. The most I’ve enjoyed a series of books in a long, long time.
  • Got home and had to mow the grass since it had been raining all week. It took twice a long as usual to mow. Ugh.
  • Preached on Sunday morning. Audio available if you’re curious.
  • Talked to my brother Ryan last night for a little while. He’s really having a tough time at the moment, wrestling with some tough decisions. Pray for him.
  • Caedmon’s Call did their first show to release their new album, Overdressed, last night. There has been some seriously great liveblogging going on. (Go, Bryan!) What I wouldn’t give to have been there. At least it sounds like we’ll get a bootleg from the concert sometime soon.

I’m now back in the office for six weeks before my next trip. It will be nice to settle into some sort of schedule.

How can it be so hard to leave town?

Instead of sitting here writing this blog post, I should be on a Boeing 757 just taking off from Minneapolis en route to Seattle.  But you’re reading this, which means I’m writing it, which means yeah, I’m not on the plane.  I don’t know if it’s weather or just general incompetence, but Northwest Airlines decided to cancel my 12:45 flight from Cedar Rapids to MSP.   I found this out around 10 AM, contacted travel, and got a rebooked flight on Alaska Airlines, leaving Cedar Rapids at 1:30.

As soon as I saw the booking info, I checked online to see the departure status.  What? Canceled?!?  Yes, American Eagle (codesharing with Alaska Air) canceled the 1:30 flight from Cedar Rapids to Chicago.  Back on the phone with corporate travel.  Everything was booked on all the remaining flights out of Cedar Rapids today.  Unbelievable.   Finally I am set up on a 5:10 AM flight tomorrow morning from CR.  If everything goes on time (a big if IMHO), I will get into Seattle around 9 AM Seattle time, and make it to my conference only an hour or so late.

Not fun.

Seattle

It’s 8 AM in Seattle and this hotel restaurant is a pretty comfortable place to sit and write.  The in-room web access doesn’t seem to be working, but the wi-fi in the lobby works just fine, so I can sit here and catch up on news and email whilst eating from the voluminous breakfast buffet.    It’s fairly cloudy and cool this morning, but there’s the threat of sunshine this afternoon, which would be nice.

I’m in town to support a meeting with a customer, but it still leaves me with most of the morning (the meeting doesn’t start until 11) and a good portion of the afternoon (the meeting is over by 2 or so) free.  Couldn’t manage to get a flight back home tonight on short notice, so I"ll be leaving on the early (5:45) flight in the morning.  Such fun.

This is my third trip to Seattle, and I really do enjoy the area.  So beautiful with the mountainous terrain, all the water, and I just adore the cool weather.  After the meetings today I’m planning on heading downtown to the Pike Place Market; for sure a tourist location, but it’s been recommended by a couple friends so I guess I’ll give it a go.  I’ll be sure to post pics tomorrow when I get home.

Well, I’ve pretty much finished up here at the restaurant so I think I’ll move to the lobby, find a plug-in for this laptop, and start working on some work stuff.  Should be at least moderately productive today.  :-)

Headed Out, West Coast Edition

I’m sitting in the airport terminal at Cedar Rapids as the plane that is supposed to take me to Chicago is unloading its prior passengers.   From there it’s off to Seattle.  If all goes well I should be there by 8 PM Seattle time.   I’m making this whole trip in order to be in person to make a twenty-minute presentation for a customer.   Such fun.  But it will allow some time tomorrow afternoon for some sightseeing in Seattle before heading back home early Tuesday morning.  I’m bringing the good camera; hopefully I’ll have some good pictures to share once I get back.

New Orleans: Music and all that Jazz

One of the things that was high on my list of things to do while in New Orleans a few weeks ago was to find someplace with live music. New Orleans is all about jazz and blues, after all. It was pretty wild to walk through the French Quarter and think that guys who are jazz heroes of mine like Harry Connick, Jr. and the Marsalis family spent time playing in the clubs on those streets. So very cool.

I headed around the Quarter rather early in the evening, which unfortunately cut down my number of opportunities to hear the live music. Most of it started later - 8 or 9 PM. However, I did hear a very good older band at a little bar that I am thinking was called something about the Society for the Preservation of Jazz; I can’t find a link on a quick Google search to back me up. They played pretty good standard New Orleans jazz, but they were old-timers; nary a dark hair in the bunch - all grey.

As I headed back to my hotel, I ran into a group of about a dozen teenagers playing on the corner of Canal and Bourbon Streets. They were mostly brass instruments with a couple saxophones thrown in for good measure and a rockin’ percussion section. And they were smokin’ hot. My little video clip here really doesn’t do them justice, and I’m bummed that I didn’t think to start recording them until just near the end of their set.

It’s fun to think that one of these kids may be a jazz star of some upcoming year. While New Orleans took a massive hit from Hurricane Katrina, it sounded to me like she still couldn’t kill the music.

New Orleans Impressions

Got back from last week’s trip to New Orleans early on Friday morning. This was my first time in New Orleans, so it was interesting to see an area that I had heretofore only read about and seen on TV. I had a mix of impressions from the city.

The first night I was there I took a walk from my hotel over to the French Quarter. I mean, that’s the place in New Orleans you’re supposed to visit, right? It was only about a mile walk. On the way I passed a rather large Harrah’s casino which I understand to be new development since Katrina two years ago. Didn’t go in, but wow, that thing was big.

IMG_5333The near edge of the French Quarter was Canal Street. It is big, glitzy, lots of neon and expensive shops. It reminded me a little bit of Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It’s a big wide street that includes tracks for the streetcars. Once you walk up it for several blocks, you get to Bourbon Street. This is the one you always hear about during Mardi Gras, right? So I figured it’s worth a visit.

In comparison to the broad, upscale Canal Street, Bourbon Street is narrow and scuzzy. There is very little variety to the shops on the street; the basic repeating pattern is souvenir shop, beer joint, strip club, restaurant. There may be a few extra beer joints mixed in for good measure - it’s legal to have an open container on the street there, so there is a proliferation of lemonade-stand-type beer vendors. Eesh.

I did find some good food on Bourbon Street - the jambalaya from Remoulade was excellent (though the pecan pie left much to be desired). I almost bought one of their t-shirts (I was thinking the Craw Dad one) but finally decided that I already have too many t-shirts, I don’t need another one. Then I wandered up and down the street again looking for some good live music places. I found a couple, I’ll write specifically about the music in a separate blog post. So yeah, I visited Bourbon Street. Suffice it to say I wasn’t impressed. Seeing what it was like on an early Tuesday evening in the middle of summer, I can only imagine how much of a drunken orgy it is during Mardi Gras.

The last day of the trip I had a few hours before my flight so I drove east on I-10 towards Slidell and then up around Lake Ponchartrain and across the amazing Causeway (longest bridge in the world!) back to New Orleans. I was astonished at how much damage is still left from Hurricane Katrina. Even though it’s been two full years since Katrina hit, the devastation is still painfully evident. Not so much in New Orleans proper, but once you get out on I-10 towards Slidell… wow. You would think that repair activities would’ve focused on the areas around the interstate, but there is still so much damage… buildings boarded up, nice houses and apartments with tarps still over the roof; then you go past a field that obviously used to be mostly forest, and now it’s just a field of 8-foot-tall trunks with the tops twisted off. So sad. Two full years later, and still this much mess?

Before I finish this post, a word about the Causeway: amazing. Over 20 miles long. The visibility wasn’t great that afternoon (a storm was rolling in), so there was definitely some time in the middle of the bridge when you couldn’t see anything but water no matter which direction you looked. So cool.

So that was New Orleans. Next month: Seattle. Hoping to meet some old and new friends while I’m up there.