October 23, 2007

Business Travel

I'm on the road again, traveling from Orlando to Gulfport to Sacramento (via Houston) in support of the business of supporting business. Business travel is never what you expect or want. The first leg of the trip was fairly uneventful, even the pleasant surprise of being put into First Class for one of the flights. That was made up for by the 90 minute delay in getting out of Atlanta and into Mississippi. Not a big deal since all I planned to do upon arriving was get some sleep.

But getting out of Gulfport and into Sacramento, that was a challenge. In support of the business need, I booked a very early flight. This 6:15 flight (for which I got up at 4:30) was canceled. While knowledge of this would have been valuable at 4:29, it was not worth a hill of beans at 5:30.


Of course I was greeted with the standard affectionate pat-down by Gulfport TSA and the thorough dismantling of my bags. I guess I am fortunate that I was not rushing to make a 6:15 flight at the time. But that's life on the Watch List.

The resolution for my troubles was a 9:00 AM flight with a 4 hour layover in Houston. Four hours is a long layover.....it is painfully long in Houston. Especially when one considers that my accommodations in Gulfport were in a casino hotel. Not only did I enjoy some fine camaraderie with co-workers, I followed that up by sampling both the free drinks and casino atmosphere until an hour that was sure to make today just a bit drowsey.

As much as I would like to catch up on some sleep here in Houston, the constant announcements (in both English and Spanish) make it impossible to rest.

Well, I can always catch up on sleep on the plane......