4 Flights And A Room In Steerage

Last week was pretty crazy...

I had planned to work in Columbus, OH area and the Friday before I had gotten a call that they needed me "urgently" in New York.  So I rearranged my sched.... and did BOTH.  It was a dream come true... NOT!

I flew out on Tuesday but because of weather the flight was delayed about 5 different times and I ended up getting into Columbus around 2 a.m. -- yes, you heard me right - 2 a.m. on WEDNESDAY morning.  I grabbed my hotel room, paid $130 to sleep 3 hours, get ready for 30 minutes and then jump in my rental to head about an hour away to Chilicothe (which, FYI, was the FIRST capital of Ohio).  I worked at a conversion account for a few hours and then headed back to the airport.  But I took about 2 hours to stop by a friends place to see her new baby (another FYI to those of you who remember her - this Lynae and Greg's baby, Elsa).  

Dropped off the rental and checked in - for my flight BACK to Chicago.  Yes - here's the wonderful thing about Columbus, Ohio - you can't get anywhere from there without connecting.  So - back to Chicago to wait about an hour and a half for a flight out to New York.  Unfortunately, due to weather again, my 6 pm flight was delayed and delayed and delayed and we finally ended up leaving around 9 which meant that I got into New York after midnight.

What a treat - to be tired and late and to shuttle your butt out to the mean New York streets to wait for a - well, a shuttle.  Its past midnight - the cars are backed up and honking and there are people standing on the sidewalks yelling at each other and saying "F... you you B.... - go..."  you get the idea.  Seriously - its almost 12:30 in the morning!  And then I finally get the shuttle and he gets out on the highway because he has to pick some other people up somewhere else and there is TRAFFIC backed up!  Its 12:30 in the morning!  GO TO BED PEOPLE!

And then I get to my wonderful accomodations in Queens finally around 1 and they give me, apparently, the "last room" in the hotel.  If there is a steerage area in a hotel building - thats where they put me.  I seriously had to walk down stairs to this little room across from the breakfast area and when I got in, it was like this basement window that I had to look up and I could see the parking lot and the wheels of cars.  The one miracle was that the bed was actually heavenly and my kind rep didn't make me leave until 9a.m.

AND - I must admit, this was the BEST visit I ever had at a NY account.  Those people are usually pretty blunt and to the point and get out of my face... but this New Yorker was actually the nicest woman and we chatted and helped her with a few problems and got a lot accomplished for the business.  

Because I hadn't been sure what the schedule was going to be I had actually booked my flight out on Friday and I ended up transferring to a different hotel because the other Queens one, honestly, scared me.  I ended up at the Marriott right across from the airport with this lovely view - and look - NO TRAFFIC!  Wow!

I got some great time on Thursday evening to get some office work done and work out in the gym (I love Marriott gyms as they have the best equipment!).  And then I got back a little later on Friday and had time to take a run and then take Cal on a run as well....  Here's the trick - see the two airedales.... thats not Cal and Bailey -- thats Cal and Bailey's sworn enemy.... Airedale puppy that comes to dog park and bugs the you know what out of Bailey.  She literally screams at this dog and will pin him on the ground.  You know how they say that you don't tend to like people who are just like you -- I think Bailey has found the "person" who is just like her....

Not a super crazy busy week this coming week, but I've got a lot of little things going on and I'm in Boston for two days.  We'll see how the "best laid plans"  work out :)