Flying to Work

So I took another business trip. This one wasn't far away at all - or long. I went to Irvine, CA for one day and one night. It was just enough to be a complete pain in the fanny. Once again I had to be taken to the airport, deal with airline bullshit (a late flight this time - both ways), arrive in a new airport dazed and confused, find transportation to the hotel, unload my stuff, marathon sleep, wake up fanny-crack early, find transportation to a strange office, arrive dazed and confused, paint a fake smile on my face, shake hands with people I don't know, do my work then get transported back to the airport, deal with airline bullshit, arrive home dazed and confused, marathon sleep and get up to go to work the next day. Blah. I say, blah!

I am learning a few tricks though - about airports and travel in general. I've figured out how to make some things easier on myself. I'm also starting to get a feel for the activity in airports. When you don't go that often, they seem chaotic, hectic, people moving like random currents. But, if you sit there long enough, you can really start to see a pattern to the currents. I also couldn't help but notice some security lapses while I was there too. At one point I was pretty sure I could have gotten down onto the tarmac by simply following this one guy down the jetway. Pathetic.



So, since the beginning of the year, I have flown on 6 airplanes through 3 different airlines. All of them sucked. The one that sucked the least was United. I am not at all claiming that I would recommend them. In fact, I would more adamantly urge everyone to drive their cars rather than fly. The one airline that sucked the most was US Airways. Even now that it's been 3 months since my dismal flight, I still feel my blood boil when I think of them. Argh!! I could write a book filled with the tiny details of everything they did wrong. I'll spare everyone my rant though and give the simplest statement: Do NOT book a flight on US Airways if you can at all help it.

People should be outraged by the airlines and how they "do business." I'm outraged. At first, I thought I was just having bad luck. But the more I flew, the more it became apparent that it's not my luck; it's simply how airlines run their business now. Despicable. I don't know how people who travel all the time do this. It is sooooooooo annoying.

I think my venom is due in part because when we first discussed this trip at work, it looked like I would be able to squeeze in a trip to Disneyland. VSP would pay for my travel and lodging and food, I'd pay for my family's, and we'd have enough time to hit Disneyland. At the time, I was sad because I was pretty sure we wouldn't have enough money for three tickets into Disneyland. Now that the date has finally gotten here, we have the money for Disneyland but not the time. VSP asked I do it all in one day rather than a couple. Errrrrr. That's life though, right?

Irvine is in Orange County, or the OC as everyone hip on TV calls it, as well as all the wealthy people here too. Which appears to be almost everyone. Crime is ridiculously nonexistent here. Each office building is 3 to 8 stories tall, surrounded by a moat's worth of parking lots. I really can't believe how spread out things are. If I didn't know any better I'd never guess I was near LA. I drove past an apartment complex that had a Sphinx out front like the figgin Luxor in Vegas. Giant palms trees lined the perfectly intact fences. I was told that if you drive the wrong type of car around here, the cops will follow you. I felt like I was inside a bubble.

There's no place like home. There's no place like home. Tap Tap (my heels clicking together) There's no place like home...