Weekending: The Plan

To work in IT consulting is to travel. Depending on both perspective and the structure of one's life, this can exist anywhere on the spectrum from deal-breaker to unbelievable benefit. Fortuitously enough, I'm loving the travel.

It's for this reason a plan came to me during the middle of a November night. I sprang up from my comfortable hotel bed and grabbed the nearest lightbulb — it illuminated immediately, letting me know the significance of said idea.

100-365 Bright Idea For Shot 100 by bcymet on Flickr

The idea was a simple one: embrace the layover. It met all of my criteria:

• Monday-Thursday in Los Angeles
• Friday in Chicago, the Miami of Canada
• Weekends in alternate locations

In early December the idea was implemented:

Time	Action
Thursday, 11:15pm PDT	Depart LAX
Friday, 6:00am CDT	Arrive ORD
Friday, 12:00am CDT	Arrive at Office
Friday, 8:00pm CDT	Depart ORD
Friday, evening	Arrive somewhere
Sunday, 8:00pm CDT	Depart somewhere
Sunday, evening	Arrive LAX

Needless to say, a very busy Friday was in the works...but where would it end?

Note I still haven't migrated to the compact fluorescent idea bulb, because it takes too long to illuminate.
Fun Fact The blue used in the table above is Lake Michigan Blue.

Strategy Pattern: A First-Class Request

The best way to learn is quite possibly from those around you.

I was lucky enough to be in the volunteering-to-give-up-your-seat line just behind a more seasoned traveler on last week's redeye, when I overheard an interesting strategy.

Passenger	"Sure, I'll take the 6:00 tomorrow. Is it a 57?"
Agent	"Yes, it's a 57."
Passenger	"Beautiful. Let's get me confirmed for First Class right now as well."
Agent	"Done. Okay, you're all set sir."

An exciting discovery to say the least.

I was able to achieve the same result simply by asking. Complimentary upgrades are a part of the deal with flying often on United, but they go in order of miles flown. For the ever-curious, I'm generally 30th or so on the wait list to be upgraded on the Chicago-Los Angeles route.

Fun Fact "Is it a 57?" is asking if the plane is a Boeing 757.

Fun Stats 3 bumps in the previous four weeks.

• 3 that resulted in better seats
• 2 overnight, with hotel stays and meal
• 1 for a plane that left 45 minutes later

SG Hill Goes Public

While not exactly an IPO, I've recently heard of a rather neat service aimed at travelers. You've possibly noticed the new box on the right from TripIt alerting fellow blogfans that I'm currently in Los Angeles.

There are a handful of post-worthy features of TripIt --

1. data-tracking
2. contact-alerting
3. keeping everyone in the loop

After registering, you forward itineraries to a magical email address at TripIt. The service then adds a trip to your profile and begins to tally miles and locations visited.

As can be expected of almost every app these days, there is a friending and social networking portion. If you'd like to connect and compete with miles, then certainly head over to my profile. At the time of writing, I'm the leader of my six connections by over 10,000 miles (Thanks, Bangalore!)

23 Hours

For six weeks, I'll be on the other side of the world for a training course in booming Bangalore, India. Upcoming on this blog is the chronicle of those adventures. This is part 1 of a multipart series.

The trip itself was a rather uneventful 23 hours, but I felt the need to document it for both my own sake the potential interest of future TWU participants. I lost track of how many time zones I flew through. It was sunny when I left Chicago and sunny 8 hours later in Frankfurt. We arrived in Bangalore at 12:20 in the morning.

Most of it is already a blur at this point, but a few things that still stand out:

• wondering if it was just coincidence a flight attendant named "Stickler" who maintained a perfect hairdo and uniform throughout the flight
• thinking the $300 "upgrade" to economy plus is a laughable overcharge when checking in
• thinking the $300 upgrade to economy plus is an incredibly good deal five hours in
• "So you're traveling to India for work? How long have you been with this company?"
  "It's my second day"
• wishing Mercedes would win the bus contract for the Chicago Transit Authority
• admiring the smart and efficient use of the inclined plane in Frankfurt security
• the immigration officer not believing my picture or my signature was me, asking me to sign something in front of him...which I'd gladly do all day, because my signature is pretty awesome.
• Bangalore International Airport isn't much different from O'Hare. This shockingly huge ad appeared in both:
  
  

The real adventure begins on the way to the office from the airport. More on that here soon...