Timesheets: Travel

In two years I've come to learn the United terminals in a handful of airports like the back of my hand. Curious as to how much time that took, I knocked a spreadsheet together and found myself bewildered. I've missed a few weeks here and there in my timesheet, but I'd say about 90% of the data is there.

Project Location	Recorded Weeks with Travel	Total Travel Hours	Hours/Week Recorded
Los Angeles, CA	40	462.00	11.55
Little Rock, AR	19	127.75	6.72
San Francisco, CA	33	128.75	3.90
Total	92	718.50	7.81

The overall average of 7.81 is, of course, awfully close to an extra full working day per week.

The Evolving Life of a Road Warrior: Laundry

Laundry is a task that can, and hopefully will, be improved upon from now until the end of time. Certainly I've evolved since starting 12 hours of weekly travel in October.

Yesteryear

It wasn't long ago now that I'd pack up my duffle bag in frantic frenzy Thursday morning before checking out of the Kimpton and skipping down the road to the week's last on-site day at the client. Ten billable hours later we'd head to the Corner Bakery, partially lured by free WiFi, to wane the hours down until our 11:00PM flight back to Chicago.

There are two large problems with this scenario.

1. I'm carrying the same clothes back and forth
2. I'm spending 3 hours and $1.50 washing them on a shortened weekend

Courtyard to the Rescue

A transition to the local (8 miles farther) Marriott was in order for other reasons, but it also had the very important perk of coin laundry. There are more pro tips than one might expect in the game of hotel-based laundry, so let's take this journey together!

Step 1: Locate Laundry

The folks at the front desk will be more than happy to help you out. After all, they've handed you a SpongeBob & Dora key. When's the last time you saw someone frown and hand you a Nick Jr key?

Jackpot. This place has a SpeedQueen Commercial Washer and Dryer. Wisconsin's finest laundry equipment will have your work clothes clean in no time...or, as the sign says, one hour and 15 minutes.

Step 2: Locate Detergent

And what's this signage smiling back at me? It looks like we're headed back to the front desk, friend. Free Tide and Bounce await. I certainly don't have Bounce at home!

Step 3: Locate 7 Quarters

That's right, we'll be out an additional $0.25 after this expedition. A small price to pay for not having to carry clothes 3,490 miles. It also opens up the intriguing first-row exit seats. With nothing to stow overhead, the exit row is our oyster. Shown here are three quarters, because I wrote this blogpost after starting the washer.

Step 4: Transfer Suitcase to Washer

Looks like we're winning again. This luxurious Samsonite suitcase is the perfect size for one week's worth of clothes. It's also the perfect size for one SpeedQueen Commercial Washer.

Step 5: 4 Quarters into Washer

This step is on easy mode. Fill up the right-most slots with quarters, and away you go. Push the Greenwald Vertical 5 in, pull it out, and start your stare at the beige walls. These clothes can't be left unattended. One might say now is the time to start said blog post.

Step 6: 3 Quarters into the Dryer

We've been standing in a tiny laundry room for half an hour by now, crafting our next Blogger entry. Hopefully it's Wednesday night, so we're all prepared for the next week to be laundry-free. Of course it's actually 34 minutes past California midnight on Monday because we've been trying to get the lone washer in the building since arriving at 9 with no success.

All right. Clothes in washer. Good to go.

Step 7: Hang Up Clothes

The dryer certainly didn't get them entirely dry! We'll be using these apparatuses, which science has yet to come up with a name for*:

Hangers by Andrew Morrell Photography, on Flickr

Step 8: Check Bag Over Weekend

All you need is a luggage claim check and a friendly employee. Fortunately, the Courtyard has both =)

Fun Fact SG Hill is in no way affiliated with SpeedQueen or any of its competitors.

* That's a nod to the extremely dry British comedy series, Look Around You

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.

Recycled Air: Episode 3 [Options]

The aircraft is often listed along with the flight when booking trips; this information meant almost nothing to me early on. Now that I've picked up a fair amount of aircraft knowledge, I've learned its importance -- each plane has benefits and drawbacks. Fear not, blogosphere, that knowledge transfer is about to begin (in alphabetical order!).

United Airlines Boeing 767-300 by Deanster1983, on Flickr

Airbus A320

The only Airbus I've been on, and it just so happens I take it about 50% of the time between Chicago and LA. The A320 is a narrow-body, featuring three seats on each side of the aisle in the economy classes (3-3).

Exciting because the television monitors are flat screens that automatically open and close

Worrysome because overhead storage is lacking. Slowing down after landing has significantly more interior rattling than a 757 or 767.

Boeing 757

The 757 is a common plane along my standard 1,800 mile route. Like it's Airbus competitor above, this jet is also a 3-3 narrow-body.

Exciting because the overhead storage compartments fit a relatively large number of bags. I don't have to worry about checking a bag at the gate when this aircraft is sitting at the terminal.

Worrysome because the tube-television monitors are positioned in the middle of the aisle often, providing several reasons to duck while walking through the plane for taller folks.

Boeing 767

My favorite vehicle for medium-long distances. This wide-body aircraft is arranged with two aisles in 2-3-2 fashion.

Exciting because there are four aisle seats and two window seats -- six of the seven seats in a row are actually desirable.

Worrysome because the overhead bins sized a bit weird; they only fit a standard carry-on if placed sideways, cutting down on room. The seats between both aisles require standing up to turn off the blasting air vents.

CRJ 700

Exciting because the first time is a novel experience? If you're flying from Detroit with premier status (25,000 miles), getting upgraded is easy. The one time I took this regional jet we had 21 seats open, though that's more of an airport feature.

Worrysome because overhead storage is almost non-existent. I have a smaller-than-average carry-on that scraped on all sides when going into the overhead bin. This plane also seems easily thrown around in the wind.

Fun Fact My favorite way to get around is high-speed rail.

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

Recycled Air: Episode 2 [The Sprint]

Friend of the blog and half-marathon-runner Molly asked me several weeks ago if I have had the pleasure of running through an airport yet. I'm a veteran at sprinting through Chicago to Union Station to catch (or miss) a train. Airports are a different story though, with an average arrival time of 1.5 hours early...until Friday.

My plans were to take the redeye again on Thursday night. When I arrived with plenty of time to spare, an announcement was made.

"We're looking for volunteers to give up their seats and fly out to Chicago tomorrow morning."

Naturally I jumped at the opportunity and soon thereafter found myself on a shuttle to another night in a hotel. My reservation was now for business class Friday morning at 6:50.

Not long ago I happily marched through the Premier security line for the first time at O'Hare. With a separate screening lane and an exceptionally joyful TSA employee, I made it through in just six minutes; nearly 20 minutes shorter than my typical experience with regular security lines. This flying 4,000 miles a week thing certainly has it's advantages.

Sadly, the airport in Los Angeles is not nearly as accommodating with premier security lines. It's the same line here, but you can effectively cut at the time you show your boarding pass. Arriving at 6:10, I thought I would be OK.

6:38 rolled around and with it came an announcement.

"Attention passenger Hill. This is your final boarding call for United flight 944, non-stop service to Chicago."

Panic came over me instantly I was still in the security line, only now preparing to put my shoes on the conveyor. As luck would have it, I was also randomly selected for my first body scan.

6:41 marked the point where I retied my oxford shoes. Shortly thereafter I regretted a decision I'd made earlier this morning.


Running shoes are considerably easier, and quieter, to run through an airport in than the above style.

At exactly 6:45 I arrived completely out-of-breath to an empty terminal 74. One attendant was at the podium near the gate, looking ready to move on to something else. I waved my ticket and inquired about the possibility of boarding. He made a phone call and soon I was running again...this time through the gate.

Made it.

Fun Fact after 10 weeks and 30,000 miles in the air I have now sprinted through an airport.

The Suite Life with Neither Zack Nor Cody

"Mr. Hill, I didn't know you were still staying with us."
"I left for the weekend, but I'm back Justin!"

One of those small things in life I really enjoy is when someone remembers my name. I try to do the same whenever possible. The response to being acknowledged as more than whatever job title they hold is generally pretty positive, but sometimes it's overwhelmingly positive.

Shortly after this cheerful welcome I found myself hearing murmurs of an upgrade. Sure enough I was awarded the King Spa Suite, a room not much smaller than my apartment in Chicago.

One bonus of the upgraded room was that it came with a Vista View. While nothing like looking at the Chicago Skyline, it was considerably nicer than last week's view of the road.

Perhaps the main attraction of the King Spa Suite is in the name itself. This awesome shower/tub combination helped all week to slowly ease the pain of an ultra-stiff neck that comes from sleeping on a plane.

As if we weren't already bordering on excessive, the room included a living room with a second 42" HDTV.

Note The Suite Life of Zack & Cody is a Disney show that debuted the year I graduated High School. I've never actually seen the show, but its name has stuck with me for unknown reasons.

Recycled Air: Episode 1

"I'll just set my things down here...I've got to go powder my nose"

In just over 20,000 miles in the air I've discovered an amazing variety in neighbor passengers. More often than not I'm seated next to a silent traveler, completely interested and involved in his or her own things. Occasionally I'll get someone just the right amount of talkative to make the flight feel considerably shorter. Other times I'm in for an impromptu autobiography.

Sunday was my first flight to or from Los Angeles with any conversation at all. It would have been fine, except for a few basic crossings of the etiquette line and diving into a level far too deep for having just met someone.

I simply don't have the dexterity to recap four hours of conversation with someone in text, so instead we'll hit the highlights and lowlights of passenger Sam's monologue.

• I understand it as universal etiquette to not disturb someone with earbuds in unless sharing some life-altering news. This is most certainly not universal.
  
  
• "You computer people have some real goofy terms. GUI (pronounced 'gooey')? You kidding me with that? You'd never hear 'GUI' from a physicist. You know where you would hear that? From a five year old eating lunch."
  
  
• "My wife and I used to go riding all the time on my Harley, now all of a sudden she's all hung up and don't want to go with me if I've been drinking. Can you believe that? I'll tell you what else, that's why she says she's leaving me, of course the papers haven't been filed yet...and she's been leaving me since June of last year. 15 years down the drain. I'll tell you what I'll miss the most though, the free concert tickets she got from work."
  
  
• [said to flight attendant]: "Yeah, give me two cold ones"
  [said to me]: "You may not believe this, but there was a time where I didn't know who was in charge...me or the bottle. So I'll tell you what I did, I picked a month to see if I could go through it without drinking. I thought to myself I'll take February because you know thats a nice, short one. Felt like cheating though, so I went with July...my birthday is in July, and there are barbeques all over town. Made it too.
  (cracks open can)
  Hey, bottoms up!"
  
  
• "Haven't been working in two years. Finally got this job as a building inspector. I'm also becoming a physicist, because I have to in my old age."
  
  
• "One day I'll get on a new plane. I'll know it's new too, because I won't see an ashtray in the bathroom. Can you believe they used to have a smoking and non-smoking section on these things? It's a frickin' tube for crying out loud!"
  
  
• "About 25 years ago I took my son to Disney World. He was four then...so it couldn't have been 25 years ago, it must have been 23. Yeah, 23 years ago. Anyway he starts crying in the middle of Epcot because Mickey Mouse didn't wave at him...and you know what a kid of four sounds like crying? It's loud, it's like (proceeds to demonstrate lung capacity on crowded airplane). So I told him not to worry, Mickey Mouse waves at everyone, and sure enough he later waved at my son."
  
  
• Sam "So what part of LA do you live in?"
  Me "I live in Chicago."
  Sam "Oh no kidding! What part? Naperville or Schaumburg?" (suburbs, outside city limits)
  Me "No, right in the city."
  Sam "Oh wow, I thought you said you lived right in Chicago, you know, like Naperville or Schaumburg"
  Me "Those are both different cities..."

Strategy Pattern: Voluntarily Bumped

I was scheduled to fly out of LAX last Thursday night when a rather intriguing message flashed across the status update screens. The airline was looking for volunteers to take the next flight instead.

I headed up to the customer service counter with several thoughts running through my mind, mostly revolving around the following equations.

1. 11:15pm takeoff + 4 hour flight + 2 hour time change = 5:15am landing
2. landing at 5 and sleeping until 2 = sleeping until 5 and landing at 2

To my great delight, the customer service agent joyfully placed me on the next flight with a couple of bonus compensation items.

• $15 meal voucher
• free hotel voucher
• $400 airline voucher

For the meal voucher I indulged in my favorite ultra-expensive juices

Needless to say I've now adopted a new strategy for my frequent travels: Voluntary Bumping

Note From what I hear, compensation is negotiable and bumps can be chained. Let the fun begin!

Note Odwalla juices are simply delicious. If you've never tried one, I'd recommend the SuperFood

From Bollywood to Hollywood

"The grass sure isn't growing under your feet."

Perhaps one of my favorite remarks so far by a fellow ThoughtWorker upon meeting me. I was lucky in that just two days after being hired I was off to India. By the time I got back I was already staffed on a project. Now that my first week on a billable project is wrapping up, it feels relevant to announce that this developer has had the great fortune of spending just four days on the beach.

I'd love nothing more than to report the amazing weather my first week in Los Angeles has been. I seem to have brought the rain with me in my well-packed Space Bags^®, though. Can you believe a week's worth of clothes fit into these?

I can dutifully report the view from our office. On the days when it wasn't raining, I was able to snap a few pics from indoors. I wouldn't say LA feels anything like Chicago. It's much more like a giant suburb than a city, with relatively few towering buildings.

Still, there is a skyline of sorts. Hopefully we'll make it out of the office in the next few weeks to enjoy some of it!

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!)

Card-Carrying Membership

Minutes from the Diamond District apartments and almost a rite of passage for Westerners, the Manipal Univesity Hospital is definitely deserving of its own post.

View Larger Map

I headed there on week two for exactly the reasons you'd suspect (no worries, I'm fine now). The doctor was very good and knew almost exactly what to prescribe by simply looking at me. I was taken by the differences from the medical facilities in the States to here.

One of the first surprising things is one pays before visiting the doctor. My visit was Rs. 300, or about $6. I also became a member for Rs. 100 ($2). Another Rs. 400 for the prescriptions, and I had spent under $20 for a trip to the hospital. It's service like this that makes it an unquestionably wise decision to go at the first sign of trouble. Seen below is the back of my membership card. Impressively, the front contains my name and vitals; it was printed as I wanted waited for mere seconds.

Prescriptions are different here as well. It appears a doctor's note isn't necessary for medications. A coworker, upon seeing my malaria prescription, asked why my name was on it. As I waited for my electrolytes and general stomach-bettering prescriptions, I snapped this photo of the pharmacy.

In all, my visit was 2 hours at the most. I went on a Friday and began feeling better by Sunday.