Monday
Had a couple of work calls in the morning, then packed for my business trip, then drove to visit mom. Okay visit - she spent a lot of time asking if she had been a good parent and trying to justify how she had raised me, then spent time fishing for an "atta girl" about not pitching a fit about neither Jeanie nor I being "there for her" when she had to go to the hospital to get her transfusion. I guess the fact that neither Jeanie nor I were in town wasn't a good enough reason not to be there.
Flew Southwest Airlines to TPA. Was a REALLY good experience. Flight was on time, quick (40 minutes air time), there was room on the plane, both for me and my carry ons. The three seats on my side were empty. Nice leather seats. Floor wasn't too clean, but other than that.
TPA terminal is very nice.
Had to rent from Avis due to IBM policy. Would rather stay with National. With Avis, I received no upgrade, and ended up with a Chevy Cobalt. It was actually pretty impressive for a small inexpensive car, but it wasn't on par with what National keeps on the Executive Emerald Aisle. The key fob worked when I got the car, but then died first time I tried to use it after I had left.
Had dinner at Bahama Breeze: Jerk Fired Shrimp with warm Cuban bread and a Caesear salad. Ate the entire shrimp dish, broth and all, and almost the entire loaf of bread, and over half the salad, then ate the entire DoubleTree cookie.
Desk clerk "upgraded" me to a nicer room that the accessible room next to the elevator that is the standard for the IBM rate. Nice view of the pool and bay.
Tuesday - Thursday
Worked. Most days, got to the office before the sun rose (granted, in Tampa, that wasn't until 7:30 AM) and didn't leave until well after the sun set (which was a bit after 7:00 PM).
The Tampa office is a nice place to work - plenty of availability of conference rooms and mobility cubes, and great 360 degree views of the Tampa area. Conference room we were working in faced the airport, so I got to see the jets take off and land during the day which was nice.
Friday
Ended up having to work past when my flight was scheduled to depart, so I had to cancel the reservation and drive home (there were no later flights on any airline). Got home around 1:00 AM. Even though Avis only gave me the dinky Chevy Cobalt, it really wasn't that bad. Seats were comfortable enough, and it had cruise control and an aux jack for the stereo, so I had a Peter, Paul and Mary marathon on the drive home thanks to my trusty Creative 60GB Zen Nomad.
Saturday
CAP monthly squadron meeting. Jeanie drove with me to return the rental car at JAX and pick up the Durango. On the way to drop off the rental car, we drove to Sam's Club and picked up a jar of Atomic Fireballs and a few other items (the fireballs were the main reason for going to Sam's).
Sunday
Coffee at the airport. Then we drove to Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay so Jeanie could show me the cool thing she had been wanted to show me for a month or two. The cool thing (which really was cool) was the USS George Bancroft (SSBN-643) display at the main gate. From a distance, it appears to be a real submarine breaching the surface. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that the sail is in fact the real sail from the Bancroft, but the "hull" is concrete. We decided that the concrete was actually better; that way people could safely walk on it, and it probably requires less maintenance that if it were the metal hull.
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Posted by David at October 11, 2009 10:49 PM | Categorized under: A day in the life