You may think that I was AWOL last week, having not posted anything since October 3. Actually, I have been extremely busy.
At the beginning of last week, I was at the ATA (American Teleservices Association) convention in New Orleans.
It was a great convention, but the preparation for the trip, the travel, and the recovery from being gone have pre-occupied me for several days.
After working all day Saturday, I thought I was caught up, only to realize this afternoon that I had overlooked an important task on Friday.
Although that is now complete, I am behind from the things I should have done this afternoon.
Regardless of all that, here are some travel related thoughts:
- It took two hours to fly from Chicago to New Orleans—and then two hours to get from the airport to my hotel.
- A pre-flight announcement shared that the plane’s restrooms would not be available for the two-hour flight. There is nothing like being told that there are no restrooms to convince you that you really need one. After de-planing to use the airport facilities, we were told that the plane’s bathroom issue would be resolved before takeoff.
- United’s check-in kiosk tried to upsell me twice. First, five more inches of legroom for 39 dollars (as I recall) and then something else for 19 dollars. Someone in a hurry could unwittingly press “yes” to either option in their haste to obtain tickets.
- United also lacked the option to purchase a “snack.”
- In contrast, Continental gave me a snack on the return flight. What a pleasant surprise—and quite satisfying as well.
- Like every hotel room I’ve stayed in, this one also wasted water: a dripping faucet and leaking “flapper valve” on the toilet. If every room is likewise functioning, I wonder how much water is wasted annually.
- I lacked change to tip the shuttle bus driver. Thinking I was being clever, I asked if he had change for a five—he offered me two ones. I’m not sure if he was mathematically challenged or just greedy. Actually, I do know; how sad.
Anyway, that is the saga of my travels; thankfully a wonderful convention and lots of great people there made it all worthwhile.
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Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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