Two Wheels

I love riding bikes, I long have.  I started riding before the age of 10 and have owned one or more bikes ever since.  I have not always ridden, there have been a couple of long spells of not riding, from my late teens into my late 20’s I didn’t ride, and from my late 30’s into my early 50’s, I didn’t ride.  

In my late 20’s I got fit, very fit.  I started riding as part of a workout routine. On my 30th birthday, I competed in my first sprint series triathlon, on a decent bike.  A few months later I bought a very-very fast racing bike. I had difficulty buying it, I was shopping and falling in love with bikes that were way past my needs and borderline beyond my abilities. A couple of shops tried hard to sell me something more in keeping with my age and ability.  I finally found the right bike and the right shop.  For several years after buying it I rode  two - three thousand miles a year.  My riding skills developed and under dry conditions, on good roads, I could put it anyplace I wanted to go, at 30 miles per hour.  I did two seasons of sprint series triathlons, culminating with completing the Coca-Cola National Spring Championship race in Boca Raton Florida. I still own it, I take it out once in a while to remind myself how fun and how fast it can be.  

I still own my first full sized bike, a red Schwinn Typhoon, that was a birthday present when I was about 12.  It was one of the last years that Schwinn made steel bikes in Chicago.

About three years ago, DC rolled out a bike sharing system.  For a $75 annual fee, I can pick up a bike from any parking station and drop it off at any station, as long as the ride is less than 30 minutes.  I have ridden bike share bikes over 2,000 miles.  

A couple of years ago, I bought a new bike. A street hybrid.  It a lite frame, sits upright, has decent components, and moderately narrow tires.  It is not nearly as fast as the racing bike, but it is much more stable.  It will ride on a variety of surfaces, you can go off onto the grass with it and easily maintain control.  It is my commuter bike, I ride it to and from the office when the weather is decent. I have also taken it out for longer distance rides, it is comfortable for two or three hours in the saddle. It is not the fastest, I average about 12 miles per hour on it.  I have taken it in the car on vacation a couple of times. I rode it about 1,800 miles last year.

This winter I bought another bike, I tiny little folding bike.  It is on 20 inch wheels, I hadn’t ridden 20 inch wheels in 40 years.  It is nimble.  It has a 7 speed drive-train, and easily folds up.  The DC subway system prohibits bikes entering the system during peak morning and afternoon travel times, except for folding bikes, folding bikes can enter the system at anytime.

So, yes I own four bikes. Two get ridden on a regular basis, the old Schwinn, I keep for nostalgia - it is almost an antique and I am the original owner.  It is a parade float, waiting for a parade.  The racing bike I ride once in a while to remind me what it is like to be fast and alive.  The folding bike and the street hybrid are my daily rides.  

It has been a long cold winter, it looks like Tuesday will be warm enough to ride to the office for the first time in a couple of months.  I will write about my commuting route one day.   

Ramblings

The man in the picture is Robert Ruben, you may have his signature in your wallet, he was Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton administration.  He was a speaker at a forum I attended this week. 

Daylight savings time arrives this weekend. I hate the transition.  It is just getting to the point that the sun is up when I get up in the morning, and we are going to screw with the clocks so I will be up in the dark again.  

Spring has got to be here soon, I can feel it, but only through the snow and ice left on the ground. The forecast for Tuesday looks good enough to ride the bike to the office.  I haven’t ridden to the office since December.  I took the new folding bike out last Sunday (before this week’s snow storm hit) I have used Bike-Share a couple of times this week.  I am so ready to get back on two wheels.    

I confirmed the commitment to a major new project this week.  I am writing a chapter for a graduate school text book.  The commitment is 25 pages in a particular format, by early summer.  It fulfills both personal and professional goals - it will be a chunk of work.  

A week from now and my sweet bear will be here and we will be headed out to the blogger gathering a week from Saturday.  

It was a busy week in the office.  I started on a major policy proposal, continued development on a national conference and I am pushing all of my normal work forward.  I like being busy, but the 12 hour days kick my a$$.  

Commute

It has been a long cold winter, I haven't ridden the bike to work since early December.  DC just made the top of the list for gridlock.  I am so glad I don't drive to work.  

My typical morning commute at this time of the year, is a 10 minute walk to the subway station, wait in the cold for 5-7 minutes for the train, ride into the City, change lines, wait 5-7 minutes for another train, and three stops in the right direction and I come up an escalator right in front of the office door.  If I catch the trains without the waits, I can do it in 45 minutes, on a bad day, it can take an hour each way, on a really bad day it can take 1.5 hours each way.  On average I can ride it on the bike in just under an hour each way, plus time for a shower and changing clothes at the office.  

This afternoon, Metro (the subway system) was having a really - really bad day on one of the lines but not as bad of day as one of the customers.  The signs said, "Customer Struck by a Train."  That is Metro public relations for speak for someone has jumped in front of a train.  Nine our ten times it is a man who has jumped. Because of the design of the system, the jump almost always happens at the entrance to a station. If the jumper is in the middle of the line, the trains have to single track around the site, until the "extraction" and investigation are complete. Single tracking slows train volume by at least half, causing massive delays, especially at rush hour. Only once have I heard of a jumper at the end of the line (I live 10 minutes from the end of the Yellow line.) That guy really wanted to avoid inconveniencing others,  he jumped on a Saturday afternoon at the end of the line.  

No matter how bad of day I had, I had a better day then the guy who jumped.

I had two sisters in my office one day talking about their mother, one of them was really going on about what a terrible person mom had been.  The other sister stopped her in her tracks by saying, "she was better then that women in Texas who drowned all of her kids in the bathtub." It is all a matter of perspective. 

Ten Things to do on a Snow Day

It snowed today and the office was closed.  So what are my top ten options for a snow day?

1. Sleep late, if I know the evening before that it it is a snow day, or go back to bed in the morning when I find out the office is closed. 
2. Cook, I love to make slow cooked soups and stews and a snow day is the perfect opportunity to indulge. 
3. Bake, I made french bread today. 
4. Read for fun. 
5. Deep cleaning, my home desk hasn't been so dust free and clutter free in a year. 
6. Watch meaningless TV.
7. Take an afternoon nap. 
8. Blog
9. Update bookmarks on my computer, a few more blogs have gone silent, look for a few new ones to add to the list. 
10. Relax and enjoy the unexpected random day of personal time.

The changing voice of Travel Penguin

When this blog started, DG (David) was writing in the voice of Travel (TR) and was accompanied by Wicked Hamster (AKA J AKA DG’s significant other), Secret Squirrel (AKA Brian) and Woodchuck (AKA Bob.) The original focus was to document the travels of TR.  TR had been traveling for a few years before the blog began.  DG’s first blogging experience was as a guest blogger for Uncle Bert (AKA Stephen) while he and Someone were on holiday one summer.  TR blogged for a month, before he told anyone he was blogging.  TR is still with us, he spends most of his time in the bottom of DG’s messenger bag.  He still loves to travel, but seldom comes out for pictures anymore.  

Sadly, Wicked Hamster, Squirrel, Woodchuck and Uncle Bert have all abandoned blogging. Three of them are relatively active on Facebook (as is DG.) Uncle Bert tried a blog this last year and dropped off after a few months.  He is active on Twitter - I really don’t understand the appeal of twitter. Woodchuck, Squirrel and Uncle Bert all remain wonderful friends.  We knew Uncle Bert before blogging.  We met Bob and Brian and their families through blogging and very much value their friendships.  Woodchuck had a conference in Louisville a few months after we met online, we met him at the Marker’s Mark restaurant downtown, with TR sitting on the table as a means of identifying one another (we had not seen pictures of the people behind the icons.) We met Woodchuck and Mrs Chuck in Seattle in 2008, and met Squirrel, Mrs Squirrel and little Squirrel for lunch.  

DG has never really appeared on the blog.  There is one image out of over 500 that he sort of appears in, but you probably could not pick me out of a lineup from having seen that picture.  The work I was doing when I started blogging required a great deal of confidentiality and I stayed out of the blog to avoid raising questions.  My current work claims ownership of anything I write that is in anyway connected to my work. The best way to keep my employer from claiming ownership of the Adventures of Travel Penguin, is to avoid talking about my work and not appearing or clearly identifying myself in the blog.  Facebook is treated differently by my office, but even there I don’t identify who I work for or talk about the nature of my work. (Nothing mysterious, I do program development and policy work in legal and human services - I think that is vague enough to keep the office of general counsel happy. When you are a lawyer for an organization that pays a few hundred lawyers by the year - not by the hour - you have to be careful.)

So there is a degree of identification, the voice of Travel Penguin, is David. I will be at the  dinner at the blogger gathering that Ron at Retired in Deleware http://retiredindelaware.blogspot.com/ is organizing in a couple of weeks. J is arriving in DC on Friday evening, we will drive up on Saturday and be there midday to meet some of the bloggers I so enjoy reading.  I bet there will be pictures, but not on the Adventures of Travel Penguin.  

Read me a Story

Dr Spo posted this one http://sporeflections.wordpress.com/

1. Describe your favorite place to cozy-up with a good book.

I do most of my reading on the subway and on airplanes.  Reading really makes the time fly by.

2. What do you read when you’re on the toilet?

               Nothing, the bathroom is not a reading room.

3. Do you read when taking a bath?

               No, 

4. If you can, do you read when at the gym?

               Yes, I will read on the treadmill or stationary bike. 

5. Do you still read newspapers  and or magazines?

               I read several newspapers online everyday .  I occasionally read a print magazine; I only have two left that arrive in the mail.

6. What are your favorite genres to read?

               Travel essay or narrative, business management and communications. 

7. Do you read one book at a time or can you read several? 

               I usually have multiple books in progress.

8. If you start a book, do you finish it no matter what?

               Usually, rarely will I give up.  Only twice have a tossed a partially read book in the trash. One was autographed by Ralph Nader, I don’ think I made it through the first chapter and I tossed it so no one would ever suffer by trying to read it. 

9. Did your parents read to you when you were growing up?

               No, not that I recall. 

10. Have you read to your kids/nephews/nieces?

               No, I almost never am around children.

11. How do you feel about reading books vs. using electronic devices? Have your feelings evolved from one or two years ago?

               I adore my Kindle.  I rarely read a print book.  I was shocked at how sudden and complete my conversion was.  I have broken or had fail four Kindles in three years, and I still love my Kindle and won’t leave home without it. 

BONUS

When was the last time you looked at or read an adult magazine to satisfy yourself? When was the last time you even saw one?

               Do they still print them? Years ago. 

High Water on the Kentucky River at Valley View

We went out for a drive this afternoon, down the winding road from Lexington to Valley View, where the ferry normally crosses the Kentucky River.  The ferry is not running today because of high water and a very swift current. I know there was a swift current, you should have seen the Geese floating downstream at 20 miles per hour. It has been a cold wet winter in this part of the world.  I am always surprised that after all these years there is still not a bridge across the river at this point.  There had been a railroad bridge just west of here, I believe it was washed out in one of the devastating floods of the 1970's, times when the water was 40 feet higher than it is today.  The line was long out of use, and many bridges were never rebuilt after three major floods in the decade of the 1970s.  

My dear sweet someone walked down closer to the water.  He will be joining us at bloggerpalooza in three weeks.  

Lambing Season

Okay, so we are a little crazy, we have a flock of a 150 or so penguins and a flock of 50 or so sheep.  They are all acrylic, they are not very demanding, very warm, fuzzy and affectionate.  They are very low maintenance.  Turn them loose and and they keep the carpet flowers under complete control.  The challenge is that I like inanimate pets like I like my men, large, and large one's can be a challenge to find.  The guy on the top is the first super-size sheep we have found in 2-3 years.  Herbert will make a fine addition to the flock in DC, the two on the bottom are joining the flock in Lexington.  The joys of inanimate pets, you can have hundreds of them and not be accused of being the crazy sheep guys (or crazy cat ladies.)  

I am visiting my hubby in Lexington Kentucky for the weekend.  He teaches at a University here.  I make it to Lexington a couple of times a year, the joys of an academic schedule, J is able to spend 20+ weeks a year in DC where my job is located. One nice thing about visiting Kentucky is the Bourbon shopping.  I can find the really good stuff here (no rubbish.)  

Condo life

Clearing the Snow this Morning

I enjoy condominium living.  I have been here a little over four years and look forward to many more years.  Last night it snowed, just a heavy dusting, and this morning the maintenance staff was out shoveling the entryway and walks. People complain about paying the association fees, but when I add up the value of everything that I get, it is a decent value.  I have owned homes since 1982, but last mowed the grass about a decade ago.  I hate mowing grass.  For the last 10 years I lived in Florida I paid a lawn service, we have hired a lawn service for the house in Kentucky four years ago.  I have had a couple of roofs replaced, dealt with exterminators and landscapers for years.  It costs a lot of money to keep a house looking good.  When I add up the value of lawn service, water (including hot water,) front gate security, building security, sewer service, trash collection, exterior building maintenance, keeping the entryways clean, fresh carpet in the halls, the paint on my front door touched up every year and the snow being shoveled, it is worth every penny.  I pay for amenities I under utilize, indoor and outdoor pools, even a private bowling alley, but they are there if I want to use them.

There are moments when condo living is not perfect. I have upstairs neighbors who like to drag furniture across the floor late at night and there is the crazy lady downstairs (who shouldn’t live in a condo) who shouts at people for walking past her patio - a patio that is adjacent to the front door to the building with 250 neighbors living in it. Once a year, someone’s dog or cat will run wild in the hallways. And living in a 30 year old building that was marketed to “empty nesters” dead neighbors are a fact of life and death.

Fresh Bread

I have started baking bread again.  It is really quite simple.  The KITCHEN - AID mixer does most of the work. And the smell is heavenly. 

Love and Marriage

Happy Valentines Day!

My sister got married today, her second time around, his fourth.  They seem to make one another very happy and I truly think they will enjoy many happy years together.  It was a simple, casual affair, Hawaiian print shirts, shorts and flip flops.

I took a try at marriage once, it didn't work.  We tried to change one another for a while, then gave up and lived lives of quiet desperation, neither of us having the guts to admit that it didn't work.  Finally jealousy ended it, she had a boyfriend, I didn't, and I was jealous.  I simply said, I know you are not happy, I am not happy, and we both deserve happiness.  We moved on.

A few months later I met my sweet-bear.  Within a short time I realized that I was the happiest I had ever been in my life.  I asked him to marry me and he responded, "don't be ridiculous."  That was about 20 years ago, times are changing, maybe someday soon the legal clouds will clear - clouds that make same sex marriage very complicated from a legal standpoint, if you live and own property in states that deny the right to marry.  Federal court rulings this week in the two states in question could clear the way for me to marry again.  To secure the legal recognition of the love that my heart recognized two-decades ago.

Why does it matter, taxes, inheritance rights, medical decision making rights, protections under state and federal law for married couples.  Just as a starter, if one of us dies while we still own a home in Kentucky, the survivor will owe the state inheritance tax of about 17% of one half of the net equity of a home we have owned jointly with the right of survivorship, since 1995. If the state recognizes a valid marriage, the tax is Zero.  Totally exempt. The same tax would be owed on SBs 401K, a total hit getting close to six-figures that will be totally exempt with a valid marriage.

We are getting close, I am getting optimistic. Love is in the air.

12 on 12

Okay, I have seen this done on a couple of other blogs, posting 12 pictures on the 12th of the month, showing sort of a day in the life.  My day was a travel day, starting at 19 degrees in the DC burbs and ending in thunderstorm in central Florida.

My morning view

A subway ride to the airport

Cold and on time

Every seat was filled

Having lived 5 miles north of it for a decade, Orlando International Always feels like home

The terminal shuttle was not packed 

Headed for baggage claim, my bag was among the first from my flight

77 degrees - in mid February - why did I move away from here?

Good News in Kentucky- interstate recognition 

Room signs

Checking blogs before the leaving for the airport, my desk is a mess!

Rain tonight

Keeping secrets

This afternoon I deleted the following from an email message I couldn't send.

“In the immortal words of sergeant Schultz, “I know nothing, nothing!”

But I know more, than I know, on this effort.  Both parties have asked for my ideas on how to get to the same goal.”

I am talking  with two parties who won’t talk to one another. They are both asking me for ideas, and they are slowly realizing that they both really want the same thing.  Government is truly amazing from this close up.  I just have to make sure I don’t get too close, or the wax on my wings might melt.

Travel Penguin Loves a Travel Bargain

The name says it all, Travel Penguin, Travel likes to travel, unfortunately Travel does not have unlimited funds to travel. Travel like a travel bargain.  So how do we find them?

The major elements of most trips are airfare, hotel and frequently a rental car.

On airfare, timing is critical starting with when the trip will take place.  The more people who want to fly, the higher the price is likely to be. Flying at times of the day that people prefer to fly, will cost more than trips at inconvenient times.  A flight leaving at 6:00 AM may sell for $100 less than a flight leaving at 8:00 AM.  When you buy can also make a difference,  I start shopping early, most airlines will allow you to book 11 to 12 months ahead of time.  You won’t necessarily find the lowest price on the earliest booking date, but I would start checking to get a baseline.  Check every few days, 2-3 times a week.  When you see a price you like, book it and don’t look back.  WIth airfare, last minute is generally the most expensive.  Last spring I made a last minute trip to Florida for a family emergency, booking on Friday evening and leaving on Sunday morning.  I paid nearly twice the price I do for the same trip when I book ahead.  WIth airlines you also need to look at total cost.  Most airlines charge for checked bags, I get free checked bags on one airline as a benefit of a premium rewards credit card.  Flying that airline saves me $50 round trip on checked bag fees, so I can pay a little more and end up with the same net or a lower net cost.  

My starting point for hotels is if there is a group rate available. A lot of my travel is work related and I always look at the conference rate, but I don’t stop there.  I then do a search on an online travel agency and on the hotel’s corporate vendor site. Sometimes you can get the same hotel, a nicer hotel literally across the street for less.  If you don’t look you won’t know. But frequently the conference rate is the best deal. I have visited friends, attending a conference and asked for the conference rate (with full disclosure that I visited someone who was attending the conference) and had hotels give me the conference rate.  

If I am not going to a conference, I start with online travel agency sites.  Then I cross check to the individual hotel’s website.  I am a member of about every frequent traveler plan on the face of the earth. For hotels, you want to search, then log in as a member and search again.  If I am not sure on a price, I will book it if it can be cancelled without penalty, and keep checking.  (Watch for cancellation fees, just because the online travel agency does not charge a fee, does not mean the hotel won’t, read the policies before you click book. Most hotels ask for a credit card to guarantee a reservation, if you cancel, they may charge a fee, if you no show, they may charge you for the room that is now sitting empty for the night.  Always read the details.

The car rental market is wild.  There are fewer players in the market than there use to be and some who look like competitors, are actually the same company (Thrifty/Dollar for example.)  I subscribe to the email deals from half a dozen rental car companies.  As soon as I book airline tickets, I look for a rental car deal.  I look both online travel agency sites and the individual rental car company sites. Early on I book the best value - as long as it is cancel-able. But I keep looking.  On a recent trip I had three rental car reservations the Friday before, narrowed it down to what I wanted and cancelled the other two.  Keep looking down to the last minute, if cars are in short supply prices will go up, if cars are plentiful price can drop down to the day before. I am headed to Florida for a wedding soon.  When I first booked airline tickets the best price I could find on a car was $240 (for 3 days.)  This morning I booked a car from the same people for $78 total for the same three days.  With cars remember that the taxes and fees are going to add significantly to the total cost.  Before you leave home, decide how you are going to answer the inevitable rental car insurance questions.  I carry special coverage through an outside insurance provider that covers rental cars.  Check with your individual car insurance provider, and talk to your credit card companies  The coverage that I have is an extra through American Express, I pay a flat fee per rental, for $40,000 in no-deductible primary coverage.  Also check with your employer to see if they are reimbursing the rental, do they indemnify the CDL? A few years ago I was traveling in Montana as a contractor for a major national membership organization and a rock hit the windshield.  I called the company, they called the rental car company, I filled out a few forms and the company settled with the rental car company.  Easy and efficient.  

Questioning My Sanity

Every January and February, I question my sanity.  I am not a great fan of cold snowy winters.  I was born in Michigan I endured a few blizzards in my days.  When I was in school my parents started spending winters in Florida.  I discovered that there is life without layers, without hats and gloves and freezing your bits and pieces.  After high school I moved to Florida and I lived there for almost 20 years.  My idea of a cold winter night was around freezing.  Snow was something I saw on television and only felt once in 18 years. Over the years I grew to appreciate the subtlety of of a semi tropical winter. In the fall the trees and leaves change the shade of green, foliage grows more slowly and in dead of winter, things may even show frost damage. Then love and a desire for change talked me into moving back north.  The last time I saw the statistics, about ⅓ of the people that move to Florida move out.  My sweet bear and I moved from central Florida to Kentucky and I went onto graduate school.  I experienced my first driving in snow and nasty cold winter weather.  After 13 years I moved to Washington DC.  The winters are a little milder here, but still cold with snow (the week after I moved into the high rise condo, we had 48 inches of snow in a week.)  Every winter, I question the sanity of moving this far north.  I love DC, I am constantly in awe of the museums, the power and politics of being here.  I love being in a real city, with a good mass transit system, But every winter I question the sanity of a cold winter day being 4 or 5 degrees instead of 45 degrees.  

Why

So I went from the top picture to the bottom picture this week, WHY? 

The Journey and the Destination

Some say travel is about the journey not the destination. My experience is that it is about both.  

It is easy to focus on getting where you are going and overlook the joy of the journey.  Planes, trains, automobiles, moving across the landscape can be an incredible experience. I am always amazed at the sounds, sights and smells along the way.  I enjoy airports, watching people coming and going I am always surprised or amazed at the things I see.  I enjoy the mechanics of airports. Airplanes are remarkably complex and reliable.  I enjoy watching them come and go at an airport.  I enjoy the physical act of flying, the views out the window and the view up the aisle - especially at takeoff and landing. I wish that airplanes were more comfortable. I started flying when seats were larger and service included meals on any flight longer than a couple of hours.  I miss the bag of peanuts.  Train stations carry an interesting mix of people, rich, poor, young and old, and a nice mixture of foreign tourists.  I love the views from trains. The rails run through the backyards of America.  Driving gives us the greatest connection to the terrain,  I like to get off the expressways and onto the back roads and see what the locals see everyday.  

I also enjoy the destination.  Even the most mundane of places has something uniquely local about it.  Food, language, architecture, there is such an amazing spectrum to be experienced.  Occasionally I get to go to a “destination.”  I enjoy the great world capitals, historical sites, and tourist traps.  

In all cases I need to remember to see, hear and smell all that travel has to offer.  

Having Fun

Growing older happens, growing up is optional.  There is a Jimmy Buffet line about growing older but not up. All too many of us forget how to have fun, as we get older.  We need to remember that it is okay to be silly, zany even a little crazy.  Remember to laugh a little each day. 

A Couple of Days in Alternate Reality Land

Many people think their parents are crazy, my mother is steadily slipping into alternate reality land.  All of the time she talks about going up stairs, my parents have lived in single story “ranch style” homes for well over 60 years.  Yesterday she asked my sister to go up into the attic over the upstairs bedroom and help that man out of the long sleeve satin dress. We had been talking about wedding dresses (my sister is getting married again) but we have no idea who the man is and why he is in the attic over the imaginary second floor in her 65 year old satin dress. Yesterday evening she looked at me and said, “I am sure there are shovels in the garage, you can plant anyplace along the front.”  When my father asked what in the world she wanted me to plant, the answer was roses - I could plant as many as I wanted.  I assured her that I had planted all of the roses and they were doing fine.  I had planted roses across the front of their house, about 25 years ago.  At midnight last night she was blowing her distress whistle and then arguing with my father that she wanted to get up (she can’t get in and out of bed without help.)  She was refusing to turn the television in their bedroom off, every time my father drifted off to sleep she would turn the volume up until he woke up.  He would turn the television off, she would turn it on and turn the volume up and hide the remote.  At one time I wondered where I learned passive aggressive behavior.

My parents are 86.  It has been a rough year. Mom was in and out of the hospital and a nursing home.  My sister and her soon to be husband (he knows what he is getting himself into,) moved in with my parents to provide in-home care for mom.  Mom has Parkinson's, is unable to walk, stand or transfer from chair to chair, or bed to chair without full help.  Her memory has been fading and her personal reality has settled in quite soundly over the past year.  I am not sure what special land she lives in, but she is comfortable and happy most of the time.  How the rest of them in this house remain sane living in her alternate reality, I don't know.

Taking Control of My Life

It happened by accident, I forgot to set my radio alarm clock one night.  I woke with a start the next morning, realizing that the music was not playing and the sun was rising.  After a moment of panic, I realized that I had slept an extra 15-20 minutes and felt so relaxed.  I had not been roused from my slumber, my dreams had not been interrupted.  I made it to the office more or less on time.  I thought about the experience over the following few days.  The clock had ruled my life since I was a teenager.  I was raised in a house where if you were not 15 minutes early, you were late. It has taken me decades to understand that not all of the world works on the principle, in fact not all of my family lives on that basis.  I took control, I turned the clock radio off.  Much to my surprise, life and work went on.  I wake most mornings, plenty early, occasionally my body takes control and I sleep a little later.  I am still fairly calendar driven, and my body seems to adjust so I am on time for calendar items, especially when they impact others.  It has been five years and I am so happy with the decision to take control and not let the clock rule my life.  On rare occasion when I have an especially early meeting or airline flight, I will set the clock, but even then, I usually find that I am awake before the music starts playing, awake without being awoken.  

Great Adventures in Travel

An Exercise  in Flexibility 

The fog stuck around, the flight was delayed, first for 12 minutes, then 30 minutes, than an hour, then 2 hours, then cancelled.  I was re-booked on another flight and had a row to myself in the back of the bus.  I arrived at my destination over two hours late, but I arrived.  The rental car people were incompetent, chatty and polite, kept asking me the same questions and trying to sell their overpriced insurance.  Then they didn't have the class of car I had reserved, I said I would take something else, we started to make the change - the phone rang and they had what I had reserved.  Picking up the car took twice as long as it should have, I am now about two and half hours late. I drove to the Crown Plaza, park and went to registration.  They don't have a room ready, I say I will take anything, one bed - two beds I am very flexible.  She asked if "I was paying for the room" - uh yes.  She then asked if I was driving - if she had been listening I had said I had a car in the garage.  She explained that there was an option that would get me into a room immediately, the hotel was oversold, and they had just made arrangements with the Hyatt Regency across the river for the overflow.  She would comp my room, if I would be able to stay at the Hyatt instead of the CP.  Ah, yes, the Hyatt is much nicer.  So I spent the night on the 16th floor with a spectacular river view.  I was four hours late getting to the conference, but I am listening not talking at this one, so I could be quite flexible.  All in all it was not a bad trip when compared to the emergency landing in Dallas with smoke pouring out of an engine, or the time the plane backed into another plane (twice) in Charlotte one morning. Any landing you can walk away from, is a good landing.  It is all a matter of perspective and flexibility. 

Out early in the fog

I was off to the airport before dawn today.  Very foggy on top of the hill. 

I love TSA pre - check.  One of the airlines enrolled me.  Not sure which one, but THANK YOU.  I can leave my shoes on, wear a light jacket,  leave my computer in my bag. At most airports I pass through a metal detector, hence I need to empty my pockets into my bag.  It is so much easier.  Most of the part the participants are frequent flyers, who know what to do.  So much better. 

Now the flight is delayed two hours. 

Oh well,  control the things we can. 

How Cold Was It?

It was so cold that I took the condo shuttle bus to and from the subway station and went to the deli in the building for lunch, rather than going around the corner to my favorites.  There is a thin layer of ice on the Potomac River, bunching up around the bridge piers where the subway crosses the river.  The trains have been having trouble with frozen switches for a couple of days.  But the worst is past.  It was above freezing this afternoon and will be 10 degrees warmer tomorrow and back into the high 50's (Fahrenheit) over the weekend.

DC has it's share of cold jokes,
It was so cold that Congressmen had their hands in their own pockets.
It was so cold that government bureaucrats stopped moving - but no one noticed the difference.
It was so cold that we had to print more money to burn (about half of the currency used in the US is printed in DC.)
 
Home on the hill?
I live in a condo in the high rise towers on the top of that hill. If my neighbors would cut down all of the trees I would have a great view of Old Town Alexandria, the Patent and Trademark offices and the George Washington Masonic Memorial.  About 1/3 of the time I ride a bike to and from the office.  Every afternoon, I HATE the hill I live on, when I have to climb it on the bike.  The rise is about 100 feet in about 500 feet.  Nasty-nasty climb.  I will conquer that hill.

Fresh Look

It was time for a new look.  I was trying to edit my profile, and the template was so out of date that blogger wouldn't let me edit.  It was time to update.  I try to keep the template simple.  My focus is on the pictures and my ramblings.  I picked the original template quickly and easily and this one the same way.  So I hope both of my readers enjoy the new look, if not, let me know and I will fiddle with it.

It was very-very cold here this morning, 4 degrees Fahrenheit with a nice wind.

I will explain the house on the hill sometime soon.  I put the picture up from my phone on the train headed into the city and didn't get a chance to explain.  

Home on the hill

I Use To Work With

I don't talk about my work on Social Media (outside of the office) but I can talk about past work.  I am on my third career.  The first one only lasted a few short years, I was a commercial photographer for 2-3 years.  I did mostly print work for the hospitality industry.   

For my second career I worked with the distant relatives of the creatures above.  I worked for land developers and home builders in Florida for 15 years.  It was an interesting business.  The first 7 years I worked for a small family owned company that developed land and built 150-200 homes per year.  Interesting people, they knew how to control risk and make money.  One day they invited us all to a hotel for a drink on the way home from work, and proceeded to announce that they had sold the assets - I found out a few weeks later that I was not one of the assets and that I had better find another job.  I did, landing a sales and marketing job for a major national home builder  aka Big-Builder Company. I was there five years and made really good money.  When they hired me, the boss said I will screw with your mind but not with your money, you will make more money here than anyplace in town.  He was right, and so began my adventures with various swamp creatures.  

Big-builder company was big money land.  At any given time we had 50-100 million dollars of work underway, in the division I was in.  Nationally it was a multi-billion dollar firm.  We had some interesting characters.  One of the division managers was young and ambitious and willing to do or say almost anything to exceed his numbers.  I was in a meeting with him one afternoon, when we left he said I'll see you at the morning staff meeting, I went back to my mail slot and there was a memo saying that he had left the firm to pursue other opportunities.  Apparently he hadn't received the memo yet - but he was gone before I left the building that afternoon.  The last I heard he was building prisons - some were surprised he wasn't a resident in one.  When I left there I went to work for idiots with lots of money.  I referred to them as an accounting company that built houses to keep the accountants busy.  Reality was suspended and what ever the accounting system said, was held to be the truth, even if it was obviously wrong to everyone looking at reality.  I learned the art of creating paperwork to reconcile accounting with reality.  I was there about a year and left.  About the time left they hired one of my former bosses from Big-builder company.  I was gone about 120 days, including 90 days working for a supplier and I went back to work for more money than brains.  The guy who founded the company did a motivational speech for staff where he said that he could "write a check for a billion dollars and it would clear," and we all snickered that it would only count if accounting could find the paperwork.  I lasted another year or so, had a shouting match with a moron construction manager and went on my way.  The next company was idiots without enough money - one payday they quit paying.  I had been warned when I went to work there, that one day, one way or another the company would hurt me.  From there I went back to work for the company that had bought out the first company I worked for - closing the circle.  Nothing was the same.  The place was run by a drunk Australian and his YES MEN with no business morals - it was all about margins - they would sooner make no money than not hit there target margin.  That was my last builder job.  I followed love to another state, and took the opportunity to hit the restart button on my work life.  I went to graduate school, and found work that I wanted to do, mostly working for and with people that I want to work with and for and that is about all I will say about my current work.  

A post script in about 2010 Big-Builder ran tight on cash, and the banks really wanted cash, and more money than brains made good on his brag, and wrote a check merging the best company I ever worked for with the stupidest.  

Good morning

15 degrees Fahrenheit and very slippery this morning.  Headed to the office.  The condo has private road through an undeveloped parcel to the subway station about half a mile away.  This walk is part of my daily commute in the city.  There were fresh fox footprints in the snow this morning. 

A little wet snow in the DC area this evening. 

Back to the office

Today was the first day of the work year, the first day of the rest of my life.  I was in the office, getting things done.  I caught up on email that had stacked up over the holidays.  I was able to follow up with people who had taken the last 10 days off.  I try to work over the holidays, it is a good time to catch up on things that no one else needs to touch, but not a good time to try to do anything that I need to confer with anyone else on. I am producing workshops for a conference in January, and it was not a good couple of weeks to try to get people to agree on a workshop title.  

I enjoy work.  I get bored after a couple of days around the house.  I enjoy vacation and traveling, but being home gets to me in a hurry.  I prefer to be working.  This is a major consideration as I get closer to "retirement" age, I can't see myself in my parents vision of retirement.  They retired early and have been bored for most of the past 30 years.  Not my idea of fun.

Take care, stay busy and have fun!

2014

So what does 2014 hold?  

Some travel, though likely not as much as some past years.  I have a conference in Jacksonville, FL in January, followed by a couple of days with my aging parents in central Florida.  My sister is talking about getting married in early February in Florida. So I may be home for a week and go back to Florida again.  In February I will likely drive to Lexington, KY for a long weekend (assuming there is not a snow storm between here and there.) If I can get an invitation, I may attend the bloggerpalozza in Delaware in March.  I have a conference in early May in Portland, OR.  Oregon is one of 5 states I have not been to.  I may go a a conference in Scottsdale later in May.  We are planning a long weekend in Chicago for Memorial Day weekend.  I will need to make another trip or two to Florida over the course of the year.  

My parents are 86 years old, and in failing health.  I am thinking about a trip to see them in late summer and maybe late October.  I would like to go to Lexington for Thanksgiving with Jay this year. I have to be prepared for unplanned trips to Florida if an emergency comes up. 

We don't have plans for a major vacation the year, though we are due for one. Last year's discretionary budget was consumed with a new heating and air-conditioning system for the condo. Other than a few hundred dollars in plumbing replacements- there are no major home improvement projects this year. 

I don't talk about my work on social media.  This spring the project I am on is up for renewal for a new three year cycle.  It appears likely that the project will be funded.  But rising costs and reduced funding are making it hard to balance the budget (hence less work travel this year than in the past.)  It will be nice to have a three year commitment to the future of the project, even if I have to sell part of my time to another project to balance the budget. Last year the office moved, this year may see some changes in organization and leadership (my bosses -boss is moving to a new job in mid January.)  
J, also known as my other half, Someone, partner, or sweet-bear, is still teaching in Lexington, KY.  He is here about 20 weeks out of the year, I am there a couple of weeks per year.  At this point we don't see this changing any time soon. We are plotting a sabbatical in a couple of years, and his early retirement in a few years.  People ask about marriage, both homes are in anti-marriage states, at this point marriage would overly complicate our legal lives. I have thought about moving across the river to Maryland if Virginia does not get it's act together soon.  We have been together 21 years, it would be hard to be more committed to each other, but the legal protections of recognition of our relationship are real and something we should be able to take advantage of sooner or later.  

New year's resolutions? 

• be more aware of what I eat
• ride the bike more, move more
• read more (turn off the TV) 
• write for 30 minutes per day