Ramblings of a traveling consultant

SO I have been in Fort Pierce Florida for the past week - Edinburg (McAllen) Texas the week prior - total of 30 hours at home between trips. Kinda exhausting.

Things I have learned while traveling:

1. 7 year old little girls are really good at guilt trips. I miss you too Sammi :)

2. Water in airports is expensive!

3. People are people no matter where you go. May have different backgrounds (met a lady who grew up as a migrant worker (her parents were), one guy came from Mexico 5 years ago and didn't speak ANY English three years ago. Speaks English better than most Americans do. I need to learn a second language.

4. Everyone I have met wants to do their job and do it well. Makes me feel good about the middle class....

5. Sometimes I forget what car I am driving. Last week I had a red Hyundai, this week a maroon Mitsubishi. I came out of a restaurant this week and saw a car similar to the one I had last week. After 5 minutes of cussing at the car to open up.....I accidentally hit the panic button and figured out I was at the wrong car. I laughed at myself all the way to this weeks car.

6. Texas has the weirdest highway system. What is up with all the frontage roads?

7. I love my Swiss Army backpack. can hold all sorts of stuff in it and it has a laptop compartment to protect my laptop, which is also quick to get out at airport security checkpoints. Quality zippers, rugged construction. Nice backpack. Still haven't found the toothpick....

8. Hotel breakfasts are pretty good.

9. I like to get lost on purpose. With the GPS I know I will eventually get to where I need to be. I get to see lots of cool/interesting things doing this.

10. The best steak EVER wsa at George's Steak Pit in Florence Alabama. Less expensive than Ruth/Mortens and such - more than Applebee's/Chili's - worth EVERY penny.

11. I like to try local beers. Sometimes they are very good. Most of the time they are better than the "common" beers.



Little pet peeves along the way....

1. Rental car companies - What is the deal with cabling two keys together? The whole purpose of having two keys is to have one in reserve - you know in case you lock one in the car? Could you come up with a better system please? They don't fit in pockets well - especially if they are the big fat keys (remotes) and the tag used to identify the car. Next time I am bringing a pair of cutters to separate them.

2. American express isn't taken everywhere. Especially the local eateries. I hate having to carry two credit cards.

3. Waiters/waitresses that forget about you. Sorry - you lose a big tip when you do that. On the flip side, I gave your tip to the wonderful waitress that served me for lunch today. She deserved a big tip with all the people she was waiting on.

4. Airport security. So a 7" screwdriver is a no-no, but one that comes apart is okay? When I put it together, I can still use it as a weapon if I had too.....just sayin'

5. Expense reports suck. Necessary evil I know, but they are a pain in the butt.

I am sure I will add to this list in the future.....