The Power of Compounding and Inverse Relationships...

So far we are in the 20th week of the year. I have traveled seventeen of them. Eighteen if you count the Master's trip (I don't). I have negotiated nineteen out of twenty weeks and it is starting to take its toll on me. I believe that like money, given enough time travel woes start to add up...and they compound. I think all of this occurred to me this past Monday as I showed my ID to the TSA agent and she said to me "I remember you...was it your Birthday in December or last week that I saw you?" "Both" I said as I was already moving to find the security line with the fewest rookies, parents with small children (and giant strollers) and women with lots of jewelry.

I don't mind flying all that much (unless the weather is stormy since I am not a fan of turbulence) but as I said, the little things do add up. Case in point, I have flown more segments this year so far than all of last year and I just am not sure I can listen to another pre-flight safety announcement. Add in that I have had a number of connecting flights and I get to hear them sometimes twice in one day!

The hotel room check for bed bugs is now habit but still very annoying (yes I had a room that had them once...I discovered it within the first 15 minutes and fled). I used to enjoy the "new" rental car feeling but lately I just want the now discarded Giant SUV to meet me at my destinations. As my patience wanes I make less and less of an effort to figure out the cars' "systems". A couple of weeks back I was given a VW CC which is a nice, fast sedan. But the radio and climate controls were counter intuitive. I was stuck with hip hop (which got louder as I drove faster... I found myself in the slow lane often)  and cold AC...it was 55 outside.

In my negotiations I am finding a correlation related to my patience level which is related to how much I have traveled. The More I travel, the less patience I have...and then the higher my use of profanity. Let's just say the past few weeks have gone from PG-13 to R.

In February my Gold status plummeted to silver and now I board later and I sit further back in the plane. I have discovered that there is an inverse relationship with the travel IQ of the passengers who sit in the higher the row numbers. Recently I had a smallish man sitting in front of me who fidgeted more than a two year old in church. It was as if he was trying to make the chair go back farther even though he threw the chair back as the front wheel left the ground. Near to him sat oblivious girl who had her IPAD on and was reprimanded before takeoff.  I heard her complain loudly to her friend that she could not hear the flight attendant so how could it be her fault. She was wearing headphones.

A nice older gentleman was seated across from fidgety and he got up to retrieve an item.  He left the bin open. Shortly thereafter we made a tight bank turn and a large suitcase made a bit of a move to fall. I got up, fixed it and closed the bin. Oblivion looked at me and said to her friend something to the effect that I must micromanage everything. I shot her the glance that said, next time I let the bag hit "the bag."  She still had headphones on. Flight attendants were "busy" doing anything but "attending".

This week I get a short reprieve. I drive to Boston. I have been told the commuter train accident last week in Connecticut will make travel "a nightmare." Good to know this week will feel like all the others.

A quick note. I am tired. Really tired... and this blog is slowly becoming the first casualty. I am in "fence mode" where I may again shut it down. So before I do I am asking for your input. If you read this on-line, please comment and let me know if you would miss this...or not. If you read this through email please type in the link (could not get it to link directly...beyond me and I have to drive to Boston) and go to the site and do the same...let me know if I should continue or not. Yes I am fishing for compliments. Let me know what you'd like me to do...with this blog I mean.

Thanks...

http://blogcenter.readingeagle.com/