drainedI should have known things would be bad when I got to the airport in Minneapolis 3 hours before the flight and couldn't get an upgrade. (AirTran will upgrade to business class from any ticket for $35 per leg, seat availability permitting.) I was lugging not only my fully-stuff suitcase and briefcase, but also the Pelican hard case full of demonstration hardware. What fun. The flight was uneventful, and I got from LaGuardia to my hotel in Secaucus with no more than the usual amount of fun driving across Manhattan.
The meeting on Monday went well. The drive back to the hotel from the meeting did not. I sat in traffic for a solid hour and then some going the mile from the building where the meeting was to the highway that led to the hotel, because an accident on the NJ Turnpike had enough of a backup that they weren't letting traffic onto the highway that would normally be used.
Tuesday was more of the same. I left at 10:30 for an 11:00 meeting that should have taken me 30 minutes to drive to. No such luck. I don't know what the cause was this time, but I sat stopped on the ramp to the NJ Turnpike for 45 minutes. After that, it was pretty much clear sailing.
After that meeting and getting my boss settled in the hotel, I went into Manhattan to meet
bronxelf_ag001. On the advice of the hotel's front desk, I took the NJ Transit bus in to the city. Worked fine. I bought some art supplies at the store she uses, we had a very nice (and inexpensive, for Manhattan ($57 for dinner, dessert, and coffee for two)) Italian dinner, and then a nice long visit at her apartment. I should have checked the bus schedules more thoroughly, though. I got back to the bus terminal at 12:05. Only problem: the last bus on that route left at 11:30. It took me an hour to find that out, and then another $41 and 30 minutes to take a cab back to the hotel.Drove up to Albany, about 3 hours, Wednesday for a meeting. Went very well, and no further problems that day.
After a meeting Thursday morning, drove from Albany to Philadelphia, with a stop in Mahwah, in northern NJ, for a late lunch with a salesman. Left at 11, got to the hotel about 5:30 after sitting in traffic twice: once on the NJ Turnpike, once on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Slept soundly in a very nice bed in the Sheraton.
Didn't have any problems Friday, thankfully, and none so far today. Had a nice visit and dinner with Eric and Cathy Raymond, and got an upgrade for the flight back. Hopefully, the rest of the day, while long, will be uneventful. I'll be home until next Thursday, too. Whee.
