{"id":454,"date":"2011-03-21T11:04:07","date_gmt":"2011-03-21T18:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayivey.com\/wordpress\/?p=454"},"modified":"2011-04-05T11:56:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-05T18:56:00","slug":"spring-forward-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/spring-forward-day-1\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

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March 13, 2011<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/h1>\n

Los Angeles \u2013 Chicago \u2013 Cleveland<\/h3>\n

Distance traveled today:\u00a0 2075<\/h4>\n

Total distance traveled:\u00a0 2075<\/h4>\n

Today I leave home for an eleven week work trip.\u00a0 This is the longest I have ever been away from home base in the twenty-plus years I have lived in Los Angeles.\u00a0 It surpasses the last such record which was made last year, when I was on the road for seven weeks for this same client.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spent a very short night sort-of-sleeping before getting up at 3:00 a.m. to catch a 6:00 flight to Cleveland.\u00a0 The night was made even shorter by the fact that, as luck would have it, this was the weekend we lost an hour of sleep as we resume Daylight Savings Time.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t care, though, for three interrelated reasons:<\/p>\n

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  1. \u00a0I have a rule that I only get up this early to Go on a Trip or to Star in a Major Motion Picture.\u00a0 (The fact that this rule has been heretofore employed excusively in service of the first circumstance minimizes its legitimacy not one bit.)<\/li>\n
  2. I\u2019m particularly excited about this unusual trip.\u00a0 More on that later.<\/li>\n
  3. Finally, when you\u2019re flying East for work, it\u2019s always worth the extra trouble of taking as early a flight as possible.\u00a0 You get to your destination hotel earlier and have plenty of time to relax, unwind and prepare for Entry into the new office bright and early Monday morning.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \"Yay,<\/a>
    Yay, frequent flyer miles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    After hauling my five<\/em> bags into the cab at 3:30 a.m. I immediately noticed that the cabbie had a thick Russian accent.\u00a0 I told him the last stop of my trip was Moscow.\u00a0 He grunted and said nothing more.\u00a0 Not particularly encouraging, I thought, considering I was at least as nervous about visiting this notorious city as I was excited at the opportunity.\u00a0 Perhaps I should have asked his advice for Best Practices When Kidnapped.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

    I don\u2019t love flying even though I love to travel.\u00a0 However, I used to really enjoy The Travel Day.\u00a0 Choosing what book and what video game to spend time with, splurging on overpriced tacky airport food, the friendly flight attendants, the excitement of going somewhere.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s much more difficult now.\u00a0 Since 2001 almost every aspect of The Travel Day has gotten worse.\u00a0 Actually, it began to happen several years before 2001.\u00a0 Everyone blames 9\/11 for how awful flying is now, but many people have forgotten that much of the unpleasant routine we have grudgingly gotten used to was in place well before that awful day in September.<\/p>\n

    Today was even more challenging than usual, as I had made the perhaps foolish decision to bring all of my fancy photo equipment with me.\u00a0 What this meant was that this would be the first time I have traveled with three things that I must take on the plane with me<\/em>:\u00a0 photo bag, laptop and C-PAP[1]<\/a>.\u00a0 There was a tense moment when the We Don\u2019t Care, We Don\u2019t Have To gate attendant growled at me that if I didn\u2019t check one of my three bags, and if I got inside the plane and couldn\u2019t find a place for one of the bags, it would be my tough luck.\u00a0 I \u201cwouldn\u2019t be able to check the bag at that point.\u201d\u00a0 Her unspoken threat hung in the air.\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 I imagined the tantrum I would throw if they tried to \u201cdispose\u201d of one of my three bags at the last minute, and realized that, while I can throw a pretty good tantrum, these days the airlines always win.\u00a0 I saw myself getting thrown off the plane.\u00a0 Great start to the trip.\u00a0 I imagined the awkward call to the Client.<\/p>\n

    Luck was with me, though, and I sprinted down the aisle and found space for everything.<\/p>\n

    \/\/\/<\/p>\n

    It has occurred to me that I should not enter into such an impressively long trip without giving it some thought. Without having a goal or two.\u00a0 I should have something to show for the trip when I\u2019m done beyond money and some snapshots.<\/p>\n

    Goals For My Eleven Week Globetrotting Work Trip<\/h4>\n
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    1. Endeavor to not merely look, but to See.<\/li>\n
    2. Write as much as possible.<\/li>\n
    3. Take as many good photographs as possible.<\/li>\n
    4. Try to find Mexican food in every city I\u2019m in.<\/li>\n
    5. Try to go to the movies in every city I\u2019m in.<\/li>\n
    6. Try to return from the trip thinner than when I left.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

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      \"Do<\/a><\/dt>\n
      Do you look anything like this? Then the correct answer when I approach you and tell you I want to photograph you for a magazine is “Yes.”<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

      On the short hop from Chicago to Cleveland, there was a pretty impressive hunk sitting right in front of me who I managed to catch up with after the flight and give him my \u201cI\u2019m a photographer for Exercise For Men mag\u201d spiel.\u00a0 If I believed in omens I\u2019d take it as a good omen.\u00a0 It\u2019s a good start, anyway.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n

      \u00a0He probably will not call me, which is a shame, because he\u2019s perfect for the magazine.\u00a0 Screw him; his loss.<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      [1]<\/a> Continuous Positive Air Pressure machine.\u00a0 It treats my sleep apnea.<\/p>\n

      Average Rating: 4.6<\/span> out of 5<\/span> based on 264<\/span> user reviews.<\/span><\/div><\/p>

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