Through The Mist Darkly

The clock says 3am Wednesday morning but my brain says it’s 9pm Tuesday.  Every time I travel I go through this.

I’m back in Switzerland for business meetings that began yesterday (today?) and end Thursday evening.  Off to the airport on Friday and back home by 4:30 in the afternoon.  So, in less than 5 days I will have:

- flown over 8,000 miles

- been on an airplane for more than 17 hours

- lost 6 hours of my life on Sunday and gained it back on Friday

- spent 2 hours on trains back and forth from the little town of Lachen and the Zurich airport

- sat through nearly 30 hours of meetings

The worst part of these trips is the jet lag that sets in on day 2 and continues through the following weekend.  I don’t sleep well on planes, especially now that we’re relegated to economy, and have no trouble getting a full night’s sleep the first night in the hotel.  Day 2 always, always ends with me being up half the night and only really feeling sleepy about 5 minutes before the alarm goes off.  Makes the day’s meetings go really, really, really long.  This will continue for the balance of the trip.

I’ll get home Friday afternoon and will drag my ass off the plane and attempt to stay awake long enough to wish Jan a happy anniversary.  By 9pm I’ll be in bed hoping beyond experience that I’ll get a full night of sleep.  Nope.  About 3am I’ll be wide awake and will spend the rest of the weekend wandering around in a fog.  Things will get back to normal just in time to go back to work.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  Business travel is not what those who haven’t done a lot of it think.  It’s not glamorous, it’s not fun.  It sucks out loud.

In 23 days I’ll hop a plane for a quick flight to Milwaukee to attend AirVenture 2010, better known as Oshkosh.

AirVenture is the world’s largest gathering of aircraft and enthusiasts.  First held in 1953 with about 150 visitors, it’s grown to the point that over 2,500 planes are set to arrive.  Here’s a long video that explains the whole thing.

Once a year, Oshkosh becomes the busiest airport in the world!

UPDATE:  Work got in the way.  Had to cancel.

Half way through this long trip to Lexington Kentucky.  It was a brutal week at work – I don’t perform well in a fishbowl.  Too many people, too many problems, too much stress.  We ended off further along the project than we started so I guess it should be considered a successful week.

Yesterday(Saturday) I needed to blow off some steam so it was off to “Thunder Over Louisville” the annual kick-off to the Derby Festival which culminates with the Kentucky Derby.  Thunder Over Louisville is 1/2 airshow and 1/2 fireworks display.  I only stayed for the airshow because I didn’t relish the thought of trying to get out of town at the same time that 1/2 million people have the same idea. 

I left the hotel in Lexington at about 8:30 and took the 1 1/2 hour drive to Louisville.  Beautiful country on the way and a very pleasant trip.  Downtown Louisville is very pretty and it was a short walk from the parking lot to the Ohio River where the event takes place.

I thought I had arrived too early (5 hours before the show started) but the locals know better.  Prime real estate on the riverfront along the flight line was already taken by tens of thousands of people and they kept coming all day.  Whole families had staked out their areas with chairs, tents, BBQs, coolers, toys, flags, etc., etc., etc.

These are dedicated folks who stay in the same place from, probably, 7 o’clock in the morning until 10 that night.  Everyone was in great spirits even though the temperature had fallen from the 80’s on Friday to the low to mid 60’s yesterday.

With plenty of time to kill, I wandered up and down the river checking things out and enjoying a lovely Saturday morning.  Hunger caught up with me so I stopped in to Joe’s Crab Shack which occupies a high vantage point to see the action.  Unfortunately, a ticket costs $200 in advance!  Was able to get in for lunch which was Bloody Marys’ and crab dip. I found out that they did have a slightly cheaper deal.  Underneath the restaurant, they had a fenced off area that you could access for $5 with bar and food service and dedicated Port-A-Potties which seemed like a great idea given the size of the crowd outside and the conspicuous lack of toilet facilities.  A wrist band insured that I would be able to come and go as I pleased.

Finally, the show started.  With all the good spots long gone, I had to make do with a spot right beside the massive speaker system that boomed out rock and roll all day.  It gave me a good view as the aircraft started their runs.  I’ve got about 200 pictures to go through but here’s a few of my favourites so far.

  My first B52!  This showed up late in the show but I was glad I had a chance to catch this cold-warrior that is still going strong.  Majestic and pretty dam quiet considering the size.  She made 2 quick passes and was off.

The KC-10 “Extender”.  Air-to-air refuelling.  Another old bird that first went into service in 1979.

I could post photos all day but it’s time to get ready to go to the Kentucky Aviation Museum near the Lexington airport.  Then it’s back to the hotel to do homework and get ready to have my spirit crushed for another week.  Oh, well at least I get to go home on Friday.

It’s February and it’s time to start flying again.  Tomorrow (Sunday) morning I’m off to Memphis on Delta for a week of meetings in the lovely? city of Southaven Mississippi.  First time in Memphis and I’ve picked a week that starts off with a huge snowstorm snarling air traffic all over the Eastern US.  The schedule has me leaving Toronto at 12:35pm for a flight to Atlanta and then, less than one hour later, hopping a MD-88 to MEM.  What could go wrong with that much time between connections.  Plenty.  Investigating alternatives now should I not be able to make that second flight.

In the new age of airport “security” a 12:30 departure means I have to be at Pearson by 9:30 am to see the latest instalment of Security Theatre as performed by US Customs and the good folks at TSA.  TSA as we all know stands for Totally Shitty Attitude so I can expect to poked, prodded and degraded for a few hours.  Of course, it could also be our  CATSA folks – CAnadians with Totally Shitty Attitudes.  Either way I’m sure I’ll enjoy the show.

Once in Memphis, it’s a quick drive to Southaven which is just across the state line so I hope to be in the hotel in time to watch most of the Super Bowl.  First time watching the big game in the US so I’ll be able to see all those multi-million dollar commercials that we don’t get up here.

Meetings Monday to Friday and then back to the airport for a 6:30 pm flight back to Atlanta and then home with a landing scheduled for midnight.  And just for shits and giggles, I get to do the same thing all over again 2 weeks later.

Flight reports to follow.

Downtown Einsiedeln

Not much happening today.  Making sure my body clock is resetting.  It’s snowed off and on today but nothing much is sticking.  Walked through town and picked up a few things at the local market.

Snow in Einsiedeln

Well I’m here.  The picturesque town of Einseideln South of Zurich.  The flight across was terrible.  No sleep and cramped quarters.  By the time I got in, I was dead tired so I just grabbed the train and headed straight for the hotel.

Once we started climbing up into the hills there was something just not right.  Was that snow???  Sure enough it started snowing and it hasn’t let up yet.   Big wet flakes that make it hard to see but at least they’re not building up on the ground.  The picture is from the balcony of my room at the Drei Konige Hotel.  Utilitarian accommodations but at least I can duck outside for a smoke.

This day is a right off so I’m going to grab some sleep and see if I can get on Swiss time.

Steve Miller Band song stuck in my brain today.  Getting ready to board my old friend Air Canada flight 878 to Zurich.  The travel freeze has thawed so it’s off to Switzerland for another week of meetings.

Unfortunately the days of business travel are long gone so I’ll squeeze into seat 21A and *try* to catch a few hours sleep on the way over.  Landing around 8 in the morning Swiss time which gives me 1/2 day before I can even check in at the hotel in Einsidelen, about an hour by train away.

Got the new Dan Brown book to waste some time if sleep won’t come.

Next post from Swissieland.

Let’s close the book on this one.  Flight from Zurich to Toronto took 9 hours and 5 minutes.  The plane was only half full so I got 2 seats to myself.  Not enough to stretch out (like some lucky bastards who grabbed the middle row did) but much more comfortable than normal.

Turbulence across the Atlantic was pretty brutal for about an hour.  Always fun to watch those big-ass wings flex.  We took off in cloud and I didn’t see the ground or water until we were about 5 minutes from touchdown as we crossed Lake Ontario.

I shot off the plane and managed to get through Customs in about 5 minutes which must count as some sort of record.  We landed at 1:15pm and I was home by 2. 

Delivered chocolates last night and this morning so I can now say that the trip is officially over!

Just over 4 hours until we depart Zurich for the 9 hour flight back to Toronto.  Another crummy night’s sleep but today I don’t care.  Tonight I get to sleep in my own bed again. 

I’m really upset that I’m missing the big press event at the museum today.  We finally unveil the new name – Canadian Air & Space Museum – and kick off our celebrations of the Centennial of Canadian Flight.  I hope that the place is packed and everything runs smoothly. 

Time to get ready to go.  Grab a quick shower.  Finish the packing.  Grab the shuttle bus to the airport.  Buy the chocolate (I can’t leave Switzerland until I buy chocolate). Check in at Zurich is always a pain as they never seem to have enough people on the desks.  Air Canada farms out their passenger services to an outside company and I’ve never been terribly impressed with their customer service skills.  Once I endure that it’s a quick trip through passport control (why, oh why can’t Canadian Customs be so efficient) and the 2 minute train ride with the mooing cows and yodelers.  If you’ve ever been through Zurich airport you know what I’m talking about.

Seat 21K today.  On a Boeing 767-300ER this puts me squarely over the wing.  Smoothest seat on the plane.  Catch a few catnaps, watch a movie or read a book and then I’ll be home.  Home.  What a wonderful word.

Moving day. Woke up this morning in Einsiedeln to the sound of a band crashing and banging up the street at 5am. It’s some sort of winter carnival here in Switzerland but it really doesn’t seem to have a timetable.

A day of meetings (last one!) so I had to make the trip from Schindellegi to Kloten so that I’m closer to the airport for tomorrow morning’s flight. For the first time in all my travels here I boarded the wrong train in downtown Zurich. Figured it out within one stop but it left me a 45 minute wait until I could get the right one going the other way.

Finally made it to the Allegra Hotel in Kloten – surely my favorite hotel here. Bright, colourful, comfortable and smoker friendly!

One more sleep and then Air Canada can get me the hell out of here and back home where I want to be.