Tired, but happy

I've spent the past two days in Delaware! It was fun and informative,but I missed my family. My company does business development classes yearly, and this year I did business communications. I thought It might be basic stuff I'd know, but it wasn't just the basics. The class was really good, and I learned quite a bit and resolved to do things to improve my skills.

It had been years since I'd flown anywhere. The last time I flew very far was 1996, when I returned from New York. I was thinking that was the last time I'd flown, but I forgot a short hop to Oregon in 2000. I don't think I'd ever flown much at night, so this was different and cool.

Things I saw on the way out include the inevitable tops of clouds (which are still fascinating to me even though they're always about the same as bottoms of clouds) and Chicago from 35,000 feet at night. I have to say, Chicago lit up at night is pretty amazing from the sky. It's absolutely huge.

On the way back we had to divert around a thunderstorm, and although I saw no dark clouds (good job diverting, Mr. Pilot guy!), I did see cloud columns that seemed to go up forever given the limited view of my airplane window. We also flew over the contrail of another aircraft. Naturally, the other plane wasn't anywhere to be seen (good job controlling, air traffic control!) but the single contrail was an impressive sight from only a few hundred feet above. I'm used to seeing them way up in the sky from the ground. It was different to see it up close. The second leg of that flight saw us making our own contrails at 36,000 feet.

The only problem with going all the way to Delaware for training from the Sacramento area is the brutal travel. On Wednesday I had a 1:00 PM flight out of Sacramento, and arrived in Delaware about 11:30 PM. I'd lost 3 hours to time zones, so that wasn't so terrible. Delta was good--just a one and a half hour layover in Salt Lake City and on to Delaware. Once there the shuttle was a bit wild. Part of it wasn't really his fault; I notified the ground transportation desk and had to wait until about 12:00 AM for the shuttle to show.

Then a big family coming back from Costa Rica boarded along with one other gentleman. The big family from Costa Rica was first to be let off. They lived in Greenville. Their home was very impressive. That shouldn't be a surprise. Two driveways down was the house of a president of a major financial company. I'm trying to recall which (I was exhausted). Ameri Bank Corp. or something like that. I should have tried to remember better, but the next house was Joe Biden's. You can see his mother's residence from the street, but his house is evidently down a longer driveway. Usually there are secret service posted there, but evidently he was out of town, because that night there weren't any. I thought perhaps the family was yanking my chain, but on googling it and seeing some pictures, they weren't. They really live just a few lots from Joe Biden. I don't think Senators or even vice presidents are rock stars, but it was fun to see a notable residence in passing.

The company put all out of towners up at the Sheraton Suites Hotel. It was tremendous. I can't say enough about the hotel. It may have been chosen simply for location, as it was near the office where we did the class, but the hotel itself was very plesant. The staff was great, and the beds and bathrooms were excellent.

I met a bunch of coworkers from other locations I'd have never met in person otherwise, and it was fantastic. One of them is also a big fan of novels, and we chatted quite a bit. They were all friendly and fun to work with. It was nice to put names with faces, and I hope I entertained and enlightened them as much as they did me.

My boss's boss's boss was also in the class, and he is a riot. No courtesy laughs were required when he cracked a joke; it was genuinely funny. I'd met him several times before, but normally he's very occupied by the business at hand. Seeing him in a setting where he could relax a bit was quite different. He has a great sense of humor and the time he could devote to chatting he did very happily. He seems to enjoy people and has a very quick wit.

Coming home last night was a bear. I came back on Northwest Airlines and had tried to schedule the latest reasonable flight so as not to miss much of the end of class. I should have flown Delta again with a couple of my coworkers, but I didn't know. Oh, well. We had some takeoff delays on the last part of the journey. Actual flight time was about 7 hours, but door to door was about 13. That left me really ready to be off the sardine tins they call aircraft.

Note: I think I prefer the Airbuss A320 to the Boeing 757. Maybe it was the Northwest seats compared to the Delta seats, but I felt like I had more room. The airbus also felt more modern.

I'm glad I went for the class, and doubly glad to be back with my family. Today we're going to celebrate after some yard work. I also need to get a nap in. I woke up at my normal time this morning after sleeping only 5 hours or so. I guess my body is that routinized (let me tell you, it didn't like the jet lag or the time difference in DE!). Still, going back to one's regular schedule is an effective way to combat jet lag, and I was only gone two days (three, really, with all the travel, but only two calendar days in Delaware). I should be able to catch up on sleep and go back to normal quickly.

They kept me busy in Delaware, but I still really missed my family. My greatest joy in life is them, and I often take for granted the comfort of knowing Bubbles is sleeping nearby and Spawn is playing in her room. They're everything to me, and being apart just isn't easy. It's good to be home.