The View from the 14th Floor

Posted on July 14, 2013July 14, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Nobody told me Seattle was so “hilly”. I mean the J. P. Beaumont books talked about hills in some places but from what I could see Seattle is all hills! Right from the bay on up. From my hotel to work it was only 5 blocks but 4 of them were uphill! If I lived here full time I’d never have a weight problem.

When I arrived at the office I was directed to the 14th floor where they had a continental breakfast spread out over a huge counter. Hmmm what did I say about weight? If breakfast was any indication of how they planned to feed us then I need to walk many more blocks uphill!

But the view! Oh My! I would never get anything done if I had that view to distract me. It was beautiful.

The morning was a series of get acquainted exercises then we took a break so they could set up lunch. It was as tremendous as breakfast. Never ending food. The folks who work in this office said it isn’t just because they had us there, they do this kind of thing all the time.

The afternoon was more speeches and introductions to the corporate culture. It’s a very young company. I think I was the oldest person in the room. There were one or two other “mature” people but I still had them beat by at least a decade. I know that there is a little thing called age discrimination but it’s really tough to prove so I feel very honored to have made it past that age barrier. With all the young blood you can imagine what the energy was like.

We wrapped up the first day at about 4 pm. I walked back to my hotel and retrieved my camera. I was going to get some sight-seeing in and the thing I most wanted to see was the Space Needle.

I walked about 4 blocks to Downtown Seattle where I picked up the Mono Rail. The Mono rail runs from Downtown Seattle to the Seattle Center and The Space Needle and back again and that’s it. No other stops.

Seattle

Posted on July 13, 2013July 13, 2013 by Dusty Roads

This time I’m traveling to Seattle on Southwest. It’s been awhile since I’ve flown Southwest so I was surprised by their open seating policy. It worked out ok and it was a pretty uneventful flight. The only issue was the plane change in Baltimore. When they transferred the luggage it was pouring rain. I guess Southwest doesn’t believe in covering luggage with a tarp. The luggage was so wet that water was running out of bags on the baggage carousel.

I took a cab to my hotel and when I unpacked all of my clothes were soaked and had to be hung up to dry. I was not a happy camper but maybe the downpour had surprised them. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Now about my digs for the week.

My new employer is putting me up until Friday when it will be time to head back home. My accommodations are in the Hotel 5 which is located in the Belltown section of Seattle.

I feel like I’ve been dropped into one of J.A. Jance’s novels. She writes a series of novels about J.P. Beaumont, a Seattle Homicide Detective. She often describes places in Seattle which until now were just fiction.

But back to my Hotel, I walked in with my luggage still dripping water to see plastic draped through the lobby. Apparently they had a construction project going and they ran late. The poor night desk clerk looked quite harried. Another “guest” and I use the term loosely was reading him the riot act. I’m not sure about what but nothing the clerk offered him was good enough. I really felt bad for the clerk..not the guy yelling.

As soon as the clerk could break away from Mr. Irate, he checked me in and in spite of having just been reamed out like that, he was pleasant and professional to me.

The hotel was filled with bright colors, nothing calm or subdued here. At first I felt like I was getting a wake up call at 10 pm with all the bright colors but slowly they began to grow on me. The floors in the room were hardwood which surprised me since most hotels have industrial carpet. I have to admit I liked the way the hardwood looked.

There was free WIFI in the rooms, always a big plus in my opinion.

I unpacked and hung my soggy clothing in the shower to drip dry…I’m serious, it was that bad! Then went back down to find a restaurant. It was quiet in the lobby now so the clerk sent me one block down to the Palace Kitchen

where I had a lovely if expensive dinner with a ceramic chicken.

Tomorrow I’d find the home office and meet the staff.

Home Again But Not For Long

Posted on July 12, 2013July 12, 2013 by Dusty Roads

The Alaska trip was fun and pretty relaxing. When you put yourself in the hands of the cruise line they handle everything, at least Princess did. It’s not the kind of vacation I’m used to but change is good. 🙂

After we arrived in Albany International Airport We took the park and fly shuttle to Sandy’s car , then drove back to her house for my car…with a stop on the way for breakfast at the Golden Corral. Yummm. I’m afraid I’m spoiled over breakfast between the cruise buffets, the Alaskan Breakfasts at the lodge and now Golden Corral, how will I ever give that up once I’m home?

Speaking of home, as much as I wanted to get back to see my kitties I had to grab a nap before I tackled the drive. It’s about 3 hours but traffic can change that in a minute. I knew I needed to be alert. So I grabbed a couple of hours sleep before I left New York and when I found myself struggling to keep my eyes open , I pulled into one of the rest areas on the turnpike for another 30 minutes of naptime.

Finally home! My 3 fuzzy roommates greeted me at the door and began inspecting my bags enjoying all the strange smells from the trip.

This was Saturday. Sunday I unpacked and made reservations to turn around and head back to Seattle, this time for work. Yup one week home and I’m traveling again.

We’ll see how this back to back travel works out. Thankfully my pet sitter is available again.

Airports can be fun

Posted on July 11, 2013July 11, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I was just thinking how much air travel has changed in the last 30+ years. Yes that’s how long I’ve been flying the friendly skies. But I didn’t always travel for fun so I don’t think of those business trips as “travel”. “Travel” to me is a vacation, an exploration of my choosing.

But anyway, “back in the day” they didn’t have security, x-ray machines, body scans and pat-downs. Oh occasionally there was a hijacking but it was to get to Cuba or some such thing. Because gates weren’t locked away the duty-free shops and restaurants were all along the concourse.

Since we didn’t have to take our shoes off and belts were ok, travelers dressed up. Flying was a “Big Deal”. I know I always felt very important. Jet ways were rare if at all. Most of the time you crossed the tarmac and climbed the stairs. The planes were small but they weren’t crowded. I seldom had to share a row with anyone unlike today where we sit on top of each other.

But in spite of the modern inconveniences of air travel there are some nice trade offs.

The airports are much fancier. Some have the moving sidewalks like flat escalators. Many have shuttles to take you from concourse to concourse . Good thing because the airports are so big now that we’d never make our connections if we had to walk and carry luggage too.

The restaurants have definitely improved and since they are often beyond security they are closer together. Lots more choices in less space.

We dress simpler so we can get through the security scanners without setting alarms off and slip on shoes like loafers or boat shoes are much more comfortable than even sneakers.

Yes, air travel has changed, some good , some bad but I like it more now because most of the time it’s taking me to someplace new and exciting, or so I hope. 🙂

(PS. I had more pictures to share but they were all taken with my camera phone and for some reason, the transfer keeps failing. I’ve been trying for 2 days to get them from my phone to the computer so I’m just settling for the one that went right through. That was in Chicago O’Hare )