What a weekend this has been...

I started this weekend with everything in an orderly fashion. On Thursday evening I got a haircut so I would look presentable for my trip. On Friday morning I dropped all of the dry cleaning at the cleaners so I would have freshly pressed clothes ready for the trip. Friday evening I put a few last minute things on to wash.

Saturday morning, we had a leisurely morning at home. My flight was scheduled to depart at 2:00, and since I was not planning to check a bag, I planned to leave around 12:15 or so. Right at 12:15, I was packed up and Shelly logged onto Continental's website to print my boarding pass for me. When she did, she noticed that my 2:00 flight was now a 1:15 flight. CRAP!!!. That's just over an hour away, and the airport parking is 25 minutes or so on a good day. I packed up the computer, grabbed the boarding pass, put my stuff in the car, and took off like a shot. I won't say how fast I drove, but it's safe to say I was "hauling the mail". 15 minutes later I was getting onto the shuttle bus in the airport parking lot.

As I boarded the bus, the driver asked which terminal. I told him terminal B, and my flight was at 1:15, about 30 minutes. He said it was going to be close, at which time I said "Yes, but I have faith in your ability to get me there on time." He wasn't facing me at this point, but he held his hand out in my direction and said "I might be able to work something out..." a little greenery his direction, and we were off. I guess money talks because there were 2 pretty large women with suitcases 15-20 feet from the bus heading our way when he closed the door and took off. They looked a little pissed...

He got me to the terminal quickly and I grabbed my bags and headed for security. After practically getting naked and sending my bags and half my clothes through the conveyor, I cleared security and headed off through the terminal. Of course, when you are running late, your flight will be leaving from the absolute farthest gate from the entrance to the building.

I made it with less than 5 minutes to spare, boarded the plane, and sat to catch my breath. The flight was uneventful, except for the most unfortunate looking Asian woman seated next to me. She had a LARGE, dark, hairy mole in the end of her nose, just between her nostril openings. After takeoff, she immediately closed the window. I hate not being able to see out. Then she proceeded to close her eyes, lean forward, and look like she was going to be sick for most of the 2 hour flight from Houston to Greensboro. I spent most of the flight prepared to jump out of the way in case she lost her cookies. Thankfully she kept it together and we landed in Greensboro without incident.

I got checked in, watched a little TV, then headed to the bar for a little dinner. On the way back to the room, I stopped by the front desk and was told that our group would have a continental breakfast in the conference room at 9:30, with the class set to begin at 10:00 am. I showed up at 9:40, ready to get something to eat, only to find that there was no breakfast. The guy at the front desk was wrong. Damn.

When we finally broke for lunch at 1:30, I was starving. They announced that there was a lunch buffet set up in the next room. Sweet. Food at last. Upon entering the next room, I see the buffet. It's a table filled with 3 or 4 types of sliced bread and trays of cold cuts. You gotta be friggin kidding me. Half the morning session was wasted by a guy that knew what he was talking about, but he was completely unprepared to give the presentation that we had materials for, so he spent his entire allotted time plus 30 minutes of our lunch break rambling on about similar information, but not from the outline.

All-in-all, the seminar isn't bad for what the subject matter is - trucking insurance. Anything you want to know about truckers, cargo insurance, etc I can probably now tell you.

I returned to the bar this evening for dinner and then retired to the room to watch TV.

Tomorrow is about 4 more hours of the same, then I have a flight heading back to Houston around 3PM.

I try to give a recap tomorrow evening when I get home.