Company Travel

OK, I originally wrote this post about a week ago on my way to Miami from Dayton via the Charlotte airport. I was able to take some pretty nice photos in the airport, and then had to go into "work mode" once I landed in Miami. 

Speaking of "Work Mode" - let me define what that means, and what it really means when I travel for my company. 

Most of the time, I try to book my flights with at least an hour layover between airports (because I fly out of Dayton and there are rarely directs on United or (what I will soon not be able to fly, Thanks American) US Airways). When I fly for work, I don't get to go first class, as much as you may think I deserve it - my company has a policy that they do not pay for anything above coach unless it's an international flight longer than 4 or 5 hours, and even then you get coach plus (a little more leg room). If I get enough miles, then this is my choice and points to do whatever I want. I'm not going to say there hasn't been times that I've purchased upgrades out of pocket, but I'm also not going to say that I do this all the time. Most of the time I'm in the back, on the aisle trying to just get between places. 

So why United? Well, that's a long and complicated story. Best and quickest answer I can give is that they offer me a few more flights than others (although that's now changing with the previously mentioned US Airways/American deal all but over). I try to stay consistent, because it's quicker and easier to get the points so I can take a vacation somewhere with my family (at least that's what I tell myself). The other reason is that I use a company called priority pass, this company sells a package that allows (in certain airports) the ability to use a United/US Air club even when you are not on their airline. I found it a lot easier to get into the club if I just fly UA/US Air though. This has helped out tremendously in the past, as when I was one time trapped in Chicago, the customer service desk at the UA club was great and was able to get me home still that night. That being said, I do not always go to the clubs; soemtimes there's no time - but most of the time, I'm too busy purchasing last minute gifts for the BB and the boy. 

Hotels... I like the Hilton brand, they've always done right by me and I dig their service. This is usually never a problem, because Hilton is everywhere.

What do I do on these company trips? Well, that depends on the mission and why am I there. Sometimes it's an audit, which means I get off the plane, go direct to the office and spend the next 2 days looking at files and trying to get it done with as quick and efficiently as possible. Sometimes I go in a day early and if I have friends or family in the town, will try and catch a dinner with them; but most of the time I'm on my own and I just grab quick bites to eat, run on the treadmill early in the morning, and then go to the office. One last thing to point out about hotels, I do check for bed bugs each and every time, it's a hassle, but adding me that bit of security for me... 

OK, that's it for now, it's late and I need to get to sleep to work on tomorrow's project.

Love,

JT

Doctor Who - yes this will be long

OK, so for those that actually know me (IRL) you know that I love almost all things Sci-Fi. I have a huge interest to Star Trek (yes I had a uniform from TOS, back off) as well as Asimov's works and even (though I do not agree with his politics) Orson Scott Card's Ender series. I also enjoy Sci-Fantasy (Star Wars, Warehouse 13, Eureka, Big Bang Theory (yes it's total bs sometimes)) - but for Sci-Fantasy no show comes close to the Doctor.

Doctor Who most specifically, and yes, we refer to him as "The Doctor" or if you want to be a proper Brit at it "Lord Doctor" as he is a Time Lord. If you've never heard of Doctor Who or The Doctor or know what a TARDIS, Dalek, or UNIT is, then perhaps you should go read up more on the subject before going down my insanity post. It also helps to know the "Classic" series a bit, because I'm going to be rather blase here. (Or you can just skip this post completely).

Let me start by saying I do not hate Steven Moffat, I think he has done some remarkable story telling in the show and quite frankly kept it together rather well. That being said - he can't follow his own damn story line, and it's starting to piss me off. Before you now, I submit my facts and disappointment that BBC apparently can't hire a staffer to walk up to Moffat and say "Dude, you can't do this because of 'X'" - where as X = the actual already stated canon in previous episodes. I mean seriously BBC, you have fans the world over on this show that could re-enact entire episodes, you can't find anyone with a backbone to step up to the plate? 

(btw - these are not in any specific order - just rambling bits that come out in droves)

1.) In Day of the Doctor - We are shown the last day on Gallifrey, when the "Hurt Doctor" (I'm not sure if we call him 9 or 8.5 as Matthew (from Dueling Reviews) suggests) has to make the decision whether or not to blow the entire race of Daleks and Gallifreins (as not all people from Gallifrey are Time Lords). I'm not going to 100% spoil it, but here's my question - in the "resolution" they forget about the fact that in The End of Time - Lord Rassilon is wanting to ascend to a different level, so is the use of "The Moment" what Rassilon wanted? I think not, because he wants there to be a push at the end of all time. Further, where the heck was Rassilon in this episode? Where was this fanatical devotion to transcendence? We did not see ANY of this in the Day of the Doctor at all! What we saw was Time Lords and the military trying to not become all dead - this implies that no one believed that there was going to be a great advancement to another plane of existence. (yes Russell T. Davies wrote this script and maybe Moffat just wants to forget that it happened, but it did happen it's part of the history of The Doctor). 

2.) Another question has come about if the "Hurt Doctor" (8.5) is actually the 9th, but if he's the 9th, then that means that Eccelson is the 10th, Tennant is the 11th, Smith is the 12th, and Capaldi will be the last (normal regeneration schedule) 13th Doctor. Now there are plenty of ways to get out of this and have it go on, and in fact in the Day of the Doctor we are given (at the very end) a glimpse to maybe what lays in the future for The Doctor. So, how, how do you give a Time Lord another bite at the apple? It's already happened - enter the character that several hate (but I quite like) River Song. Oh yes, Amy and Rory's daughter (oops, spoiler?) has used her power in the past to regenerate the doctor, we don't know how many regenerations River used up already and if she "gifted" that to the Smith Doctor, then we probably have at least 7 more to go after 13 (Figure she had original form, Melody, and then current River, plus about 2-3 more). So, it may be that this is Moffat's out, which I would be absolutely fine with and have no arguments - but then... Steven (Oh Steven just keep your mouth shut) has to go and say this "He has no more ever called himself the 11th Doctor than he would call himself Matt Smith. The Doctor doesn't know off the top of his head [what number he is]." Oh how quickly we forget the stories in our own damn playbook Steven, on YOUR WATCH this was said (see specifically at 1 minute). 

Wait, so the Smith Doctor doesn't know what number he is, but states he's the 11th? Come on Steven - your NOT that clever (you've been caught, just admit it). Now I'm not stating that Smith shouldn't be the 11th in this particular clip because remember he doesn't count the "Hurt Doctor" as stated In The Name of the Doctor.

--

So - I've got 2 things that are popping out to me right now that have set me off, I know there are other things that just don't make ANY sense, but maybe that's what Moffat wants - either that or he's retcon in mid stride because no one will call him out on it. Well Mr. Moffat, challenge accepted. Not that I actually expect you to read this (hell I'd be surprised it ANYONE at the BBC read this) - but I do feel better just putting it out there. I want others to question this. Think my geek friends, think about this show that we love and ask "How does this make sense..." 

OK - last bit (so I don't get all the haters) - yes, I actually (other than the above points) Loved the episode. I cried, seriously I did. I laughed at many things and I left feeling great, then my mind started to ask these questions, and well... what happens when you ask questions? You feel driven to find answers.

Free to leave a comment and let me know what you think. Am I insane? Am I lost? or maybe, maybe I actually have made a point, and made you wonder as well...

Time off

Sometimes we all get burned out, and stressed, and well just want to jump out the window of our office (for some of you that's no big deal, as your on the first floor, I'm on the second so I'd probably break an arm or a leg - but would still be well enough to have to go back to work {I think this may be another reason why Mary will not let us live in a high rise...}, but I digress). And we all get vacation time, but no one wants to take it because let's be honest, we're going to miss something at work, our boss will be mad that we're not in the office, or we have a type A/perfectionist personality and don't want to clean up messes when we get back. I'm the last one, I love to have some alone time, but I really feel like I'm going to take 2 weeks cleaning up afterword. That being said, when your boss sits you down (for me we're always sitting down, as it's 90% of the time over the phone) and says "You really need to take some time off, I'm noticing it - and so is everyone else... When can you take vacation time?" And you explain that it will be about 4 more months, because he and everyone else has you booked out that far - you realize, "Wow, I must be really uptight."     And I was... so when my boss tells me this in June, I was actually really happy to have this last week off.  What my boss may or may not have been happy about (I'm not really sure as he likes to kid around a lot), is that I have been completely off radar (no laptop, no cellphone signals, no email - although we did have wi-fi in the cabin (that's another story)). 

I needed this vacation with my wife to get away and feel whole again, I needed to get away from the stressors in my life (not that I don't like work, or my son, or my family --> I love them all in their own ways, but I needed to just breathe). I know that it's probably going to be a while till I have another opportunity to take a vacation like this (hopefully not 4 years long though), but I needed this...

So thank you to those who helped make it possible. My in-laws for watching the boy, my brother in law for watching the cat, and yes, even my old crazy neighbor (who will probably never EVER see this blog post) for watching my house. Thank you to the Governor of the State of Tennessee for pushing through legislation to fun the national park while we were on vacation, you sir have won the respect of a non-constituent (but I promise to send you some chocolate if you ever want any). Thank you to my boss and our staff for taking the weight off of me while I've been gone, and for putting up with me till I recharge my batteries (I hate you all, as you will all probably want me to do something that will take 30 hours for you at 9:00am on Monday) - but thank you none-the-less. 

So, if for some reason you are actually looking at this site and notice I've changed the first few pictures, that's why... My pictures are from my latest stay in the Great Smokey Mountains. I recommend it, I know most people from Ohio go to the Outer-banks, but I can tell you that I think I love the mountains more than the ocean...

I'm sure I could tell some other great stories, but I need to depart - my high school marching band is in competition tonight about 45 minutes away, and frankly I want to see some old friends again. 

Go Pacers, Go Rockets, and Go Vacations! 

Yesh... I can't catch a break

OK, so I haven't been blogging... sorry... I told you I'm not good at this! 

OK - so I just got back from trips to Seattle (yesterday) and San Francisco, Indianapolis and Akron (last month) - overall beautiful cities and I'm sure there is so much to do in each, but I travel on business - which means I don't get to see much more than our office (or our client's office), the hotel room, and the airport. 

I LOVE going out and meeting new people (our employees, our clients, our partners, etc) it's usually a good time to learn about others and see what they are doing and figure out how we/I can help them. But I am a little disappointed that I never get to really see a city... for example, the hotel in Seattle was right next to the Wizards of the Coast office building (for those that do not know who WotC are, perhaps you've heard of some of their titles: Magic: The Gathering (Collectible Card Game) and a little thing called Dungeons and Dragons (Role Playing Game) -- yes they have others, but I'm going with the two biggies - I saw the outside of their building, I got to check in on FourSquare that I was there (which I was, just not inside) and I ran past it at 4am PDT on both mornings in the hotel... but I never got to go in... I'm not sure if they have  a gift shop (if they do not, their fools), but I would have loved to buy something from there. Unfortunately, time never normally permits fun things (yes, yes, that's why it's called "work"). So, I got to see the airports - my overall impressions: San Francisco was pretty easy to get around, no big issues; and Seattle had a few really nice gift shops that were open at 5am (SFO, take note - open your gift shops and people WILL buy there).

But I've just been busy, next week I'm jet setting again to the south and then FINALLY the week after I'll be on vacation in the mountains of Tennessee (no you cannot come with).

Much love, and try to stay dry! 

J

Some days I just want to go out and take photos

OK, so I'm kind of in a photo slump lately. It's not that I don't want to take photos, it's just that I can't find anything that's inspiring to me. Sam has been a bit of a crazy 2.5 year so he's not helping.... 

Why do I like to shoot some of the photos I do shoot. I'm no professional by any means, but I like to capture a moment. I'm not trying to tell a story or be the next Ansel Adams - I just know that I can see something and then want to shoot it (and hopefully can get my phone out fast enough to do so)... Oh yeah, I should probably explain, professional photographers would easily pick this up by looking at my pictures, but I use a camera phone (previously a HTC Evo 4G Design and now a Samsung Galaxy S3 (thank you workplace for taking my advice seriously and getting one of the best phones out there)). I use a camera phone for 2 primary reasons - 1.) I do not own a DLSR camera (no mom and dad, don't buy one for me for Christmas... If I decide to get one I want to choose it) , I have my grandfather's old Minolta SLR that uses real film, but honestly it's hard to just take that around and then find a quality place to develop the film, then wait for it to be done, then pay for all that stuff - but it's a great camera to learn on. 2.) My phone is much more accessible and I always have it on me. The apps are really good now to take quality photos and even edit on them. In fact all the photos up to this point (as of today) on this site are shot and edited on my smart phone (maybe that will be my schtick).

I'm not looking to ever really make any money as a photographer, but I love to take good and fun photos. That's one of the primary reasons I pay for and maintain this website. So I hope you enjoy them (see the copyright, don't steal my stuff section). 

I'm hoping that an upcoming trip and some much needed vacation (in October) can provide me with the inspiration to shoot some more. I think it's great when I take a good photo on the phone, edit it, and then post it and it looks better than it did on the phone (yes this is a common issue)...  

Much love

-J