The Glade 4.0

I think I'm getting sent out to B.C. next week.

At my last two jobs it was always me they turned to when they wanted someone on-site to help out with a technical and customer service issue. It's flattering, but travelling for work is generally lonely and boring.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
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If I had the opportunity I'd so be for it, but I don't have SO and younguns to worry about either. So it's just as lonely and boring for me to be at home as it is to be away at the end of the workday.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

I have no obligations at home, and when i was younger, I loved to travel for work or otherwise. But now, I really don't enjoy it at all. Long airplane flights and all of the obnoxiosness that goes along with it are just miserable. And I hate staying in hotels (even nice ones).

That said, once I get past the parking/airport/security/flight, etc... and get to my destination, I usually enjoy being someplace different. New places to see, new foods to eat, and new/interesting things to do. All of that helps ward off the dread of the return trip.

I'm not fond of the travel (my shoulders are wider than standard airplane seats, and so, if stuck in the middle, I have to spend the whole flight curled in onto myself because I'm very personal-spacey), but I rather enjoy business travel if I get to bring Phe along (which is quite frequent...one of my company's policies is that if a business trip is necessary for a top-level executive, his or her spouse is welcome to join; the last time this happened, we got to go to Vegas).

If no Phe, then yeah, lonely and boring.

You get used to it, but I can see it being not fun for someone who only has to do it once or twice a year.

I don't like travelling for work. Working long hours (sometimes from before sunup to after sundown), sometimes working on weekends, in a strange place surrounded by people you don't know, living out of a suitcase, without any of the familiar comforts of home. Yeah, no fond of it.

Besides, the bots get lonely, and cause trouble.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

On the plus side, my primary gaming computer is a laptop.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

The trick to enjoying business travel is to try and do something fun while you're at that location.

Sample local cuisine, sight see, etc.

Sometimes that is harder than othertimes, but usually you can at least find a good local restaurant with a little looking.

I'm travelling to British Columbia. What am I going to sample, the cannabis cookies?

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Never forget the toys!

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Dream as if you'll live forever...
...Live as if you'll die tomorrow

Vivere Senza Rimpianti

One of the very first things I learned when traveling to a customer site: always bring something to do. A book, portable game player, laptop computer, something. Spending 4 hours setting up xearth on your customers' computers not only isn't that interesting, but has the customer wondering wtf you're doing to their system.

Also learned early on: if a customer assures you that the weather is really nice, a freak cold front will arrive the same day that you arrive. Bring a jacket.

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Every place that I've traveled to that could be at least considered a town, had at least 1 or 2 local restaurants that were particularly good or had some claim to fame.

For instance, if you're ever in Detroit Lakes, MN be sure to stop by Zorbaz. Great local pizza joint along the main beach drag. Awesome pizza and in general a great place to people watch.

If you're ever in Beaver Bay, MN you owe it to yourself to stop by the Northern Lights Inn. It's in a converted old house that overlooks Lake Superior and has the most amazing Shepard's Pie I've ever had. Made with Elk and Great Lakes Stout beer.

I love any kind of travel, but hate leaving my wife to take care of all the younglings. So I generally avoid it.

It depends on where you are going for it some places are fun - San Francisco others not so much - Des Moines. I got spoiled at one job where I was traveling every week for several months I flew on the company plane. No security lines, no cavity searches, the flight left when I was ready, if I wanted something to drink I got up and got it, took me a long time to want to travel commercial again after that.

It can get old though but the occasional trip isn't too bad.

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I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil

Depends on where in BC, Vancouver has a thriving restaurant scene. Get some ideas from the people you go there to help out.

If you're an X-files fan they shot a lot of it up there too. Getting out to see if you can find the scenery behind Sculley and Mulder could be fun.

Lots of good seafood in Vancouver, if you like seafood.

Heavily Chinese in areas, from the Hong Kong exodus. Do you like Chinese food?

Look at the positives Talya, and if you can't find anything, tell us how boring it is in real time.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Nowhere near vancouver, sadly...Okanagan valley, other side of the mountains.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I don't have a clue then. I don't know that area at all.

You can still tell us how boring it is in real time.

Kamloops isn't far away, that is supposed to be a tourist draw.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

My best friend lives in BC. He has been to Kamloops and Kelowna a few times the past couple of years, repairing broken airplanes. He always seems to enjoy these trips...they get him away from the everyday at home stuff...he looks at it as a working vacation.

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

Currently, sitting in an airport lounge waiting for my flight.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Have a nice boring safe flight.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Cannibals need tech support?

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Aye.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Wear a loincloth; mayeb they'll think you're one of them.

By the way if you're lucky enough to fly on an Airbus A321, they have internet while airborne. Im not sure about other airliners, but American Airlines does have it on that type; I was lucky enough to fly on one from Charlotte to Denver on my way back from emergency leave.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

The best thing about those aircraft is that there is a switch labeled "Internet". If you are so inclined, you can turn the Internet off.

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