so i finally was able to get off the client with the bad client PM. i spent a couple of weeks off with my family, which is always appreciated. also, i had heard that the client PM had finally resigned. ;)
anyway, i'm in north carolina for the next several weeks with an old client doing a new project around identity federation.
they were a difficult client when i was here last, but that was almost a year and a half ago. they did mean well, but their execution was not the best. . .
driving up from the appalachians (where i'm staying, the client is in BFE, north carolina), i was again taken by the beauty of the drive. lots of trees and soft mountains. very nice.
we'll see how this engagement goes. nice folks and all. nice bbq as well. that is one of the good things about being on the road, you get to try many regional specialties, especially if you're foody like me.
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Monday, August 27, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
how to, almost, always avoid delays at the airport.
well, i fibbed a little. you can't avoid delays at the airport. there are lot's of reasons for flight delays. weather, earthquakes, crew fatigue, godzilla, etc.
what you can do is utilize tools to help weather unexpected delays and convert them to expected delays. that way you can better plan when to head off to the airport or whether or not a change in flight plans are in order. or perhaps you can determine and plan how long that stay in the airport bar is really going to be. ;)
being a traveling consultant offers me many opportunities to sample the hospitality offered by the nations busiest airports.
i can go on and on about the efficiency of ATL's tram system, or the beauty of the tram system at the northwest world gateway at DTW. i can also comment and opine on the functional efficiency of hub-and-spoke terminal architecture versus parallel terminal architecture in terms of getting passengers from one gate to another in the fastest and most efficient way possible.
i don't pretend to have all the tricks and tips of the hardiest road warriors and frequent flyers, but i do have some resources that i use to help with business travel and to get me home to my family.
this airport performance calculator can help with planning.
the national weather service has full looping video of current weather conditions that can help you see what is coming at you and whether or not it'll ground you for the night or just delay you for the requisite 30-60 minutes (i'm looking at you ORD).
if you're a google earth user, you can get this plug-in which shows flight tracking data. you can track where your in-bound plane is. is it still at the airport? is it in the air? how far away from your airport is it? all those questions can be answered with the magic of google!
hopefully my tips can help you get home safely and close to on-time as is possible.
what you can do is utilize tools to help weather unexpected delays and convert them to expected delays. that way you can better plan when to head off to the airport or whether or not a change in flight plans are in order. or perhaps you can determine and plan how long that stay in the airport bar is really going to be. ;)
being a traveling consultant offers me many opportunities to sample the hospitality offered by the nations busiest airports.
i can go on and on about the efficiency of ATL's tram system, or the beauty of the tram system at the northwest world gateway at DTW. i can also comment and opine on the functional efficiency of hub-and-spoke terminal architecture versus parallel terminal architecture in terms of getting passengers from one gate to another in the fastest and most efficient way possible.
i don't pretend to have all the tricks and tips of the hardiest road warriors and frequent flyers, but i do have some resources that i use to help with business travel and to get me home to my family.
this airport performance calculator can help with planning.
the national weather service has full looping video of current weather conditions that can help you see what is coming at you and whether or not it'll ground you for the night or just delay you for the requisite 30-60 minutes (i'm looking at you ORD).
if you're a google earth user, you can get this plug-in which shows flight tracking data. you can track where your in-bound plane is. is it still at the airport? is it in the air? how far away from your airport is it? all those questions can be answered with the magic of google!
hopefully my tips can help you get home safely and close to on-time as is possible.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
inaugural post
so this is my first post blogging about a specific topic: consulting.
i'm not talking about "resource augmentation", though i'll probably post about that, i'm talking about full blown capital "C" consulting.
what does Consulting mean? that is one of the topics i'll explore over the life of this blog.
i'm starting this at a weird time, actually. my initial thought was to have a place to describe and record my days on the road. sort of a place where i can vent about work and the difficulties of being on the road. but, oddly, i'm starting this blog while being on a local project.
that's right. local.
my client is all of 4.3 miles from my home door-to-door. any readers who happen to stumble to this page may now disregard everything i post about being "on the road" because i'm currenty within spitting distance of my house.
but enough about me and more about me and my "street" cred.
i've been a consultant for about 7 years now. i've spent some of that time as a contractor, but most of it as a "big 5. . .4. . .(n-1)" style consultant. i'm, mostly, a technology consultant. i do identity management (and i may elaborate on my actual work from time to time) architecture and strategy.
i'm also a family man. i'm a father of 3 and have a lovely wife. obviously when you're on the road for 42 weeks a year there are challenges to being a dad and a husband. that's another set of topics to discuss.
i'm a bit of a novice blogger and a not-so-great writer. so please excuse the occasional lapses in grammar and spelling.
i'm not talking about "resource augmentation", though i'll probably post about that, i'm talking about full blown capital "C" consulting.
what does Consulting mean? that is one of the topics i'll explore over the life of this blog.
i'm starting this at a weird time, actually. my initial thought was to have a place to describe and record my days on the road. sort of a place where i can vent about work and the difficulties of being on the road. but, oddly, i'm starting this blog while being on a local project.
that's right. local.
my client is all of 4.3 miles from my home door-to-door. any readers who happen to stumble to this page may now disregard everything i post about being "on the road" because i'm currenty within spitting distance of my house.
but enough about me and more about me and my "street" cred.
i've been a consultant for about 7 years now. i've spent some of that time as a contractor, but most of it as a "big 5. . .4. . .(n-1)" style consultant. i'm, mostly, a technology consultant. i do identity management (and i may elaborate on my actual work from time to time) architecture and strategy.
i'm also a family man. i'm a father of 3 and have a lovely wife. obviously when you're on the road for 42 weeks a year there are challenges to being a dad and a husband. that's another set of topics to discuss.
i'm a bit of a novice blogger and a not-so-great writer. so please excuse the occasional lapses in grammar and spelling.
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