First business trip in a looong while. Rental roulette etc.

[ClassicDatsunDebate]

Seems things are getting most of the way kinda sorta back to normal.
I’m back to travelling for work. Yay!
My first trip is to Edmonton. yay?

First off, the rental car roulette. Is it still roulette when you get to choose? There was 5 Eclipse Crosses, two Tucsons and 3 RAV4’s in the aisle. I chose the Toyota because I’m a reasonable person.

It has to be the lowest spec you could conceivably get…keyed ignition, no climate control, no nav, no satellite, nothing. It is as basic as possible for a basic-ass human being. It had 15k miles on it and it was rattling over every pot hole. It also had wicked road noise, like, ‘I thought I had a window open’ decibel levels. It got me around so …mission accomplished.

Here’s the real roulette…hotel room view. It’s Edmonton so I’m guessing I won?

I was supposed to fly out Friday noonish because that was the earliest direct flight I could get, but I decided to pull the pin on another night listening to oil tanker trains shunting at 3 in the morning, so I rebooked a flight with a stopover.
So…I’m sitting in Calgary at the seemingly only restaurant open, enjoying a couple of beers during my 3 hour layover…but I’ll be sleeping in my own bed tonight.

It’s so awesome to be traveling again!

[CB]

@ClassicDatsunDebate Westjet in the photo? That's Calgary alright.

[ClassicDatsunDebate]

@CB
The Flames Grill was closed so I had to go all the way back to Terminal C to get a burger and beer.

[StreetsofPerth]

@ClassicDatsunDebate I've ridden in a few of those as Ubers and I was pretty shocked at the road and engine noise, especially considering how popular they are. The Camry uses the same drivetrain and is as quiet as an empty church in comparison. The Camry rides better too.

[Highlander]

@ClassicDatsunDebate I have driven all three and frankly I’d probably take the Hyundai first the Mitsubishi second and the Toyota last.

[BritsnSwedes was MINIGTI]

@ClassicDatsunDebate I love my job (for which I drive quite a bit but never enough to fly) but I gotta admit, flying to some distant city for work with rental car and hotel has always seemed badass and like you’ve really arrived.

I’m certain people who do it all the time would say otherwise.

[Nicky Chagrin Janitor of SHIELD]

@BritsnSwedes-was-MINIGTI When you've really arrived other people fly to you instead.

[chan]

@BritsnSwedes-was-MINIGTI yup it’s still cool for me because I don’t get to do it often.

[ClassicDatsunDebate]

@BritsnSwedes-was-MINIGTI
I've been doing it for 25 years. The Polish wears off

[Highlander]

@BritsnSwedes-was-MINIGTI I do it all the time and I would say it is fun for the first few years but after a while it gets old.

[BritsnSwedes was MINIGTI]

@Highlander @ClassicDatsunDebate @chan ya I’m sure it gets old if you do it all the time. But once a year or something seems like it would be fun.

[facw]

@ClassicDatsunDebate Another person in the group had a RAV4 on my ski trip in January and it was basic, but not that basic. The remote was dead and it didn't have a power tailgate or heated seats like my rental Escape, but it did at least push button start. Felt fine to drive though. Only real complaint in that regard was that even in winter mode, it struggled to get traction going uphill from a stop on snowy roads. Only so much you can do with crappy all-season tires.

@BritsnSwedes-was-MINIGTI In my last job I probably was doing something like 4 trips a year to visit customer or prospect sites, and I found that pretty fun. Obviously nicer to go to some places than others, but good to get out and see places in general.

[Highlander]

@BritsnSwedes-was-MINIGTI I think I did 20 trips in 2019 and 3 in 2020 before Covid hit. I was on a plane enough to get free upgrades for all my flights and got to know SeaTac a little too well.

[ST80MND]

@ClassicDatsunDebate I wish I knew you were here, I totally would have joined you for drinks! But such is not the case, so all I can do is offer a printed consolation for hard time spent in Edmonton.
Maybe in a while we can laugh about it.

[ClassicDatsunDebate]

@ST80MND
That would have been great!
We were kinda sequestered in Sherwood Park for most of the week, although we hit MKT on Tuesday night.
Next time I’m there, let’s hit Local or something.

[MidEngine]

@BritsnSwedes-was-MINIGTI I did it for 25 years, constantly. No bueno, it'll take an act of God to get me to willingly travel on biz. Hard nope. Customer meetings, fly to the next city, check into the hotel, get caught up on email, rinse & repeat. It fucking sucks