That’s how Kelly described me: beleaguered, when I returned from yet another trip. I guess its starting to show. I found out today that another SE resigned due to too much travel. Quite a shame. Now one wonders if one (uh, me, in particular) will be asked to fill the void.

I got back this evening from a day trip to New Yawk and couldn’t keep my eyes open on both flights. I’m thinking its time to find a more static occupation. That, or let the world come to me! 🙂

I got back to Raleigh from Vegas around midnight last night, a good fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. As always, the crew on the Southwest flight were entertaining and fun.

The flight attendants spent the whole time teasing the two Canadian guys in the seats in front of me. It was easy to tell they were Canadian because they said “beauty!” dozens of times! They hadn’t spent much time in America and had lots of questions. They were here to visit MCI‘s NOC in Cary, so I piped up with some things they could see while they were here. High on their list are visits to a good steakhouse, Hooters and maybe a strip club or two. Heh.

Once we landed, I offered to give them a ride to their hotel since it was a mile away from the airport. They were starved so I drove them through the drive-through at Wendy’s beforehand. They seemed pretty grateful and it was fun introducing them to North Carolina. I think MCI might still have a luxury suite at the RBC Center, so I hope they can see some hockey while they’re here. Make ’em feel at home, y’know.

Good to be back with the family for a change, though it won’t be for long. I go to New Jersey Wednesday for a day trip, then to Maryland on the 23rd. In June, I go to Amsterdam for the week. Man, my head spins sometimes!

I’m in Vegas this weekend for a conference. You can follow along at my alter-ego blog, Mindblogging.com.

I’m in California for the next few days to meet with partners. I’ll be back Wednesday night, only to leave again Friday morning (though the next trip is a personal one).

Yesterday I decided that all the travel I’ve been doing is no longer fun. Question now is what to do about it.

Everyone gets those annoying robo-dialed telemarketing calls. Usually you’re in the middle of something else when suddenly you’re interrupted with something that you don’t have a remote interest in. When the phone rang just now I was bracing for just such a call.

“I’m Shannon from Dish TV,” said the recorded message, “and I’ll get right to the point…”

“Shannon” then described a great deal on Dish Network satellite TV. Four receivers for free, waive installation. Even a hundred bucks back. It just so happens I’ve been looking into the current deals from cable and satellite and thought “wow, what timing!”

I listened to the recorded spiel and pressed “1” to speak to a representative, eagerly waiting to hear more about the deal Dish Network was going to give me.

Finally my chance! I pressed “1.”

I got transferred … to a fax machine. I thought the callee was supposed to do the fax machine trick! The only thing worse than an unsolicted telemarketing call is when its something you want and you get disconnected.

What a tease!

This weekend is the one year anniversary of our family trip to Siena, Italy. We were reminded of it continually by the beautiful weather, weather just like what we had in Tuscany. Rather than sitting around eating great food and drinking great wine, we spent the day working in the yard. We’ve got a garden patch we’re planting behind the house, so the order of the day was to prepare the soil for planting. The whole family got involved – kids and all. It was fun seeing how much they enjoyed it.

We also picked up a new lawn mower, which did a tour around the yard once the kids were napping. We capped off the evening with grilled hamburgers on our deck, followed by a gelato-substitute offered by Brusters (the real gelato was too far away to be dessert). Kelly and I finished the evening with Walk The Line, which I had seen on the flight to Australia but couldn’t hear well on the plane. Wow, dialogue really makes a movie better, doesn’t it?

I’m feeling like I’m over my little sick spell of Thursday and Friday. I did spend the day with a stiff neck, for some reason. I’m wondering if I strained my back when lifting the new lawn mower out of the car. Or I could have just slept on it wrong. I don’t really know. I’m expecting it to be gone tomorrow though.

In spite of this brief illness, I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m happy. I don’t have the stress I used to have. I get up before dawn every other morning to exercise. I’m pretty comfortable with myself. Life is good.

Now its time to give that sleep thing another try.

I finished up early in Cleveland yesterday and finagled an earlier flight out of town, saving me seven hours of time! Unfortunately, I was beginning to feel the effects of a stomach bug that has made the rounds through the family. I was sitting in a packed plane back to Raleigh when my breakfast tried to jump ship. I made it safely to the lavatory before things got out of control, though it seems my fundoplication surgery has left me shooting blanks in that regard. I’m amazed I made it two years before finding that out.

As miserable as I felt on the flight back, I couldn’t complain since two hours earlier a police officer at the Cleveland airport was shot by a deranged man before the man was shot himself. The mood at the airport was somber, with the shootings obviously on the staff’s mind. Security was tighter than normal, too, with things as small as beltbuckles triggering the metal detectors.

I’m glad the cop is going to be okay. Situations like this really make you appreciate their service.

I’m on my way to Cleveland today (as if you couldn’t tell) for a one-nighter business trip. Check in wid’ ya when my feet touch ground again.

We’re down to the last 24 hours for donating to the March of Dimes’ WalkAmerica. Thanks to everyone who donated this year. Shout outs go especially to Woody and Wade, who not only donated but pitched us on his blog, too. You rock, Wade! Thanks!

Tomorrow the family and I will be at Nortel’s campus in RTP with thousands of other festive volunteers to take the walk. If you’d like to join in on the fun, drop us a line, or just look for us there.

We thank you and thousands of preemie babies and their families thank you, too.