Airport Follies

I breezed through the airports on my trip to Jackson. It was the easiest time I’d had passing through RDU security in years. I went from car to the gate in less than 15 minutes. At 6 PM on Monday, I expected more hassle. I’m happy to be wrong every now and then!

The Jackson International Airport has got to be the smallest municipal airport I’ve ever visited. It definitely is the smallest international airport I’ve ever visited. The runways, however, are world-class: twin 8500-foot concrete ones. I think the “international” part must come from destinations like Baghdad. I saw a few C-5A‘s land: enormous military cargo planes which seem to hang in the air when they’re moving at 200 knots.

I had fun at the gate while waiting for my plane by punching the tail numbers of the passing aircraft into Google. Google now offers searches on FAA registrations, so I could instantly find out the history and ownership of any plane. For the record, I took N426US from Charlotte to Raleigh.

Another highlight: the TSA screeners at Jackson were the friendliest by far of any airport I’ve visited. They were courteous, they smiled pleasantly, and every single one wished me a good trip, and meant it! Mississippi folks are some of the nicest, friendliest folks anywhere. They were so darn friendly, I was tempted to go through again!

I think airlines need to get tough on passengers hauling refrigerator-sized bags onto planes. They could shave 15 minutes off the trip if they did. We waited that long while huge bags got reshuffled in the overhead bins to accomodate Even More Stuff. I think if a bag won’t fit underneath the seat in front of you, it gets checked. No ifs, ands, or buts.

When I got back to Raleigh I waited around for my bag at baggage claim. If the airlines could speed up that process, the need to carry on luggage would disappear. While I waited, some fellow passengers – obviously new to the area – asked around to find out where to rent cars. I chimed in with info on the shuttle bus and was thanked generously.

It’s not the first time I’ve found myself happily giving airport advice to people there. I love making sure visitors get a good impression of the Triangle. It reminded me to explore an appointment to the RDU Airport Authority board, or at least to volunteer there. Either one would be a blast.

Tried out the new Exit Express service, where you pay for parking before you leave. I was disappointed there were no kiosks at the baggage claim area. It would be perfect to be able to pay for parking while you’re killing time waiting for your bag. It also would provide incentive for bags to get to baggage claim quicker: if the clock was no longer ticking on their lucrative parking fees, airports would be in a hurry to send you on your way. Parking fees are the cash cow for airports. They’d pay attention.

I also didn’t get a receipt for my parking, though I pressed the “receipt” button at the Exit Express kiosk. For a $23 parking bill, you’d better believe I’ll need a receipt.

Now its back to reality as I head into office for the first time since Friday.

Action Jackson

I’m wrapping up my visit to Jackson, MS. Folks here are so nice. It’s nice to stop in every now and then and remember what its like to be a southerner. Raleigh certainly doesn’t have that feel anymore. Charlotte still does, and its even bigger than Raleigh. Go figure.

The trip’s been a success, though. I had some great demos. This sales stuff ain’t so hard, actually.

Looking forward to getting back home and catching up with my family. Won’t be long now.

The MT.Net Tipping Point

Here’s an update on traffic statistics for mt.net. Seems you nine readers have been very busy! The month of January was the busiest ever at mt.net, with 23,000 hits and 134 visits. This is compared to March of last year, when there were 7600 hits and 29 visits. It looks like mt.net has reached some kind of tipping point.

February is shaping up to be an even busier month. We’re three days into February, and there have already been 75 visits and 1335 hits. The difference is the RSS feeds. Many folks are grabbing the XML feed now, which counts as one hit rather than the gaggle of images on this page.

Thanks to those nine readers who helped make it happen. You guys rule!

Super Bowl

We got back last night after spending halftime at the Super Bowl party of my friends Scott and Dawn. We all had a great time, though the NFL doesn’t excite me. Even when its the home team. My biggest complaint has been that too many games are decided by a field goal. While I was thinking of a dullsville 9-6 score, the game last night was the preferred way to win by a field goal: score lots of touchdowns beforehand.

Hallie had a great time, though, interacting with her cousin Hadley and friend Emma. It was fun just watching the kids.

Today I’m off to Jackson, MS for a business trip. Hopefully it will be the last one for a while. I am going to put the kibosh on all this being on the road.
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Busy Day

I spent the morning working with my brother Jeff to get his neighbor’s living room wired for surround sound. Then it was home for a quick nap before cleaning all the useless junk out of my garage.

I’m turning in early tonight for a well-deserved good night’s sleep.

Also, I’m headed to Mississippi for the first half of next week on a business trip. Yay. What was that part about ‘never having to travel’ that was mentioned during my interview?

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Where’s My Guitar?

Man, what I wouldn’t do to have my guitar right now. All this snow’s got me dreaming of being “someplace other than here,” as the Jimmy Buffett song goes. I’m having the hardest time stopping myself from belting out a song right here at my desk.

Government Contract Stipulations

I thought I found a fantastic way to keep American jobs from migrating overseas. Colorado legislators are pushing a state bill mandating that companies sending jobs overseas will lose their state contracts. It’s only fair that companies that make their money off taxpayer-supported government contracts not ship jobs to other countries, right? Is it fine for government to place stipulations on its contracts? After all, nothing compels you to accept the contract: its your choice.

I blew a gasket when the Reagan Administration forced states to lower their speed limit or lose federal highway funds. I suppose in that case I saw it as a matter of the federal government meddling in affairs of the states. It’s different when its government-to-contractor, isn’t it? Or is it?

What about government contracts that require drug testing? I am firmly opposed to drug testing, except in positions where the safety of the public could be at risk. What one does on one’s own time is no one else’s business. Yet, drug testing has become an ugly reality at many large companies because of government contracts which require drug testing of its contractors.

I’m thinking out loud (out blog?) here. So let me toss this out to the Peanut Gallery: is there a conflict between these two examples of contract stipulations? Is prohibiting companies that “offshore” from government contracts a good thing, or is it another example of government social-engineering?

Hotels Get Clueful About Internet Access

I’ve been drawn into making travel plans for next week. I’ve been traveling way too much lately. And the last-minute travel thing is twice as bad.

Part of my planning is choosing a hotel, of course. One thing I insist upon is some sort of Internet access. That’s why I was glad I remembered a press release from this week announcing Best Western hotels will offer free Internet access chainwide.

Good to see Best Western taking note of its traveler’s needs and making it happen. I’ll look for them when I make my future travel plans (which, hopefully, will be few and far between).