Friday, December 22, 2006

Holiday Wrapup

Much traveling and sleeping in foreign beds lately. Last week was spent at AGU in San Francisco. We stayed across the street from the Marriott. It was ok, but the bed was a little hard and there was a TV attached to it. I meet with lots of old friend from grad and undergrad as well as other meeting I have attended in the past.

After the tiring meeting, it was back home for a few days to tie up some loose end, like finals, grades, and reimbursement. Then it was back out to the west coast. We flew through Atlanta. I hate that airport. What kind of airport allows smoking inside. Smoking lounges are "seperated" from the rest of the airport by a sliding glass door. I have seen the doors propped open, people standing in the doors keeping them open, and a cone in front of the door (for what reason, I do not know). I have also walked in front of the door only to have to open and receive a refreshing breath of second-hand smoke. Thanks Atlanta. I would gladly pay an extra $250 per flight to avoid being routed through your smoky facilities. Oh, and don't get me started about the beeping, "beeping", beeping carts.

We finally made it to Oregon and had a nice dinner at the Portland airport. For those not in the know, the Portland airport (PDX) is smoke free, has free wireless, and is rather quiet (as airports go). The last few days have been spent relaxing on the couch waiting for packages to arrive for x-mas. We will be off to California next week for more holiday festivities.