Even though my personal life has stabilized I’m still not blogging as much as I was.  Right now I’m working hard to study for my PMP (Project Management Professional) credential.  I have to get in 35 hours of education and log all of my project management experience to get 4,500 total hours.  As you can hopefully understand this will take a good amount of time.  I need to get it done ASAP because in August the test is changing and I’d rather take it before that happens.

Why get my PMP?  Well I’d rather not say that publicly.

(I’m stealing this from RoadWarriorette since we both have similar positions at different companies)

From the Embassy Suites Third Annual Business Travel Survey

Face Time Trumps Technology . . .
Ninety-seven percent of business travelers think face time is the most important part of developing and maintaining strong client relationships and over half (53 percent) of business travelers reported having more in-person meetings with clients than in previous years. “Face-to-face meetings are irreplaceable when it comes to the health of client relationships,” says business travel strategist Joel Widzer, Psy.D. “We connect with our clients better when we are able to meet in person, which certainly makes it worth taking that business trip on a regular basis.”

When I do web-based training it is just with WebEx showing what is on the screen.  I don’t use any webcams or anything like that to see expressions on the person’s face.  It is difficult to know what is on the mind of the person you are training.  In person I can see all of those visual clues.  I can tell when a person is confused or frustrated or just needs to stand up for a second.  Also, I focus on my customer much better in person.  Some things can be done over the phone like quick follow-up, but anything over a couple hours should be done in person as far as training goes.

I’ve actually been making more of an effort to have polite conversations with my seatmates.  The conversation I had last night actually occurred on the bus on the way home from the airport.

I met a guy looking for the greyhound station.  I kind of knew where that was and he thought I was the most approachable person on the bus so we had a nice little conversation from CLT to uptown.  Turns out he is from Quebec and he flew into Charlotte to catch a greyhound bus up to Virginia because he likes to hike the Appalachian trail.  He has hiked many segments over the last 10 years.  It is always good to meet people with goals.  I bragged to him about how cool Charlotte is, he told me all about his adventures.  I hope he found the greyhound station and something to do to kill 3 hours until his bus left.

Somewhere in some math equation I’m sure I was due for a plane issue.  Although flights like the Miracle on the Hudson are very few and far between, I know that on any flight anything can go wrong, odds are that it won’t.

Today was my day though.  I boarded Airtran flight 311 from Charlotte to Atlanta.  We taxied and took off like any other flight.  I was in row 30 and beverage service starts in the back on Airtran.  The flight attendants had just gotten to an altitude where service can begin when there was a thump and then some thumping that sounded like it was coming from below the floor.  The flight attendant ran to the back to use the phone (which indicated to all that this wasn’t a normal event), but then continued on with beverage service.  That was my indication that we were going to be OK.  Flight attendants don’t want to get hurt any more than we do.  If the flight were in imminent danger I’m sure beverage service would be the last thing on their mind.  They stayed calm so when the lady next to me asked what was going on I pointed that out.  Just another way they are their for our comfort and safety.

We did end up diverting to GSP since the left engine had issues, but everyone was safe and we landed safely.  Good thing GSP recently got Southwest service and Southwest recently acquired Airtran or else I wonder who would have handled us for our several hour wait for a ferry flight.  The Southwest representatives gave us snacks and vouchers.

Even MSNBC picked this up

Everyone always says that the iPhone “just works.”  Well, right now my android “isn’t working.”  Some of it is probably related to the provider (Virgin Mobile) and some of it is probably related to the Samsung hardware.

My screen isn’t rotating properly.  Sometimes I have to wait more than 10 seconds for it to rotate even after sliding out the keyboard and other triggers like that.

My texts aren’t going through very well and my friend who has the same phone with Virgin Mobile also has this issue.  I’m sure my friends must think I have issues when they get 4 or 5 “What are you doing tonight?” texts from me.

If the iPhone really does “just work” then maybe I might think of migrating over to the dark side.

Last night when my plane landed some lady had received a text that OBL was dead.  Everyone with a smart phone frantically started seeking out the news and we exchanged information waiting for gate checked bags.

Sure, OBL was an important figurehead for Al-Qaeda and I believe he was also one of the main financiers of that movement, but he is still just one person.  Killing him may be no different than killing Saddam Hussein.  The message has already been spread.

Will I feel any different boarding a plane?  No.  I don’t live my life in fear.  The odds of a terrorist attack are quite low.  Unless there is a significant change in the frequency of terrorist attacks I will continue to go to work every week the same as before.

Do I forecast any difference with TSA?  I predict they will get worse before they get better.  I’m glad I’m not flying today.