McCarran Airport is great

November 3, 2006

I've written in the past about how exceptional McCarran airport is. Watching the rosy reflection of the sun on the pre-sunrise clouds outside I'm again prompted to take note. From parking to the gate, even with a throng of people at the security line and deep queues at the ticketing counter it took about thirty minutes to go from the car to sitting at the gate. Sure there are the things that don't make sense at any airport, like the announcement at the gate about not checking baggage from strangers... though presumably the people sitting here have already checked their bags.

Flying out of Las Vegas on Friday morning is great. What Nevadans who travel frequently know, however, is that flying home on Friday evening is a real drag. After a time on the road you're tired and just want to get home, put your feet up and relax. However, chances are very good that the plane is filled with more than a hundred people who are going to Vegas baby. For them the party is just getting going and they're happy to share their high-energy joy with everyone else. Of course it is a good thing as tax-adverse Nevada would have nothing to pay its workers with if it weren't for the donations of our out-of-town guests. All and all its a win-win but it doesn't always feel that way on Friday night.

Signs

September 28, 2006

Traveling today for a vendor demo. McCarran is a great airport in so many ways. Free wireless, a great new terminal and even long security lines seem to move quickly. There is, however, one major gripe. There are no signs as you enter the check-in area stating which airlines are in either direction. Inevitibly I'll go the wrong way. It would be very straight forward to fix which makes the problem all the more annoying.

And another thing... Why play a message telling passengers not to check-in bagage from people they do not know once they are in the gate area and no-longer able to check bags?

Clean Air Please

July 19, 2006

Marriott announced today that as of September all its US and Canadian properties will be entirely non smoking. Having recently stayed in a town where I could only get a smoking room I have to say this is a great move on Marriott's part.

LAS...DEN....IND

July 12, 2006

An early morning travel day today. McCarran in the early mornings is one of the best places to be flying from. It doesn't hurt that I'm out at the newest gates, the D-Gates, which are easily the nicest at the airport. Today also brings an layover in Denver. It seems I haven't been back to Denver International Airport since March of 2004 when I went through on the way back from a friend's wedding. Oh how time flies when life is busy.Today's mile-high stop is just a stop over on the way to Inidanapolis en-route to Bloomington, Indiana for a meeting. As always the free WiFi network is great. I used the EvDo last night for the town meeting in Sandy Valley and it was good but the wireless here is great. Of course without it I'd still not know about my breakfast choice but it could have been considerably worse.

Thoughts from vacation

April 17, 2006

We spent last week traveling and relaxing. It was easily the best break I've taken since starting my present gig a couple of years ago. However I would offer some observations from the trip.

Your kids aren't that cute - Sorry to be the one to tell you but your screaming kid is not as cute as you think they are. Even if you've programmed them to scream intermittently (every 5-10 seconds) instead of continuously they are still not cute. Here's an easy test. If you think your kid does something cute multiply the cuteness by 0.1 and you'll come up with an estimation of how cute others think it is. There are plenty of parents in the world that have well-behaved polite children and you can too. However ignoring your screaming child will not make them stop, especially when they've been programmed that the only way to get attention is to scream your name repeatedly.

Also there is another part to this equation. While it is not easy to take your toddlers in and out of backpack carriers when getting on or off a shuttle bus, it is the right thing to do. Stacking them off to the far side of the bus as one more piece of baggage will not make the trip enjoyable for any of your fellow passengers.

Hotels need TiVo - I largely gave up on watching TV some time ago. However in the motel room I still tend to turn the boob tube on and see what I have (or haven't) been missing. There seems to be a rule of motel-TV scheduling, however, that says the one thing you'd like to see will be on at the only reasonable time to eat dinner, go to the pool, etc. Which of the hotel chains will be the first to add TiVo to the room? Read more about Thoughts from vacation

Knowing the place

March 22, 2006

This morning's New York Times brings story of coyote capture in Central Park. While I'm naturally drawn to stories about these beautiful creatures it occurs to me I would likely have not finished the story were it not for last year's trip to Central Park. Having walked much of the park and the area described in the story made it much more interesting.

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