homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5057

Unless you travel often for your work from home job, most of us are home and rarely leave. Over the years I have perfected my people watching skills and this morning on a flight I really was fascinated with this woman sitting in front of me on the other side of the aisle. 

It's June -- yet it looked like she just got off the ski slopes coming from Dallas. She opted for the inflight wifi and used it wisely by searching for more travel (something that doesn't require a wifi purchase when you are searching on the provider's app). I thought what a DUMMY and then she started shopping -- have you ever purchased Lululemon clothing for full retail on a plane? Yeah me neither.....but wait there's more, I didn't catch the brand name, but there are apparently $235 backpacks for kids and she bought 3 of them for her grandkids (I'm assuming). 

• Maybe she doesn't get internet at home
• Maybe she stole someone's debit card and she's the identity thief.
• Maybe she's a nervous flyer and this is how she compensates.
• Maybe I've worked from home so long that I forgot that people can shop online outside of their homes these days.
  
  

You can see where I'm going with this....for a 7:30 AM CST flight out of Dallas my flight home was consumed with thoughts of what, how, why?

One thing she did do that I can agree with is give the stink eye to crying kids and their parents. Spending a small fortune on full retail wasn't enough to distract her and the first noise from a kid she had that hawk-eye vision that all parents have experienced when their kids cry in public. Kids are all happy before the plane takes off and everyone loves seeing the kids and smiling at them......then the first "unpleasant" sound comes from the kid and all hell breaks loose on the flight.

Just a weird observation on a random flight outta Dallas headed to the homeplaceofthefuture and back in my black t'shirt.

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4955

Thinking back about my world tour the past few weeks and the fun things I pick up at airports. Let’s talk about the boarding process. Here’s my thoughts & suggestions...….
 

1. Every airline should use the same terminology for boarding.
2. Why is Group 2 good for American, but Group 2 is basically the everyone else class for Delta?
3. What qualifies as “anyone needing more time?” That could be ANYONE! I need more time; my batteries are dead in my noise cancelling headphones and I need time to get those babies up and running before someone tries to talk to me.
4. Who are these walk-in flyers and why are they always ahead of me (even with my status)? I don’t get it.

There is one category and I agree with and it’s the Families Traveling with Young Children class. We can all agree they should go first and not for their benefit, but for ours. If I walk into a plane and see a kid behind me with a shoe that looks ready to kick the seat – I am going to request a new seat.
 
More on this later – I had to vent. Okay I feel better, back to creating PowerPoint slides to save the world.

​homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4949
 
Nowhere in the world is the caste system so alive and well than in the airline industry. I’m not bragging, but I have status……and I could care less. If I see a check-in line for the main cabin and I’m business class I will get in that line – we are all going to same place!
 
This week in NYC I got in line with the commoners for an international flight because I didn’t feel like walking around the corner for business/first customers. I wait in line for about 5 minutes and the attendant at the counter apologized to me for the wait and said I’m sorry you had to wait in this line and that I should have gone to the business counter. How would you respond? Scenarios ran rampant in my mind – should I act rich, should I laugh, should I just say no hablo English? Maybe my favorite joke about old white guys in sports coats seems appropriate here.
 
I smiled, grabbed my passport and said, “I’m just happy they let me out of my cage this week”
 
Another fun day in the adventures of the homeplaceofthefuture

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4948
 
I’ve been on a worldwide tour the past few weeks visiting very important clients and showing off my killer PowerPoint slides. As I type this I’m 36,000 feet in the air I’m putting together another deck for Part Deux of my worldwide tour. I am too be envied!

Something I’ve noticed more & more on recent trips to non-home offices are toilets. Years ago, I was convinced that those touchless toilets that took the world by storm contained a small webcam and when you finished your business – someone in India would press a button. Prove me wrong!
 
During my worldwide tour I noticed that these touchless toilets are now SUPER fast to flush and SUPER powerful. Somewhere in New Jersey I had finished my business and before I could even get my pants on, the toilet flushed with a beautiful water display that honestly did a 360 twirl to sprinkle the back of my calve muscles. Seriously those guys in India are messing with us and doing fantastic things in the field of virtual toilet flushing.
 
Why am I going on about toilets on an airplane today? Working from home these 4948 days I am used to certain comforts and taking my time on the toilet. It seems the world of touchless toilets is in a big hurry and consider this your warning….do a scoot quickly away from the toilet before even trying to put your pants on!

​xoxo from the homeplaceofthefuture

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4931

As a recovering hypochondriac from 10+ years working in a cube farm, the shift to working from home has been a welcome change. Gone are the days of hot-desking or hoteling. I never had an assigned desk, one day I sat on the 12th floor, the next day I sat on the 16th floor - everyday was an adventure of what I'd find in those "rental" desks. Towards the end of my tenure in the workplaceofthepast I found chicken bones on the desk with buffalo sauce wiped on the underside of my temporary desk! It was a great time to be alive.

Anyways...another cost savings these past 4931 days or so that I have realized is that Purell is no longer bought in bulk and Lysol wipes are reserved for home use only. It's a cheapskates dream to only keep one office clean and not two.

Recently I had to travel across the country to present a PowerPoint presentation (who hasn't right?)

Can I set the stage right now? Here we go....

Travelled all day to present 15 slides of a killer deck, TSA pre was not included on my ticket even though I have it and I had food on my work slacks - I was tired, a little depressed questioning my life choices and smelled like Italian dressing.

Finally get on the plane to relax and I see this from Salt Lake City all the way to the great Northeast.

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4921

Have you ever travelled by plane to present a PowerPoint presentation and only a PowerPoint presentation?

I have!

..........and I'm not proud of it. I seriously left my cozy home office, didn't wear my uniform and had to see people (eww) just to show a few slides, shake some hands and eat a meal at the airport Chili's.