Home for Labor Day

I'm sitting in my home office writing this blog because this week happens to be the week that I'm slated to work from home so that I can be around for Labor Day. I was rolled off my client early so that means I get to spend next week at home too! Ahh the sweetness of it! I get to spend lots of quality time with my wife and cats which is always a good thing. I'm trying to get a new assignment and it looks like I'll be heading out to Houston. I've never been there before so this will be something nice and new. If I'm lucky, I might be able to make it to an Astro's game or something. :) Woo another hat to add to my growing collection, if I made it to the Tiger's game I was planning on going to in Detroit I would have gotten a hat as a souvanir.

Now that I'm home, I'll probably blog a bit more until I'm deployed. Look out for more boring crap from me!

Super Secret Status

This past weekend I registered for super secret bad ass status with Avis. I'm working on Diamond for Hilton but I just got Avis First status after sending an inquiry to Avis customer service. After I complete 3 rentals a month I get a free weekend rental. I just got this status but its just plain awesome since I rent with Avis so much. I've also found that they have the best rates over all.

I don't know what other fun perks I'll be getting but they have to be pretty decent after all the cars I've rented with this company, maybe I'll get some free upgrades to an luxury car or something one day. Their cars are sometimes not that great but over all I've enjoyed the experience. When I start returning the car to the place I rented it, they'll probably give me even better cars since I know they're giving me crap because I'm not returning it to the same facility currently.

For now, I'm going to see how much I can milk this. It's going to be so sweet!

Pontiac G6

This week I got a Pontiac G6 as a rental car from my lovely friends at Avis. I gotta say that this is one sweet ass ride. This little car has some pull. I think its a class above the Neon and Focus but with a much bigger engine, better sound system and over all its just hella fun to drive! I floored it just for kicks while coming to my hotel up the entrance ramp and that little car MOVES! If I knew I was going to be a consultant a few years ago, I probably would have loved this to be my airport car. It's American so I don't mind it getting dinged up since it doesn't retain value, but it would be cool to go on the highways because it has so much power. If I could request this car every week I would but there's always the possibility I'll get an even better car one of these days. :)

South Florida is Hot Hot Hot

This past Sunday I decided to go to the swimming pool at my community with my wife to of course do a little swimming and to cool off. It had been pretty hot the last couple of days that I was at home and thought that a nice swim would be a way to cool off. It even rained an hour before hand so the water should have been nice and cool right? WRONG!

The pool water felt a lot like bath water when I jumped in. It was pretty interesting given the fact it was about 90 degrees outside and the water temp was actually hotter than that. I held out my arms in the air for a couple minutes and dunked them back in the pool and it felt really hot when I did that. But I enjoyed staying in the pool so I stuck it out. Normally I would have left but I don't get to stay home often or use the pool so better to take advantage of the opportunity while it presented itself.

Maybe for my next place the pool water won't be so hot in the summer time. It just needs to be October already so its not 90 degrees in the evening (I know its sad isn't it?)

Forgot my socks

After my little scare a few weeks ago by getting stuck in Detroit, I've been packing an extra set of clothes in my suitcase. I've also taken to working out at the gym at the Double Tree where I'm staying so thats another pair of clothes entirely. As fate would have it, I went ahead and packed all the extra clothes I normally do except for white sports socks that I use for working out. Fortunately I had at least one pair but I used up some cash buying more socks. I need to start making a packing checklist so I stop forgetting stuff.

Being Gold rules

I checked into the Double Tree at my client site this week and much to my surprise, I got a coupon for $5.00 at the gift shop. Now I know its only $5.00 but that means I can get 5 free bottles of water which is super sweet. I also get breakfast in the morning now which is particularly awesome. Hopefully I'll wake up early enough to start taking advantage of this perk of mine. I've worked hard to get my Gold status with Hilton. I'm earning about 4000 points a stay which isn't a lot but when you add it up over time, I'm looking at some free hotel stays in 2008 when I finally go on a nice long vacation.

I'm not doing so hot on my points for the airlines but thats because they expire too fast and I don't earn that many of them when I fly. Besides, I can get some free flights by giving up my seat when I start flying Air Tran again. Ahh the wonders of travel.

More troubles with Northwest

I've been doing a fair amount of travel with Northwest Airlines for my current client. So far they have been the most unreliable air carrier that I've ever taken. Last night they left at least an hour later than they were supposed to and with my drive home I didn't get here until at least 2am which to me is quite un-acceptable. It's a good thing I'm not flying with them for much longer.

I've changed flights because I'm just tired of always being delayed by the major carriers. It seems to me that the smaller carriers like Jet Blue and Air Tran are doing much better in terms of being on time and they're also a little more generous with their food. Hopefully I'll earn some free flights with Air Tran once I start taking them come September.