No way. Then I'd have to pay for all of my own travel, as opposed to just paying for the personal stuff. Work travel finances our personal travel.

Haha. Took me a minute.
Teh box is on fire this morning. :-:

Yes, but then you'll never have to travel to Huntsville or Nacogdoches again. :-:

Echidnas are more compact.

:D

That does happen. I've stayed in a few really fantastic "budget" properties. A lot of it depends on the local franchisee, and the age of the property.

Case in point — the Holiday Inn Express in Huntsville, TX is very new, and built to that chain's most current standards. While the cost cutting is evident in some of the usual places (thinner, smaller towels, comforter on the bed could be thicker), the rooms are excellent, and the entire hotel has a very modern, almost urban, decor. I hate to say it, but the rooms in this hotel do beat the rooms in a couple of Ws I've stayed in. :eek:

I wish all Holiday Inn Express locations were that nice. Unfortunately the other one I'm forced to frequent isn't, and has issues with cleaning things like the bathroom floor and tub.

True. Or Baton Rouge.

You can add Beaumont and Port Arthur to that list as well. They're starting to filter back into my schedule again. Less than 24 hours ago I sold a week in Port Arthur. I've become convinced that a consultant in a bad economy is nothing more than a crack whore that's willing to go to almost any length to satisfy any client he/she can get and keep the money rolling in.

No - but I've done that flight before. Ugh. It's not fun.

It's possible that tjtenor4 may get the major work travel in the next phase of his career (which may be 10-15 years down the line), but definitely not now. And I'll probably consistently have a little, but not a lot. Sigh. So right now it's carefully selected MRs and limited-scope (destination/length) personal travel.

I just read the Wikipedia article on said creatures. Apparently a baby echidna is called a puggle. Cute.

I also learned a couple distinctly LESS cute things about the male of the species... :eek:

FWIW, the last three Marriott properties I've stayed at were dramatically different in room appearance. JW in Mexico City, China Hotel in Guangzhou, and the JW Hong Kong.

For a moment there, I thought you were bringing Teh Otter One an enchilada.:o

If my partner gets the job he's interviewing for next week, he's looking at about 50% travel for work. He seems excited by that. And, it would be nice for him to get have a pool of points and miles we can use, in addition to mine.

That's how I roll. Haven't bought a personal plane ticket in several years.

Work expenses (through AX MR points) also finance swag. In the last 3 years, I've bought a snowblower, some WiFi gear, and a netbook.

The spikes are a little harder to handle.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/...612e27e1d0.jpg

Plus, kangaroos steal stuff from you:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/...e2b538ae94.jpg
Little bugger was laughing at me!

Morning Box

Want me to hang on to 500 ft then

Getting out of BNA for impending "Blizzard" works fine for me

I have gone to buying local artwork or music(CD) as well. Fun to walk into a music store where you don't speak tha language and ask for blues and see what you come home with. Have enough Tshirts\Coozies\shot glasses to last life time

We hold elections here to get rid og our deadwood

Like those paper towels CY uses for theirs?

Are they called Jesse Jameses?

As long as the roos don't steal alcohol like some monkeys in the Caribbean