Phaze

Liking this. A welcome change from the usual monotonous rubbish on the trip reports board. Subscribed.

Calchas

Don't be shy, say what you really mean

roadwarrier

I can relate to some of what you do. Thanks for taking the time to do the TR^

gaobest

Bummer on the liquids bag - isn't the Rimowa new? Maybe you can get a free replacement.
The plate (salad & pasta) in the AMS lounge was quite nice! I've not seen plates like that and they seem quite fun.
Hope the BA mistake fares work out. And next time bring an extra credit card on your travels, just in case. :-)

BearX220

Chiming in to say this is a terrific find and change of pace for FT TR World. I love the coverage of workaday short-haul business travel, and I love the trains and rail terminus coverage particularly. I can only take so much lolling around in F cabins over Mauritius or whereever, but accounts like this I can enjoy ad infinitum. Thank you!

JonasTravels

Very inspirational TR since I nowadays also prefer to travel with a purpose, not just lie on a beach all day as I did back in my backpacking days around 1999-2000.

DaveNCL

Week 1, Day 5

After a late arrival home last night and not getting to sleep until 1am, I still woke at 6am. Deciding it was better to get on with the day I was up and ready to tackle the office work which I hadn’t a chance to deal with yesterday.

Main agenda for today was:-
Action the points from yesterdays meeting.
Two conference calls.
Update call with my boss.

I also had a tyre company coming out between 8am and 5pm to replace three tyres on my car. After its service and MOT last week I was told that my slicks are nearly illegal for the UK. Although this would keep me tied to the house all day it meant I didn’t need to go and sit in a dirty garage whilst the work was done. Something that always seems to take longer than needed. There are only so many back issues of Nuts and Auto Trader I can read in one day whilst drinking the brown water labelled as coffee. Last time I managed to recount the names on the MOT certificates mounted on the wall. That’s how bored I was.

The work I managed to complete yesterday evening give me a bit of a head start for the rest of the day, but lunchtime still came way too quick. One call was out of the way but the main one today was at 1330. Before this I made some lunch and then jumped on the call.

No real progress has been made on this project since our last call three weeks ago, that is more than a little annoying. Five working points were created and none had moved on. We ended up going over old ground and confirmed the same actions as before. I decided I would push this further after the call, in essence our support functions were not helping us in the field. This was the first thing to annoy me in an already busy and stressful Friday.

The next issue I had was when the tyre company turned up at 3pm. I spoke to the mechanic and moved my car to where he wanted it. I confirmed which tyres needed changing and just as I was leaving he asked for the wheel locking nut. No problem I thought, it is always kept in the little space that has been carefully designed for it by those useful people at BMW.

As soon as I lifted the boot floor I knew something was wrong. It was not there. Every time it has been used I always made sure it goes back in the same place. Obviously if it went missing it would cause a problem! Right? Well now it was causing a big problem, it wasn’t bloody there!

I took everything out of the boot, looked in the arm rest, door pockets, glove box, all to no avail. To be honest I knew I wasn’t going to find it when it was missing from its normal place. My guess was it had been lost during the last service when BMW replaced the brake pads. Those helpful people at BMW who designed the little space for the nut have now helpfully lost it. I felt annoyed that I had wasted a day waiting in but the main issue is that my tyres are still on red. The mechanic left and I was losing my grip, literally.

Once back inside I got on the phone to my boss to update him on my Poland trip, give a business review and we chat about the weekend. Once piece of good news is that we have covered the Turkey trip we discussed on Tuesday with someone from outside of the UK. All being well we shouldn’t have any issues with our test in Turkey.

By the time I next look at the clock it is gone 5pm, so much for a decent finish time on a Friday. I still need to send a few emails off so that I have an answer by Monday and then I get around to calling BMW about my lost nut!

BMW know nothing about my locking nut but they promise to look into it and call me back. About 30 minutes later I get a call to say they have not found it, however they have spoken to my lease company and they are happy for BMW to simply replace the nut on each wheel to get me going. I arrange to call in on Tuesday morning and then book the tyre company to come back out on Wednesday morning before my flight to London.

After this it's nearly 6pm, I decide enough is enough and the laptop is shut down for the week. Overall it has been busy but productive week, several items are still outstanding but most are moving in the right direction.

On the TR side I’ve enjoyed writing down my thoughts. I have found it useful to sit back and think about what has gone on and to analyse the days events and meetings. The hardest part has been finding the time to write the report but more importantly proof read and edit. What is eventually posted goes through several edits (believe it or not) and I have found myself starting at 9pm and before I realise 2-3 hours have passed.

My diary is busy again for next week, hopefully I will also get around to giving a brief update on my weekend.

DaveNCL

Thanks
Update on the fare coming soon! My credit card bill has now arrived and it is paid, so back to normal.

Thanks for the chime!
This is also something I have discovered in recent years. A love a travelling and probably more worrying for my younger self photography. I couldn't stand people snapping away 5 years ago.

DaveNCL

Week 1, Day 6

Finally the weekend is here and I mange to sleep until 8am after initially waking at 5. Today is about catching up on jobs around the house and relaxing.

The first job is to visit the gym for the first time this week. I try and do three sessions per week, for a minimum of 1 hour, but there has just been no time to fit this in. My gym is only a 10 minute run away, so I run there and back and that normally takes care of the cardio. As this was my first session I added a 20 minute treadmill run and then did weights for the remaining 45 minutes.



General cleaning around the house and two loads of washing took me to lunchtime where I started browsing for NYC hotels. The plan is to only book a refundable rate at this stage until it becomes clear that the itinerary will be unchanged. I last visited New York 7 years ago and we stayed near Columbus Circle. Ideally I want something a little further south this time.

A couple of hours were spent playing PS4 and then I headed over to my parents for dinner and a catch up. Arriving back at 9pm I completed and posted a TR update and caught up on the football from the first day of the new Premier League season. It’s not really the same when your team doesn’t play on the opening day, that for me will be tomorrow. I’m looking forward to dedicating my weekends back to football after a summer off.

Week 1, Day 7

After a lie in yesterday I was back to being awake early and decided to get up at 6am. I planned on leaving the house around 11am for the football so I needed to get sorted for the week ahead due to an early start on Monday. Breakfast, ironing and packing took me through to a quick shower and then I was out the door.

First match of the season is always a good feeling. Optimism, hope and dreams fill the air, for the first week at least. Newcastle United had bought three good players in the summer after a poor season last year. In my opinion we still need another three signings but it was a start, at least we have tired to fix some of the endemic problems from last season. Hope had been partially restored that we would at least like to try and win games this season. That coupled with a new manager and change of playing style would make today interesting.

Home match days always start with a few beers 2-3 hours before the game, meeting my Dad and a few friends in an nearby pub to discuss the summers activities.





After the 90 minutes were up I headed back for one pint before walking home.

We drew 2-2, which I think was a fair result. Southampton had 2 late chances to win the game but over the course of the 90 minutes neither team fully deserved the 3 points. Our new signings all played some part of the game, with Gini Wijnaldum scoring a great header from a quick and incisive counter attack. Several of NUFC players had not played a pre season game so tiredness came into play in the later stages. Southampton had played two competitive games already during Europa League qualification and that give them more legs towards the end of the match. I’m sure Southampton will have another good season, so a draw in our first game is not too disappointing.

I was into bed by 10pm with an early start tomorrow but I did manage to book a NYC hotel. I opted for the Refinery Hotel on 63rd and 38, which looks modern, central and gets good reviews. If anyone has any other recommendations or experience of this hotel please let me know.

DaveNCL

Week 2, Day 1

So my job is not all bad. I get to travel, visit new and interesting places and participate in a variety of activities both internally and with my customer. Today was one of those days, we were supporting our customers regional charity golf day.

Firstly, I have a small confession to make. When I was packing my overnight bag I realised I had another luggage option which I didn’t list in my first post. This one is a black leather Rowallan weekend bag. I tend to use this when travelling for a couple of nights in the UK with the car. It is large enough to easily hold a few changes of clothes and shoes. I can also put my laptop and note book in it so I only need to carry one bag into a hotel.



The only negative towards today was that this was taking place in central Wales and I live nowhere near Wales. We had a 10:39 tee off time so I decided to leave around 0530 to give me plenty of time to cover the 4 hour drive, stop for breakfast and sit in the inevitable Monday morning traffic. In the end I arrived in plenty of time with the weather starting out good but then becoming changeable with spots of rain the closer I got to the course.



After a small shower the weather turned out glorious, it was a good job I had sun lotion with me. If I didn’t I would of ended up looking like a lobster. I only play around 6 rounds of golf a year, so I’m very average golfer. Through the first 8 holes I was only 2 over par. A little wobble through the next 2 holes was then brought it back to look respectable through the 18. The course was in excellent condition, very dry with forgiving rough and short grass on the fairways. This helped us play a little longer than normal. I tend to assess my day not by my final score but how many balls I have lost. Today’s count was two, both from the 9th tee. This isn’t too bad at all.







After our round we were treated to some lunch and then we left. I was undecided whether to drive back or stay at a colleague’s house where I had an open invitation for the night, he was also playing golf. Ideally I would have headed home but by this time it was nearing 5pm, with a 4 hour drive and already an early start behind me I really didn’t fancy it.

In the end the decision was made for me as there was an
accident on a nearby motorway which meant it was closed due to a gas tanker catching on fire. I’ve passed a car on fire on the opposite side before and I could feel the heat. I cannot imagine the heat this must have been giving off. This backed up all the local roads and another colleague was on the closed motorway. He was stuck there for 6 hours until it reopened to let the stuck traffic off the motorway. We decided to do a big detour away from this and eventually got back to my friends house 3 hours after leaving the golf club, for what normally would be a 45 minute journey.

After a good but long day I retired around 11pm and I planned to leave early in the morning to get back home.

mentor of monty

Dave- hugely enjoying this.

I've stayed at the refinery. Cool hotel, possibly not quite as fabulous as the hype on tripadvisor. Excellent location. Amazing roof terrace.

FinalCallDXB

As a Mackem (albeit an exiled one) it somewhat pains me to say it but really enjoying this. Thanks for taking the time to write it up and share.

kevincrumbs

Another (nominal) Sunderland supporter here chiming in with compliments for the TR despite the snaps and content related to the barcodes

Jokes aside, it's been very interesting. I do consulting work, too, although my travel is merely a fraction of yours but it's been fascinating to see how the other half lives. As I am with the company longer, travel will increase but even our folks who head out on the road the most don't go as often as you do!

DaveNCL

Excellent, it's great to hear your first hand experience.

FinalCallDXB and kevincrumbs many thanks for crossing the divide and posting your comments. I bet a lot of people are now wondering what a Mackem is. Probably best that it's not me that provides the explanation!

DaveNCL

Week 2, Day 2

I left my friends house at 0630 and got a good run towards home. I called into the BMW garage to have my locking nuts changed, this took around 20 minutes and the garage were very helpful. A thank you has been submitted through their website for going above and beyond.



Today was a catch up day and I had a call in the afternoon with a U.S. colleague. As I was out of the office yesterday, a lot of emails had come through which I was unable to deal with whilst putting on the green!

I tied up the final loose ends from my meeting last week in Warsaw, providing prices and timelines for our new product transitions. An end of year meeting was also set up for late November. That is another trip to add to the calendar.

After my conference call I checked in for my two upcoming BA flights for my trip to Düsseldorf.

Due to the timing of my meeting on Thursday I couldn't get to Düsseldorf and back home in one day. Actually, I couldn't do it in two days due to the evening finish. I decided to base myself at Heathrow for two nights so I could catch the first flight out and last back. I would then take my positioning flights on Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning.

The best news of the day was in an email from British Airways confirming they would honour my fare booked last week from Oslo to New York. Let the planning commence!

BA are so kind hearted


At around 5pm I called it a day. My evening was very relaxed due to the early start.