Dateline: Renaissance Worthington, Fort Worth, TX

Arrive this evening for a Prospective Commanding Officer’s Conference tomorrow and Sunday. As always it was a stressful trip with Always Slow Airlines (ASA). First we had a ground hold because it was raining in Atlanta. Then we were put in a holding pattern for about 20 minutes because traffic was backed up. And then, to top it all off, as the entire was sweating making their connecting flights, we sat on the ground waiting for, according to the pilot, the ground crew to come out and direct us a gate.

Weather is not something you can really blame the airline for except for the fact that there have been summer afternoon thundershowers in Atlanta for millennia; you think someone would catch on to the pattern. The sitting on the ground awaiting instructions is squarely an ASA problem.

As I arrived in Terminal D I checked the schedule to see my next flight was boarding in Terminal A. After pressing through the lazy people who insist on standing and “riding” the escalator I made it time to board the flight. Flying in steerage is not any fun. Apparently the airplane designers are all small people and have never seen anyone who is somewhat “normal”. I’m not that big, I’m really not, but my shoulders always seem to take up more than the seat allows for and at 6’-0” I never have room to stretch my legs. Usually this is not a problem because there is some petite young woman sitting next to me and everything works fine. But today I had an even bigger man next to me and we were uncomfortable.

I am saying at a Marriott and I really like their hotels. This one is especially nice and seems very comfortable. I’m about to try out the bed in a few minutes.

The conference should be interesting and I’m sure I’ll learn something but with this being my fifth command I question whether there is perhaps a better way to do some of this. Of course I get paid because I am on AT orders having used all my drills last month. I did however learn that my unit is having travel reimbursement issues following our trip to Italy. I think we got some of the problems straightened out today but others remain. I continue to have a problem with the talk of Core Values on one hand and then a bunch bean counting DK’s and other clerks assuming everyone is trying to get something by on a travel claim. Would I really have spent over $1300 on a hotel if government berthing had been available? I think not.

Highlight of the day: Much more of Harry Potter was read on the plane.