Travel Diary; Do you know the way to San Jose? I do
So if you haven’t noticed, I haven’t been traveling much lately, which is actually fine with me. As much as I love dealing with the TSA, rental cars and room service, I’d much rather stay close to home.
However, this week called for a little road trip, so off I went to lovely (so not) San Jose.
First class Soutwest style…sort of -In case you missed the commercials, Southwest has a new business Business Select pricing to go along with their new ‘A-list’ rewards program. The long and short of it is this, you pay more, but not a lot more and get automatic ‘A’ boarding group and a free drink coupon. The only thing that makes this worth it is if you forget to check in or can’t, you’re still in ‘A’ vs in up front in a middle seat surrounded by screaming kids. I’ll take it.
Some things never change- For all their advances with seating, boarding groups and amateur comedian flight attendants, Southwest still can’t seem to get anywhere on time. Nothing like a 45 min delay to start your trip.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day- I’ve railed loud and long about my distaste for Avis and they’re ‘not trying harder’ customer service. Today however, my name was on the big board where it’s supposed to be and my car was less than a 1/4 mile away, I even got an upgrade to a Chrysler 300…saweeeet!
Sometimes the stars align…in my favor -My travels can take me literally anywhere in the US and frequently a 2-3 hour plane ride is just the beginning, as a 30-60 mile trek to the hotel/company site from the airport is not unheard of. This time however, 10 mins after leaving Avis I pulled into the Marriott right next door to Yahoo’s headquarters. No sign of Bill Gates and his cronies.
CPK is once again A-OK- One of my favorite airport restaurants in California Pizza Kitchen. A little Thai Chicken Pizza and Diet Coke is frequently good for my weary travelers soul. Today was such a day. As Hannibal from the A-team used to say ‘I love it when a plan comes together’.
Well that’s about it for this little adventure. If all goes well (fingers crossed), I’ll be home in time for dinner. Until next time, I’m off to the ‘A’ boarding group.
Thinning the corporate herd Pt II; The Big Stink
Last week I wrote about the recent suspensions of 39 Whirlpool employees. Today comes some clarification from Whirlpool on their policy as well as news on what other companies are doing.
First off, there were some who sided with the Whirlpool employees claiming that people aren’t capable of remembering what they may have signed when they were first hired and that it wasn’t fair for Whirlpool to suspend the employees who now years later were in violation. I called bullsh*t on this one. We all sign various documents when we get hired and employers always provide copies, so there’s no confusion. Now word today from Whirlpool that they require employees to confirm their tobacco status annually as part of their annual benefits program. Man I love being right. Sorry smokers, time to pay the piper. As Alison Earles, an attorney and chief executive of ACE Ideas, an Atlanta-based consulting firm that specializes in wellness incentive programs notes, ‘Providing false information when signing up for any insurance plan is considered fraud’.
Interestingly enough the Tribune Co, which owns the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Cubs, and other companies, just this week announced that they were canceling their 4 month old tobacco surcharge program and will refund all fees incurred by their employees citing that the policy was “inconsistent with the new culture”. “We’d rather you use your own judgment when it comes to tobacco use, not impose ours upon you,” Gerry Spector, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, said in an e-mail to employees. Um..OK..I guess.
Across the board the debate rages on with companies like Black and Decker instituting a tobacco surcharge and others declining to. We’ve likely not heard the end of this one.
Until next time…
Casual Dress Friday: Summer Movies
Alright boys and girls, next weekend officially kicks off summer movie season. With that in mind I thought we’d have a little discussion on which movie(s) you’re most looking forward to this summer.
Next weekend we get started with: the comic super hero Iron Man and the romantic comedy Made of Honor, the following week we get cartoon turned big screen offering Speed Racer. Later this summer we’ll also get the Indiana Jones sequel, the next Batman Chapter and scores of others. So which ones are you most looking forward to?
As for me, my top 3 would include; Speed Racer (loved it as a kid), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and The Dark Knight, with the Will Smith comedy Hancock getting an honorable mention. So let me know what you think.
Until next time…
