On the road again, I'm on the road again...
My travel schedule has officially started up and I am in full swing. I just finished a trip to Dallas. I'll be in Abilene next week and then back to Lexington for a week. This trip to Dallas was very good. I met with some great alumni of the University as well as I got to see some friends in the evening.
However, my trip did not start out the greatest. I had to get up at 4:15 a.m. on Tuesday morning to make my 6:50 a.m. flight. There are no mid-morning flights to DFW from LEX. There is 6:50 a.m. or 1:00 p.m., so there you have it...I guess better get use to getting up at 4:15 a.m. huh? Once I am up and showered I am good to go, although I crashed pretty early on Tuesday night.
So I got to the airport and was going through security when I took my shoes off and went down to pick them up and realized they were BROWN!! I was wearing black pants and a hound’s-tooth sweater...yikes!! I have two pair of the same shoes, one brown and one black. You see what happened is I didn’t want to wake Aaron up so I spent most of my time getting ready in the dark, so it is easy to see how it happened. Luckily I had a pair of zebra flats with me. The hound’s-tooth and zebra prints probably looked horrible together, but I guess it's better than brown shoes with a black outfit :)
When I got to Dallas I stood off to the side of the jet bridge to pick up my suitcase which I gate checked in Lexington. I grab my bag and took off up the jet bridge when I'm thinking to myself, "Man, my suitcase sure is hard to pull!" About that time I hear a man behind me saying, "Miss, Miss, you lost your wheel." Sure enough one of my wheels fell off of my suitcase. I am quite certain that I looked ridiculous trying to balance my suitcase on the other 3 wheels and roll it through the airport. I made a quick trip to TJ Maxx to get a new suitcase and I was off again.
Like I said I did not have the best start to my trip to the Big D, but after I got going it ended up being a very successful trip.
Tune in next week as my life on the road takes me to Abilene!
Erin
Oh and just a side note: Aaron and are getting married in less than 5 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Bobby Humphrey
Note to self...do not blog about your travel experiences until you trip is complete!
I had a very exciting experience on the plane ride home last night. Well...exiciting for me because I love football!! I was sitting in my seat on the airplane and a man sat down next to me (across the isle) and asked me if I was an Alabama fan. I said no I was rooting for the Longhorns. He said, "Oh I thought because of your crimson coat you were a fan." I said, "No I just like red." We began to make small talk and I asked him if he had gone to the game and he said he had. After he told me that he was from Birmingham, AL I asked why he was going to Lexington. He told me that his son and family were at University of Kentucky because his son is being recruited to play football. I asked what his son's last name was so that if he did come to UK I would look out for him. He said it's Humphrey.
At this point in the conversation I had a feeling this guy was a football player. So I asked if he played and he told me he played for Alabama. Then I asked if he played pro and he told me he did and that he was taken in the first round by the Denver Broncos in 1989.
For all of you football fans out there here are few statics about Bobby Humphrey. In his four seasons playing for the Crimson Tide, Humphrey rushed for 3,420 yards, caught 60 passes for 523 yards, and scored 40 touchdowns. He made the College Football All-America Team in 1986 and 1987. In 1986, he set a school record with 1,471 rushing yards. In 1987, he was voted as UPI's offensive player of the year and finished 10th in the Heisman Trophy balloting. During his rookie season in the NFL, he rushed for 1,151 yards and seven touchdowns for the Broncos as they qualified for Super Bowl XXIV, but were defeated 55-10 by the San Francisco 49ers. Humphrey, however, played well, finishing the game as the Broncos leader in both rushing (61 yards) and receiving (31 yards). He followed his impressive rookie performance with a Pro Bowl selection in 1990, rushing for 1,202 yards and seven touchdowns in 1990. He played in 1992 and 1993 for the Miami Dolphins. Pretty cool huh?!?!?
Bobby and I talked the entire 2 hours and 5 minutes of the flight about everything in life from his wife and five children (3 boys and 2 girls), my upcoming marriage, our jobs, religion, football and more! Bobby shared with me his run in with drugs, alcohol, the law and getting shot while playing for the Miami Dolphins and how he nearly lost his wife during that time. He told me that when the drugs and alcohol could not fulfill him anymore he turned to the Lord and got his life back on track. He and his wife have started a non-profit organization in Birmingham called Speed City to get inner city kids involved in a track program.
At the end of the flight Bobby and I exchanged business cards. I told him that if his son chose to go to school at Kentucky that we would love to have he and his family over for dinner. Since I gate checked my bag I had to wait in the jet bridge for it. Bobby actually waited for me in the terminal so we could walk out together. I saw that as a prime opportunity to go ahead and get his autograph, which I'm sure made his day!!
I learned something very valuable during my flight home last night. Always be willing to have a conversation with the person seated next to you on an airplane...you never know what kind of story you will have to tell.
I had a very exciting experience on the plane ride home last night. Well...exiciting for me because I love football!! I was sitting in my seat on the airplane and a man sat down next to me (across the isle) and asked me if I was an Alabama fan. I said no I was rooting for the Longhorns. He said, "Oh I thought because of your crimson coat you were a fan." I said, "No I just like red." We began to make small talk and I asked him if he had gone to the game and he said he had. After he told me that he was from Birmingham, AL I asked why he was going to Lexington. He told me that his son and family were at University of Kentucky because his son is being recruited to play football. I asked what his son's last name was so that if he did come to UK I would look out for him. He said it's Humphrey.
At this point in the conversation I had a feeling this guy was a football player. So I asked if he played and he told me he played for Alabama. Then I asked if he played pro and he told me he did and that he was taken in the first round by the Denver Broncos in 1989.
For all of you football fans out there here are few statics about Bobby Humphrey. In his four seasons playing for the Crimson Tide, Humphrey rushed for 3,420 yards, caught 60 passes for 523 yards, and scored 40 touchdowns. He made the College Football All-America Team in 1986 and 1987. In 1986, he set a school record with 1,471 rushing yards. In 1987, he was voted as UPI's offensive player of the year and finished 10th in the Heisman Trophy balloting. During his rookie season in the NFL, he rushed for 1,151 yards and seven touchdowns for the Broncos as they qualified for Super Bowl XXIV, but were defeated 55-10 by the San Francisco 49ers. Humphrey, however, played well, finishing the game as the Broncos leader in both rushing (61 yards) and receiving (31 yards). He followed his impressive rookie performance with a Pro Bowl selection in 1990, rushing for 1,202 yards and seven touchdowns in 1990. He played in 1992 and 1993 for the Miami Dolphins. Pretty cool huh?!?!?
Bobby and I talked the entire 2 hours and 5 minutes of the flight about everything in life from his wife and five children (3 boys and 2 girls), my upcoming marriage, our jobs, religion, football and more! Bobby shared with me his run in with drugs, alcohol, the law and getting shot while playing for the Miami Dolphins and how he nearly lost his wife during that time. He told me that when the drugs and alcohol could not fulfill him anymore he turned to the Lord and got his life back on track. He and his wife have started a non-profit organization in Birmingham called Speed City to get inner city kids involved in a track program.
At the end of the flight Bobby and I exchanged business cards. I told him that if his son chose to go to school at Kentucky that we would love to have he and his family over for dinner. Since I gate checked my bag I had to wait in the jet bridge for it. Bobby actually waited for me in the terminal so we could walk out together. I saw that as a prime opportunity to go ahead and get his autograph, which I'm sure made his day!!
I learned something very valuable during my flight home last night. Always be willing to have a conversation with the person seated next to you on an airplane...you never know what kind of story you will have to tell.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Convulsions and the French
Well I've finally decided to start my own blog. I guess you could say I've jumped on the bandwagon. I need to send a shout out to my friends Dodie and Travis Crisman for blogging about their recent move to Connecticut. And Staci Patyrak for blogging about her exercise and weight loss program. These blogs have been an encouragement for me to step into the blogging world.
So what am I going to blog about you ask? If you know me and you've seen the movie Up in the Air you know that I might be blogging about my life on the road as a traveling consultant/development officer. I realize my title is not the most original, but it is very appropriate.
As I currently sit in the airport at DFW after a full day of a Staff Conference I cannot help but reflect on the very interesting characters that I run into as I travel. I see this blog as an opportunity to share my sometimes funny and sometimes not so funny encounters I face in the life of traveling. I only wish I would have thought of this sooner, because let me tell you I have some pretty good stories for you. But nonetheless I will start from this trip and share my stories that will make you laugh, shake you head or maybe just say "What in the world!"
Although this trip has been rather uneventful there was something kind of funny that happened as I was en route from Lexington to DFW. First things first I must describe to you the type of air craft I was on. I was flying on a Regional Jet that has about 16 rows with two seats on the right side and one seat on the left. It is what you would say "close quarters." Depending on my mood I will try and start conversation with my my fellow passenger. So a guy that looks like he is about my age sits next to me. I decided to ask him where he was headed. He was a baseball coach for Georgetown College and was headed to a coaches conference. But that was about all he had to say, so I guess he didn’t want to visit :)! About mid way through the flight he falls asleep with his head against the window. The next thing I know he is convulsing!! If any of you have dogs and have ever seen a dog running it it's sleep that is kind of what this guy looked like. His mouth was wide open but moving at the same time. One time his hand jerked up so hard, he almost hit me!!! He never woke up...it was pretty amusing!!
Insert: As I am typing this a man just walked by on his cell phone screaming to "Tell that B*tch to shut the F*ck up I can’t hear a D*mn thing you're saying!!!" What did I tell you, there are some real characters out there!!
Ok back to my flight to DFW...when we landed I had to stand off to the side on the jet bridge because I gate checked my bag. (Yeah that's right the plane was so small that even carry on approved bags will not fit in the over head bins.) As I (and other passengers) moved off to the side there were two men with wheel chairs waiting for the two people who told the flight attendant that they needed assistance. The passengers were placed in their wheelchairs and one takes off. Then I over heard this woman with a very thick French accent begin to say something. I begin to pay attention to what she is saying, or trying to say! She says, "I am French!" And then begins speaking in complete French. The very kind man trying to push the other wheel chair says, "I don’t speak French." He sort of looks around hoping someone (in Dallas, TX mind you) speaks French. The French woman then points to an empty wheel chair and the man says, "Do you need a wheel chair?" The woman says "Ok thank you." He try’s to say something else to her just to have her begin speak in French again. He says, "You need a wheel chair?" And she says "Ok thank you." I must add right here that the woman seemed completely capable of walking herself off the jet bridge, I am wondering if she saw the other people getting a ride in the wheel chair and thought WOW those Americans are so nice, they give everyone a ride in a wheel chair! I proceeded to grab my bag go on my way. I wonder if she got a ride in that wheel chair!?!
Well I hope you enjoyed my first blog. My travel is not too heavy right now, but I will be en route to Texas again in a couple of weeks so check back for more exciting stories of my travels Up in the Air.
So what am I going to blog about you ask? If you know me and you've seen the movie Up in the Air you know that I might be blogging about my life on the road as a traveling consultant/development officer. I realize my title is not the most original, but it is very appropriate.
As I currently sit in the airport at DFW after a full day of a Staff Conference I cannot help but reflect on the very interesting characters that I run into as I travel. I see this blog as an opportunity to share my sometimes funny and sometimes not so funny encounters I face in the life of traveling. I only wish I would have thought of this sooner, because let me tell you I have some pretty good stories for you. But nonetheless I will start from this trip and share my stories that will make you laugh, shake you head or maybe just say "What in the world!"
Although this trip has been rather uneventful there was something kind of funny that happened as I was en route from Lexington to DFW. First things first I must describe to you the type of air craft I was on. I was flying on a Regional Jet that has about 16 rows with two seats on the right side and one seat on the left. It is what you would say "close quarters." Depending on my mood I will try and start conversation with my my fellow passenger. So a guy that looks like he is about my age sits next to me. I decided to ask him where he was headed. He was a baseball coach for Georgetown College and was headed to a coaches conference. But that was about all he had to say, so I guess he didn’t want to visit :)! About mid way through the flight he falls asleep with his head against the window. The next thing I know he is convulsing!! If any of you have dogs and have ever seen a dog running it it's sleep that is kind of what this guy looked like. His mouth was wide open but moving at the same time. One time his hand jerked up so hard, he almost hit me!!! He never woke up...it was pretty amusing!!
Insert: As I am typing this a man just walked by on his cell phone screaming to "Tell that B*tch to shut the F*ck up I can’t hear a D*mn thing you're saying!!!" What did I tell you, there are some real characters out there!!
Ok back to my flight to DFW...when we landed I had to stand off to the side on the jet bridge because I gate checked my bag. (Yeah that's right the plane was so small that even carry on approved bags will not fit in the over head bins.) As I (and other passengers) moved off to the side there were two men with wheel chairs waiting for the two people who told the flight attendant that they needed assistance. The passengers were placed in their wheelchairs and one takes off. Then I over heard this woman with a very thick French accent begin to say something. I begin to pay attention to what she is saying, or trying to say! She says, "I am French!" And then begins speaking in complete French. The very kind man trying to push the other wheel chair says, "I don’t speak French." He sort of looks around hoping someone (in Dallas, TX mind you) speaks French. The French woman then points to an empty wheel chair and the man says, "Do you need a wheel chair?" The woman says "Ok thank you." He try’s to say something else to her just to have her begin speak in French again. He says, "You need a wheel chair?" And she says "Ok thank you." I must add right here that the woman seemed completely capable of walking herself off the jet bridge, I am wondering if she saw the other people getting a ride in the wheel chair and thought WOW those Americans are so nice, they give everyone a ride in a wheel chair! I proceeded to grab my bag go on my way. I wonder if she got a ride in that wheel chair!?!
Well I hope you enjoyed my first blog. My travel is not too heavy right now, but I will be en route to Texas again in a couple of weeks so check back for more exciting stories of my travels Up in the Air.
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