Hello RedStaters, annnddd, Thank God it’s Friday!  Welcome to the Water Cooler, always an Open Thread.

Nashville (Spicing Up Biz Travel)

I just got back from a 3-day trip to Nashville TN (oh, there’s a few of you out there!  I could hear the cheering through the internet).  I was not excited about going.  Since I would be working, and the event was in the same venue as the accommodations, I would be beaming in and out, not really seeing the place.   A solution: I searched for “rental bike” in Nashville, and found they have one of the automated rental systems that are being installed in more and more cities around the world.  I did some quick research for bike-friendly routes and was ready to go.  After I finished working day two, I changed clothes and uber’ed my way 2 miles to the rental kiosk, paid $5 for a 24-hour pass, and headed out.  Followed “Greenway” trails out east along the Cumberland and Stone rivers, swung back west through East Nashville and then into Nashville proper.

Saw nature, the local trees, birds, and water; locals out walking; the city skyline, music-themed bars and restaurants, etc.  Many hours later I dropped the bike off at a different kiosk by Nissan Stadium (go Tennessee Titans!!) after watching the fireworks display at “WAY too close” range.  A quick and easy uber and I was back to my conference venue.

The bike is a perfect pace – covers much more ground than running, and unlike a car/taxi, it’s easy to stop wherever and whenever (for that selfie with a wax Johnny Cash, the brass Jack Daniels statue, or the confluence of the two local rivers.  Now I feel like I’ve seen the place and have an appreciation for it, and I got some exercise versus following the crowd to the bars.  I will look to replicate this experience on future trips.

An Airline Boarding Solution 

My usual for air travel is a window seat, not over the wing, and not looking into the sun – since I’m a WingNut! this optimizes the viewing (not restroom access).  I haven’t figured out how to have a suit arrive in usable condition with everything else if I don’t check a bag, so I check one and have a laptop bag I can and do keep under the seat in front of me.  But many people bring a “carry on” that you could pack your bedroom into, and then the boarding process includes sparring between passengers as they inevitably discover that there is too much baggage for the overhead bins.  And I observe that airlines load the premium passengers in front first so that the bin space is not taken by the masses that fill the rest of the plane.  Airlines – a solution for you: Let non-bin-using window people/groups (and middle-middle people on the widebodies) on the plane first.  You can announce it just like that!  “We are now boarding class ‘cattle window and middle-middle’ who will use underseat storage ONLY.  We MOOOOve our way in and sit down.  Nobody has to get up to get out of our way (which blocks the aisle), and we won’t use up your precious bin space.  Then do your normal drill.  You will have a lot less aisle clogging going on.  And, you might even encourage more people to check a bag instead of trying to force a piano crate into an over-committed overhead bin.  Just a thought.

Gratitude

Do you have it?  Can you share it?  Everybody who is in a position to read this article has so much to be thankful for.  Be thankful and spread some love around!!

Cheers, and Peace Out!