Insurance Agencies of the Future
On Friday, May 29, 2009, our group piled into our rented van and trekked off to Madrid, NM. This is an artist colony in the mountains southeast of Santa Fe about 20 miles. No signal lights or stop signs in this little town.
A 2 lane highway goes through the middle of town and each side is lined with shops, restaurants, one bar, a mine museum and homes. This is the town where Wild Hogs with John Travolta was shot and it looks the same after that event as it did before.
Not dancing but cooking. Before I became an insurance nerd and later an insurance geek I was a home economics major. Cooking is one of the things I really like to do. When I am home I cook as many meals as possible.
When considering what to do while in Santa Fe I thought about a cooking class. My traveling companions said they weren’t interested so I chose the Salsas class as it fit our schedule the best and it was a hands-on class. I had not taken a cooking class since my college days but have wanted to for a very long time. What a really fun time I had. Gene came in close to the end of the class and got this picture of our Chef/Instructor, Rocky Durham. Two of my team mates are shown to my left. The lady with the bowl is from Los Alamos, NM and this was her second class at the school. The gentleman to her left is from Alabama. His wife thought he should take this class while she was shopping. Our other team member was a lady from Dallas. Funny how the two ladies from Texas found each other right off.
A few months ago a couple that has been life long friends with Gene and that I meet and joined in this friendship a few years ago asked us to meet them in Santa Fe for a few days. They were meeting his sister and her husband here for several days. We have never traveled with any of these people before and hardly know our friends relatives but we said it sounded like fun, I love Santa Fe and I thought I really needed a few days away.
We have had so much fun. When we arrived on Tuesday evening we picked them up and went to Tomasita’s for our first New Mexican meal of the trip and a planning session.
HuTongs (simplified Chinese: 胡同; : 衚衕; pinyin: hútòng) are narrow streets or alleys, most commonly associated with Beijing, China. In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods.
The Great Wall of China was the first adventure of our first day of touring in Beijing. Pictured here is the steepest section of the Great Wall at the location we explored. Gene went part of the way up this section while I explored at a lower elevation. The pictures shared here just won’t do the Great Wall justice. In every direction you look from this vantage point there is the great wall. The views are stunning.
Gene and I left home Saturday morning, October 25, at 3:30AM in order to catch a 6:00AM plane to Chicago on our first leg of our journey to China. Our plane to Shanghai left Chicago at 10:35AM. Some 13 1/2 hours later we arrived in Shanghai. Customs was surprisingly quick and easy, we secured luggage, exchanged US dollars for a wad of Chinese money I have yet to master. We have traveled long distances before with flights of 8 and 11 hours so the length of this flight wasn’t anything we weren’t prepared for. The challenge at this point was that we had a layover in Shanghai of 7 hours before being able to fly to Beijing. Poor choice of connections on my part it seems.
I always get the window seat on the airplane. It is important to me as a traveler to see what I am leaving, where I am arriving and as much as possible in between. Last week (October 6, 2009) I traveled to Utica, New York, and my view did not disappoint. The flight from Chicago to Albany was a wonderful viewing experience. I have experienced fall foliage in Utah and on a particularly wonderful Sunday several years ago along the Hudson River north of White Plains, New York. But seeing this display from the window of your airplane is another matter. The view actually looks like a patch work quilt.
I finally broke down last week (October 13, 2008) and ordered a new Kindle to replace the lost Kindle. Somehow I could not imagine traveling to China and back without reading material. And, I am certainly not using precious clothing and shoe space for carrying books. Anyway, the replacement Kindle has arrived, been matched up with it new pink gel, old publications loaded and new books purchased.
In the last two weeks I have had great business travel in two different cities. These two cities are as different as any two cities can be. Last week I spent 4 days in Albuquerque, NM. I always feel so restored when I am in Albuquerque. The pace of life is a bit slower, there are mountains, there is soothing music, beautiful sunsets and then there are the hot air balloons in the sky each day. I started last weeks trip with a massage upon arrival in Albuquerque. Then moved on to a really quite dinner and then back to my hotel. It was so relaxing to begin my week in this way. I was energized for the meetings and challenges that lay ahead. The meetings for the week went well, there were other great dinners with friends and a girl’s shopping trip on Wednesday evening. I returned home on Thursday evening less exhausted than usual and ready to spend the next few days completing documents for this client and preparing for the next.
However, Friday morning brought a phone call that propelled me into going to New York on the spur of the moment. I don’t believe that I can go to New York too many times. I love it for all the opposite reasons as Albuquerque. I love the rush of the city, the many cultures, the many food options, the smells, the crowds, all of it. I enjoy walking from my hotel to the office each day. So I left on Sunday morning, arrived early afternoon, enjoyed a great lunch in Bryant Park’s open café and just enjoyed the afternoon in the park. The weather was incredible. Clear blue skys, 72 degrees. My meetings went very well, enjoyed several great meals as some new places and some of my favorite places. Now at the same time I was in New York, the United Nations was having their opening sessions. On Tuesday, President Bush was speaking. When the UN is in session, traffic is challenged to say the least. So leaving on Tuesday afternoon was longer than expected. So I was a little stressed about making my plane, but La Guardia was amazingly empty and quick moving. Our plane left on time and arrived at 58 minutes early. Our gate was available and there was a ground crew in place when we arrived at the gate. I would like to mention here that our pilot and co-pilot were both women. So my theory here is to find out which flights are piloted by women and my flying life will be better.
Being able to visit wonderful cities such as these is why I like doing work that involves travel. These types of weeks are The Glamour of the Road.
The life of a road warrior gives you many opportunities to lose your stuff. Over the years I have been extremely fortunate. The lost sweater at the hotel in San Antonio was recovered same day it was left in the room. As far as I can remember that is the only thing of value that has been lost or almost lost over the years. I mis-place things all the time. I don’t always carry the same equipment on each trip or always use the same brief case, therefore, I sometimes forget what is where, but the stuff always turns up. I occasionally have this problem with clothing and accessories too. I am now traveling with one of the “real” books that I had before the Kindle so that I have reading material. But what am I going to do about China? Adding heavy books to my luggage will be taking up part of the precious limited weight limit for my clothing. Reading material is mandatory for such a lengthy trip. What a dilemma. Another event in my life of travel that I call The Glamour of the Road.
I recently received an Amazon.com gift certificate for my birthday. I have been wanting a sturdier cover for my Kindle. So just before I left for Fargo I ordered the cover of my dreams and decided to also add a gel to further protect the devise from abuse. When I was packing for my trip to Albuquerque last Sunday I discovered the Kindle was not in the bag I had carried to Fargo. I checked by the bed to be sure I hadn’t taken it out when I got home and just forgotten. No such luck. I knew contacting the airline was in vain, but I had to give it a shot. After going through the process, the Kindle has not appeared. Now I have accessories for the Kindle but it seems the Kindle is gone and I am having Kindle withdrawal. So you ask, “Why don’t you just order a new one?”
Many blogs say Amazon will be releasing Kindle 2.0 in October 2008, however, Amazon is saying no. Of course they are saying no. They still have inventory of the current version to sell. What is a girl to do? If a newer, better model is just a few weeks away, why buy the old model? If the new verions doesn’t come out until sometime next year, can I really wait that long for my reading companion? I have come to depend on my Kindle for travel, doctor’s office visits and bedtime reading at home.
