Saturday, June 8, 2013

June 6, 2013: Des Moines, the way the Rich and Famous do It

It all started on Tuesday, when I got a routine question:  could I be in a meeting in Des Moines on Thursday?  Sure.  It's a 3-hour drive so I figured there'd be an overnight, but I can do that.  I realized this would be different when they told me whom to contact to get added to the manifest and requested my weight.  That's when I started to get excited.

The trip took off from Charles B. Wheeler Airport, also known in these parts as The Downtown Airport, and known everywhere else as MKC.  I'd never flown out of this one before but my Dad had, as a business traveler in the 1960s, which made it a special destination for me.  It was an easy trip, only 6 miles from the office and I got there with some time to play tourist and get some pictures.  Below is the view of the skyline from the tarmac.



Before my colleagues arrived I had the copilot snap this shot of me at the door of the plane.

Wheels up was at 10:30 AM, as scheduled.  I had sent the pdf of my itinerary to a fellow airplane geek and he had looked up the tail number.  He identified the Beechcraft model number and suggested that I might want to bring foam earplugs in case the cabin was noisy.  I brought my Bose phones and was sitting with them clipped around my neck, turned off, like a good little Sheeple, and realized I was waiting for the captain to turn off the Fasten Seat Belt sign to turn them on.  smiley: embarassed  I turned them on.

I settled back and watched podcasts for the flight, which was less than an hour, then discreetly tucked my camera into my computer bag so I wouldn't walk into the client meeting looking like a tourist.  The meeting went well and our team  was pleased with the company's interest in our proposal. 

We got back in time to leave 15 minutes earlier than scheduled.  No problem- they could do that.  Goodbye, Des Moines.  I watched the clouds and the cornfields and listened to classic rock music.


 
And hello, Kansas City.


I drove back to work, checked my e-mails again, changed into Spandex and headed out to the local corporate athletic events, where I finished the 800 meter faster than last year (4:29) but not faster than the boss (2:15).  Always good to let the boss win.

No comments:

Post a Comment