Many business travelers will tell you never to check a bag.  This is typically a true concept for simple trips or very short trips.  But this is typically only true for domestic flights.  It's simply too much work when traveling internationally to worry about bags.  After all you only get one carry on and a personal item.  For my female friends this means a backpack and a purse and that's it!

If you do travel internationally just a little bit of wisdom, especially if you are using different airlines throughout your trip:

- Make sure so hold on to your bag check tag.

This is the little receipt looking paper that you will get from the gate agent when you check your bag.  Make sure to hold on to this receipt, if you lose it they may not be able to find your bag when you make another connection.

Either way, hold on to that tag and don't be too afraid to check, on longer flights it is totally worth the worry-free experience.

Safe travels!

-Brent

Well it's funny that 2011 is almost over.  It's been a long year and a lot has happenned.  Here's looking forward to 2012 and all of the "crazyness" it might bring.

-Brent

I just submitted and completed my final assignment towards my Masters degree in Information Systems.  I'm on a bit of a break now until next year when I continue on a three year journey towards my Doctoral degree.

Wish me luck!

Brent

It's almost a complete chorus....

Gus_Howling.wma

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So Oliver, my mom's Cocker Spaniel turned 3 today.  He LOVES tennis balls.  This is his birthday present video!

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I have been traveling since I was little but ever since I started traveling for work I have become more and more intolerant of people and the bad etiquette we all tend to display while on an airplane.  Hence this post/rant:

1. When boarding your next flight try to understand the plane you will be riding on, the smaller the plane the smaller the bag you should try to cram in the overhead.  Don't bring a huge suitcase on a turboprop, it's not going to fit! Instead, ask the gate agent for a gate check tag at least 10 minutes prior to starting boarding, you hold up the agents, passengers and more importantly all of the connecting passengers who are now waiting for you to carry your bag all the way to the front of the airplane to be gate checked because you didn't prepare ahead of time!
2. Be polite to the flight attendants! Most of them are overworked, tired and putting up with crazy people all day.  Saying your thank you's really helps you and them out.  Always say thank you when leaving, it's just the right thing to do!
3. Don't lean your seat back! Planes today are small enough as is and economy seats are tight and cozy.  We don't need to look at the top of your head for the whole flight.  If it's an international flight kindly ask the poor sap behind you if they mind if you lean your seat back before you just plop you head in their lap.  I don't lean my seat back because personally it doesn't make it any more comfortable than sitting straight up.
4. If you make a mess in the lavatory, please for the love of god clean up after yourself! Someone else is going to want to use that toilet on an 8+ hour flight!

Just some of my ranting from my latest round at multiple airports, multiple flights, all jam packed into a 24 hour time period.

One thing that is often a bit scary is traveling for business for the first time.  I don’t mean driving to a customer in town but rather flying to someplace outside of your comfort zone with people you don’t know and meeting people who you surely don’t know.  Hopefully this post will provide some help and advice on how to keep it all together and what to expect on your journey the first time around.

1.  Planning for your trip is very important.  Spending the time ensuring your reservations are all ready or working with your office designated travel person to work it all out is the first important thing you should do at least two weeks out.  If something goes wrong or comes up it could take two weeks to straighten it all out.  Of course there will always be last minute travels but getting into a routine when traveling can help you when time is not on your side.

2.  Packing, if you leave in the morning make sure everything is packed the night before, nothing hurts more than trying to get stuff ready in the morning when you are still waking up.  Just stay up an hour later and you will be ready to roll out of bed and into the airport.  Make sure you bring a copy of every reservation and confirmation printed out with you.  If something goes wrong anywhere along the line you have the documentation you might need to prove your point.

3.  Be a Frequent Flyer, this doesn’t mean you need to fly all of the time but make sure you get enrolled in the most used airline at your company or the one you fly with most, then make sure you enroll with the rental car company and the hotel.  Most hotels and rental car companies can transfer points/nights to your airline to help you build up miles faster.  From my experience getting elite or whatever status with an airline has far more benefits than status with hotels or rental car companies.  It helps you earn free trips later, free upgrades, etc.

4.  Be Comfortable.  If you are lucky enough to fly out the night before you start working wear comfortable clothes.  This is great for longer flights and when going through airport security and you have to practically undress.

5.  Know the Rules.  Be a good citizen, when you get to the airport know the rules of the road.  If you are doing an overnight make sure your overnight bag has everything packed according to TSA specs, if staying longer, why not check? (More on that later)  Remember a few simple rules:

• Jackets, Coats, etc. all go through the scanner, put them in a bucket on their own.
• Take your shoes off, put them in a bucket or send them through on their own, its ok!
• Your big bags and backpacks don’t need a bucket it takes way too long!
• Your laptop has to go through on its own take it out and put it in its own bucket.
• I usually put my wallet, cell phone, watch, coins, etc. in my backpack before I send it through the scanner.  That way its secure in my bag and its easy to deal with later.

6.  Be Polite.  Delays happen all the time in air travel, many because of weather but regardless you are most likely to sit in the airport on the way out or back home.  Being angry and upset does not help the situation.  The gate agents are already frustrated because of the overload and having another angry passenger doesn’t help.  In fact if you are in need of help its easier to get that help if you are polite and understanding.  Tell the agent to take their time even if you don’t have time they will end up working faster if they feel relaxed.  Your politeness should extend until you return home, be nice to the flight attendants and always thank the cabin crew when you disembark, its just the right thing to do.  After all they did get you home safely.

7.  Get Sleep!  When you travel, especially when meeting with customers being fresh and ready to go is important.  Even though anyone under 25 may still remember the days of partying all night long you simply won’t last doing it here.  Make sure you get enough sleep, get up early enough for at least a light breakfast and then head off to work.

8.  Rental Cars.  This is usually a big problem for anyone under 25.  Every car company will charge you a fee for driving under that age.  It has to do with the fact that most people in that age group are much more prone to having an accident.  When you get to the car counter act professional and the staff will think you are.  It all goes back to number six above.  Make sure you have a credit card to use for the car, make sure you keep your proof of insurance for your regular car with you as most extend to rental cars for a few days.  If you are in a big city like New York or Los Angeles always ask for the GPS option, it will save you in certain situations.  Also ask for EZPass or the electronic toll plate system in the area if they have them, it saves a lot of time and traffic in some situations.  Find a gas place close to the return location or within a certain distance because you will be expected to return a full tank.  Overall treat the car just like your own, that would be a heck of a bill to walk away with if you damaged the car.

9.  Phone Home.  Make sure you call home when you get back to the hotel at night.  By doing so you tell your girlfriend/wife/parents that you are still alive and safe at the hotel.  Plus since you may be all by yourself in the room some human interaction is always a good thing.

10.  After your home.  When you get home the first thing you should do is handle the paperwork your little excursion has generated.  File your expenses as soon as all of the bills are available.  Some companies will not reimburse after a certain time period.  Also make sure if the company paid for the car, hotel or airfare you get them the receipts.  You don’t want to be on the bad side of the people who helped setup and plan your trip as they may not be so willing to help next time.

Note on checked bags:

Historically checking your bag has not been a good thing as bags are lost, damaged, etc.  However as some may know checked bags are now charged an additional fee which has some inclined to take giant bags through security.  The lines to check bags are relatively short and since there are less bags being checked theoretically your odds of loosing your bag are actually higher.  However, from my experience two things happen.  First checking your bag is not a big deal unless you are connecting somewhere for another flight, especially if that connection is missed or delayed, so plan for that.  However if you are flying directly or have a connection with a big layover checking a bag seems to work pretty well and gives you one less thing to have to worry about.  Plus with the airline status you will be earning some bag fees are waived at certain levels.  In addition the line has become huge in the jet way where everyone who decided to bring their bag in the cabin is waiting because there is physically not enough room in the overhead bins for all of the giant roller bags, so instead they are gate checked where there is absolutely no identification placed on the bag other than what you put on it.  At least with a checked bag the durable airline tags are applied with lots of identifiable information.

So there it is my top ten things to keep in mind while traveling.  Please send in any comments or disagreements.  Just remember this post is focused for those new to the work force who will be lucky enough to travel at an early age.

See you at Terminal 1 in RDU!

-Brent

Yet again another funny professor has posted some humor over the various roles in an IT Shop… enjoy:

1. Programmer: This person holds the lowest rank in the field.  Manages no one. Answers to everyone.  Approximately 50% of the Programmer's time is scheduled for testing.  Another 50% is spent filling out time cards and progress reports.  Any time left over is spent attending classes on technologies that will never be used in the shop. The Programmer is appraised on code quality and reliability. Never has time to write any. Hopes to, someday, be promoted to Systems Analyst.
2. Systems Analyst: The Systems Analyst refuses to code anymore. Designs new systems. Writes specs for new systems.  Devises procedures and work flows for new systems but ends up training users on how to get by with the old ones.  Next in line for Team Leader position.
3. Team Leader: A Team Leader manages one project.  Doesn't know why he's not called Project Leader;  that's what he has on his resume.
4. Project Leader: Manages several projects at once.  Analyzes Gantt charts from the Team Leaders' projects.  Coordinates schedules from the Team Leaders' projects.  Monitors deliverables from the Team Leaders' projects. Has absolutely no idea what any of the Team Leaders' projects are about. Wants to be a programmer again.
5. Operator: The Operator wields powers that the Project Leader can only dream about.  Makes Programmers beg for tape drives.  Makes Analysts beg for disk space.  Makes Team Leaders beg for printouts.  Has an uncanny understanding of career potential in the data processing industry. Going to law school at night.
6. Senior Engineer: been around so long that you are one of the few people who designed the cooling systems for IBMs first mainframes.  Has had to try and keep up with emerging technologies that they are teaching kids in elementary school these days.  Has all the responsibility and no authority.  Has to beg for money for IT projects with large architectural documents and business cases only to get told when the year budget comes up that they need to justify why they needed the money that was agreed to in the first place.  Responsible for Keeping 1-10 happy and designing the magic pixy dust solution.
7. Systems Programmer: Even an Operator wants to be a Systems Programmer.  A Systems Programmer has the authority to wipe out disk packs without warning. Crash the system during user demos.  Make new releases appear, then disappear, then reappear again, especially during month-end processing.
8. DBA: No one really knows what the Database Administrator does, and no one is smart enough to know if the DBA is doing it or not. But every shop must have one DBA, because no place can afford two of them.
9. Manager: The Manager is sometimes called a Director.  Or an Assistant Vice-President.  Or an Account Manager.  Has completely lost  touch with any facsimile of technology.  Wants to finish next year's budget. Wants to finish last year's appraisals.  Wants to learn the names of some of the Programmers.  But instead, only has time to interview job applicants, especially DBAs. 
10. Design architect: A programmer that does not fit the role as a manager, but has the most knowledge of the product.  Typically takes long vacations or sabbaticals and is always given credit for the entire product.  In reality only fixes or solves a single issue.
11. Department Secretary: The Programmers have word processing.  The Managers have electronic mail.  Everyone has automatic phone messaging. This leaves the Department Secretary with all kinds of time to manipulate, control and dispense the three most basic employee needs:  paychecks, rumors, and supplies.  Can make a copier self-destruct just by going to lunch.
12. Contract Programmer: A Contract Programmer doesn't have to wear a nice suit.  Or go to meetings.  Or fill out time cards.  Or keep complaints to himself.  He can make all the mistakes he wants.  He doesn't get benefits.  He doesn't get training.  He doesn't get respect. But after years in the trenches, the Contract Programmer will finally achieve the ultimate goal in the profession. He will be able to make impossible deadlines with inadequate resources for desperate managers by putting in all kinds of extra hours... and will be paid overtime for every one of them.

-Brent