Tag Archives: IBM Travel

IBM Travel

MY First WW Trips

Leave a comment

First Trips

New Job – November 2014

I took a new job in November 2014. My new job is a Worldwide role, which means I now have responsibility for a piece of business globally. On the day I was offered the job, I was asked to fly to Australia – possibly the longest trip I can make from Peoria. Get ready – GO! Then, we decided to go through one of the biggest reorganizations in IBM’s history. That explains why I haven’t updated my web site in a while.

The good news about this new job is that I am now traveling around the globe, quite literally. So, I will have lots of pictures and stories to share. The bad news is that my updates will likely be sporadic. My plan is to post short segments here on this page. Continue reading MY First WW Trips →

IBM Travel

Hursley 2014 – Road to Oxford

Leave a comment

Saturday, October 4 – Heading to Oxford

After a great day in Bath, we headed toward Oxford. On Amir’s advice, we took a more scenic route from Bath to Oxford. That gave us a chance to see the beautiful countryside of rural England.

It didn’t take long before we noticed a picturesque field that we thought would be good for a couple shots. We decided to pull over at what looked like a farm lane. As Amir turned into the farm lane, the road disappeared from under us and Amir says, “Oh Shit!” Next thing we saw was hedges on both sides of a very narrow, steep, one-way farm lane. All I could think of is whether we missed the no trespassing sign at the top of the hill. Fortunately, about half way down the hill, Amir found a path he was able to squeeze the car into so we could get out and take a few shots. Continue reading Hursley 2014 – Road to Oxford →

IBM Travel

Hursley 2014 – Oxford & Beyond

Leave a comment

Sunday, October 5 – Oxford

After finding our way out of the queues at Blenheim Palace grounds, we scurried over to Oxford to check out the sites. We did have to wait a while to escape the grounds because everyone decided to leave around the same time. It reminded me of the concert we went to in Tinley Park. The difference is that the Brits had a plan and executed it. We only waited about 30 minutes before moving along. It was lunch time when we arrived in Oxford, so we had to find a pub for a couple pints and some food at The Cape of Good Hope. My cousin Teesi gives it a thumbs up, so it must be good. I would recommend it to anyone lunching in Oxford.

Walking down the street in Oxford, you see these very old buildings that seem like they’ve been here forever.
We were not allowed into any of the colleges because it was freshman orientation day; school is beginning. But they let us take a couple shots from the doorway.
Who else remembers Boyle’s Law? Only those who took science in college.

Continue reading Hursley 2014 – Oxford & Beyond →

IBM Travel

Trip to Orient – Feb 2012

Leave a comment

Trip to the Orient

In February 2012, I was given the opportunity to travel to the Orient for IBM; China & Japan to be precise. Going to Shanghai and Tokyo for a two weeks on business was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

To China

Our trip to the orient didn’t start off well at all. As we arrived in the Chicago airport my colleague, Terry, and I were greeted with two flight delays then the ultimate cancellation due to equipment failure. On the positive side of things, it’s always best to have equipment failure on the ground before you take off. But that put our arrival in China behind by a day.

Rebooking my flight was an adventure. After a long wait in line behind one of those difficult customers, I walked up to the counter and proudly said that I would be easy to deal with because I had flexibility in my travel. Wrong. Because I used airline awards to subsidize my upgrade to business class, the airline automatically rebooked me on another flight to Shanghai in business class. Their route was going to take me from Chicago to Newark to Paris to Shanghai.

The gracious host in the Admiral’s club worked on options for almost 30 minutes before we settled on the two best choices. I was tired so it took me a while to decide which option was best. The first option was fly business class Chicago to London (8 hr) with a 6 hr layover then to Shanghai (11 hr) arriving on Saturday at 9:30 am China time. Option two was to stay in Chicago overnight and fly out on the original 10:30 flight to China (14 hr) but in coach. You probably did the math in your head a lot faster than it took me. (I said I was tired) Right, 25 hours travel time in business class versus 14 in coach but with a full night’s sleep in a free hotel. Continue reading Trip to Orient – Feb 2012 →