Curious and strange

are the ways of management. You might remember how, just under a year ago[^], I got to within three minutes of boarding the plane to Dallas only to have the trip cancelled.

Non transferable, non refundable ticket good for a year. At the time I certainly imagined I'd be using the ticket in the near future; you'll remember how much travel I was doing in 2005/2006. As it turns out, it's been nearly ten months since I last did any business travel and that trip was to Austin, not to Dallas.

Truth to tell I'd all but forgotten about that ticket; I hadn't paid for it. But do you think the boss has forgotten? Not bloody likely! It so happens that I will be going to Houston at the start of September for a few days; he asked if I could use the Dallas ticket. No I can't. Wrong city, that trip will be after the Dallas ticket expires and the reason I need to go to Houston is to test some software I'll be writing between then and now - it certainly won't be ready before this ticket expires.

Then he asked if there was any other reason I might have to go to Dallas, but only for the day - no overnight stay. That way they don't incur the cost of a hotel room! Well yes, I suppose I could ask the people I deal with on a weekly basis on teleconferences to lunch. Actually that's not a bad idea; I haven't met Karl yet and he sounds like a nice guy. Assuming he's available.

Of course, to get to Dallas in time for lunch I'm probably looking at an 8 AM flight which means arriving at the airport at 6:30 AM, which means getting up at 5:30 AM. I'm sure you've noticed, from my posting times, that I'm a late person. Rare indeed is the time when I'm not still up at 2:00 AM. Well, at least I'll find out if the sun's up that early.