The Neverending Qwest

I had a last-minute business trip to Denver to lend a hand in Qwest's bid for MCI. I didn't know it at the time, but this is the building where I would spend the next week. Needless to say, Ingrid wasn't thrilled about me having to leave and neither was I, but travel is an inevitability of this profession.



Another inevitability in this profession is long hours. After a full day of work on Thursday, I hopped on my flight which was scheduled to depart at 8:30 p.m., putting me in Denver at 11:45 p.m. In the interest of being a good attorney, I called the client to let her know my schedule. When I spoke with her, she asked if I could give her a call when my flight came in, as they would be working all night. Not a problem, but that meant a full day of work followed by a full night of work (and, as it turned out, another full day of work) straight. After boarding the plane, another inevitability of life manifested itself. The infamous flight delay. As soon as we boarded the plane, we find out that a part on the plane had to be replaced. In an effort to entertain, or should I say pacify, the passengers during the delay, the pilot opened the cockpit to a tour for any interested passengers. There were all of two takers for the tour. The rest of us just sat in our seats irritated and restless. The next attempt to entertain was equally ineffective, at least as far as the men on the plane were concerned. They decided to show the scheduled “in-flight” movie before we were even "in flight." What movie, you ask? None other than Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. To top it all off, the guy sitting next to me had a Chihuahua in his bag that was going berserk, crying and barking incessantly. I thought I was going to die, but Ingrid kept me sane by chatting with me on the phone.



Fortunately for everyone on the plane, I relocated to another seat closer to the back, virtually out of earshot of the monster. The new part of the plane was conducive to sleep, as you can see by the picture. And as you can also see by the picture, we were still on the ground at the time. After over an hour and a half of delay, we finally took off, putting me on the Dallas tarmac at around 1:30 a.m. and in the Qwest building by 2:30 a.m.



I stayed at the Hotel Monaco in downtown Denver. It's a nice hotel with a unique style as you can see by the looks of my room. What was initially supposed to only be a three day trip turned into a week. Ingrid was upset about me being away for so long, but now that I'm back, things are fine... well, not really.

Yet another inevitability of life is death and while I was in Denver, my mom had to put my beloved dog of 19 years, Sambone, to sleep. She was the best dog that ever lived and I will miss her.