Getting Back to the Routine

Returning to work after a few days away is hard, even if the projects are interesting. So how do you get back in the swing of things?
Here’s what I am trying, after a great week in Ireland:
I began with the financial stuff that had accumulated (a bill due, a payment to be deposited)
Then moved on [...]

Cultural Exchange, Old Style

We members of the Alexandria Sister Cities Committee had a busy weekend. We hosted mayors from three of our four sister cities (or “twins,” as the less gender-specific Europeans call them)–Caen, France; Dundee, Scotland; and Helsingborg, Sweden. A fourth mayor, sort of a relative once-removed, also visited from Wurzburg, Germany, which is twinned with Caen [...]

Jet lag

Coming back from a quick trip to California, I am struck by how many people travel a lot more regularly than I do. They must be the people who carry on their roll-on bags, no doubt with their “3-1-1″ bag of toiletries (3 ounce maximum bottles in 1 quart-sized bag in 1 carry-on) prepare, Blackberries [...]

Back from a Break

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been across hill and dale, from the country to the city: Cleveland, the Leelanau Peninsula in northern Michigan, Pittsburgh, New York.
Getting back in the swing of things after a vacation, never easy.
What helps?
Unlike some people, I like to check e-mail and voicemail messages while I’m away to keep [...]

I Wanted to Scream!

My older son and I had a great week visiting colleges (even though I am going through the inevitable “how did he get so old” lamentations). When we got to the airport to come home, we learned that our flight was cancelled. We looked out, though, and were rescheduled onto another flight.
Around us were [...]

Travel arrangements

I think travel agents used to do what I spent several frustrating hours doing last week. Then again, for individual travelers like my son and me, the profit margin is probably so tiny (if it exists at all), that we are left to fend for ourselves.
To visit colleges in June, I booked one-way tickets to [...]