Iroadwarrior's Blog

Hey, Man

iroadwarrior — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:31:33 +0000

Do you, like me, get tired of stoned, inept, laid-back wait staff? I was having dinner at one of my favorite South Florida restaurants tonight and was amazed at the “uh…sure…cool dude” waiter. I haven’t left a 10% tip in a long time. Take a hint wait staff.

AirTran & Southwest

iroadwarrior — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:07:33 +0000

Is this a marriage made in heaven? Not sure. I am a huge fan of point-to-point travel. It’s why I dropped Delta (and Platinum status)—connections were killing me. So, we’ll see. If it works I might go back from the road to the air.

Clearwater Beach

iroadwarrior — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 19:43:29 +0000

One of the few perks of a two week tour of my region is getting to spend the weekend somewhere different each time.

This weekend is the Clearwater Beach Marriott on Sand Key. Old property but nice and the service is good. The location is incredible. Gulf on one side; bay on the other.

A 15 mile bike ride (rented 15 speed) on the Pinellas Trail started the morning. A bit of SEC football this afternoon. Dinner tonight at the incredible Island Way Grill.

Service Edge—Being Proactive

iroadwarrior — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 15:03:32 +0000

What would happen if our newest customers got an email like this BEFORE we filled their order?

Dear Mr. Baer,
I understand you are planning on arriving at the hotel within the next several days. On behalf of the entire team, we are excited you will be staying with us.
If there is anything our team can do to make your stay perfect, please feel free to email us at sandkeygm@gmail.com in advance of your arrival.
In addition, if you are celebrating a special event during your stay, please let us know as we want to make your special event a memorable one.
In case you were looking for local activities or information on the area, I have included links for those websites at the bottom of the email. In addition, we invite you to please visit our on-site spa Antonio’s. Reference this letter while making your appointment at the spa and you will receive a 15% discount on your spa/salon services.
My entire team and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Best regards,
Philippe Eversdijk
General Manager

Stinky Beached

iroadwarrior — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:49:03 +0000

I know it’s a public beach–but why does the majority of us public folks have to endure the smelly minority that decides they have to smoke.

I’m downwind, my family is downwind, my grandchildren are downwind. And, yes, you can smell it in the open air and wind.

I wonder how they would feel if I peed at their beach site.

Edisto Beach on Labor Day

iroadwarrior — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:50:39 +0000

The vacation continues for another week. We rounded the turn yesterday. Today, Labor Day, we spent on Edisto Beach, SC. Quiet. Very Carolina. Nice water. Grandkids. Daughters and sons. Wife. Yeungling. Grouse. Son in kitchen fixing crab cake sandwiches for dinner; wine and dessert on the beach afterward. It’s all good.

The Worst of Hertz

iroadwarrior — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:30:03 +0000

So today Hertz really bites! My son rented a car to join us at the beach so, after 13 hours on the road he is returning it to a local Charleston location; it’s closed in the middle of the day. But it has a drop box which says even if you drop the car off on time you will still be charged until the branch reopens (2 days later!). Kind of defeats the purpose don’t you think.

So we take it to the Charleston airport–10 miles away only to find that he has to go inside. For some reason the guy with the portable computer-thing can’t do it.

We are now 1.5 hours into returning a car! Seriously, Hertz today you suck!

BTW, he is still inside 20 minutes later and I’m in the van with a 4 year old who just woke up. More later!

Flowers Seafood

iroadwarrior — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:33:05 +0000

Wow! Classic South Carolina fried seafood! Fried catfish, fried hushpuppies, fried shrimp, fried flounder, fried crab cakes, fried potatoes! Actually I was nervous they’d fry me if I stayed too long.

But the food was awesome. It’s a little cinder block shack on Edisto Island called Flowers Seafood, right on the main highway under mossy oak trees!

Go there!

Wireless Vacations

iroadwarrior — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:43:38 +0000

So it’s the 21st century, the age of email, twitter, blogs, Facebook, and working remotely. It’s also nearly impossible to leave your work for a week or two only to return to 5000 emails.

I choose to work some every day (or most days anyway) to stay relatively current. I also have a great team that can do their jobs very well without me.

To me it would make great sense to have wifi in a rental beach house. So far, for the past 5 years, we are batting “0.” Thank goodness for my son who can get wireless set up anywhere.

No all of us can work a little and relax a lot.

Lazy Day at the Beach

iroadwarrior — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:18:02 +0000

So today I did nothing except spend time with my wife, my kids and my grandkids on the beach–now that’s what I call a productive day!