Business Trip to Orlando

I recently returned from a two-day business trip to Orlando late Thursday May 8th. This was a trip that I had to postpone at least once, but finally got scheduled and booked. I had to be in the office on Wednesday, and normally would take the PATH to Newark Penn, then the AirTrain. Unfortunately, due to repairs, the AirTrain is out of commission until mid-July. Instead, they were running shuttle buses between Newark Penn and the airport terminals. I caught the bus from the Raymond Blvd entrance (after buying a round-trip ticket), and it was pretty decent. They had a covered canopy, buses waiting, staff in red vests to assist, and even a fellow to help you with your luggage. I arrived at Terminal C in about 20 minutes. Hey, this isn’t bad alternative for the next three months. Should be fine, correct? Um, more on that later.

The business trip went alright, but a little odd at times. No, I can’t really discuss it.

Tuesday evening, I eventually got my luggage (after waiting nearly an hour), then drove the hour up to my hotel the Courtyard Marriott up in Lake Mary, Florida. A simple hotel, nothing fancy. It was late, and I didn’t want to sit around at some restaurant by myself, so I grabbed a chicken quesadilla from the hotel grill. It was good enough for a late night dinner.

Wednesday after work, I drove to the Best Buy in Altamonte Springs to pick up a new USB cable. Should be cheap, but you know there’s a horrible markup at brick and mortar stores. Of course, Best Buy’s Rocketfish in-house brand USB cables were $20 a piece. Geez. I tried to put it away and walk away, but then got grabbed by a DirectTV sales guy who spent 15 minutes trying to convince me to switch. In the middle of that, I got asked to be in a brief video showing off their new home theater area. In return, I got a $20 gift card. Wow, my first modeling job. 😉

Best part of the trip was probably meeting Elvis, a Best Buy associate over in the Cameras section. We had a great discussion on photography — he had to be first knowledgeable Best Buy associate that I have encountered.

Thursday evening, my Google Maps took me all over central Florida and getting me lost. I almost didn’t make it to the airport to drop off my rental car. Luckily (luckily?), my flight was delayed an hour. I had time for a quick dinner at the airport Ruby Tuesday. No issues. Unfortunately, the NJ Transit shuttle bus was a mess, driven by non-English-speaking clueless contract driver, with the terminal stops manned by more clueless NJ Transit employees. Very disappointing. We got to Newark Penn after midnight, and I ended up standing around until 1:40 AM waiting for the last train to Princeton. I eventually walked through my door at 3 AM.

It was a long day, but I was glad to be home.

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