Our thanks as always to The Other McCain for the Rule Five links!

And now:  Another early Monday trip to our own Denver International Airport beckons; I go thence to Boston’s Logan International Airport and back to work.  That’s the Traveling Life for you; it’s busy enough at DIA on Monday mornings that the United ticketing and gate staff refer to it as “Premiere Monday,” in honor (?) of all us wild geese who travel for a living.

There are benefits to this lifestyle, of course; it’s not uncommon to accumulate airline and hotel chain award credits faster than one can use them, especially if, like yr. obdt., you keep up a steady pace of taking all the work that will physically fit in the calendar.  But occasionally there’s a break; a few years back on one such I took Mrs. Animal to Hawaii for five days, paid for with United award miles and Marriott points.

Of course, TANSTAAFL applies; you pay for everything you get one way or another, and I paid for that “free” trip with many hours sitting in narrow, cramped airline seats and many, many nights away from home, bunked down in hotel rooms.

Nights away from home are part of the deal, as is too much fast food, too many early mornings, too much time spent on airplanes, especially when working overseas.  Some time back I spent a few weeks in Johannesburg, South Africa, doing an audit in a pharmaceutical plant; that involved thirty hours in airplanes just getting from hither to yon before the gig could even start.

But, as said, there are perks.  I’ve seen places that I never would have seen if not for this line of work.  Japan, China, Africa, I’ve been to all those places.  I’ve seen Montreal (I don’t recommend going there in the winter) and Guadalajara (I do recommend going there in the winter), Boston and Los Angeles, and about everywhere in between.

It’s a demanding life, but not without its rewards – self employment ain’t for everyone but it is for me.

And now, off to the airport.  Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more!