On Sat, Oct 09, 2010 at 01:26:31PM +0100, Roland Perry wrote:

Heathrow is not easy to get to, but this is a very pessimistic view, and
a not very optimal way to travel if you are on business. For leisure
purposes time doesn't matter so much, of course.

When I'm on holiday, time matters far *more* than when I'm working.
That's because when I'm on holiday it's *my* time, whereas when I'm
working it's mty *employer's* time.

However, comfort and sanity are also very important, which is why I
refuse to fly for short journeys. And I consider journeys to, say,
Vienna or Rome to be short.

--
David Cantrell | London Perl Mongers Deputy Chief Heretic

While researching this email, I was forced to carry out some
investigative work which unfortunately involved a bucket of
puppies and a belt sander
-- after JoeB, in the Monastery

In message , at 14:43:09
on Fri, 15 Oct 2010, David Cantrell remarked:
On Sat, Oct 09, 2010 at 01:26:31PM +0100, Roland Perry wrote:

Heathrow is not easy to get to, but this is a very pessimistic view, and
a not very optimal way to travel if you are on business. For leisure
purposes time doesn't matter so much, of course.

When I'm on holiday, time matters far *more* than when I'm working.
That's because when I'm on holiday it's *my* time, whereas when I'm
working it's mty *employer's* time.

That a rather depends whether you get overtime.

However, comfort and sanity are also very important, which is why I
refuse to fly for short journeys. And I consider journeys to, say,
Vienna or Rome to be short.

14hrs and 19hrs (overnight too). That's not what I'd call short
--
Roland Perry

On Fri, Oct 15, 2010 at 03:54:22PM +0100, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 14:43:09
on Fri, 15 Oct 2010, David Cantrell remarked:
However, comfort and sanity are also very important, which is why I
refuse to fly for short journeys. And I consider journeys to, say,
Vienna or Rome to be short.
14hrs and 19hrs (overnight too). That's not what I'd call short

An awful lot of that time is spent asleep so doesn't really count. It's
"dead time" whether you spend it on a train or at home.

Last time I took the train to Vienna, I planned it so that I got to
Paris in time to have a late dinner with friends there, to Munich the
next morning to meet a friend for breakfast and beer, and then arriving
in Vienna for lunch. Coming back the other way, I stopped off overnight
in Zurich to, again, visit friends, and also because there was a show on
at the Kunsthaus I wanted to see.

The line between Vienna and Zurich is *very* pretty, and I strongly
recommend doing it one day.

--
David Cantrell | top google result for "internet beard fetish club"

If I could read only one thing it would be the future, in the
entrails of the ******* denying me access to anything else.

In message , at 12:28:40
on Mon, 18 Oct 2010, David Cantrell remarked:
However, comfort and sanity are also very important, which is why I
refuse to fly for short journeys. And I consider journeys to, say,
Vienna or Rome to be short.
14hrs and 19hrs (overnight too). That's not what I'd call short

An awful lot of that time is spent asleep so doesn't really count.

So you use sleeper trains?

It's "dead time" whether you spend it on a train or at home.

It's still time away from home and family, and while I sleep 8+ hours a
night, there's plenty to do late at night and early in the morning
(getting the kids settled down for the night, then off to school, for
example).

Last time I took the train to Vienna, I planned it so that I got to
Paris in time to have a late dinner with friends there, to Munich the
next morning to meet a friend for breakfast and beer, and then arriving
in Vienna for lunch. Coming back the other way, I stopped off overnight
in Zurich to, again, visit friends, and also because there was a show on
at the Kunsthaus I wanted to see.

The line between Vienna and Zurich is *very* pretty, and I strongly
recommend doing it one day.

This sounds like a holiday. I mainly travel on business.
--
Roland Perry

On Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 03:58:37PM +0100, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 12:28:40
on Mon, 18 Oct 2010, David Cantrell remarked:
However, comfort and sanity are also very important, which is why I
refuse to fly for short journeys. And I consider journeys to, say,
Vienna or Rome to be short.
14hrs and 19hrs (overnight too). That's not what I'd call short
An awful lot of that time is spent asleep so doesn't really count.
So you use sleeper trains?

Yup. They're very convenient.

The line between Vienna and Zurich is *very* pretty, and I strongly
recommend doing it one day.
This sounds like a holiday. I mainly travel on business.

It was both. I was going to a conference in Vienna. My journey out
there had me away from work for just as much time as it would if I'd
flown. The difference is that instead of going home after work and
then flying out the next morning, I went straight to the station after
work. The journey back likewise - the conference ended on a Friday,
and I was back at work on the Monday, and my employer obviously didn't
care whether I spent the weekend in London or Zurich.

The primary reason for travelling was work, but I made it into a
holiday as well, by making good use of time in ways that simply aren't
practical if you fly.

I *never* travel just on business. If my employer is going to pay for
me to go somewhere, then I will wring as much value out of that as
possible. If they send me to *Birmingham* I'll try to get something
out of it, even if it's only an opportunity to meet up with friends for
a curry or a few pints at the Wellington.

--
David Cantrell | London Perl Mongers Deputy Chief Heretic

Arbeit macht Alkoholiker

On Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:21:28 +0100
David Cantrell wrote:
I *never* travel just on business. If my employer is going to pay for
me to go somewhere, then I will wring as much value out of that as
possible.

Thats what I always did. It amazes me the number of people who don't however.
We often get people flying over from our US offices for a week and most
of the time they never go anywhere other than our office and the hotel.
You'd think after a 9 hour flight to the largest city in europe they might
be vaguely curious enough to jump on the tube all of 200 metres from the
hotel and go into town for an evening out. But apparently not. *shrug*

B2003

d wrote on 19 October 2010 11:25:14 ...
On Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:21:28 +0100
David wrote:
I *never* travel just on business. If my employer is going to pay for
me to go somewhere, then I will wring as much value out of that as
possible.

Thats what I always did. It amazes me the number of people who don't however.
We often get people flying over from our US offices for a week and most
of the time they never go anywhere other than our office and the hotel.
You'd think after a 9 hour flight to the largest city in europe they might
be vaguely curious enough to jump on the tube all of 200 metres from the
hotel and go into town for an evening out. But apparently not. *shrug*

Perhaps they've heard your stories about how awful the tube is. (Hey,
what are you doing, recommending that people use the tube? Isn't that
against your religion or something?)
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

On Tue, 19 Oct 2010, d wrote:

On Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:21:28 +0100
David Cantrell wrote:
I *never* travel just on business. If my employer is going to pay for
me to go somewhere, then I will wring as much value out of that as
possible.

Thats what I always did.

Ditto. My usual American destination is in Connecticut, so i tack on a
weekend visiting friends in New York. If i'm going to **** away my
friends' childrens' futures in a stream of carbon dioxide, i might as well
be sociable about it.

It amazes me the number of people who don't however. We often get people
flying over from our US offices for a week and most of the time they
never go anywhere other than our office and the hotel. You'd think after
a 9 hour flight to the largest city in europe

You work in Moscow? That explains a lot.

they might be vaguely curious enough to jump on the tube all of 200
metres from the hotel and go into town for an evening out. But
apparently not. *shrug*

Agreed, it's barmy. We get a lot of work visitors over from the US too,
and they usually (not always) arrive sunday night or monday morning, and
leave friday afternoon, getting no good chunk of free time here. They
don't seem to get out much during the week, either; between tiredness from
travel and jetlag, our gruelling work ethic (ha ha) and the fact that we
usually drag them to the pub for a couple of pints after work, they just
don't seem that enthusiastic about it.

tom

--
VENN DIAGRAM THAT LOOK LIKE TWO BIG CIRCLES EQUAL BAD PUBLIC POLICY.

In message . li, at
22:36:32 on Tue, 19 Oct 2010, Tom Anderson
remarked:
My usual American destination is in Connecticut, so i tack on a
weekend visiting friends in New York. If i'm going to **** away my
friends' childrens' futures in a stream of carbon dioxide, i might as
well be sociable about it.

Just shows how one size doesn't fit all. I'd rather spend the weekend
between two trips back at home with those children, than partying with
friends in some distant City. And they [my children] would rather I did
that too. There are times when I could easily spend a month "on the
road", if the rule was that I only went home if there were more than two
days of "down time".

It's not always like that (I've only been away one week in the last two
months) but here's a sample from earlier this year, and despite skipping
a couple of the meetings never more than 2 days at home; return travel
in the evenings unless otherwise noted. The figures in square brackets
are the time at home, when I'm apparently supposed to be partying/
sightseeing abroad!

April

Thu 22nd - London
Fri 23rd - Brussels (cancelled}
[1]
Sun 25th - travel to Brussels by train
Mon 26th - Brussels
[1]
Wed 28th - train & fly to Madrid
Thu-Fri 29th/30th - Madrid

May

[1]
Sun 2nd - fly to Prague
Mon-Fri 3rd/7th - Prague
[1]
Sun 9th - fly to Geneva
Mon-Tue 10th/11th - Geneva
Wed 12th - Amsterdam
Thu 13th - fly home
Fri 14th - Birmingham
[2]
Mon 17th - travel to Geneva, by train because of ash cloud
Tue 18th - Geneva
Wed 19th - all day back by train (would have flown Tue evening)
[1]
Fri 21st - Brussels {cancelled}
Sat-Sun 22nd/23rd - travel to India
Mon-Sun + Mon-Fri 24th-4th - India (no days off at all)
Sat 5th - travel back from India

I did look at Madrid-Prague by train (in case of ash-cloud), and
Geneva-Amsterdam, but there weren't the spare hours available.

The only train which might have made a difference would be a
hypothetical sleeper back from Amsterdam late on the 12th (I had an
evening meeting). Taking up most of the 13th, even with 4hrs
Amsterdam-London plus 2.5hrs London-Nottingham [when taking into account
dwell time at St Pancras on the way back] would have been a repeat of
spending two days on train the following week, and there's a limit to
how much fun one can have...
--
Roland Perry