Right at this minute I am enjoying this view above at the JFK Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse. I have been here for a couple of hours getting some work done, had two amazing mocha coffees already and now drinking red wine while watching the view and planes fly away. And I am in peace…
Dinner is being cooked and is about to show up on my table any minute now. I have a head massage in one hour (complimentary). I am hoping the upgrade to Upper Class will clear but it is not looking good at the moment. The Clubhouse is very nice, very modern and excellent service by all the lounge staff.
I will likely not have much time to do many blog updates. If I do they will be very short updates on what’s happening on my trip. I am taking pictures and one day I can do a more “full” trip report.
In a idiotic clumsy way, I fell down the stairs last night…I took the wrong stairs, instead of going up I went down and down until the wall stopped me! I banged my left shoulder and right hand pretty bad. Thank God for ice packs. The hand appears to be fine but shoulder hurts and I hope it is not too sore after the overnight flight! Flying coach will sure not help it but out of my control so I don’t worry about it. I am grateful for the opportunity to experience flying a new airline and experiencing the lounges in both JFK and Heathrow.
My AA flight to LGA from Detroit was uneventful. I did not experience the madness with the AA cancellations that occurred the day before! I had to wait around a couple of hours before the lounge opened around 2 pm.
But what made my day was this email today by a colleague who took me aside in my first professional conference and gave me some amazing advice. Over the years we will talk at a conference. This is what he said:
George:
We are selling our practice to XXXXXXXXXXX in XXXXXX on May 1st, so I will no longer be seeing you at XXXXX events. At age 76, it is a good time to get out. I have taken unjustified pride in watching your practice grow. I enjoyed the little time we spent with each other when you were starting out. You have done a great job. You should be proud.
YYYYY
We are selling our practice to XXXXXXXXXXX in XXXXXX on May 1st, so I will no longer be seeing you at XXXXX events. At age 76, it is a good time to get out. I have taken unjustified pride in watching your practice grow. I enjoyed the little time we spent with each other when you were starting out. You have done a great job. You should be proud.
YYYYY
I am smiling all day long and not feeling my shoulder pain at all when I think about what he wrote me. This is Priceless to me. Take some time to pay it forward. I am mentoring two young people right now, seeing the growth in them is, well, priceless too!
Ok, Clubhouse Burger is here, bon apetit to me!
That’s all. London Heathrow next!
[ In a idiotic clumsy way, I fell down the stairs last night…I took the wrong stairs, instead of going up I went down and down until the wall stopped me! I banged my left shoulder and right hand pretty bad. Thank God for ice packs. The hand appears to be fine but shoulder hurts and I hope it is not too sore after the overnight flight! Flying coach will sure not help it but out of my control so I don’t worry about it ]
This is why God invented Vicodin or, as my wife says, “better health thru chemistry”
Have a great trip. Hail in Mich right now
Better health thru chemistry…lol, love it.
I know Grand Rapids got hit very hard, how did Ann Arbor?
AA came thru unscathed. GO BLUE
I wrote this on your twitter. I cant believe you even contimplated flying coach? What are you thinking flying coach? 4million miles not enough to get a biz class seat?
The prize I won (twitter ocntest, random) was an Economy ticket. I talked them into getting me a space available upgrade and lounge passes. Come on, I have a reputation:-)
Thanks for sharing that story. I always enjoy your cheery posts and am glad that someone has brought a smile to your face like you do for mine. Have a wonderful time and know that your readers can’t wait to hear all about it!
Wow, thank you so much for your kind words!
God Speed Buzz
I like it!
Can you please mentor Jason Steele?
You are kidding right? Steele is a freelancer (no one else is). He gets paid to write and feed his family (no one else can do this). He knows how to “maximize” and his sh*t doesn’t stink. He is no longer 50-bukz either.
George can probably get mentored by him and even George will acknowledge that.
I agree. Jason is NOT a blogger. His own blog is just personal or static for his business. He has found a market and he writes well. I just hope he does not edit the cc links himself:-)
have a great trip, and go to a doctor if your hand/shoulder continue to hurt you. (of course, my ribs are hurting me from my fall last week and I haven’t had that checked out……….).
It’s better…I think it’s just a bruise, needs time. It’s cold and rainy here and not a cheap place!
Chico Escuela | April 19, 2013 at 9:58 am |
Dariaus, I like this interview, because I like their website!! No credit card links being pimped just great pictures, fun stories and a taste of their travels. HOME RUN interview as we used to say when I played for the METS. I like these 2 crazy kids, I bet TravelBloggerBuzz would too!
While you’re out of the country, FMiler has come dangerously close to his PPM (while it lasts). I don’t hate affiliate links per se, and if we apply for some new cards at our next round in August, we’ll use his.
Stick to the falafel stands to save money in Norway.
harvson3
I am so behind!!! I should look into hiring staff to keep it up here or have a series of guest posts!
I will get to it eventually…if it survives until then. So many bloggers are nada else but cc pushers! FM is a natural at this blogging thing. If I ever get into the murky world of affiliate links I will do it the way he does!
I just had some a very good pita with kebab & a coke for…just $15 usd (89 KRO). To sit down and have some pizza or a hamburger at a decent restaurant you are looking at around $40 usd minimum! I think I will stuck to a tasty hotdog for $3.50 usd and three raisin buns for $3.50 usd (20 KRO each).
“If I ever get into the murky world of affiliate links I will do it the way he does!”
And so it begins.
Wow, this comment made me lose a lot of sleep last night. I should have gotten up and started pouring it all out on my blog but was too tired to do so. But my mind kept racing! First of all, mind what I do and not what I say! I am nearing 5 months of blogging now and have spent countless hours and the costs will soon cross 4 figures and all I have to show for it (money wise) is a $5 referral income to ebates, yippee!
Traveling to Preikestolen made me realize the high costs of blogging! Taking time away from stuff that is way more important in life: family, career and passions (yes traveling…got 4 million miles and no time to book anything!!!). And I find it peculiar that readers just expect me to do exactly what I am doing! Isn’t that somewhat unreasonable and unfair?
Can this be done in a decent way? I think so and I think Frequent Miler is doing it the right way by focusing on content 100% of the time & having a separate page with affiliate links!If I ever go this route I am going to do it in such a way! Of course, many other bloggers said the same thing and they all sold out. I need to take a shower and pack for Stavanger airport for my flight to London…
I will catch up here whenever I can. Obviously not a priority now. Comments like that make me question my sanity. A comment such as “Thanks George for producing an interesting and fun read and resisting becoming a carpet bagger like so many other bloggers who all they do is push cc links by cuttinga and pasting stuff for a few minutes a day)”
Or you can call me out and say “Your blog sucks, you suck or whatever”. I appreciate that too. Just give me a reason if you can and a few pointers on how to improve in your judgement. I sure appreciate it!
I did not write the earlier comment, but wanted to respond to your comment above. I was always under the impression that you started this blog mainly as a hobby and not as a money-making proposition, and I believe a lot of your readers are under the same impression. So when you start discussing affiliate links seriously and the best strategy for displaying them, I think it just leaves your readers a bit confused as to what your actual motivation is. My 2 cents.
I certainly understand, believe me! This started out as a hobby and still is! But it has taken a life of its own and is way too time consuming now plus costs (still very low) have gone up. Do I continue neglecting other important things (one of them is burning my miles for more Travel Moments!!!) and update this whenever I feel like it or find a way to soften the costs/hurt a bit while feeling that I am not a sell out? Is this even feasible/possible? What I do know is that I am spending way too much time on this blog! This was what I was afraid I was getting into and stopped me for so long from doing it (I was thinking about this even before Rick FTG started his own blog!!!!). Now that I have started it, in a way, I wish I did not as I certainly did not need to make my life more complicated. Oh wait I need to delete yet another spam comment %$#@*.
I am in great inner soul search about this issue…
Ok, it is time for me to order a cocktail in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse now:-)
taco bell in Norway just started the cool ranch dorito lukefish taco.
Hey yo…no quiero Taco Bell:-)
I hope you are not crossing the pond in coach again. That would be torture! Reminds me of my 10 hour bus ride from Oakland to Tijuana, in the Migra bus. Buenos Nachos, Chico Escuela.
Come on, got the Upper Class upgrade in hand at check in this time. No need to sweat it at all. My reputation is intact:-)