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October 27, 2007

Notes From My Quickie Trip To Los Angeles

This week's work trip to Los Angeles was an in-and-out affair; I touched down at LAX Tuesday evening and was back at my desk by 2 PM Thursday. Fast, fast fast - a far cry from some of my more involved trips as a Planner.

The usual (but somewhat abbreviated) trip notes:

• It's damn exciting to see light rail going in at Sea-Tac. The station along 99 has been built, and the tracks are now being put in place from that station all the way to terminal. Opening Day 2009 is fast approaching, folks, and it's going to be great when it gets here.
• So there I am, sitting at Gate D2 and doing a bit of e-mail, when I look up and spy today's USA Today ... with an iPhone sitting on top of it. All by itself. I was so surprised that I actually did a double-take (did someone forget their iPhone?!?!?), and then had the "candid camera" moment. After deciding that it wasn't some kind of SeaTac police sting thingy, I decided to get the phone out of plain sight and see if the owner came back for it. Twenty minutes go by ... no owner. I'm beginning to wonder if the poor sod is on Flight 2300 to Singapore right now, cursing him/herself for forgettting the phone, and I'm also wondering where SeaTac's lost and found is. A bit later, a guy shows up with a slightly-distressed look in his eyes: "Seen an iPhone around here?"
• (I must say, witnessing their reunion was a bit touching.)
• I'm still amazed at what people will talk about - very publicly and loudly - in an airport while on a cell phone. I personally overheard product plans, the outcome of a rather contentious board meeting (the guy was swearing so much I thought I was in an episode of Deadwood), Google AdSense response rates, how hard someone was working (and how his boss better not give him any more work, thank you), how hard someone was not working (and how she thinks her boss is figuring it out), and sex.
• (Really.)
• I got to LAX, snagged the shuttle to the rental car center, and proceeded to have another suboptimal Avis experience. The poor folks were swamped with customers, so, by the time I get to the front of the line it's been a good wait. The lady behind the counter checks me in, and then fixes me in the eye to deliver some bad news.
  

  Her: "I've got, like, 10 or 12 cars in front of you for cleaning, washing and delivery."
  Me: "Uh ... how long is that going to take?"
  Her: (Unconvincingly) "Uh, 20 or 30 minutes."
  Me: (Looks at watch). "What else you got?"
  Her: "We have a sixteen-person passenger van."
  

  
  And thus it came to be that I was tooling along the 405 in something that could hold a soccer team or a church group - possibly at the same time. It's big, it's bulky, it's underpowered, it steers like the Titanic. It's also, as you might imagine, a nightmare to park and has horrible visibility.
• (But hey, at least I'm mobile.)
• Microsoft was kind enough to put me up in the W Hotel. Holy cow, it's nice. There you are, dear traveller, tired and exhausted from your recent trip. You've checked in, made your way to your hotel room. You slide the keycard into the slot, hear the "cheep cheep" to let you know the door is unlocked, and the door swings open. Inside, the room is lit, music is playing. Things feel tasteful and calm. You stand, slack-jawed, at how nice everything is. No fumbling for light switches, no smell of mold, no hunting for a remote control to turn on the TV for some background noise. You just step in to the environment, and you're home. Fantastic. Apple does "out of the box" experience better than anyone in electronics; W does "out of the box" better than anyone in the hotel business.
• The California wildfires are, if anything, bigger and scarier than the national news is conveying. Local news is dominated by it, and the sheer volume and scale of the thing is boggling.
• The W's hotel bar has super-tasty club sandwiches and fries.
• Back at LAX, I was again reminded of how people will talk about anything on their damn phones. This time, some blowhard was name-dropping Celebrities He Knows (George Clooney, etc.) to get something out of the person on the other end of the line. Sheesh.
• The Starbucks' at LAX don't offer iTunes integration just yet, which seems odd to me, given that LA is Ground Zero for the recording industry.
• With the exception of a few persistently cranky kids with generous lungs, the flight back to Seattle was one of the most pleasant I can remember taking in recent memory - fast, comfortable, courteous people. We even arrived 20 minutes early.

Damn, it's good to be home.

Posted by Gavin Shearer at October 27, 2007 11:22 AM. Posted to MSFT | Travel.

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