Diamond

Let’s face it, air travel can take its toll on you.  I’m pretty sure no one actually likes it.  However, having status with an airline certainly improves the experience.

As I’ve mentioned before, Delta is my airline.  And, this year, I managed to squeak by with Diamond status.  For those of you who don’t stalk Delta, this is the highest advertised status they offer.  And, only takes 140 flight segments to earn.  Yay for far too many weeks in hotels and on airplanes!

This status does come with some rather awesome perks.  I probably get upgraded about 75% of the time, and get free sky club access.  Plus, a much shorter hold time whenever I call Delta and in general awesome customer service.

Recently, I got to experience what I’m pretty sure  is the epitome of their customer service.  A coworker and I were delayed in Austin, leaving us with just 10 minutes to make a connection from B6 to E1 in Atlanta (see map)... so we expected to just spend the night there. However, as soon as we stepped off the plane, a Delta agent was standing by with our names on a sign and shouting for us.  I quickly approached him as he assured me he’d help me make my connection. Next thing I know, the back door or the jet bridge is opened, and I’m following the agent downstairs and being lead to a PORSCHE.    And, not just and Porsche: a fully Delta-customized Porsche Panamera.  The driver raced along the tarmac- giving us a behind the scenes view of ATL- rushed us up the back stairs of our next jet bridge, and successfully helped us make our 10 minute layover – with 5 minutes to spare.

So, there are certainly times travel can wear on me.  But, this once in a lifetime experience definitely brightens my travel up along the way

AND Breathe....

So, I never claimed I was great at maintaining a hobby for any long period of time..... To make up for my absence, here is the rapid fire version of my last six months:

June: Cousin’s wedding, Move to a New Apartment, Cory’s Bridal Shower, Still in Iowa
July: New Bootcampers, Party Boat, Visited Nick in Dayton, Still in Iowa
August: Cory’s Bachelorette Party, Nicole’s Wedding, Ann Arbor trip, Recruiting starts up, Still in Iowa
September: Cory’s Wedding, Lake House, Stephanie’s Wedding, New Project in Jersey City
October: Recruiting madness, On site Interviews, Austin City Limits, Daenerys for Halloween, Pretty much no sleep
November: Reunion with Katherine in Boston, Thanksgiving and vacation in Michigan, End of recruiting

::EXHALE::

Over the past few months I’ve been feeling like I’ve hit nearly my college schedule again: the ~5-6 hours of sleep/night, insane ups and downs, but also the huge adrenaline rush of getting through it all.  This fall, I was very involved in the college recruiting process for my role.   And, while it certainly cut into my sleep schedule, it was probably one of my more rewarding career experiences to date.  Recruiting was a great opportunity for me to interact with some members of higher management, meet some really awesome students, reflect upon my own experiences as a consultant, and really put my organizational skills to the test.  In the end, I think the candidates we’ve secured for next July was definitely worth the sleepless nights.

So, now that recruiting is done, I’ve decided to use my flight time (previously dedicated to just trying to keep my head about water) to get a jump start on a New Year’s resolution and restart this blog -  hopefully elaborate on some of the above rapid faire as well.  Maybe I’ll get lucky and can win some loyal followers back (because you likely all know me well enough to know I’m definitely watching my traffic/data) ;)