FTAO People who travel a lot with work.

[JLv3.0]

How very dare you!! (to Mik)

It was interesting actually (OK not that interesting) - I was so busy with work in the first few years that I didn't even notice the flying that much, and long-term forum members will know how much I used to hate flying. It was actually quite tolerable.

But then as the workload wore off a little but the necessity to fly remained, I found myself hating it more and more, culminating in the white-hot fury that even mentioning an airport now causes in me nowadays.

On the flipside, if you are ever looking for someone to follow to guarantee the very least amount of time is spent betwixt airplane and airport doors, I'm your guy.

[dinny_g]

My last place was like that, you’d have to get the red eye if you were flying and they’d expect you to be in the office until 6. When you’d been up at 4 that’s not exactly fun.
Where I am now we travel in office hours usually and no one bats an eyelid. When you do get the odd one that does the above they get response of ‘well I ain’t doing that so you’ll be on your own’, they usually change their plans.

Carl

My worst run was Saturday - Fly to Sydney. Work Monday Tuesday and Wednesday, fly Back Wednesday Night. Friday - fly to Des Moines. Work Saturday to Tuesday - Fly back Tuesday night. Wednesday in the UK, then Thursday 1 Day trip to Munich with 06:30 am flight on the way and 20:30 flight on the way back. I was expected in the office on the Friday.

I didn't know whether I was coming or going that weekend...

[Rich B]

Bollocks to all that!

[JLv3.0]

Yep, fuck that very, very hard. Asking any human to go from Aus to Des Moines is borderline brutality. One month in 2007 (all for leisure apart from the last trip) here to the UK to here to Malaysia to here to the UK and back here in about 2 weeks. Didn't know which way was up by the end of it.

[Rich B]

I meant the whole thread!

[JLv3.0]

That's also valid!

[drcarlos]

Bollocks to all that!

Exactly, companies that treat you like that deserve to disappear up their own collective asses.

Better off out of there.

Carl.

[dinny_g]

That was pretty bad, I'll grant you...

Even individual trips became a drag in the end. I used to do trips to Johannesburg for a year or two before my nipper was born. Fly out Sunday, Fly back Friday but with South Africa to London, I could never sleep more than a few hours on the return leg. By the time you took off (early evening),had a few drinks and dinner and eventually got to sleep, you'd fly over that part of Africa where Jungle meets Desert which always meant turbulence which would wake you up. I'd get back home at mid day on Saturday and need to sleep.

The week long trips became fortnights and then 3 week trips. Then, the Taxi to Heathrow became "ah sure you can take the train" (Train to London, tube across London, Train to Wellingborough and yes, my Boss was also Irish ) etc so when my son was born, I dug my heels in and said I wasn't doing it any more.

My career stalled after that and within a few years I had left.

[16vCento]

Well, as a bit of an update, this is going very well so far.

I've got about a bit, mainly US so far, a trip to Brazil and Kuwait in the next 3 months and possibly the task of then staying in Texas for between 1- 3 Months if I fancy it.

Work part is great, nice to work somewhere an be appreciated for once, lots to learn still, but I seem to be in the right place for that to happen.

Worst thing about travelling so far is getting hotels to make invoices out correctly, its not difficult FFS!

[Rich B]

Ha! I just reread the whole thread (it’s a good one ) and about 3 or 4 posts before my “fuck that” comment (which I’d forgotten I’d made) I was thinking, I couldn’t be doing with any of this - unreasonable bosses, being told what time I could leave work, travelling weekends, etc... then boom, there was “past Rich B” agreeing with “present Rich B”!

[Simon]

One thing I will add to this thread that I really think is appropriate for those of us that do irregular hours...:

Everyone sees who's the first person to leave the office, but no-one notices the first person to arrive. I'm usually the first person not just in the office, but in the whole building. I _hate_ traffic. So I'm usually the first person to leave too. Around 3:30 most times I'm in. And if I've some calls later in the afternoon I'll leave at lunch and finish my day at home, rather than get home late after the calls.

But I'll be damned if I'll take criticism from anyone about when I leave because I can easily knock back with when I arrive, when I'm still dealing with issues out of hours etc, doing long trips up and down the country etc. It all adds up.

Luckily like most adults we're 'task' rather than 'time' orientated.

[JLv3.0]

then boom, there was “past Rich B” agreeing with “present Rich B”!

This happens to me a lot - catch up on an old thread when it gets updated, find some particularly pearly nuggets of wisdom and truth, go to post up my agreement and then realise it was me who posted the shite in the first place

[unzippy]

Everyone sees who's the first person to leave the office, but no-one notices the first person to arrive.

Maybe because there is no one there to notice you arrive because you're the first to arrive...?

[Simon]

Don't take it too literally zips

But the point stands. Who knows I was the first in the office? Only the second person in the office, and noone sees the time I get there...

[McSwede]

Don't take it too literally zips

Who knows I was the first in the office!

Yes you do.

[Marv]

I'm normally in second or third, on the floor I work on. I can probably give a decent guess at the order of the first seven people are on our floor (Inc me), of about fifty people. And roughly what time the first person was in, within about fifteen minutes.

Dunno what the big deal is

[Rich B]

I’m sometimes in early, sometimes late. I sometimes leave early, sometimes late. No one cares because thankfully we’re all grown ups.

I’ve worked places with the “half day?” crew before - it’s usually from older people and it makes for a shitty atmosphere.

[JLv3.0]

I've already given very, very clear instruction on the correct response to give to the half-day'ers on the previous page.

The "where are you" brigade are just as bad, if you're not office-based. I used to work with a guy who was absolutely parallel to me in terms of seniority but had an incredibly annoying habit of opening phone calls with "where are you". I used to tell him "nowhere that's any of your fucking business, what do you want" and he didn't like me for some reason.

[JLv3.0]

Anyway, back on topic, I worked out on my last flight that I've taken 30 long-haul flights in just over a year. Say an average of 6 hours each time, that's 180 hours, which equates pretty much to a working month. And am midair now. Totally and utterly over it.

[V8Granite]

I had a rant before flying out to Bangladesh again this month. I said if you book Turkish then I won’t fly, lots of emails etc and I then mentioned how I can’t put the tray table down at times as my legs are too long and I’m not laying down to eat.

My big boss said that’s ridiculous and put me on Emirates instead.

Still no Business class though, bastards.

Dave!