You Can't Bring Work Home

One of the nicest things about this job is the inability to bring your work home. With the exception of the occasional home study exam, work remains at work. In fact, while I'm at work, it becomes my home. I'll spend two to three nights a week in a hotel in a different city. Some places are pretty nice and some not as nice. Pet peeves are cold showers, early morning vacuum cleaners in the hall or everyone's favorite: early morning construction. And don't even get me started on a broken TV remote! But by and large, the overnight hotels range from comfortable to occasionally luxurious as the hotel business waxes and wanes. The airline buys bulk rooms on a contract basis. When the hotel business is bad, the airline contract may make the hotel's payroll and we get better rooms; when business is booming, retail rates bring in more revenue and our hotels seem to migrate out of the downtown areas. But I digress.

Today I am home and wasting time which should be spent at the gym in front of the computer. Sandy, my lovely and talented wife (who is also an airline pilot) took our four children to school a little early for a bake sale and will meet me at the gym later but for now I am still in bathrobe with coffee listening to election fallout on NPR. I'll eventually get out the door to the gym and then perhaps take care of a few errands in the precious kid-free time between 8 and 3. My 7yr old daughter, Emily has demanded that I bring home all the magnetic key card from my overnight hotel stays. She wants to collect 100 of them to take to school for the 100th day of school. Her collection is coming right along. That's actually kind of a depressing thought.