Trade Show Travel

Now I know I can be a bit warped, at times, but work with me here...

Three of us from work are heading to the bi-annual ICUEE show in Louisville next week. It's a huge trade show with thousands of utility linemen, operations people and purchasers in attendance. We don't do a lot of trade shows, but we don't ever miss this one!

I drive the speed limit and I can drive to Louisville from my house in about six and one-half hours.  Rick and Todd both drive significantly faster than I do, so we'd probably make it to Louisville in well under six and one-half hours with one of them behind the wheel.Keep that number in mind, because it will be important later.

Now I would always prefer to drive on such a relatively short trip because it's far easier than the hassle of air travel. One of the other guys doesn't care how we get there. The third guy, though, insists on flying and, since he is the boss, we fly.

There are no longer any direct flights from Milwaukee to Louisville so we either have to figure out connections or fly out of Chicago. The solution this year was to fly from Chicago's Midway Airport to Louisville. Our flight is scheduled for Noon; which means we will have to be at the airport no later than 10:30. Because of the Chicago traffic situation, we have to leave our office sometime between 8:00 and 8:30 at the very latest. Figure four hours from departing the office until we take off, then another 45 minutes, or so, to get our bags and pick up the rental car after we land. We're pretty close to six and one-half hours either way.

Flying isn't really saving us any time and it is more expensive for three of us to fly and rent a car than it would be for the three of us to pile into one car and drive. We have to pile into one car to drive to the airport, anyway.

Oh, well...

Like I said; he's the boss.