Jul

09

Saving ‘the man’ money…

When booking out of town travel for work, I get to choose where I stay. We have a generous maximum allowance that most employees use fully even upgrading room choices for nicer suites.

In my crazy mind, I figure the finance department actually monitors the spending and takes note as to who spends the limit, and who saves the company money. I didn’t want to book a budget busting hotel and chose one a little further away in a less expensive area.

I didn’t say it was a bright idea.

I arrived at the hotel and was pleased to discover it wasn’t too bad. The area was nice and the buildings had been renovated sometime in the last 4 decades – a big plus for me. Remember folks, I stayed in hostels in Europe with mold growing up the walls and dirty sheets. My standards are what some would call… shockingly low. Anyway, I liked the place. I wouldn’t say I felt ‘safe’ but I felt I could adequately survive the night.

At around 7pm, a high pitched scream echoed down the hallway. It was followed by more screaming.

A lot of screaming.

Turns out, the occupants in the next room where the proud parents of a 5 year old who took to screaming whenever she didn’t get her way. That particular screaming fit was because mom and dad wouldn’t let her put the key in the door.

Great. Now, in the event someone decided to murder me, my screaming would be overpowered by a 5 year old.

The screamer eventually gave it a rest and I fell asleep around 11. At 2, the hotel alarms were set off by some kids playing pranks. The alarms blared for more than an hour. The hotel staff was quick to apologize, but their apologies didn’t help me focus in the 8 hour training session the following day.

The rest of the week went pretty much the same way. Alarms, screaming children, car horns blaring. You get it.

Lesson learned.

When traveling for work, save money but spend enough to keep your sanity.

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