The more things remain the same the more things change

This afternoon I packed about all I can pack for my upcoming business trip to Kansas City. It will only consist of a three-night stay so I shouldn’t need much, right? Ha.

Even If I am going off for a weekend I appear as if I am undertaking an expedition of the Lewis and Clark magnitude. Here is the thing: I want to be comfortable. I want to be prepared.

Thankfully, I will not be traveling from 70-degree to 20-degree weather as I first feared a week ago. It will only be in the 50s when I leave “The Golden Triangle” in the a.m. and a high of around 24 degrees upon arriving in KC in the early afternoon. The wind is expected to be 11-15 mph with gusts up to 25. Snow is forecast on Wednesday. A slight chance of snow on Thursday with the low Friday morning between 1 and -4. Then, I fly home where it should be around  50 degrees when I return that afternoon.  I won’t be traveling through a lot of extremes but it is extreme enough. Then I have “business casual” to wear to those two days of our meetings. Will I do anything after the days’ meetings? I don’t know. But I’d like to be prepared.

Also, there is always a chance of a canceled flight. I have only had that happen once. But I did have to cancel another flight because of delays elsewhere which would prevent me from making a scheduled connection.

Along with the preparation category is making sure I have all my medicines. I take a bunch, I am not very happy to say. One doesn’t want to be off without a supply of their blood pressure or diabetes medications. And methadone. Don’t leave home without it.

I am not a frequent flier. I’ve taken perhaps 30 or so flights over the last 10 years. Actually, a couple of those were in 1999 and before 9/11.  During this time I have found that each flight could behold something different. Most of this is from our friends at TSA. It can be a pain the butt but if they have actually learned something new to help us stay safer, then I suppose it is worth it. Then, of course, you have to be aware of what new restriction or fee the airline has put out.

Perhaps if you fly every week or every couple of weeks, you get the routine. But if you are like me it seems everything is different only by the slightest degree. This time the 800-pound gorilla was a heavy winter coat. Where to put it? Well, if  the temp will be in the 20s when I get off, I think I probably should have a coat. I could put it in checked baggage, but what if my checked baggage gets lost. That’s happened twice to me. I could buy another coat, but I’d be freezing my huevos off going to a store to find one and probably having to pay for a taxi  instead of the shuttle. If you absolutely positively got to have it, take it with you . So instead of my computer bag, I’m taking my trusty backpack to stow the computer, winter coat, camera and all my electronic chargers. Crap, I feel like an electrician sometimes.

So now I just thought of something else I need to do.  Hopefully I will have a chance to blog the next couple of days. Ta. See you in KC maybe.