Travel Log - Star date 20080823 - Duncansville, PA

Plane, train or automobile: Matrix. This car sips gas - I got 37.3 mpg on this trip!

Mission: Management Training for 12 Store Managers.

The One with The Talker.
This was quite the talkative group. One manager liked to monopolize the conversation and say the same thing over and over. I was using all of my facilitator tricks to minimize his talk time without completely shutting him down, and this guy just kept talking! I spent the first break trying to figure out what else I could do, and was ready for my last ditch attempt when several participants came back early and said "Hey, we told XXXXX to cool it. He is wasting our time saying the same thing over and over and there is nothing that anybody here can do about it". Problem solved!

I had forgotten that groups will many times discipline themselves - I was glad that the correction came from them so that I could maintain his trust with me as a facilitator. In the end, it worked out well because he was great at summarizing the key talking points, which meant that one of their own was telling them how they could use the skills. Much more powerful that way!

Number of human interactions: 17. Had to include various waitresses, etc in the count.

State(s) visited: WV, MD (for about 100 yard), PA

City visited: Duncansville, PA

Interesting fact about this city: They have a Tijuana Flats! You may have figured out by now that I reeeeaaaaalllyy like burritos, and frequent Moes, Chipotle, etc. while on the road. Tijuana Flats is high on my list, and I thought that they were mainly in Central Florida. The founder is a UCF grad, so I have to support a fellow alum.

Halpert says: A little taste of Florida... in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania.

Travel Log - Star date 20080816 - Williamsport, PA

Plane, train or automobile: Matrix. This car is awesome - we went to get a small refrigerator for a party we had planned and ended buying several other items as well. We got out to the Matrix and realized that the back cargo area had some bottled water, a case of Mike's Hard Lemonade and some stuff for my upcoming work trip in it. Here is what we squeezed into the Matrix:

• Travel Man
• Travel Wife
• Travel Kids (2)
• A 2.7 cubic foot refrigerator
• Two boxes containing training manuals
• Case of water
• Case of Mike's Hard Lemonade
• Small bag of grass seed
• Large back of seed mulch to put over the grass seed
• A large cast iron skillet and pan combo

Also on this trip, I cashed in my Moe's Passport and am now the proud owner of my very own Moes T-Shirt!

Mission: Management Training in Williamsport, PA

Number of human interactions: 15! Finally, a decent sized class! I was getting worried after The One with Two People.

State(s) visited: PA

City visited: Williamsport, PA

Interesting fact about this city: Home of the Little League World Series. It started the day after I left, so I was going out as most people were coming in.

I stayed at a quaint, cozy hotel in downtown Williamsport - the Genetti Hotel. Let me put the description into common terms for you: quaint = hasn't been updated for 50 years; cozy = the smallest hotel room I have ever been in. I opened the door to my room and noticed that the door juuuussst cleared the bed. To my right was a bed, dresser and TV. I had to turn sideways to get between the dresser and bed to get to the window air conditioner. To my left was a desk, closet, armchair and bathroom. I could put one foot in the bathroom and touch my bed at the same time. I could sit in the armchair and put my feet up on the bed (or on the desk, or reach the sink). Now in fairness to the Genetti, I did book the cheapest room they had and the map on the door indicated that the other 30 or so rooms per floor were much larger. You get what you pay for.

I also had the opportunity to try a sticky bun from Mr. Sticky's. If you have never had one, I would suggest not eating for several days before trying one (Michael Phelps would have trouble eating one in a single sitting, and he eats 12,000 calories a day). This delicious concoction weighs about 2 pounds and makes a dent in the plate if you drop it. Serious sticky bun!

Halpert says: I am still trying to finish my sticky bun - it is bigger than me!

Travel Log - Star date 20080802 - Certfication Plan

Plane, train or automobile: Matrix - car of choice of superheroes everywhere!

Mission: A little personal development this time. I spent some time with our Commercial Sales Team to learn about our DIFM (Do It For Me - repair shops) Acceleration strategy. Time well spent!

Number of human interactions: 2 plus a lot of visits to repair shops!

State(s) visited: NC

City visited: Charlotte

Interesting fact about this city: Charlotte is the Queen City of the South. I usually see Charlotte from the air, and from the inside of the airport.

Halpert says: I didn't even know there was stuff outside the Charlotte Airport!

Travel Log - Star date 20080628

Plane, train or automobile: Matrix. The iPod jack is the best feature in this car - you can drive for hours and never have to touch the radio.

Mission: Management Training, plus required participation for two of our Trainers who just became certified to teach the course I teach. They took lots of notes so they could facilitate this workshop in the future. There is always a little extra pressure when other Trainers are observing - we can be so critical of classroom management!

I also spent a day visiting stores with one of our Regional Vice Presidents. I learn so much from seeing the store through their eyes, plus we get some windshield time between stores.

I stayed at the same hotel on both visits, but I won't be staying there again. I got back to my room the last night about 8 p.m. and no one had touched my room all day. Bed unmade, towel hanging in the same place, you get the picture. Isn't that one of the benefits of staying in a hotel room - someone else does all the housework? The front desk gave me a reduced rate for the trouble, but I won't be going back. They are now dead to me. They bypassed being on notice.

Number of human interactions: 12

State(s) visited: WV, MD and PA

City visited: Back to Norristown, PA, near the King of Prussia Mall. And a Moes in Shippensburg, PA.

Interesting fact about this city: I took the other Trainers to the Mall with me, and I think it grew some more! This place is gigantic - we had to stop for a snack on our way to a restaurant for dinner, and then stop again for dessert on the way out.

Halpert says: If only I was a service dog, then I could have gone in the mall, too.

Travel Log - Star date 20080621

Plane, train or automobile: Matrix. This car seems to be developing hidden capabilities. The running joke with one of my coworkers is that the Matrix can do anything - need to tow a 27 foot travel trailer? Matrix. Need to haul 3 3-drawer lateral file cabinets home? Matrix. This car rocks.

Mission: Our department is expermenting with "Work From Home" days. We want to see if we can maintain productivity and reduce travel costs by 20%. I have a company car, so I don't think the 30 miles that I didn't drive saved us much ($4 for 1 gallon), but I know that several people with longer commutes saved about $10 and still got everything done. I tried this on Wednesday and it worked out well. We can forward our desk phones to a land/cell number - I did this and was able to converse with an out of town colleague without them knowing I wasn't at my desk.

Number of human interactions: 57. The four days I was in the office reminded me of how friendly our Team Members are - you can't walk down the hall without being greeted or chatted with.

State(s) visited: VA

City visited: My kitchen on "Work From Home Day"

Interesting fact about this city: I got all the free coffee I wanted all day long!

Halpert says: Dude, this is two weeks in a row at home! I need to stretch my legs!

Travel Log - Star date 20080531

Plane, train or automobile: Matrix!!! This car is great for traveling - sips gas, rides well, carries stuff and it has an iPod jack - no more changing CDs or seeking good radio stations!

Little Girl had a dance recital today. She is in ballet and tap, so she appeared in two numbers. Her favorite role was in the ballet group - they danced to a song about chocolate chip cookies out of reach on a shelf. She was picked to exit the stage last, which means she got to run back and grab the cookies at the end of the number. She was so excited! She is so beautiful when she dances and you can tell that she truly loves dancing.

Mission: Management Training in Atlanta

Number of human interactions: 16

State(s) visited: NC, SC and GA

City visited: Buford, GA

Interesting fact about this city: It has a huge mall and a Firestone (the Matrix got it's first oil change at the ripe old age of 3 weeks!)

Halpert says: There was a Moe's next to the Firestone - does it get any better than this??

Eight states, seven nights, seven beds... one woman.

Plane, train or automobile: The maiden voyage for the Matrix was a doozy. We had a death in the family, and we were off to Texas. Here is the timeline for the trip:

Tuesday 05/13 - Travel Man is teaching a management workshop in Columbus, OH. The BoysenBerry alerts me to a message from Mrs. Travel Man at lunch time that her aunt has passed (we were expecting this after a 10 month battle with cancer). Travel Man arranges for a substitute to conduct the workshop for the next two days. He and I meet in Charleston, WV for dinner and head in opposite directions. Arrive home at 11pm and help Mrs. Travel Man pack and get ready for the trip. Bed = my home. Miles = 300.

Wednesday 05/14 - Travel Family (there are two Travel Kids... more on them later) drives to Jackson, MS. Arrive at the hotel @ 10 p.m. Bed = Sleep Inn, Jackson, MS. Miles = 750.

Thursday 05/15 - We roll into Bryan, TX at 5 p.m. We check in, change clothes and get to the viewing just in time for the 6:30 Rosary. Eat dinner with family and back to the hotel @ 10:30 p.m. Bed = Quality Inn, College Station, TX. Miles = 450

Friday 05/16 - Visit family at uncle's house. Bigger Travel Kid is roughed up by the family dog, which means we have to go look for a new outfit for her since her skirt bore the brunt of the attack (and a small wound on her leg... "merely a flesh wound!") Funeral Mass @ 2:00, burial at 3:30, reception at church at 4:30 and then on the road. We arrive in Shreveport, LA about 11:00 p.m. Bed = Comfort Suites, Shreveport, LA. Miles = 250 (with a start time of 6 p.m.)

Saturday 05/17 - This is a long day. We have to drop the kids off in Edisto Island, SC for their annual Grandma and PaPa vacation, we head east. We end our day in Madison, GA. at about 11:00 p.m. Bed = Comfort Inn, Madison, GA. Miles = 650.

Sunday 05/18 - Off to Mass in a mission parish by Lake Oconee, and then to Edisto Island, SC. My in-laws are owners with Wyndham Resorts and reserved a gorgeous 4 bedroom unit a few blocks from the beach. We met up with them about 6 p.m. Bed = Edisto Island, SC. Miles = 250.

Monday 05/19 - Back home for Mrs. Travel Man and me. Brief stop in Charlotte, NC for my wife's business and home for dinner. Bed = my own!! Miles = 410.

All told, we put about 2800 miles on the Matrix during the trip (not counting the mileage to get back home on Tuesday) with an average fuel economy of about 34 miles per gallon. I cashed in LOTS of hotel points (one benefit of being Travel Man) and supported my wife and family in a time of mourning (isn't that what being a super hero is all about?) Travel Kids (girls ages 9 and 6) were great - no complaints, no messes. They watched movies, read books, colored, played the alphabet game and even got into a cow counting contest (first one to 1,000 wins!)

State(s) visited: TN, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, SC, NC.

City visited: See list above!

Interesting fact about this city: Too many to mention!

Halpert says: I spent more time in the Matrix in a week than I did in a month in the Exploder.

Travel Log - Star date 20080510

Plane, train or automobile: The final trip for the trusty Exploder - the new Matrix is here! This is almost exactly what my car looks like:



I don't have the cool nav system (I got to select the colors, other than that we get the base version + power package + cruise control).

Mission: Managment Training for select store managers in one of our Regions. The Division Manager for the area attended as well and was so impressed with the workshop and the participant's reactions that he scheduled two more workshop immediately and plans to schedule several more later in the year. I also visited a store with 3 new management team members to cover our in store training program. We have a commercial specialist at this store that generates a lot of business and I spent part of my time watching/interviewing him. He works at about 100 mph, with gusts to 150! He never lost track of where his drivers were or where they be going. He yelled "Focus, focus, focus!!!" if the phone lines had overwhelmed him for a few minutes, but he always recovered and didn't miss a beat the hour and a half I spent with him.

Number of human interactions: 15 - 9 in class and 6 at the store.

State(s) visited: North Carolina

City visited: Durham, NC

Interesting fact about this city: Home to Duke University, the Durham Bulls and very close to the Flying Burrito. Unfortunately, the Flying Burrito was closed when I got there, so I found a Moe's to satisfy my burrito craving.

Halpert says: How come I never get an Alpo burrito??