You Know You are A Road Warrior When....part 1

The delivery slip for your lunch order reads "Lobby-Joanne" because you are spending three hours in the lobby after you checked out of your room...

Who Says I Have an Accent?

For years and years people have tried to figure out where I am from by my "accent". What most people determine is that I really don't have one. I don't sound like my southern parents, Massachusetts where I grew up, Western NY where I went to college or New Jersey, my current home.

This week I was reading in one ofthe advice columns, a lot of discussion about how to comment on someone's accent in a positive way, especially if they are from another country. Little did I think this would pertain to me so soon.

As I sat down to dinner last night outside of Toronto and started talking with the server, the first thing he said was "I know you are American by your accent!!".

I may not sound like a region of the US, but apparently I don't sound Canadian either!

It was a great experience....always good to walk in someone else's shoes.

Sweet or Suite?

I love clever stuff. I stayed last night at the Hampton Inn and Suites, Toronto Airport last night. Due to the suites they have a little store with microwaveable food, beverages, candy, snacks etc. They call it the "Suite Shop"---gotta love it! As the kids would say..."Sweet'!

By the way - nice hotel and the staff couldn't be more helpful especially to "Americans" like me who know less than we should about Canada!

Oops! New Airline Boarding Procedures

I had to laugh at myself the other day. I was in row 6 of the plane I was boarding. I had not checked the "Group Number" that some of the airlines now use (not Continental, the airline I fly most often). I missed the first two announcements while I checked my ticket only to find out my group had already been called. Why? Becasue I had a window seat and they had boarded us first. Kind of funny because of what I wrote back in January.

Luckily I slipped into my seat before the aisle person!

Is Recycling Inconvenient?

So here I sit in a hotel room in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. By my feet, at my desk, are a trash basket and a recyling can. The last hotel I stayed in in Tornoto had a recyling bin too. So why can't the US hotels do this?

I have asked various hotels over the years why we do not have recycling in the hotels in the US. I was told "We can't ask our guests to do that--it would inconvenient them!"

In NJ where I currently live, recycling is mandatory and yet the hotels do not have it in their rooms or common areas. Most people are "trained" to a certain extent to recycle. If there is a bin in the room how hard can this be?

For me I frequently find myself taking "USA Today" and plastic water bottles home with me so they can be recycled. That's inconvenience!