Back to normal - with a clunker or two thrown in, for old time's sake

The stunningly patient SML has returned from her sojourn to dump Our Lady of BYU back in Provo. Our Lady is now safely ensconced in her new apartment, driving the newly-acquired family college car and all appears to be well in Happy Valley with her. I'm really glad the stunningly patient SML had the chance to be with Our Lady-they had a good time together. Due to our respective schedules, though, this meant we've been apart for ten days. I could not have been more happy when she got on an earlier flight this afternoon - got home at 5PM instead of 1030PM. Ten days is just too long. It's good to be together again. I've missed my wife. Now that I've retired from NBTA, these long stretches should be a thing of the past.

While the stunningly patient SML was away, I had some time to catch up on some of the blogs I follow. One, Normal Mormon Husbands, did a post about his collection of clunkers over the years and it got me thinking, as well as laughing, about some of the junk that has darkened my garage over the years. So, here's a quick look back at some of them:

1975 Volkswagen Scirocco
My First Car - and the Devil incarnate
Supposed to be a little sporty car. It was red and had a real boss plaid interior (bear in mind it was the early 1980's and plaid was straight out of "The Official Preppy Handbook," my guide to life in the early 80's). I should have known this thing was going to be trouble when the clutch pedal fell off a few weeks after I bought it. It was named Official Pacecar for Satan when then gear shift snapped off in my hand mid-downshift. It was not long for this earth after that incident.

1983 Honda Civic 1300FE
My Second Car - my first to be totaled
I loved this car from the day I got it until the day I got t-boned by a lady who ran stop sign, totaling what had been come to be known as 'Wanda the Honda.'

1985 Toyota Corolla
Brief life with us - first appearance of Satan in a Japanese vehicular form
To call this car evil is the understatement of the year. The stunningly patient SML and I had been married for a few years when I got this car. I had replaced my Accord with a Chevy Silverado (which I loved) but the gas was killing me (I think gas was maybe $1.00 a gallon) so I went "thrifty" with this heap. I knew I had to go when the transmission went out very early into its life in our garage. It spent more time at some no-name repair place in Mesa, AZ, than it ever saw in our garage. It was hideous.

1995 Toyota Camry LE
My Commuter Beater car
I bought this in Mesa, AZ, right before we moved to California. I finally had a car built in the 90's during the 90's - I wasn't aiming particularly high, but at this point in our lives, this car was the pinnacle of luxury. It was a miracle worker once we moved to California. After a year there, I took a job that had me commuting 130 miles a day and I kept that job until we moved to Illinois. The Camry performed admirably. It's the first car I took to 200,000 miles. It finally gave up the ghost at a parking garage at LAX when I got off a plane from London. It barely made the 100-plus mile drive home, where I basically dropped it off at a dealership and got another car.

1999 Ford Windstar
We leased it and we won't do that again
This was the first brand-new car we got in our marriage and we'd been married 11 years at that point. We were moving to SoCal when the stunningly patient SML's boss Camry Wagon bit the dust. All our cash was going into the purchase of our house so a down payment on anything was out of the question. So we leased a new Ford Windstar-the Recall Express. Born with the spirit of its flaming Ford Pinto predecessor, this car had more than one recall for spontaneous combustion issues, among other recalls. We dutifully kept it for the full term of the lease and in all fairness, it did a good job for us. Tell you what though, I never camped in it. A fire in the fire ring was all I needed. I didn't need the min-van to add to the excitement.

All in all, we've been lucky when it comes to cars. Nothing too horrible in terms of mechanics, etc. We didn't have to take advantage of the government's car handout. We couldn't have as none of our vehicles qualified as clunkers, although SML would probably argue about the Swedemobile (not her favorite car that I've brought home over the years).

NBTA draws to a close

For the last two years, I have had the honor of serving as the elected Vice President of the National Business Travel Association. NBTA is the leading business travel management association in the world, charged with education and advocacy on behalf of its members. I joined NBTA ten years ago and quickly found a home there. It has been such a rewarding association to be a part of. I've made amazing friendships, developed professionally, and hopefully, have been able to give a little bit back.

This last week was our annual international conference and exposition. More than 5,600 business travel professionals from around the world showed up for it. I was delighted to be a part of this event. I approached it with a touch of melancholy as well as this would be my last conference in a leadership role for awhile. I won't go into a lot of detail here about the conference as you can go to the website and read all about it.

I did want to highlight the speakers we had. On Sunday, we heard from Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger - he of USAirways 1549 fame; Dara Torres, the Olympian swimmer; Jay Leno; and former President Bill Clinton. Pretty good docket, huh?

"Sully" could not have been more awesome. Seriously. There were more than 3,500 rowdy folks in the hall when he spoke and you could have heard a pin drop as he spoke. The room was mesmerized. It's not like he spent a ton of time retelling the story of his flight's swim in the Hudson. Rather, he focused on a lifetime of preparation that readied him for the events of that day. It was fascinating. He's humble and human. His wife, Laurie, was there and I was able to escort her around a bit. She's absolutely lovely. It was good to talk to him. I'm certain he was the right man for the job that day.

On Monday, our featured speaker was Olympian, Dara Torres. She was my luncheon companion and was really cool. She is in amazing shape. Seriously. She's big into Twitter. You can follow her there - @daratorresswims. Her story was pretty interesting, especially how she wound up swimming at her 5th Olympics in Beijing in 2008.

On Tuesday, Jay Leno came down and literally put on a "gig." It was like being in a comedy club, except you were surrounded by 3,500 people and a bad chicken lunch. He was really very funny. I couldn't help but notice that Jay seemed a lot more at ease when he was unshackled from the chains of network television. He was with us for more than an hour and had everyone laughing. It was a pleasure meeting him, too. I'm still firmly entrenched in the Letterman/Conan camp, but I have to admit I was impressed with Jay.

Our final speaker on Wednesday was the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton. I was pretty ambivalent about this one. My feelings about him are mixed at best. I mean he did manage to balance the budget, but so many things on the international front, like letting the change to eliminate Osama bin Laden, were missed, and then there's the whole cheating/lying thing, which really was the proverbial nail in the coffin. That being said, his speech was fascinating. He even mentioned his trip to North Korea, calling it a "business trip," which surprised me as I figured Shrillary had muzzled him on that one. At the conclusion of his speech, I had the chance to meet him. It's been said that he is an incredibly charismatic and engaging person, and yep, it's true.

Anyway, I'll be posting some pictures later when I get them from all of this. It really was a great conference and a great way to say good-bye. When I stood on the stage and said my goodbyes, I have to admit I was awash in a slew of emotions. I'm going to miss so much of the things I did in a leadership role, but I know that right now, it's time for me to take a break. It's been a great ride.

I'm gonna take a nap

Sorry to have been off the radar for the last week. I was at my last NBTA conference as VP of that association. It was a whirlind, a blur, and it consumed all I was doing. Had no time to post - and there's plenty to talk about (hanging with Captain Sullenberger, Dara Torres, Jay Leno, and former President Clinton). That being said, I need a long, long nap. I'm tired. I'll get caught up over the weekend.

A new addition to the garage

Having a child in university is an interesting experience. As Our Lady of BYU prepares to make her triumphal return to Provo after a long summer at home, we've been getting her ready for said return.

One of those things include getting a car that will be the family college car. I won't go into all the drama that's gone down in finding the right car, but let's just say that the internet has been both a curse and a blessing in our quest. Not to mention the chaos that the government's handout, I mean, stimulus program for cars created for us and we weren't even trading in a clunker.

Suffice to say, I made a detour to lovely Orem, Utah this morning and added this to our garage:

I won't elaborate either on what it was like being held hostage at the dealer either. I think they were trying to create a "Stockholm Syndrome" thing waiting for the finance manager - which was completely lame since I was not financing said car. Anyway, way glad that's over with.

I did have some time to catch up with some old, wonderful friends while I was here and that was great. I also learned that In-n-Out is coming to Provo! They're getting closer to Chicagoland. Yes! They can't get here fast enough.