Weekly Update 09/12/26 – 09/18/26 (Irvine Business Trip, John Wayne Airport, Travel Pet Peeves)

This week's Weekly Update covers my business trip to Irvine, California, including a visit to the company's headquarters, some travel frustrations at John Wayne Airport, and the new office flooring waiting for me when I returned home.

Well, I spent most of my week in Irvine, California. I started the week visiting my mom in Ventura, where she lives now. I'm sorry I did not get a chance to visit with other SoCal friends, but my timeline on a trip like this is very limited. I only have the car for 24 hours, including five hours driving from Santa Ana to Ventura and back. My time is completely taken up while I'm at the office, including lunches and dinners.

Then I drove to Irvine, where my company is headquartered. Unfortunately, it started badly. I thought I was going to stay at the same hotel as I did in May, but after getting there, I found out I was wrong. The new hotel was farther from the office, so I could not walk to work. But it worked out. Even though I did not.

Frankly, the offices in Irvine are amazing. We have part of the 12th floor and the entire 14th floor. Next year, we will also be getting the 15th floor. I must admit I did feel a little stupid when I wondered why we did not get the 13th floor, but of course they don't number the 13th floor in the building because of the superstition surrounding the number 13.

I do think that the most impressive part of the home office is one of the lunch rooms on the 12th floor. I thought it was impressive when we moved into our new offices at Moffa and the lunch room had what was, at the time, a big-screen TV. Well, on the 12th floor they have a real big screen. I'm not certain, but I think it's 100 inches, and the view from the room is spectacular.

Each of the at least three lunch rooms is also stocked with free snacks, and on the 14th floor they have a special espresso machine. I've heard rumors that the 15th floor will be getting a bistro making drinks. Well, credit card processing is a good way to make money.

The week went well. I learned about Surcharge 3.0 and how we would proceed with development on my FACTS project. Thursday night, the owner of the company took our team out to dinner.

Friday, I flew home from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana.

The return trip reminded me of some of my pet peeves. The flight to John Wayne was not full, and I got the whole row to myself. Well, the flight home was full.

In May, I got to the airport at 5:30 a.m., two hours before departure, and found that the ticket counters were not open. I would think that if the airlines and the TSA are going to recommend getting to the airport two hours early, the least they can do is have the ticket counters open. This time it was not as bad. I got to the airport at 6:00 a.m., and the counters were open.

I checked my bag and went to security. Now, I have a Visa card from Fidelity Investments, and one of the perks of the card is that they give you up to $100 in rewards when you apply for TSA PreCheck. The rewards can be deposited directly into your Fidelity account, just like the 2% cash back I get with the card. I have mine deposited into my Roth IRA.

TSA PreCheck is supposed to provide expedited security screening. Well, at John Wayne it didn't work like that. In fact, the PreCheck line was quite a bit longer than the standard line.

When I got to the gate, I was not surprised to find that the flight was full, but I was annoyed by the fact that they were asking 23 people to check their carry-on bags and were going to check them for free. I had already checked my bag because I knew the flight was full, and I find it easier to let the airline handle the bag. But I was annoyed that I, or my company, was being penalized $45 for checking my bag at the ticket counter instead of waiting and checking it at the gate for free.

Finally, I saw two people who I would consider jerks walking around with these outrageously large fanny packs around their waists, carrying large bottles of water and other items, along with their roll-aboard bags and backpacks. They were obviously trying to get around the limits of one bag in the overhead bin and one bag under the seat in front of you. I don't know what the airline did when they tried to board with all that junk.

While I was away, I ordered the new flooring for my office, and it arrived. It's piled on the front porch. I still need to get the old carpet up before I can start the installation.

Well, I hope you all had a good week and have an even better one next week.

— Odell Sneeden Hathaway III

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Weekly Update 09/05/26 – 09/11/26