The weather forecast was mostly right this time around; they were predicting between 3 and 10 inches of snow for Westchester County, starting around 4am and going into the afternoon. I had an 8:30am meeting in Somers, so I went to bed with a feeling of unease.

The alarm went off at 6, and I turned on the TV. Naturally, the weather was the top story — Channel 4 kept showing the situation in Mt. Kisco, about halfway from my hotel to Somers, and it was not encouraging. Snow was falling at about an inch an hour and visibility was limited.

After breakfast, I checked with my colleagues to make sure that the meeting was still on; it was, and I set out from the hotel at 7:30 for what would usually be a 25 minute drive.

Of course, I forgot that I’d have to clean off the car. So by the time I actually got behind the wheel, it was 7:45.

It was snowing hard; most of the traffic on I-684 was going the other way. Very slowly. There were a few other cars going North with me — some were driving much more slowly than conditions warranted, and so I had to pass them. With no lanes really clear, that was tricky, but every so often, there were stretches with two of the three lanes passable, so I was able to pass safely. And I entered the building right at 8:30, along with one of my local colleagues.

All but one person actually made it to the meeting in person, including the executive to whom we were presenting. We were among the few IBMers who were in the building — most people chose to stay home and telecommute. Of course, the cafeteria people had had to come in, so coffee was available. But there were, perhaps, 50 cars in the parking lot for Building 4 instead of the usual 400 or so.

The meeting went well, but I was somewhat distracted at times looking out the window. Normally, I could see three other Somers buildings from that conference room, but there were times today when I could barely see one.

The meeting ended a few minutes after 10, and then some of us stayed for a postmortem and weather discussion (three of us were hopeful of flying home; one from Newark to Frankfurt, one from LaGuardia to Tallahassee, and me from JFK to San Jose). As we talked, the snow slowed. We finally broke for lunch at 11:45. There was no line in the cafeteria, needless to say.

By the time we finished lunch, the sun was out! So I walked out to my car, removed the snow, and headed to the airport. There was a lot of snow on the roads until I got into the Bronx — after that, all I had to worry about was wet pavement and a messy windshield. And as I was merging from the Cross-Island onto the Belt, I was passed by an idiot driving 80; the world was back to normal.

I’ve been sitting in the JetBlue terminal for nearly two hours already. All indications have my flight home operating on time, but it’s Friday at JFK, so my optimism is tempered. It’s been a good trip, but I’m definitely ready for the weekend!

Shabbat Shalom!

Yesterday, I mentioned that I was staying at Tarrytown House. I had expected to be there again tonight, but I’m not, for several reasons.

One is the weather — the Tarrytown House is on a rather hilly road, and I didn’t really want to have to drive down it if the snow that’s predicted materializes.

But the more important reason is that I didn’t find the Tarrytown House to be particularly suited for me. During the week, it mostly caters to conferences; during the weekend, it describes itself as a romantic B&B. And I probably would have enjoyed it if I were there for either of those purposes. But as a lone transient business traveller, I found the hotel to be a bad match.

Last night, I had four choices for dinner. Drive a mile or more off-property to the nearest restaurant; have a cold sandwich in the bar ($10 or so, plus a drink); have a hot sandwich or meal through Room Service ($18 and up, plus a $5 delivery charge and a 20% service charge); or have the dinner buffet ($45, probably plus a service charge). I chose the sandwich in the bar and got away for just under $20.

But I thought I’d be OK this morning, since IBM’s hotel guide claimed that breakfast was included. I got to their restaurant just before they closed at 9am, grabbed some fruit and cereal from the buffet, and sat down. After the waitress had poured my coffee, she asked for my room number and came back with the news that breakfast was not included; it was $15. But when the bill came, I found that there was another mandatory 20% service charge, so, with tax, I was on the hook for $19.33. For cereal and fruit and coffee.

I was not happy, to say the least. And I went back to the room, packed, lugged my suitcase up five flights of stairs (did I mention that the hotel doesn’t have many elevators and it’s built on a hillside?), and checked out. But I did ask to speak to the manager.

He was very courteous, told me that the problem was with the IBM hotel guide, and, eventually, agreed to credit me the cost of breakfast (though I’d already closed out my bill, so I’ll have to wait and see if the credit appears). He did offer to upgrade me on a future stay, “perhaps with your wife” — and if I were going to be in the area with Diane on a pleasure trip, I might consider taking him up on the offer. But I don’t have any plans to stay there again for business.

Tonight, I’m at the Summerfield Suites in White Plains, a short hop from I-684. Breakfast is included; so was a social hour with wine and beer, salad, and cookies. The fitness center is pretty good; and domestic phone calls are free (versus $2 for the first minute for local and 800 calls and $6 for the first minute for long distance). And I’ve got lots of space.

I’m still not happy about probably having to fight the snow tomorrow morning (and I took advantage of the laundry facilities here, just in case….), but the only fix for that would have been for IBM to have built headquarters in a decent climate. And there are some battles that even I know are futile to even think of fighting.