20 Hour Business Trip

This morning I am in Roseville, California. It's a suburb northeast of Sacramento, about 2.5 hours by car from home. I'm out here for an onsite meeting with a customer later this morning.

How to get to Roseville— or, more accurately, when to get to Roseville— was I decision I made then remade. Initially I planned to drive out here this morning. Benefit: sleeping in my own bed Wednesday night, especially after a long day at a trade show in San Jose; no hotel cost for my company. Downside: Leaving at maybe 7am to allow 3 hours for traffic across two metropolitan areas; possibly arriving late if traffic is really nuts.

A few days ago I decided that instead of driving out Thursday morning I would drive Wednesday night and stay at a hotel near the client's office. Benefit: wake up, shower, and eat at a normal hour Thursday morning; attend a meeting or two via teleconference around 8:30/9am; no chance of traffic making me late to the client's office. Downside: Wednesday becomes a looong day with driving until 10pm after the early start and full day at the aforementioned trade show.

I split the difference a little Wednesday evening by meeting Hawk for dinner near home. That was a nice pause in a very long workday. Then I filled the car's gas tank and hit the road for Sacramento at 7:15. It was just after 10pm, 141 miles later, when I arrived at the hotel. Yes, I slogged through traffic delays getting out of Silicon Valley even after 7pm. And as a result of the long drive I didn't wind down for bed until almost midnight. But at least I woke up this morning feeling refreshed. I was also able to make a comfortable start this morning, spending time catching up on email and Slack from yesterday, and spiffing up my presentation for the customer later in the day.

My plan from here on out is that once the customer meeting wraps up at 11:30 or maybe closer to 12 I'll start home and get some lunch on the way. I figure that with a lunch stop I'll be back home around 3:15, making this a 20 hour trip. That's longer than the day trip to Phoenix I did a few weeks ago, but in some ways this feels easier.

Ineffective Cold Medicine Proven Ineffective

It's in the news this week that the drug phenylephrine, used as a key ingredient in a variety of cold medicines to reduce swelling of nasal passages, simply doesn't work. An FDA advisory panel made this unanimous finding on Tuesday after reviewing recent scientific studies showing that oral forms of the drug (i.e, pills and cough syrups) provide no more benefit to patients than a placebo. Example coverage: CNBC article, 12 Sep 2023.

My first thought when I saw the news was, "I could have told you that 10-plus years ago." That's how long ago I tried the medicine myself and quickly determined it doesn't work.

10-plus years ago is when pharmacies starting carding me to buy pseudoephedrine over the counter. Pseudoephedrine is the ingredient in classic formulations of brands like Sudafed. (Indeed the name Sudafed is derived directly from pseudoephedrine.) Apparently drug dealers of the illegal kind were cooking pseudoephedrine pills into meth. As governments required stores to clamp down on selling that legal drug, drug makers shifted their main brands to use a related but weaker active ingredient, phenylephrine.

I call phenylephrine weaker because that's how pharmacists described it to me when I challenged them about it.

Me: I can't find any pseudoephedrine on the shelves, is it behind the counter?

Pharmacist: Yes, but right now we're out. We don't get regular stock anymore. Try these pills with phenylephrine; they're better.

Me: I have tried phenylephrine. It doesn't work. It doesn't relieve my symptoms like pseudoephedrine does.

Pharmacist: Well, it's a weaker formulation. You just need to take more pills.

Me: How is it better if I have to take more pills?

Pharmacist: It's better because you have more control over your dosage.

Me: Taking 4-5 pills to get the same benefit I used to get from 1 does not seem "better" to me. Also, taking 4-5 pills is contrary to the safety directions on the package. How is that "better"?

Pharmacist: You can ask your doctor.

Now we learn that "weaker" was just bullshit for doesn't work.

Taking it Easy Around the Hotel in Winthrop

North Cascades Travelog #15
Winthrop WA - Mon, 4 Sep 2023, 5pm.

This afternoon is where we come up short because the hikes we wanted to do in North Cascades National Park are on fire. The past few days we were able to do other hikes instead... but those were hikes we were going to do anyway, in addition to (at least) two trails in the park. We just skipped the hikes in the burn area and did the others. So this afternoon we have half a day left and nowhere else on our list to go hiking. Nowhere else that's not closed, covered with smoke, and at risk fire.

We're skilled at finding alternatives, though. Part of traveling a lot is gaining a lot of experience at finding alternatives when one plan gets foreclosed for whatever reason. Because unexpected closures do happen. It can be bad weather, delayed flights, construction closures, fire, hurricanes, death riders; you name it, we've probably had to route around it.



With nowhere else to go this afternoon we decided to stay put. Stay put at the hotel, that is. The Abby Creek Inn (where we're staying 3 nights) has a nice pool area in the central courtyard. The photo above shows the swimming pool. The water feels a bit cool today with air temps in the low 70s. It was probably more relaxing a few days ago when the weather spiked to around 90. Instead of the pool we took a soak in the hot tub.

After the hot tub we decided to go sit down by the river. Well, I decided to sit; Hawk went rock-hopping.



BTW, no, this is not Abby Creek. It's the Methow River. I don't think there is a namesake waterway for the Abby Creek Inn. And the inn doesn't even make a big deal out of this bit of riverfront land. It's beyond the back parking lot, past a terraced slope. There are two picnic tables but they aren't that close to the water. I grabbed the chair I'm sitting in from the edge of the parking lot, where it seemed like it was left as junk.

We hung out at the river for a few hours. Hawk rock-hopped up and down the river while I relaxed and enjoy the scenery, water bottle (and later two cans of beer) in hand. It was a good way to spend the afternoon. And I didn't even miss hiking all that much. I'm kind of stiff from all the hikes that's haven't been on fire the past few days.