Mark,
I am just curious, all this travel, not being home for your wife's birthday in 7 years, your employer has a racing hobby....
What is your line of work?
(I am a mainframe computer operator that sits on his a$$ all night...)
I run a business that makes personal safety equipment for racecar drivers (hence the race shop tie-in.) Most of the year business travel is not a big deal, but as the racing season slows down, "trade" demands hot up. Typical pattern is November trade shows and meeting with licensees and subcontractors in Europe. December is SAE conference (Charlotte last week) and major US trade show (Orlando next week.) January brings another trade show and more visits in Europe. Then the racing season starts up, and we all settle down and go back to the real work of getting stuff made and out the door to customers. The job and the industry can be a lot of fun and has doses of glamor, but most of the time it's just hawking widgets and making payroll.
