When arriving in a new city, if you are unsure of what time it is or what time zone you are in, turn on your cellphone. The time on your phone will automatically change to the local timezone. You see, the local cell towers give the phone the correct, local time. Set your watch from your phone.

This beats the alternative of chasing a pilot down and arguing with him about why your flight to Des Moines left two hours before you expected it to because you're an idiot and the pilot doesn't care that you missed your flight because it's your own damned fault, and besides he's going to Detroit and has nothing to do with your flight to Des Moines in fact he works for a different airline entirely and he writes about it on his blog in one long run-on sentence. That's the alternative.

If you don't have a cell phone, get one. It's the 21st century. If you can afford airfare, you can afford to be technologically savvy. Otherwise, stay on the farm. Thank you kindly.

Man, I need to work on being gracious.

When staying in a hotel, never unplug your cellular phone from its charger until you have unplugged the charger from the wall. Why? Because this way you will have your phone-charger in you hand and will be forced to do something with it. Put it in your suitcase. Congratulations. Tonight, you will be able to charge your phone; you will be able to have a relationship with your wife still.

I learned this from losing, and purchasing, several phone chargers, and going many nights, and days, without a phone. That sucks when you're in some place that shouldn't even have an airport.

Now, if you do happen to unplug your phone from the charger and have left the charger plugged into the wall in Cleavland, and you don't realize this until you are you're flying between Chicago and Raleigh at 37,000 feet, don't despair. There are hundreds of other people who didn't take my advice either. Their chargers are in a huge-ass box at the front desk at every hotel in America. Just ask the front desk if you can look through their "Charger-box."  Chances are pretty good that they will have one for you.