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The following is a guest post from Bill Dilworth. Bill is a former PowerPoint MVP, a VERY frequent traveler, and a great guy all the way around. In fact, Bill travels enough to be in the top class for Frequent Flyer miles for two major airlines. I hope you find his tips as useful as I did.

From Bill: This is just some stuff I picked up along the way. Don’t be offended by any of my generalizations, they are my observations and, as such, mine – not yours.

UPDATE: Bill has updated his note. I have updated the post to show the new content. Enjoy!

Booking & general —-

1. Listen when someone with twice your travel time speaks – its easier than repeating their mistakes
2. Never book a connection of less than an hour
3. Avoid New York airspace if your travel plans permit
4. Check the forecasts – bookmark a weather service on your PDA
5. Bookmark the airline’s flight status pages, too
6. Learn what hubs are your kryptonite
7. Try to find a multi-charger to replace the 6 you carry
8. Always keep your bag half packed
9. A bag keeps the dirty clothes separate; a few dryer sheets keep them from stinking up the suitcase
10. Always put the confirmation number in your PDA
11. If you book a leg on more than one airline, don’t expect your checked bag to arrive
12. If what’s in your checked bag is mission critical, consider FedEx
13. Always have emergency funds available
14. Always have your camera handy

Airports —-

1. 1 hour early is better than 1 minute late
2. Never get in line behind a families, kids, or orthodox clergy
3. Check to make sure your freq. flyer number was used
4. If you have to check a bag (I do) make it so you can see it on the wrong baggage claim.
5. Be nice to ticket agents, TSA agents, and gate agents – they can help or hurt your plans.
6. Small airports do a better job on average than the medium ones or hubs – but don’t count on it.
7. Give up your seat on the shuttles, it makes people smile
8. Always give up your place to a traveling military person
9. Frequent flyer lines often take longer than the regular ones
10. A wireless aircard is easier than bongo roulette
11. Keep an eye out for free outlets
12. Carry a 3-way power cube for when you do find an outlet*
13. Tunes at the gate are great, until you miss an announcement
14. Counting the McD’s on Final” is a difficult game to explain to non-travelers
15. People-watching by destination is a great time killer at hubs
16. You can NEVER be too OCD about where your Blackberry is.
17. No place makes a Philly CheeseSteak like Philly.
18. I don’t think Philly is best at anything else
19. Double check the gate assignment before running for the connection

Flights —-

1. Learn to sleep on planes – really
2. Travel with a bag that can fit under the seat
3. Ask if the flight is full before placing the bag in the overhead
4. Always have a book to read, even if you can sleep on a plane
5. Zunes are great travel tools – even if their user interface sucks
6. Laptops cannot be opened if the person in front of you reclines
7. Use only a few key Freq Flyer cards; don’t try to join them all
8. Flight attendants get upset if you say the safety routine along with them
9. Pittsburgh takes the longest to get bags to the belt, by a lot
10. Sleeping with earphones is a great way to avoid talking to annoying people
11. Kids should be required to sit in rows 25 and higher
12. There is no way to avoid plane hair

Rental Cars —-

1. Rent a car from in the terminal, especially if you might be running late on return.
2. Join all the rental clubs – even if it is just for the faster counter service
3. Read what they are charging you for, it often isn’t what you agreed to.
4. Carry a flashlight to check over the rental car before signing for it.
5. If you rent frequently, carry a GPS with you
6. Save the GPS location of the rental car lot before you leave
7. Adjust all the mirrors before you try to drive
8. You may want to check the car’s speedometer against the GPS’s to avoid a ticket
9. Pull over and take the picture, you will regret it when you don’t
10. Avoid deer and carry a hard copy of your insurance forms
11. Leave yourself time to find a station and fill the tank
12. Sirrus radio rocks – if not available, a patch to your Zune can, too.
13. GPS’s are the most frequently stolen item out of checked bags
14. Always keep the gas reciept

Hotels —

1. Check your hotel room before unpacking anything – it makes it easier if you need to change it.
2. With your packed bags holding the door open, do a final check before leaving a hotel room*
3. Carry sleeping pills – when you need them, the places that sell them are closed.
4. Instant oatmeal is a great hold-me-over when checking in after room service is closed.
5. Don’t use hotel glassware
6. Be nice to the hotel clerks, they can be a great source for local information
7. Don’t count on miniature shampoo or soap being in the rooms
8. The top hotels always charge for internet – you are better off at the 3 or 4 star ones
9. Ask for what room you want, they may be able to give it to you
10. There are almost never enough outlets
11. Never rely on the hotel’s wake-up call

* Tips Bill learned from a fellow travelers
Thanks for the great tips, Bill. They are greatly appreciated!

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My mother-in-law, Donna Jacobs, is known for her baking. She is the reason that @mindlessfluff cooks – she taught him and encouraged him. When we come home for visits, the place is full of good smells and better foods. That’s always the case. We are here early this year, but the smells have already started. Why? Because Saturday December 12, 2009 is the annual Cookie Walk for the Ames Farmer’s Market.

On a regular week, you can find Donna’s baked goods at the only year-round farmer’s market in Iowa. Good things like cookies, bars, pecan mini-pies, homemade bread (including tomato bread – yum), and so much more. Everything is made from scratch per her personal recipes. It’s all homemade and all amazingly great. If you have ever had her brownies or rolls, you know what I am talking about.

The market is located in the Old Depot (526 Main Street) in Ames IA. Saturday, @mindlessfluff and I stopped by to see Donna at the market. Unlike the markets we are used to in California, this market is indoors. Each seller has table or shelf space.

Like the markets we are used to, the food sold is all natural and chemical free. Besides the baked goods Donna sells, the market also sells meats, wine, coffee, biscotti, fresh veggies, take-and-bake items, and craft items. Everything is locally made by the members of the market.

This time of year, not only is Donna stocking her table at the market with her regular stuff, but she is also baking cookies. Dozens and dozens of cookies. She has already made almost 60 dozen cookies of varying kinds for the day, and has at least that many more she wants to make. These cookies are both a labor of love and a way to survive. Why? Because the income from the cookie walk goes to support the market.

At the cookie walk, you pay $15 for a clamshell container. You then walk around the market picking up cookies and putting them in your container. Average people get 3 to 4 dozen in each container. The record appears to be 6 dozen.

If you are in the Ames or Des Moines area, stop by the Ames Farmer’s Market.  It’s worth the trip. The food is good, the prices are nice, and I bet you will find the people there absolutely amazing!

I took advantage of our visit and took some pictures of the winter veggies which you can see in the video below. The video also shows shots of Donna’s cookies and other baked goods. Enjoy!

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If you follow me on any of networks, you know that @mindlessfluff and I spent a good part of the last week driving from Emeryville CA to Slater IA. He drove, I rode. The plan was that I would work as we went along. At the same time, I would tweet and blog about the trip. Great plan, huh? Too bad it don’t work out that way…

There is one big reason that I didn’t tweet as frequently as I planned, let alone blog the trip: Sprint’s lack of mobile and data coverage.

We have been loyal Sprint customers for MANY years – more than a decade on the mobile side alone. Usually we are quite happy with the service we get. We may not like how much it costs us for the service, but it usually just works. Last week was the exception that may cause us to change providers.

We drove across I-80 to get from the west edge of the US to the middle of the country. From Reno through the eastern side of Nebraska, we had little to no mobile coverage. While on the road, we were in roaming mode from late Tuesday morning until mid-afternoon Thursday. When we stopped overnight on Tuesday night, we did have coverage at the hotel. Wednesday night, not so much. Roaming mode at the hotel in Sidney, Wyoming on Wednesday night sucked.

Coverage here in rural Iowa is better than it was as we drove I-80 (and it isn’t great here). At least here, I can connect. My phone works most of the time, even if other phones on our account don’t always.

Sprint, in this day and age, this isn’t acceptable. If there is an interstate, I should have coverage. No ifs, ands or buts. I shouldn’t have to go two full days of driving to get out of the roaming zone. I shouldn’t have to totally disconnect just because you haven’t gotten around to building a tower.

That’s just my two cents.