Before I moved to Lincolnshire I used to work for a French waste (mis)management company called Onyx UK and I worked at a depot in Maidenhead in Berkshire and managed the Windsor contract.
The company was always losing money and as a result trying to cut costs and one day the Managing Director telephoned me to tell me that he had heard of a new type of refuse collection vehicle with impressive labour saving innovations that offered potentially huge operational efficiencies and that he was interested in finding out more.
He asked me if I would be prepared to visit the factory where they were manufactured and give him my opinion.
To be honest I had very little interest in bincarts and tried to drag up a suitable excuse, but fortunately before I could prematurely decline, he happened to mention that the factory was in Phoenix, Arizona in the United States of America.
Did I want to visit Phoenix to see some dustcarts? You bet I did!
Have Bag, Will Travel 
My univ west campus is just outside Phoenix very hot country not visited nor will…
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You can go in the Winter, not so hot then!
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WP is intent on not allowing me to read the rest of your tale!
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This is the link…
https://anotherbagmoretravel.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/an-unexpected-travel-opportunity/
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Ah, corporate freebies!
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Exactly!
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Sadly, not what they once were. My first long-haul business trip was first class and I stayed in 5* hotels. Aaaah, those were the days.
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I worked for 25 years in Local Government so there weren’t many opportunities there, just a few training courses. But for ten years I worked in the private sector where there was a lot of extravagance. My favourite was a Paris conference and a trip to the Moulin Rouge…
https://apetcher.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/onyx-uk-and-an-inappropriate-visit-to-the-moulin-rouge/
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I’ve never been to the Moulin Rouge but I’ve probably been on more corporate jollies than you’ve had hot dinners! That’s not a proud boast, merely a statement of fact.
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I feel guilty about it sometimes. As I said that jaunt to Moulin Rouge would have employed a man for a year!
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What a great experience and to get such a good story out of it was a bonus. I’m filled with envy. During my business life I had a couple of opportunities to see how the other half lived and I still want it for myself!
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I can manage without corporate freebies these days!
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