Adrift in Time and Space

A very short business trip this time, but oh so much packed in!!!

Tuesday AM, I got up at 4:30 because Bella wanted to join us in bed, but being such a wiggleworm she chased me out of the bed with her tossing and turning. A shower and I was off to my workout. Tuesdays are Step, and it's a new release (we get new music and steps every 3 months) - and there's some new stuff that I just LOVED.

I changed into my suit in the bathroom at Time Out, and headed off to the Airport. No first class upgrade this time: This flight started in Ohio and was headed to Portland and then to Hawaii. The plane was PACKED with people with some affiliation - perhaps a multi-level marketing scheme, perhaps a church? But people were standing in the aisles nattering for hours. The woman behind me was pontificating on everything... and got me good and mad with the old chestnut "I like Obama, but the south won't accept a Black Man - I'm sorry but that's just how it is..." Sure lady, take a look at who took Georgia!

In Portland, I was meeting with a client, making sure everything was going well. For some reason, she took me as a confidant immediately and I was subjected to a deep lesson in the politics and dysfunction of that particular institution. Information I will no doubt be able to use in some capacity... So I'll call that visit a success: No concrete sales built, but some amazing intel gathered that will benefit me in the area.

Meetings done, I had a flight up to Seattle for the night. The plan was meetings with some potential clients in the AM them home from there. Strangely, the Portland to Seattle to Minneapolis route was actually much cheaper than a simple round trip to Portland. Plus I had the potential for meeting Paul and Caesar up there!

The meeting ended at 4, my flight was at 6, but then I got some key information: Izumi, the near legendary Sushi restaurant where Caesar and Paul regularly enjoy "vast rafts of sushi" at the hands of a chef who loves them.... stops seating for dinner at 7:30. My options seemed clear: Get to the airport and try to get on an earlier flight... or just start driving. I got on the horn with the rental agency, cleared the one-way drive, and got going.

2.5 hours later, I had worked on some Japanese, some Dutch, and caught up on the early Super Tuesday results. I had time to check into my hotel, splash water on my face, and head up to Kirkland for an insane sushi feast. Caesar, Miho, and Paul all met me there, and we had a rollicking two hours of raw fish eating and fine sake drinking. I got back to my hotel at 9:30pm PST (which was 11:30PM CST, meaning I had been going full bore for 18 hours), and zonked out.

Today I woke up LATE (6:45 am PST, which is 8:45am CST, a time I have almost NEVER slept to, mostly due to the kiddies). I had a leisurely morning and switched my flight to an earlier one, so that I could get home in time to see the kiddies. The flight was uneventful (and coach again - no point in spoiling myself).

Time flew as I watched videos on my iPhone - Oh my GOD! Terminator - the Sarah Connor Chronicles is so AMAZING!!! They're breaking my mind!!! Also watched a few episodes of the Sarah Silverman show, which is so funny it should be illegal. It's so crude and horrible, I can't stop watching.

So now I'm back, and am dealing with the strange feeling that for 36 hours I was in a different time zone. Again, 7 hours of air travel, 3 hours of driving, 1 meeting, one lunch with a consultant, 1 fun sushi dinner, and now I'm home. It looks like home is where I'm staying for the next 2 weeks at least. The next "big thing" for me is the massive trade show I'm attending at the end of Feb - a full week away. Pamela's mom (or "Bam" as we call her) is coming up to help out for a few days in there... while I schmooze, schmooze, and then do some schmoozing.

Oh, and what of the old client? I got an email from my lieutenant over there who said that Dr B, the Passionate Syrian, has decided to take him on as a confidant... and has begun telling strange "parables" to him. When I read this, I started laughing uncontrollably.