Strategery

It was a short weekend: Thursday I took off from Cleveland to Philly, where I caught the Phillies get beat by the Marlins while we schmoozed clients in a skybox. Friday was an all day strategy session followed by a marathon dinner at Alma de Cuba.

The hotel in Philly was a cute boutique place in center city, with some of the most punishingly hard beds I've ever been on. I think there have been floors that have been more comfortable. All day at our Friday session, people took turns stretching and groaning. It was good bonding, however.

By the time the alarm went off to head home on Saturday, I was well ready to get back to my life... I was able to walk into the house by 11 on Saturday, and spent a whirlwind weekend with the family. Bella had two parties to go to: A dog-themed birthday party on Saturday, and a going away party for her 1st grade friend Minori whose family is moving back to Japan. I asked if Bella would like to be Minori's pen pal.. Bella was concerned that once in Japan, she would only speak Japanese.

I think it would be fun to teach Bella Japanese.

Somewhere in there, Pamela and I got caught up on So You Think You Can Dance (staying up WAY too late to do so), and Isaac and I spent some time at Edinborough Park as well. Also, lots of cuddles, and I even mowed the lawn.

This morning, Isaac was up and at'em at 4:15... even before I was supposed to be up to get to Cleveland. So we had breakfast together and played with some cars. We picked out a couple of cars for me to take to work. A kiss and I was off to the airport. Pamela later reported that Isaac did NOT go back to sleep - but he did get a little nap in the afternoon.

A mechanical issue had us switching planes and getting into Cleveland 90 minutes late. I hopped into a Hyundai at National Car Rental and was thrilled with the radio selection.

I'm a guy who reprograms every rental car I get into: I set the NPR station first on the FM band, and if it has Sirius Radio, I have my favorites: First Wave (80s alternative), Area (trance), BPM (house), Chill (ambient). So imagine my joy at getting into a rental to find all of the above ALREADY PROGRAMMED (and no, I had not been in this car before). So there was one more program button.... what had my mystery benefactor left for me? Sirius Q Gay Talk.

Somehow I felt... categorized. Not that there's anything wrong with it.

Anyway, I have a usual busy week ahead here - more of those long meetings in rooms with dozens of people. But I have a sense of peacefulness: One of the things that came out of the strategy sessions in Philly was full backup from my whole team that we're getting me out of Cleveland. So I don't feel quite as trapped, and it's making me feel ok.

Making me feel even better: Got a call from one of the partners this afternoon asking if I had experience with a specific area of geekitude: And yes, I have that experience in spades. Looks like a gig in New Orleans of the type I like: 2-3 days of interviews down there, then 2-3 weeks of work at home to deliver a design. Just knowing that they're finding the sort of thing that would allow me to flex my geek muscles AND be at home more has already made me feel less panicky.