Late Night, Early Morning, Back at the Airport
It's late afternoon Friday. I'm back at LAX, a bit over 24 hours after I arrived yesterday. I'm on the home stretch of a quick trip down here to visit a client.
Yesterday was a late night. We met for dinner in Santa Monica. I didn't get back to my hotel until 10pm. Yes, that's a late night for me. 😅 As I told my sales colleague when he expressed surprise that I ordered, "Just water, please" after a stiff cocktail and a beer, I'm not 30 anymore. Stumbling to bed after 6 or more drinks isn't fun anymore. Though after sitting out a round with "Just water, please" I did come back around and drink 2 glasses of wine with dinner. 😂
This morning was an early morning not so much because I got up with my usual 6:45am alarm but because my first work meeting was at 7am. Yes, I took it in a rumpled shirt with my unshowered hair looking like a fright. Hooray for the flexibility to be camera-off at some meetings.
After that first meeting I showered and went downstairs for a quick breakfast. I was back at my desk- actually, the very spacious kitchen counter in my hotel suite- by 8am. From there I spent another 3.5 hours answering emails, carrying a number of conversations with colleagues in Slack, preparing slides/docs for a few presentations, and joining on video call with another customer. All that was before I checked out of the hotel and hailed a ride for the face-to-face customer meeting I came to LA for.
That's the other thing about traveling for in-person meetings: the trips aren't just about going somewhere nice for dinner on the company's dime. All that other time I'm here I'm in the hotel working. It's a regular workday. It's just a workday in which two of my tasks are "Meet somebody in person" and "Go to the airport and fly somewhere".
And that brings me to where I am now: at the airport, awaiting my flight. It's been a long day already, and I still have a few hours to go.
Update: Aaaand it's late. 😡
Things looked good all afternoon for my flight being on time. Until suddenly the aircraft, which is coming from Oakland to Los Angeles, just sat on the ground past its scheduled departure time. Southwest seems to have to idea what's going on, as the ETD keeps getting pushed back by 5 minutes every 5 minutes. Now it's looking like I'll be home well after 9pm. *Sigh* this already long day just got longer.
Update 2: Wow, that was fast. The Southwest crew got the aircraft boarded fast and then put the pedal to the metal all the way to San Jose. Maybe the pilot really had to take a leak. 🤣 We landed at 8:18pm, only 23 minutes behind schedule. I was home-home before 9.
Yesterday was a late night. We met for dinner in Santa Monica. I didn't get back to my hotel until 10pm. Yes, that's a late night for me. 😅 As I told my sales colleague when he expressed surprise that I ordered, "Just water, please" after a stiff cocktail and a beer, I'm not 30 anymore. Stumbling to bed after 6 or more drinks isn't fun anymore. Though after sitting out a round with "Just water, please" I did come back around and drink 2 glasses of wine with dinner. 😂
This morning was an early morning not so much because I got up with my usual 6:45am alarm but because my first work meeting was at 7am. Yes, I took it in a rumpled shirt with my unshowered hair looking like a fright. Hooray for the flexibility to be camera-off at some meetings.
After that first meeting I showered and went downstairs for a quick breakfast. I was back at my desk- actually, the very spacious kitchen counter in my hotel suite- by 8am. From there I spent another 3.5 hours answering emails, carrying a number of conversations with colleagues in Slack, preparing slides/docs for a few presentations, and joining on video call with another customer. All that was before I checked out of the hotel and hailed a ride for the face-to-face customer meeting I came to LA for.
That's the other thing about traveling for in-person meetings: the trips aren't just about going somewhere nice for dinner on the company's dime. All that other time I'm here I'm in the hotel working. It's a regular workday. It's just a workday in which two of my tasks are "Meet somebody in person" and "Go to the airport and fly somewhere".
And that brings me to where I am now: at the airport, awaiting my flight. It's been a long day already, and I still have a few hours to go.
Update: Aaaand it's late. 😡
Things looked good all afternoon for my flight being on time. Until suddenly the aircraft, which is coming from Oakland to Los Angeles, just sat on the ground past its scheduled departure time. Southwest seems to have to idea what's going on, as the ETD keeps getting pushed back by 5 minutes every 5 minutes. Now it's looking like I'll be home well after 9pm. *Sigh* this already long day just got longer.
Update 2: Wow, that was fast. The Southwest crew got the aircraft boarded fast and then put the pedal to the metal all the way to San Jose. Maybe the pilot really had to take a leak. 🤣 We landed at 8:18pm, only 23 minutes behind schedule. I was home-home before 9.