From the Inside Out

It’s amazing how one simple thing can change the course of your entire day. 

Take today, for example.  I had the perfect schedule:  attend morning meetings, catch an afternoon flight, arrive in San Jose at 3:30, check email, freshen up, and head off to a business dinner at 5:30.  The timing couldn’t have been more genious.  I could do it all.

That was until the plane headed to San Jose was delayed.  It set off a chain reaction that threw off my entire day. 

The flight originated in Guatamala, and it departed about an hour late.  By the time everyone deplaned at DFW, it was 45 minutes past the original boarding time.  Because it was a “customs” flight, the airline staff could not clean the plane until it had gone through a security check.  This is “airline speak” for further delays. 

And even though we were already running late, we couldn’t depart until they fixed cushions on two empty seats.  C’mon, no one was even sitting there….was it really that important?  By the time we finally took off, they were running about 2 hours behind.  That’s when my perfect day ended.  

I landed in San Jose at 5:15 pm, which gave me 15 minutes to grab my luggage, take a shuttle to the rent car area and drive to the Cisco campus in Milpitas (ha).  We all know that didn’t happen.  Instead, I told the gang I would be late and would meet them at the restaurant in Palo Alto. 

It was 6 pm by the time I rolled out of the rent car facility in my Saturn Vue.  Everything was moving along smoothly until I hit the California traffic on Hwy 101.  Yep, had I been able to leave earlier, traffic would not have been quite as bad.  It’s now 6:35, and I’m entering downtown Palo Alto.  It’s a charming area, but it’s charm was lost on me as I was hungry, tired, and unable to find a parking place. 

6:45 -  locate a parking space

6:55 - walk to restaurant (Tamirine Vietnamese Restaurant)

7:00 -  sit down at the table (45 minutes late)

7:30 - eat…finally!

9:15 - check into hotel

9:20 - go back to registration because my key doesn’t work

9:30 - enter my room and start working on my day job.

Cause and effect — ain’t it grand?

Pics from today are below:

 Downtown Palo Alto

The newly renovated Sheraton San Jose - my home for three nights, four days

Day two is over.  I’m done ideating now. 

Tonight, I’m back in San Jose at the newly renovated Sheraton (which is much better than it used to be). 

Most of the hotels here are older, so none of them are notable.  At least this one is updated now.  One feature my husband would appreciate is the flat screen TV with hi def.

Today was a long day.  It started after 5 hours of sleep (I worked way too late), which meant I was dragging from the very beginning.  During the day, we had moments of brillance mixed with frustration and total chaos — never put 20 agressive “type A” marketing people in a small room.  It can get out of control.  20 people, 10 different conversations, all at the same time.  Whew, no wonder I have a headache.  In the end, we accomplished most of our objectives and wrapped up a few minutes early.

The early ending was a good thing because its been snowing in the Santa Cruz mountains, and the winding road out can be a bit treacherous.  Luckily, it wasn’t bad when I passed through, but I did get to see snow on the way down.  It really made me want to go skiing again.  I guess I shouldn’t have passed on the business trip to Tahoe next week.  Oh well…too late now.

I’m heading home tomorrow morning.  I may need to come back next week, but I’m trying to get out of it.  Some things can be done remotely.
Have a great Friday everyone.

Today was mostly a travel day for me.  It’s 9:40 pm pacific time, and I am just now sitting down in my hotel room to do some real work (well, right after I write this blog).  It seems that most people think business travel sounds like fun (and sometimes it is), but there is also a down side to it.  Like sitting in the middle seat on a crowded coach flight.  Unfortunately, it’s always that way when I fly to San Jose.  The planes are packed, and there are so many business travelers on those flights that all of the “exec plats” get priority for the first class upgrades. 

Today was no different.  I had two men on each side (why do men always have to hog the armrests — what’s the deal with that?). Every time I was close to falling asleep for a much needed nap (got about 6 hours of sleep the previous night), the guy on my right would stretch his legs and stamp on my foot.  I finally gave up on the sleep, opened my laptop and started to work.  I guess it could’ve been worse, at least there were no screaming kids.

Finally, we arrived.  I picked up my bags, hopped on the rent car shuttle, and proceded directly to my car (the perks of being a frequent traveler).  However, the moment I opened the door, I could smell smoke.   The car was beat up on the outside and was dirty inside.  So, I had to trek back to the priority member area to request another car.  The next one wasn’t pretty (bad upholstery stains), but I didn’t want to treck back to get yet another car so I decided to take it.    At least it didn’t smell.

I was headed to Scotts Valley in the Santa Cruz mountains.  I’ve been there once before, but today I messed up the directions (long story).  By the time I realized it, I had gone 15 miles out of my way (or 30 miles round trip).  So, over an hour later, I finally arrived at my destination, the Hilton Scotts Valley.  I quickly freshened up and then headed out for dinner with the gang from work.

Now, I’ve got to get busy working on action items from today and deliverables for Wednesday.  My meetings tomorrow are all day strategic planning sessions which means “laptops down” (i.e. no multitasking on other projects).

Ah, the glamour of business travel…