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It is hard being on the road over 200 nights a year...away from your family, isolated in many ways. It definitely isn't for everyone. This blogs represents the thoughts of just one such person. Read along and find out if the road is for you.
This is my new blogchalk:
United States, Georgia, Gainesville, Unity of Gainesville, English, John, Male, reading, RE Investing. :)
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Thursday, August 08, 2002
Pause for the refreshment...
I didn't blog in yesterday because I was working on making some accompanying blog pages.
That being said, there wasn't a whole lot to write about either. I was supposed to see an investor for the coffee house last night, but a last minute complication in the form of a younger child came in the way of that. Is God trying to tell me to put my energy elsewhere? I have put alot of work into this project and believe in it totally, so I would hate to give up on it at this point. On the other hand, there are so many different types of opportuntiies doing what I am doing, that maybe I should be contemplating them more seriously.
Everytime you start going to a new client (depending on the city), it takes awhile to get your directions right, learn an easy way to commute to and from the clients and to find places of interest in the surrounding area. I think I have conquered those issues with my Long Island City client. So now I have Brooklyn, Long island City and Manhattan down in New York. I am not sure if that is something to be proud of or not.
I really do love New York! There is an energy here unlike other towns that seems to get instilled into you once you have been here a few times. If I was single, I wouldn't turn down an job here. I must admit, I really get into the New York driving mentality and go for broke when I drive here. Although, I came closer to having an accident that I can or want to remember. My heart raced, then almost dropped out of my chest and bounced off the road when I was so certain that I was going to get into an accident today. And it would have been my fault. Sometimes, you are so busy looking everywhere else, that you don't pay as much attention as you should and I almost sideswiped my car with the left rear fender of a mini van. I bet it was less than 2 inches of space at 30 MPH. Thank you God for looking out for me.
Today really went by quick though. There is so much to do with this client and so much opportunity to mold things that sometimes, you just run from one event to another. A friend of mine came to interview for the system admin job that is open here. I am not totally confident of his being the right person for the job. They have tried to talk to me about it several times, but I told them the commute from Atlanta to New York was a little to hard to do.
Well, it is back on the plane heading home to Atlanta. I probably won't get in till midnight when it is all said and done. Typically, your 9 PM arrival time slides to 9:30 or 10 and by the time I take the shuttle home, it will be that late. Which wouldn't be bad for normal people, but I have to be at a client 60 miles away from my home at 8:30.
And this is THE client that I dislike more than any other. In fact, it is the ONLY client I dislike. Unfortunately, they told my boss they would only work with me. So, with any luck, this will be my last trip there.
Maybe I can spend some down time on the place thinking about my issues regarding where to live, vacation and life in general. Or I could get a little more caught up on my other blog pages. Nah...it is time to chill out.
posted by John Panico at 5:32 PM
Tuesday, August 06, 2002
Where does the time go????
(There was some problem in publishing yesterday’s blog…don’t ask me, I just write ‘em)
It is about 8 PM on Tuesday night and I am up in first class on my to New York. (that was pretentious now wasn’t it?) I am fortunate that I a have a good number of “regular” clients (clients that for some reason actually like me, put value to what I can do for their business and actually have me back on a regular [that being either having me visit them monthly or on anevery other month] basis).
I have two clients in particular who I get hyper just thinking about. In my line of work, you do a lot of the mundane things (a client get’s basic training when they first buy our software, a client goes live onto our system, a client upgrades to a newer version of our software), some less routine (maybe you are having a problem of some sort such as balancing inventory or I might perform a system review where I get to ask employees how they execute particular tasks and more importantly…why? [the answers will astound you…”we always have done it that way”])
But sometimes, when the gods are smiling just right, you get to effect change in a company that makes it “re-invent” itself. Right now, I have two such companies that I am working with. An embarrassment of riches really. But a joy nevertheless.
And tonight, I am on my way to see one of those clients. Thus, I am back to New York to work with them and then again at month’s end.
I am actually a little overwhelmed by all that I am trying to accomplish not only on this trip, but over the next few weeks. In short order, I am trying to make decisions on:
- Where to live. My heart says to make the move from the Atlanta area to St. Augustine, FL. I love the beach and have been looking at houses there. But friends and other commitments here make me have second thoughts.
· - Vacation – sounds easy, but in reality, it is not. Over the last couple of years, I have been to Mexico twice and Hawaii once. I want something with some sun and relaxation to it, but also want to see other parts of the world as well. On top of that is scheduling. I can’t take a last minute deal, because my schedule is set for the next 6-8 weeks.
· - I want to start a coffee house. But where should I be looking? I am meeting with investors on Wednesday night and that is a question they are going to ask.. I am not sure what they want to hear, but know it will come together.
· - Work – I just feel like I am 3 steps behind right now. I am trying to learn the newest product offering we have, but finding some time to do it is making me nuts.
It seems to always late by the time I get to this, so I am calling it a night.
posted by John Panico at 11:38 PM
Monday, August 05, 2002
"The sun is over 3 billion years old, and scientists predict that it will continue to get older for many years to come."
CNN.com
It has been like that the last few days. On my flight home on Wednesday night, I was sick. I actually thought that it was from lunch I had at my New York client’s place. I had ordered soup to eat in and they didn’t have any. So they ordered a chicken sandwich for me. I literally ate one bite and knew that it was a mistake. Since my surgery, bread and me usually don’t go together. The bread either sticks in my throat or swells in my stomach. Either way, it is not a pretty sight.
I didn’t feel good the rest of the day and the flight home was a tussle.
I ended up having to have the shuttle driver stop twice on the way home from the airport to throw up. It got to the point I couldn’t even hold water down.
Bottom line, I ended up calling in sick on Thursday, since I didn’t get to sleep until after 4 in the morning. I spend the rest of the day between throwing up every time I took a sip of water and sleeping. When I was awake, I had the chills, so Julie may have been right in saying that I had probably caught a bug.
Although I felt better on Friday, I decided to take it off as well. The logic here was that I wasn’t really affecting the client, since I was just there to “observe” another co-worker. I did do some work in the afternoon…system audit paperwork that needed to be completed. I was glad to get that monkey off of my back, since I have another system audit coming up in another week or so.
System audits are a major pain. You perform two days of work taking notes (you do get paid for that) and then take another 4-8 hours of non-paid time to write it in a format that they will buy more consulting time from you. Overall, I have been fortunate in selling most of the clients at least some additional consulting time. I am not as confident that this client will however. I think she will just have me come in on a quarterly basis and review issues.
On my way to delivering the rental car that I never used back to the agency, I stopped in for a quick visit to my old work. It is always a source of amusement and amazement. The amusement comes from my ex-co-workers. My old boss is from Texas and you can’t tell him a thing. Do all Texan’s speak before they think, or do they just feel that because they are in a position of authority, that you will take whatever they say at face value? Playing tricks on him was the most fun I have had in years. The amazement comes that I made it as far and as long as I did there. Working for the State requires a high tolerance for bureaucracy and BS.
Not much of substance other than that. Did go to see “Signs” over the weekend. Not as scary as I thought it would be. Tomorrow is back to the grind. But still local, so no flights until Tuesday night. Then New York beckons me back.
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