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.

Weblogger

This is my new blogchalk:
United States, Georgia, Gainesville, Unity of Gainesville, English, John, Male, reading, RE Investing. :)

Sunday, December 01, 2002

 
Holidays are not for the faint of heart! 1 Ago

I know it has been a few days since I blogged. It is not like I have forgot about it. I literally have ran out of both time and energy to get this done.

My biggest challenge to blogging this week has been Neil. I have spent an enormous amount of time with him both during and after work (since work has regularly gone till 7 or later, that isn’t hard.) It may sound like I am complaining. I am definitely not. I like to hang out with Neil because he is literally a wealth of information.

And I think we actually connected on this trip in the same manner that Jenny and I did back in July. I have always had respect for Neil and his talents. But this trip gave us an opportunity to bond on a more personal level.

Looking back, Neil wasn’t the biggest challenge of the week. It was actually the customer in Sarasota. She is preparing (and I use that word loosely) to go live on Monday and I wouldn’t advise her to go live next month. None of her people have done any training. She can’t give you a solid 60 seconds of her attention and on top of that, is a major control freak. I feel sorry for Neil who has to go back there and be with them when the bomb explodes.

But the billing will be good :)

We got off at 2 on Wednesday and headed for the airport. The crowds weren’t bad, the flight was good and I actually got home at 8:30. Nevertheless, I was tired.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and was a day for laying around. No eating turkey all day for me. I was actually proud of myself that I ate a plate that had a bite of turkey, dressing, potatoes and some corn. Julie and I went to see Solaris in the evening. We both thought it sucked. Next time is my pick.

I have been reluctant to criticize Da Company for them booking me. After talking with Neil, I am happy that I get booked at all. I don’t know why I have a fuller schedule than him, but I am thankful and when I got a gig on Friday in Miami, I didn’t complain.

So it was up at 4 AM, out the door by 5 and head to Hartsfield for a flight to Miami. The customer picked me up and was laid back in shorts. This guy is really starting to turn the place in the right direction. I don’t know if he is making the money he says, because the car he drives was a clunker. I am there to do an upgrade of 3 different systems and to address other areas of the system. For the most part, things run smoothly. For the most part. I lost a couple of hours when the tapes Da Company sent didn’t work for some of the enhancements he wanted me to install. I barely got out of there in time to catch my flight. In fact, they gave away my original seat and put me in the back of the plane. Oh well, I only got there a few minutes later than the folks up front (lol). Home at 10:45 pm.

I was supposed to look at houses on Saturday morning, but became very irritable at Da Company for booking me to leave on a Saturday just to save them a few more bucks. Because of my irritation, I went back to bed to relieve the headache that thinking about them caused. I don’t get many headaches, but when I do lately, you can count on Da Company being behind them.

I met a lady on the plane to Miami that told me about a new fitness center for women that is exploding, very cheap in the long run (less than $20K to start) and brings in about $7K monthly profit in the first couple of months.

So, since I am getting tired of this life, I am giving serious consideration to leaving earlier than my original timeframe. We will see how my mood feels next week.

I have written the person who is the lead consultant for the week and inquired when, if ever they were going to let me know about this so called “critical” account. No answer. Whatever!

I am definitely going to make some money this week on my trip to the San Francisco area. Yea, I get a base salary, a bonus that comes monthly, and a whole lot of grief (that I get for nothing). Usually, that is it. But this trip, I also get 6 days of hotel money, since I am staying at a friend’s house. Woohoo! I am going to party and buy Christmas gifts like a rock star.