Waiting in line at airport security and to get on the plane are not my favorite things, not to mention waiting to get off the plane. Once I got to my destination hotel, I put on the exercise shoes, but went to the fitness center treadmill rather than to the hot surrounding sidewalks. There would be plenty of time to explore the area and there were even some scheduled trips to a museum and to a rooftop terrace for a Saturday evening reception. What came back to me quickly are the parts about traveling that I like: figuring out how to use the city’s subway system; reading maps and orienting myself; meeting new people; and collapsing life down to a suitcase, a laptop and a cell phone. Getting up early to catch the first flight home was something I learned also. What a pleasure it was to get home well before noon on a Sunday morning and have the whole day to catch up.

When I walked into work this morning, the first words out of my mouth to a coworker were, “I can’t wait for Friday afternoon!” To understand that statement, I think I need a little background. The company I work for has slowly been declining, next to no pay rises for the last three years, continuing layoffs, and just recently a 10% pay cut. This has been pretty typical for some companies in the US as they have struggled in the economic slowdown. Well our big tradeshow of the year is right after Thanksgiving this year, and we had our quarterly Engineering priorities meeting last week. Unfortunately as is the nature of things when companies are teetering, things start to get weird, and this company is no exception. There tends to be a feeling of fear and not wanting to be the one to blame. Tempers tend to boil just below the surface. And since it’s the last week of the month, all eyes are on sales, will we make a profit this month, or how big will the loss be. And as the week starts, I wish it was Friday afternoon!