Live from Jacksonville, FL...it's the traveling tech writer show...

[klsiegel320]

So, here we are in Jacksonville, Florida. Y'all probably have no clue why I'm here. Except for a couple of you, y'all probably didn't know that I was here.

It was not supposed to happen this way. My Atlanta gig was supposed to get extended, and I was supposed to get to go HOME. Or I was supposed to get this gig, but I was supposed to get to do it from HOME.

It isn't going to happen that way. Friday morning a good friend from this Jacksonville gig rolled me out of bed to find out how my availability was looking. Turns out they had a guy quit, with no notice, and wanted to staff the position by Monday (that's Monday as in two days ago). So I told him I'd see what I could do, and we might be able to work something out, but I definitely had certain things to finish that could not be handed off.

So his people talked to my people, who talked to each other, and eventually the deal was made.

So here's the itinerary:

• Monday, December 8




• work in Atlanta


• end of day, drive to Jacksonville


• original plan: check into Residence Inn where the rest of the team is staying


• actual: overnight at Sawgrass Marriott in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL because the Residence Inn and its nearest neighbors were booked solid




• Tuesday, December 9




• original plan: meet the boys downstairs for breakfast


• actual: check out of Sawgrass Marriott (6:30 a.m., to avoid rush hour) and drive to Residence Inn; meet the boys for breakfast


• work at client site (mostly getting password, badges, etc.)


• join the boys for dinner


• check into Candlewood Suites (cheaper and closer than the Sawgrass Marriott, which turns out to be a golf resort)




• Wednesday, December 10




• original plan: get up early; shave, shower, read Matins, breakfast, drive to office (if possible beating the boys to the door)


• actual: got up later than planned; shaved, showered, read Matins; skipped breakfast; got lost driving to office and got stuck in hideous traffic undoing the mistake -- and still beat the boys to the door


• continue getting access, profiles, passwords, software


• dinner with the boys again? or on my own


• errands (b'day card, milk for coffee)




• Thursday, December 11




• all mostly as before except hopefully without the sleeping-in or the getting-lost parts


• all work stuff mostly as before except hopefully with the actual getting-the-software parts


• dinner of some kind


• pack for return to Atlanta


• sleep




• Friday, December 12




• check out of Candlewood Suites and load car


• work stuff presumably mostly the same


• end of day: drive back to Atlanta


• sleep




• Saturday, December 13




• pack and load for return to Jacksonville


• fly HOME to NJ




• Sunday, December 14 through Tuesday, December 16




• HOME




• includes some working from home


• also includes night out with husband at Messiah Sing at Lincoln Center on Tuesday






• Wednesday, December 17




• original plan: work from home during the day and fly back to Atlanta in the evening


• actual: get standby flight as early as possible to return to Atlanta


• pick up car (already loaded) and drive to Jacksonville


• check into the right hotel this time because they had room




• Thursday, December 18




• "work" in Jacksonville office (by which is meant "attend two back-to-back holiday parties that will swallow the entire day")




• Friday, December 19




• work in Jacksonville (by which is meant actually accomplish something if possible, since there's a deliverable due that day)


• end of day: drive back to Atlanta




• Saturday, December 20




• pack and organize in Atlanta apartment


• pack for Christmas week




• Sunday, December 21




• 9:00 Eucharist at All Saints Episcopal Church, Atlanta, GA


• 3:10 flight to Newark




• Monday, December 22 through Saturday, December 27




• HOME for Christmas holiday


• might entail some remote work for Atlanta folks




• Sunday, December 28




• fly back to Atlanta




• Monday, December 29 through Wednesday, December 31




• work at client site in Atlanta finishing things up


• Monday or Tuesday night - husband flies to Atlanta from home




• Thursday, January 1: Holiday


• Friday, January 2 through Saturday, January 3




• (Friday only) return mini-leased car to Avis and pick up rental van


• pack personal items from Atlanta apartment and load van


• clean Atlanta apartment (reasonable effort)




• Sunday, January 4




• final packing and loading


• check out of Atlanta apartment


• drive to Jacksonville


• check into Jacksonville apartment


• unload van




• Monday, January 5




• work at Jacksonville site


• husband returns rental car to Atlanta, flies home to Newark




• Monday, January 6 through Friday, March 5: onsite in Jacksonville, Florida

Head spinning yet? Mine surely is...

Comments

[cjsherwood.livejournal.com]

*offers lots of hugs, love and support*
Do make sure I have contact info once it all settles into place!

Of course selfishly I am sorry you'll miss Scotland and Wales but this means you have a job and that is much more important than concerts.

And, in all actuality, I'm half thinking of asking DSK for leave this concert myself.

Uh oh... that's another one of those thoughts that didn't resonate until I typed it, re-read it, and realized that yeah, that might be something I'd like to do. The last one of those thoughts was 18 months ago when I was writing a friend and saying "I'm thinking about quitting my job and returning to school."