Being home for a second...or so...

After being home for 45 hours, I am now in Santa Barbara. I love being here because it is so beautiful, but I wish I could have stayed home. I planned this trip a while ago not knowing about what my travel schedule would be... Dallas last week, SB this week and Chicago next week. I am going to be tired of travelling (actually, that happened sometime in April... LOL...).

On a personal note, I can't believe that my little girl will be 8 a week from today. I am so proud of her...

My stay in the Dallas Marriott Quorum

So, I am in Dallas again this week. I am in a new hotel this week. Last time, I stayed in a crappy Residence Inn (I don't recommend it). This hotel is very swanky for a Marriott, plus my room is right next to the Concierge lounge (which is right by the elevator). You can't, in my opinion, get a better room.

I have come to the conclusion that travelling after long spells of being home is harder than travelling every week. While every week travel sucks, we all get used to the schedule. When I am home for an extended period of time, I find it more difficult emotionally (and so does my wife). Now, don't get me wrong... I'd love to be home all of the time.

All of this craziness of the last 12 months with the layoff, the new job, the travel, etc. has really made me realize what an amazing, wonderful person to which I am married. She is strong and confident. She smart and beautiful. She is sensitive and able. She is... thank God... my wife.

Frustrating Day...

So often, my work day is themed (i.e. many similar things happen/occur on the same day).
Today's theme was WASTE ROY'S TIME.

1. Worked on unnamed task #1: Informed that this item worked one way. Informed the customer of my findings. Informed of correct way for the item to work.
2. Worked on unnamed task #2: Provided with three different views about the same item from people on the project. No one seems to know or is on the same page. This doesn't change that I have to write about this item.
3. Worked on unnamed task #3: Worked on a task via emails, writing, mapping, etc. Emailed work to everyone. An email from another source showed that someone else, who would know better, had worked on different version of the document. I wish someone would have told me.
4. Finally, worked on task #3 above, until 1am. Save file. Open file to add something and get MS Word message that my file was corrupted... WTF... Thank God I have dealt with this before. I opened the file in MS WordPad and saved a new version (I still had to re-format it).

Finally, I plan to travel on Monday to Dallas... GD Hurricane...

1. Flights are all screwed up...
2. Rental cars are scarce...
3. Hotel rooms are

Dallas... Work...

So, I am in Dallas in a beautiful Residence Inn . Yes, so this room has a kitchen and bedroom and living room (well, kind of). Since staying in rooms at the Marriott and Renaissance, this room is nothing like those. It has crappy little TVs that barely work and an uncomfortable bed.

Work has been insane... 15 hour days with no end in sight for my pile of work... Barely 6 hours of sleep a night does not help. I am tired and crabby and forgetful. I like the fact that I feel like I am playing an active role in the vitality of my company. I just wish I had a brief break in work.

The good news is that I may be home next week...before some successive weeks of travel.

I can't wait to go home and see my family.

PIX
So, this is what Dallas looks like from the conference room:
















A nice, closeup view of the the Concrete Capital of the World