Sunday, May 31, 2015

On the road again, still.

I have gained a new appreciation for people who travel all the time.

Today begins my sixth week in Denver out of the past seven. For those of you just joining us, my day job is with a law firm in Washington, DC, and the firm is in the process of staffing up our new office in Denver -- a city to which I've wanted to relocate permanently for years and years. So I volunteered to come out here and help bring on board our new partners until the firm could hire a permanent staff. And yes, I've applied for one of those permanent positions. (For those of you who have been following this saga: Yes, this is going to be week six here; I'm told I'm doing a fabulous job; and I don't know for sure when, or even if, they'll transfer me. And yes, it's making me crazy, but I'm doing my best not to think about it too much.)

One of the things I do in my day job is book travel for the attorneys I work for -- and they travel a lot. What I'm finding, with this lengthy stint on the road, is that it's one thing to be the person who books the flights and hotels before the trip, and then chases down all the receipts (ahem) and creates the expense vouchers afterward -- and another thing entirely to be the person who's actually getting to the airport, getting on the plane, living out of a suitcase for days on end, and then heading home, only to have to do it all again a few days later. (Of course, I'm getting a fuller experience than my attorneys get, as I'm also booking my own travel and processing my own expense vouchers. At least I know who to blame for my own missing receipts.)

Anyway. One thing I've learned is that no matter how often a hotel chain puts "home" in its name, it still ain't. My current temporary "home" has a full kitchen: microwave, dishwasher, sink with garbage disposal, a two-burner (electric) stove, and a full-size fridge (which handily holds my half-gallon of milk, bag of carrots, frozen dinners, and soda bottle with room to spare). No oven, alas, and no wine rack (or wine glasses, even). But I guess you can't have everything.

Another problem with hotel rooms is that you don't get to pick the furnishings. This one comes with one of those bar-counter-height dinette sets. I think I am too old to appreciate these. I can't sit there for long because my legs are short and so my feet dangle. That makes it hard to get a good writing session going. But I finally figured out the optimal configuration today. If only the coffee table/bench had a backrest, we'd be good to go.

One more frustration is the lighting. All the natural light is in the "bedroom", where there are no chairs, and the "living room" has inadequate lighting for knitting. I guess most road warriors just stare at the boob tube when they're in the room?

Blogging on the iPad is also annoying, so I'm going to quit for now. Just a quick reminder that Dragon's Web is still just 99 cents through the middle of June. Spread the word! Thanks!
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These moments of make-do blogginess have been brought to you, as a public service, by Lynne Cantwell.

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