Made it to Chicago on Sunday with a little over an hour delay from Boston. I always expect something to be wrong when I fly into or out of Chicago O'Hare, one of the worst airports ever, so I can't say I was surprised.
Got in, met up with my coworker Tricia, and headed to the hotel. We were staying at a Club Quarters, which is the Motel 6 of business travel. Usually the rooms are the size of a dorm room, but Tricia discovered suites and booked two for us. Best feature of this hotel hands down was the free bottled water station by the elevators on each floor (some might say that's sad, but for us pregnant chicks that can basically drink nothing but milk, fruit juice, and water, it's a blessing).
Monday, we got into the office around 7am, and the client showed up around 10am, and we met until 7pm. I was supposed to have dinner that night with some friends, but they needed to cancel, so I thankfully dragged myself back to the hotel to rest.
Tuesday, same drill, 7am-7pm in the office. From about 11am-2pm, we got massacred by the client. Good times. I'd been out of consulting long enough, I forgot what it was like to be yelled at for nothing and having no choice but to smile and take it. Sigh! Tricia and I stopped for dinner at McCormick and Schmick's on the way back to the hotel and enjoyed non-catered food for the first time in 2 days.
Wednesday, got up, went to the office by 7am, worked until 10am, then headed to my home sweet home, good ol' O'Hare airport. I had lots of time to kill, anyway, and then guess what happened? That's right folks, my flight was delayed. Go figure. I sat around, finally got on the flight to Jacksonville, then had to encounter a 30 minute delay at the Avis car rental counter. It was oddly similar to that Seinfeld episode where they don't have the car he reserved and he ponders the point of having a reservation. Finally got the car, and then made my way 1.5 hours to Gainesville, Florida, home of the University of Florida. After I wistfully drove through the campus and found myself oddly envious of the carefree life of students, I settled in at the Hilton.
Thursday, was up and at the vendor by 8am, and we were there until 6pm. Then, because the vendor were both 40 year old UF alums that have clearly not abandoned the college life, they dragged us to dinner at Top, filled with UF students headed to a formal of some sort, then to Stubbie Shirt Pub, a bar on University that one of them proudly showed us his wife's name on the wall, indicated she had imbibed 100 different beers over a 3 year period. After hearing some stories so not appropriate for a business setting (but at the same time, very amusing), we headed back to the hotel.
Friday, got up, went to the vendor from 9am-noon, then headed back to Jacksonville, the annoyance of which is detailed in my earlier post. (BTW, finally got home after 1am; I should have been home at 9:30pm.)
I opted to cancel my San Antonio trip next week. Sure, it's a short drive from Austin, but I have much too much work to do and zero patience for travel, so I'd rather stay at home. :)
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