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Posts Related to work

iPhone Withdrawal

Wednesday, 26/05/10 — Tags:

iPhone

I'm on a business trip and I left my phone on my desk at home in Philly! It wasn't really my fault: the phone was charging, and I had to leave at the crack of dawn to go to the airport. In other words, I was essentially sleepwalking, and can therefore not be held responsible.

Anyway, what's interesting is how utterly naked and handicapped I feel. I have become so dependent on that device. Being without a phone is bad enough. And even if you, against all odds, actually find a working pay phone .. I can't remember anyone's phone number anyway. That iPhone is my direct link to all my contacts, my schedule, Twitter, Skype, everything!

Sure, I have my laptop with me, but it's just not the same thing. You have to find a wi-fi spot, boot up and log on .. that's just way too many things .. and try that while driving.

- not a note from my phone

Last Week

Friday, 21/05/10 — Tags:

What a week! I spent my last week at the "old" job at the main office in Austin, TX, working past midnight pretty much every day trying to put some finishing touches on a project.

When suddenly Friday came around it was time to hand in the company phone, laptop, access card, security token, and credit card. Sign some paperwork, say a few quick goodbyes, and then race off to the airport to catch the flight home to Philly. On Monday I'd start a new project at a new job.

Of course, that's when the weather gods conspired to keep me in Austin for one more day. My flight was canceled due to heavy storms and I was now stranded at an airport hotel with essentially nothing to do. It really didn't feel like the "weekend" — it felt like "work" without being able to get anything done.

There will be very little travel in the new job, and most of it will be day-trips between the East Coast cities — a welcome change! I really won't miss the road warrior life at all.

- another post from my phone.

Realignement

Thursday, 15/04/10 — Tags:

At the airport again. Have been traveling quite a bit lately. Early mornings. Late nights. So much time away from home. So much unproductive time spent in transit. So much time on weekends spent trying to catch up. So much time wasted.

Is it really worth it? What's the upside? No! It is time to realign my priorities. I know what matters .. what really matters! So now it's time to do something about it. And yes, I have a plan ;)

- another note from my phone

1:36am

Wednesday, 24/02/10 — Tags:

Working late at night again. It's too easy to just stay awake. Minutes and hours pass by quietly. Music in my headset.

Everything flows smoothly. I should go to bed. But I can't. I'm not tired. I can sit here for hours. I'm in the zone.

- another note from my phone

Hard Deadline

Wednesday, Feb 17,2010 — Tags:
The Hallway - Photo by ML

The Hallway

— Photo by ML

The proposal is finally done. Answers for some 220 questions have been researched, written, and reviewed. Add to that references to a dozen or so white papers and other documents, and, of course, the tedious tasks of converting, renaming, and indexing those documents. A final review of everything (for the umpteenth time!), and a few last-minute edits — all seemingly endless busy-work. But then the end is as sudden as the beginning: a hard deadline when the proposal must be submitted.

I've gone through these exercises many times and I know the drill. We all know the drill. We get a Request for Proposal (RFP) and the clock starts ticking. The deadline is usually something like 5pm EST Thursday, or Friday 2pm PST, or some other arbitrary (but very specific) point in time. Now the machine must be started and proposal writing must commence. Team members in different time zones, countries, even continents, are assigned to tasks and we all start to work like an army of ants towards the common goal of delivering a complete proposal no later than the specified deadline.

Another trip

Sunday, 13/09/09 — Tags:

At the airport again. Home away from home. Waiting to board. Waiting.

It's a Sunday evening. The international terminal is fairly quiet.

Waiting. Thinking. Lots of travel in coming months. and for the first time in many years, I'm not excited to travel.

- just a quick note

Dad, why do you travel so much?

Saturday, May 2,2009 — Tags:
Wish you were here - Photos by ML

Wish you were here

— Photos by ML

Out of the blue she asked: "Dad, why do you travel so much?" I had called her, like I do every evening, to ask her about her day and, of course, to wish her a good night. She's 5, or more specifically — and she would insist — she's "five and a half!" I have traveled quite a bit her whole life, but it seems to bother her much more now after the divorce.

When I'm not traveling I work from home, and before the divorce that meant she'd see me every day. Now I can only see her every other weekend, and I don't think she quite understands that the reason for us not getting together as often anymore is not that I travel so much more than before — it only seems that way to her. Her much older sister is handling this differently, or maybe I'm misreading the cues. She's a teenager, and I doubt I'd be the first dad misreading his teenage daughter (or son for that matter).