are we done yet?

this is wayne.

wayne is a supervisor (my supervisor) with our exhibit house.  he takes care of me at all of our large trade shows, and he's one of my favorite colleagues.

you can't really see wayne in this pic, because wayne has wedged himself in the only air space left after we crammed the rental car full of boxes, and a couple other people.

wayne is always bending over backwards (or forwards), with a smile on his face or a thumb in the air.

and this is what day 2 of a booth set looks like. we're already so exhausted, we contort ourselves into tight spaces just to avoid making multiple trips.  git'r'done.

let's get it started

day 1 of booth setup for our biggest trade show of the year.  let's get this show on the road...so i can get myself to costa rica ;)

first class

1. just a little light reading

2. a cheese plate? yes, please!

3. a perfect place for the ipad to sit while i enjoy a movie

4. an actual bottle of water (not those stupid cups!)

5. mmmm. breakfast

6. a pillow. and a soft blanket. and a place to lay my head

a 'perfect' travel day is akin to winning the lottery.

i generally have pretty good luck when it comes to travel, but it never goes 'perfectly'.  today may have been as close as it gets.

the night before my departure, i learned that my upgrade request had already been confirmed, and i'd be making the (direct!) flight from la to orlando in first class.  as southern california is a hotbed for business travelers, i NEVER get upgraded.  and, while i rank fairly high on the hierarchy of road warriors, it's typically not high enough for socal. score = 1.

despite my grunmblings about being up before the crack of dawn, i was relieved when my shuttle was on time and there was no traffic en route to the airport. score = 2.

i successfully took advantage of tsa-precheck (a special check-in option for frequent fliers which allows one to simply set their bags on the belt and walk through the metal detector.  meaning, no taking off shoes, jackets or having to take out out laptops or liquids.) as a part of the random screening, every once in awhile, it just won't work.  today, it did.  score = 3

spent my extra downtime (shuttle was fast!) hanging out in the admirals club. score = 4

the flight left on time and arrived early.  i got breakfast! score = 5

my bag arrived quickly. score =6

i headed across the street to the hertz gold desk (no rental car shuttle needed here!) score = 7

my name was on the board with a stall number.  i skipped the desk headed straight for the car, and made my way to dinner with some of my favorite colleagues. score = 8

on a 1-10 scale, i'd say i did pretty well.  i'd have chalked the day up as a 10, but then i realized that i had to keep 9 and 10 in reserve for the day that i find myself riding the escalator down to baggage claim and seeing nathan fillion at the bottom, holding a sign with my name on it.

a girl can dream, can't she?

january 16

looks like i'm ready for costa rica!

fingers crossed (hee hee) that the tropical manicure survives the long work week in orlando first.

january 15

i'm pretty much nowhere near ready for the 5k i'm 'running' in february (two days after i get back from costa rica), but at least i'll be geared up and lookin' cute while i suffer!