Week 3: California
Jun. 5th, 2017 06:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
indigo_rose99I must be getting old.
The week in Houston was exotic because I got the flexibility of driving. But the customer was new, wanting to have a familiar-to-me class in fewer hours. Combined with a strange location and the software snafu the first day.... It was a strain. Rewarding, because they seemed so grateful, but a strain.
Last week in Ohio sucked everything out of me. Multiple delayed flights. I like and appreciate my coworkers. But I really appreciate them at a distance. Dealing with 2 of them in person was.... I'm running out of words. Like having to stay overnight in the family home for Thanksgiving weekend. I wanted to strangle them in less that 3 minutes. I was driving and they were truly abysmal navigators. "Thataway. .... You were supposed to turn left there! .... [2nd day]You've been here before, you should know the way!" *grinding teeth* They seemed to think that 2-4 hours of sleep is perfectly adequate (teaching is a huge drain and I try to get 9 hours, but will settle for 7 in a pinch. I got 5-6 hours every night with them.) I'd never visited this customer, so the on-site hoops to jump through were an additional strain. My feet became steadily more painful each hour. The course material was brand new, never tested. The audience was receptive, but the software kept having computer connection problems (the reason I blessed my coworkers presence with every minute of class, as they did tech support as I kept dancing in front of the room). Travel each direction for Ohio requires a full day. So I had just 2 days at home to file my expense report, do laundry, and repack.
This coming week is an old familiar customer in California. I've been working with this customer so long that my students know less about the history of the customer than I do (weird!). I've stayed in this hotel before, I know the shape of my week. Though I'd rather not be traveling at all, the relief of a familiar friend this week is.... Almost overwhelmingly good.
How did I get to be that crotchety person?
The week in Houston was exotic because I got the flexibility of driving. But the customer was new, wanting to have a familiar-to-me class in fewer hours. Combined with a strange location and the software snafu the first day.... It was a strain. Rewarding, because they seemed so grateful, but a strain.
Last week in Ohio sucked everything out of me. Multiple delayed flights. I like and appreciate my coworkers. But I really appreciate them at a distance. Dealing with 2 of them in person was.... I'm running out of words. Like having to stay overnight in the family home for Thanksgiving weekend. I wanted to strangle them in less that 3 minutes. I was driving and they were truly abysmal navigators. "Thataway. .... You were supposed to turn left there! .... [2nd day]You've been here before, you should know the way!" *grinding teeth* They seemed to think that 2-4 hours of sleep is perfectly adequate (teaching is a huge drain and I try to get 9 hours, but will settle for 7 in a pinch. I got 5-6 hours every night with them.) I'd never visited this customer, so the on-site hoops to jump through were an additional strain. My feet became steadily more painful each hour. The course material was brand new, never tested. The audience was receptive, but the software kept having computer connection problems (the reason I blessed my coworkers presence with every minute of class, as they did tech support as I kept dancing in front of the room). Travel each direction for Ohio requires a full day. So I had just 2 days at home to file my expense report, do laundry, and repack.
This coming week is an old familiar customer in California. I've been working with this customer so long that my students know less about the history of the customer than I do (weird!). I've stayed in this hotel before, I know the shape of my week. Though I'd rather not be traveling at all, the relief of a familiar friend this week is.... Almost overwhelmingly good.
How did I get to be that crotchety person?
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Date: 2017-06-05 12:36 pm (UTC)My feet hurt and get off my lawn!
no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 02:28 pm (UTC)