May 14, 2008
I haven’t done much travel for business nor have I spent all that much time in the Central Time Zone. . .just one hour’s difference from my reality makes a huge difference in my day. I woke up at 5am, which isn’t an unreasonable hour to be awake. I tried to lay there, all sprawled out in my comfy king size bed, surrounded by a multitude of pillows, and tell my body that it was getting an extra hour of sleep.. .stay in bed until the alarm goes off at 6:15. But, alas, there’s no fooling my body into anything, especially when there’s things to be done, treadmills to run on, organic breakfast burritos to be eaten. I’m probably just awake because I’m excited about what I’m doing here, how it’s different from my typical daily routine, how I enjoy going to new places, meeting new people, exploring. . .I’m sure this will wear off eventually. But probably not.
Houston is large. The highways remind me quite a bit of those in Los Angeles, sprawling multi-lane ordeals with nonsensical exits and on ramps that lead you through neighborhoods with little signage to get you back to where you want to be. My hotel is across the highway from the campus of Rice University, which I’m hoping to go check out this evening after work. Last night all I wanted to do was eat and watch the Nationals make mistakes against the Mets. . .amazing the technology these days that allows you to be away from home and watch any baseball game or sporting event for that matter that you might desire. All it took was a little googling and I came across a sports bar that was two blocks from my hotel. Food was less than great, but the drink specials were good and the staff was accomodating of my desire to watch my last place team.
Today is a full, action packed day of training for the new art director. Lots to throw at him, lots for him to wrap his head around, and fortunately, stuff that I’m REALLY well versed in as opposed to yesterday when I was floundering a bit because of some of the gaps in format between what I do and what he does. Things seem to be going well though. He’ll have a lot on his plate but I’m positive he’ll handle it. This job encompasses a lot of things and to try to learn it all in 3 or 4 days is nearly impossible. The best I can do is set him up with a good system, a good foundation of what to do and when to do it, and my direct line for any questions he may have. It’s interesting to step back from all of this and realize that I, me, am training someone. . .not something I ever saw myself doing.