(Warning: This is essentially a long whine.)
So, I heading off to Boston in the morning for a week of meeting with my potential new bosses. The whole situation is a little complicated, and I might expand on it later in the week if I get a chance to blog from the hotel, but the short version is that some Honchos from the Australian part of the company might be taking over the stuff I work on, and they are in Boston this week and want to meet with me to make plans.
So, the situation is that I am walking into a day full of important meetings, and also this is my chance to make a first impression on these guys. The meetings start at 9AM Monday and I need to be at the Boston office then.
Since I hate mornings, and I really (doubleplus super really) hate airports and the hassles associated with air travel, the sensible thing to do would be to drive down on Sunday, spend the night in a hotel, and start fresh and rested Monday morning. For most of the year, this is what I would do.
However, late January and early February are notoriously treacherous for snow storms, and with an 11-hour drive (in good weather) each way, I’m not sure I want to bet on getting 22 hours of good weather. Any bad weather would suck the fun out of driving, and could possibly result in my getting stuck either before I got to the meeting, or keeping me away from my family for longer.
So, weather rules out driving.
The next sensible thing would be to fly out Sunday night, again getting a restful night’s sleep (without any 2-year old interruptions) and go to the meeting fresh on Monday.
The problem here is that the last direct flight from Halifax to Boston on Sunday leaves at 1:30PM. Which means I would need to leave my place at 11AM. Which means I would essentially miss an entire day with my family. Why there isn’t an evening flight I don’t know, and I curse the airline gods for their not being one.
So, the next option is to fly down Monday morning. Turns out there is a direct flight Monday morning. It leaves Halifax at 6:20AM (Atlantic Time), and gets into Logan at 7:09AM (Eastern Time).
So let’s work this backwards. Since the recent changes, I have to clear US Customs in Halifax before departing, and I’m assuming there will still be extra delays from the new passport rules, so I think I want to be at the airport the full recommended 90 minutes before flight time. That means I want to be at the airport by 4:50. It’s a 30 minute drive to the airport in good weather (which is currently what’s predicted for tomorrow morning), so that has me leaving the house at 4:20. Assuming I need to shower, get dressed, and put my (already packed) gear in the car, I should be able to get up at 4AM and be out of here by 4:20.
So, I’ll be getting up at 4AM (which is 3AM EST), and will essentially be in transit (and under hassle) until around 8:30AM (7:30 EST), at which point I should be in a rental car at Logan airport. Then it’s a 30 minute drive to the office, if there’s no traffic, which will probably be a 75 minute drive, getting me to the office 15 minutes before the meeting–at which point I will already have been up for around six hours.
Then I have meetings scheduled all day. I’m sure I’ll be ready to make a great first impression.
Even more fun, the meetings are followed by an ‘informal’ dinner with the new potential bosses, which I assume is where they will try to woo me. That’s supposed to go until 10PM, at which point I will be 18 hours into my work day. Sigh.
Now, let’s see how early I can get to sleep. I’m already looking at a maximum of 4.5 hours of sleep, if I go to sleep right NOW. And I don’t see that happening.
