Bregmata

Monday morning, first thing, I get an email telling me I need to go to San Diego on Tuesday for some “integration work” (the meaning of which is unclear and neerose.dn’t be clarified for the purposes of this post). I needed to get a passport.

Yes, yes, I was supposed to get that passport, um, months ago just in case this situation arose. Blah blah blah. I got a passport in less that 24 hours: the officer was calling all my references before I had even left 240 Sparks.

I got a flight out booked for 0600 Wednesday. I managed to get a hotel booked and a flight home by EOB on Tuesday. I scrabbled together what I thought I would need for the trip. My flight out got changed to 0615. Bonus.

So, Wednedsay morning I got up at 0300 without effectively having slept at all. I was at the airport by 0400, checked in by about 4:10. The security gates don’t open until 0430. US Homeland Security doesn’t open until 0500. Massive line ups in the wee hours. A quick flight to O’Hare (Chicago), an hour wait, then off to San Diego.

The flight to southern California is always great. It’s about 4 air hours from Chicago, and the scenery is spectacular. Snow-covered mountains, deserts, mesas, prarie. You really need to get a window seat.

Arrived in San Diego at 1100 local time — I had been up for 10 hours already internal time. My work day was about to begin. Unfortunately, my ride was over an hour late. I wasn’t concerned. Unlike Ottawa or Chicago, San Diego provides free unlimited wireless at their airport. The temperature was 21 C and sunny. I had no problem waiting.

I got to our San Diego office and discovered it was two blocks from the vendor site I was going to visit. Convenient. It would have been even more convenient if the powers that be had sent someone from our San Diego office. Feh.

I worked with the vendor until 2000 local time. That’s 2300 internal time. That’s a long day. I’m turning in for the night.