So I'm at the end of what has been a mostly bad business trip. My work sent me to try to fix a piece of equipment in another office, about an hour and a half away by plane, just far enough to change time zones¹. While it's not technically the first time I've traveled for business (I slacked off at a convention in Orlando in March) it is the first time that I've traveled alone for business. When leaving, the park and fly place took forever to get me to the airport and I was not allowed to get on the flight. I had to switch to another flight. When I arrived, I got an email on my blackberry that the air conditioner was down in the remote office and most everyone had gone home. Also, because of the A/C issue, the piece of equipment I was sent to fix might not even be operable. After a madcap and zany race to find the office², I find it a deserted sauna. Someone was waiting for me, but they literally left within 20 minutes after I arrived. I stripped down to my sweaty undershirt³ and got to work. A few hours later, I had in my hands... a still quite broken piece of equipment⁴. So now I'm sitting at the busiest airport in the world desperately thinking of a way to not have to go back and replace this equipment⁵.


¹ Everyone knows that the Eastern Time Zone is the worst time zone, as all the good tv shows come on too late

² Everything's a big joke to you, isn't it, Mapquest?

³ Ladies, please, no woo-hooing

⁴ Yeah, it was anti-climatic to me, too.

⁵ Is anyone hiring?