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February 06, 2008
Home Away from Home
I've been having terrible nightmares lately, and then last night I somehow managed to stay up until the sun came up, and so you might understand, dear reader, why I was not at my best when traveling down to Key West today. When I arrived at the airport at 7 a.m., the wheel fell of my suitcase and when I stopped to retrieve it from the floor I got grease all over my hands. Then my flight was delayed, and there was a crying baby next to me, and when we finally boarded I found myself on a three hour flight in the middle seat between two grumpy people.
Arriving in Miami for my two hour layover still fuzzy headed from lack of sleep, I met a potential colleague who somehow managed to slip past airport security for a quick meet-and-greet before I hopped my next flight. Of course, being in a daze and generally unfamiliar with anything she was talking about (every other word was an acronym, squeezed between name-dropped local politicians and policy makers), the meeting was not so productive and I was happy to escape with my life and a Starbucks coffee.
The flight down to Key West was mercifully brief and I was relieved to step off the plane into sunny weather and the waiting car of my Big Idea escort for the week. I was whisked off to a late lunch, where I met other Big Idea people (again, tiredness and hunger didn't make me particularly well suited for this encounter), and then later dropped off at my home away from home.
Here is where the story turns not-so-angst-y, since I'm being put up in the “corporate apartment” of a local non-profit, and it turns out to be more like a private cottage. It's a studio apartment with wireless internet but no kitchen (note to self, buy an apple for breakfast), and a fenced-in hot tub* for my own private use. Once the sun goes down, I plan to enjoy it sans bathing suit. Just because I can.
I'm only a block away from the main drag of Duval Street, and I'm sure that later in the week I will want to take advantage of the local festivities. For now though, I'm just hoping to make it through the next couple of days alive and with a modicum of sanity.
Just like at home, each time I think there is room for a quick 20 minute nap, I recall that rescheduled Big Idea teleconference, or that email I promised to send, or that online meeting we need to prepare for the big proposal pitch tomorrow morning. This lovely cottage does, indeed, feel like a home away from home. Except I just got bit by a mosquito.
* Update:It's actually more of a small swimming pool: deep enough to need to tread water *for real* and with jets on one side that propel you towards the stairs unless you are willing to swim against the tide. Which I was (during the 15 minute period I created by ducking out of one meeting early and rescheduling another one for tomorrow).
