Work, life and things in between – Day 2: The 25,000 feet view!
Before the sabbatical started, my life looked something like this:
Monday morning, 5 a.m. I don’t wear the T-shirt but I nevertheless hate Mondays. I am rushing through my morning shower and breakfast so I can be ready for the 6 am Leadership team call. They are on the East Coast and I on the West Coast. So, before my day even starts, I am already behind.
Every other week I get on a plane and fly 2800 miles diagonally across North America to spend the week at my Florida office. On my way there, I enjoy the 25,000 feet view and the peacefulness that comes with it. Sounds like a vacation but it is no picnic. By the time the cab pulls in the drive way at 9 am, I have held several calls with North America and a few with Europe, answered a myriad of e-mails and gotten most balls in the air.
I have checked with my secretary and she has made sure I have all the highlights of the day on hand so I can work on these and be ready to send the requested actions reply when I am on the ground in Chicago for my 90 minute connection.
From the cab on my way to the airport I return calls accumulated throughout their mornings. Try to put out as many fires as possible before I go underground , or rather above clouds, for the next 4 and a half hours.
Before boarding I have a few minutes to complete a last down load of e-mails. I must have boarded the plane many a times with my running laptop in one hand and passport and boarding pass in the other, while crushing my phone between my shoulder and ear. What is a girl to do when boarding is called before the entire document is completely loaded? Efficiency is sometimes a matter of seconds….
The long flights are the best ones. I totally zoom out from the cabin around me and zoom in on my screen. These four hours in the air are like 8 hours in the office. The day they allow mobile phones and internet access on all flights is the day I will stop commuting.
90 minutes on the ground in Chicago. I have my routine down path. I am frequently among the first ones out of the plane. I welcome the endless walk from terminal B to terminal F. I love their underground walkway. The lights are subdued and so is the music. It is almost like a cave…very soothing, if your phone is not ringing that is.
The usual goat feta cheese and fruit salad at La Tapenade at gate B4. On a good day I have time to eat it on the spot. On a not so good day I have to eat it while holding it on my knees on the plane. Not everyone appreciates the smell of goat feta cheese and grapefruits…what can I say? And on a bad day, I skip the salad all together and starve. Starvation is always better than airline food.
On any good day though, once I have gulped my salad, I make it to the lounge, recharge my laptop battery (never mind my own…it will be a few years before I can do this it seems..) and send/receive the next wave of e-mails.
This is the endless pas de deux. Truly, this is my endless cycle of life in Corporate America, and it continues. Read day 3.Before the sabbatical started, my life looked something like this:
Monday morning, 5 a.m. I don’t wear the T-shirt but I nevertheless hate Mondays. I am rushing through my morning shower and breakfast so I can be ready for the 6 am Leadership team call. They are on the East Coast and I on the West Coast. So, before my day even starts, I am already behind.
Every other week I get on a plane and fly 2800 miles diagonally across North America to spend the week at my Florida office. On my way there, I enjoy the 25,000 feet view and the peacefulness that comes with it. Sounds like a vacation but it is no picnic. By the time the cab pulls in the drive way at 9 am, I have held several calls with North America and a few with Europe, answered a myriad of e-mails and gotten most balls in the air.
I have checked with my secretary and she has made sure I have all the highlights of the day on hand so I can work on these and be ready to send the requested actions reply when I am on the ground in Chicago for my 90 minute connection.
From the cab on my way to the airport I return calls accumulated throughout their mornings. Try to put out as many fires as possible before I go underground , or rather above clouds, for the next 4 and a half hours.
Before boarding I have a few minutes to complete a last down load of e-mails. I must have boarded the plane many a times with my running laptop in one hand and passport and boarding pass in the other, while crushing my phone between my shoulder and ear. What is a girl to do when boarding is called before the entire document is completely loaded? Efficiency is sometimes a matter of seconds….
The long flights are the best ones. I totally zoom out from the cabin around me and zoom in on my screen. These four hours in the air are like 8 hours in the office. The day they allow mobile phones and internet access on all flights is the day I will stop commuting.
90 minutes on the ground in Chicago. I have my routine down path. I am frequently among the first ones out of the plane. I welcome the endless walk from terminal B to terminal F. I love their underground walkway. The lights are subdued and so is the music. It is almost like a cave…very soothing, if your phone is not ringing that is.
The usual goat feta cheese and fruit salad at La Tapenade at gate B4. On a good day I have time to eat it on the spot. On a not so good day I have to eat it while holding it on my knees on the plane. Not everyone appreciates the smell of goat feta cheese and grapefruits…what can I say? And on a bad day, I skip the salad all together and starve. Starvation is always better than airline food.
On any good day though, once I have gulped my salad, I make it to the lounge, recharge my laptop battery (never mind my own…it will be a few years before I can do this it seems..) and send/receive the next wave of e-mails.
This is the endless pas de deux. Truly, this is my endless cycle of life in Corporate America, and it continues. Read day 3.