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Overdrive.

Holy shit, I've been busy.

Two weeks ago, I was up at 3:30am for my flight to Cedar Rapids, and I didn't really stop until last Sunday.  Alumni Board meeting Friday, Cornell Homecoming Saturday -- both nights I slept about 3 hours -- and then it was off to Chicago on Sunday after brunch with the family. 

My week in Chicago was incredibly productive.  Being back in an office was great -- particularly this office, which is full of good and interesting people -- and it was nice to feel useful and connected to more than my discreet set of projects.  We successfully managed a crisis of clusterfuck proportions, and after proving myself at least marginally competent, I've been given additional responsibilities for the programs that surround the sacred sites exhibition I've been working on. 

It's a lot of pressure to pull this off on such a tight timeline, but it's interesting and challenging and, most important, meaningful.  Which is all I've really ever wanted out of work.  Paychecks are nice, too.

Still working on a contract basis and still perfectly OK with that.  "As needed" is turning out to be "we need you very much," and that's a good place to be.

Anyway, the only downside to last week was the miserable strain of H1N1 I'm sure I contracted whilst sleeping on the hotel floor Saturday night.  By Wednesday I could barely talk and my whole body was an achy mess.  Probably didn't help that I forgot to pack a coat for the 3-mile roundtrip walk I took everyday to the office. 

Oh well.  Back to normal now, at least. 

And all I got was this lousy voucher.

The major drawback to taking a carry-on to the airport, of course, is that it weighs you down.  Which makes sprinting from the far end of Concourse A to the middle of Concourse C even more miserable than it sounds.

Particularly when the gate to your connecting flight closes in your reddened, sweaty face.

"Sorry about that.  Next flight's at 12:15pm."

Three hours?  Three hours in Detroit?  It might as well be three days.  "But... it's 8:45.  There's nothing else going to Cedar Rapids?" 

"Unfortunately, no.  But here's a breakfast voucher!  Enjoy your layover and thank you for choosing Northwest Airlines."

Right.

My "breakfast voucher" pronounced Northwest's sincere apology regarding an inconvenience for which it wasn't technically responsible and offered me a $5 airport credit to which I wasn't technically entitled.  I headed for the food court, wondering when the last time the Vice President of NWA Customer Relations had condescended to eat anything in an airport.  Five dollars?  Really?  I'd be lucky if I could find a goddamn yogurt cup for five dollars. 

As it happened, I had just enough for a latte. 

Maybe I'll try to get some work done.  $7.95 for internet access, so I better make it worth my while.

Account closed.

I may or may not have spat my disgust on the building as I walked out of Bank of America.

Assholes.

No shirt, no shoes, no problem.

Working from home is not without certain... advantages.  Like the fact that my hours are fairly flexible, and I go for a run in the afternoon or take a minute to blog.  Or the fact that I have no earthly reason to put on, say, pants.  Let alone a shirt and tie.

I have a video conference with the director today, and lots of research to pull together on my Nuclear Nonproliferation project.  (Essentially we're creating a guide to addressing the issue, complete tradition perspectives on nuclear weapons, as well as model responses religious and spiritual organizations can reference to become active on this topic within their own communities.  It's probably what I'm most excited -- and nervous -- about pulling off.)  Then it's off to Iowa on a 5:30am flight this Thursday.  Homecoming Weekend at Cornell College.  And my five(!?) year reunion.  And my first board of directors meeting for the Alumni Association.  (I never get tired of saying that.)

Looking forward to being back on the Hilltop, although the Girl won't be coming with and, consequently, cannot be smugly paraded in front of my former classmates.  It's going to be an action-packed weekend, though, between my responsibilities on the Alumni Board, the work I need to squeeze in, the faculty and staff I need to visit, and all those $1 drafts that require my undivided attention.

After Homecoming and with very little time to breathe, it's off to Chicago -- probably via a 7-hour Greyhound ride, because I'm cheap -- where I'll spend the next week assisting on various matters that need to be wrapped up before the first major program deadline.  Notwithstanding the fact that I'll have to wear pants and shoes, I'm really looking forward to it.  Like I said, being home has its perks, but I would ultimately rather be in an office where I can be around people. 

Particularly when that office is not a law firm.

(Thanks, Manzo.)