My Disappearance

I didn’t disappear but was out of town to Florida last week. Well, it was not a pleasure trip as one might think, it was a business trip. So what if it is a business trip, you could still go out and have fun. Right? Not when you have meetings and conferences scheduled all day long. This is how my trip started last week.

I left for Orlando, Florida on Tuesday morning. I hurried to the airport to catch my 8.30am flight. When I entered the lobby to check in, I saw a big line and that was at 7am. I was just hoping to check in my baggage, catch my shuttle to get to my gate to board the plane on time, only to find out that the flight was delayed to 9.30am. So I took my time in doing everything leisurely and joined the line to get past the security. I had my boarding pass and ID in my hand, so I can show it to the security personnel when asked for. Those who travel know the routine that they must go through to get past the securities. You don’t want to draw any attention towards you or else you have the wrath of the guards. I went through the drill of removing my shoes, removing the laptop from my bag, setting all the items in the tray and sending it for scanning. I then passed through the scanner myself and heard the beep go on and on. I had to go back again through the detector after removing my bracelet and other jewellery, only to hear the beep again. This time I was determined to find the culprit causing the beep. It was my hair clip clad with stones with metal underneath it.

After I passed the security check, I went on the shuttle and got to my gate. The aircraft that I was to board had not even landed, so my departure time was not known. To kill time, I went to a coffee shop (no, not starbucks for a change), got my morning coffee and was reading the paper. When our boarding was called, I got in the plane and was on my way to Orlando with the hope of getting on some rides in the theme park during my stay. After I reached my hotel in Orlando, I ate lunch and was called on to attend the meeting with my VP. There my journey of meetings started and was in meetings every single day till 5pm.

Our typical day started at 7am. We would meet at 7am, have breakfast and talk to other fellow employees and go to the conference room at 8am. From 8am to 5pm all we did was participate in the conferences and ask questions and such. In the evenings, we had gatherings and some fun activities to do in MGM where a special stunt show of Indiana Jones was organized just for our company. Even though the entire trip was spent inside the conference room which was freezing, look at the bright side. I got to soak up the sun once in a while when I came out on a break from my meetings, I got a good view of the internal walls of the conference room in Hilton, I got to see a show and enjoy my time in the evenings with my fellow colleagues. I think I made the best on what I got and am glad to be back home. Oh, by the way, the picture that is accompanying this blog has no relevance other than the title. :-)