A big business trip

Written October 22/05

Tomorrow at 4pm I'm getting on an airplane and flying to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

My old boss was transferred out there several months ago, and now she wants me to go there to visit one of her offices and make recommendations on workflow, scheduling and training needs. I'm really not sure I'm the right person for this. Especially the scheduling stuff. Workflow and training I might be able to help with.

As for scheduling, I've never really had to come up with a regular production schedule...especially not one for that many people! Right now, our schedule at my own office is for four deadlines a week. Any special stuff on top of that always follows the same schedule. And all that was established before I even started working there.

So...I guess two outta three aint bad. I'll do my best to work on the scheduling thing, but I won't sweat it too much if I can't help there. I've already told her I'm not sure I can help, and she still wanted me to go out.

I fly out tomorrow (Sunday) at 4. Ex-boss will pick me up at the airport and drive me to her place about an hour and twenty minutes drive away from Halifax. Everything in Nova Scotia is on a coast, it seems. On Monday morning, I'm to be driven by another manager the two-hour drive to Yarmouth. I'll spend Monday through Thursday working at the company's Yarmouth office, hopefully making their lives better, not worse.

While in Yarmouth, I'll be staying at the beautiful Guest-Little House Bed and Breakfast -- http://www.guestlovitt.ca/index.htm -- which has received some incredibly glowing testimonials, as well as Ex-boss's raving recommendation, so it should be nice. I'm not so sure I like the whole B&B deal. When I stay in a paid accommodation, I like to have lots of privacy, not have to eat on schedule, a restaurant on the premises for dinners etc. Here I will have to fend for myself for lunches and dinners. I won't have a car, so hopefully there won't be any steep inclines from the office to the B&B. Just in case, I bought a comfy new pair of walking shoes today. I hope they don't give me blisters!

So...once I'm through in Yarmouth, I'll be driven back to New Minas on the Friday morning to hang out at their office there. Apparently they do the special products there. Sounds like they don't have many issues there, so it'll probably just be a meet and greet and observation for the day.

After work on Friday, I'll be picking up a rental car and driving myself to Halifax, where I will be staying at the Halifax Westin Hotel from Friday through Tuesday night. I have the whole weekend to myself in Halifax. I suspect I'll spend most of it driving around getting familiar with the city, in case I end up living there next year. This trip is really useful that way - kind of a scouting mission.

On Monday and Tuesday, I have to attend a big two-day meeting at the hotel with the VP of my company. Ex-boss and her ops manager will be there too, along with several other people, some of whom I may know, most of whom I probably won't. The most interesting thing about this meeting to me is that I'm promised that at the end of it, I'll know whether I'll be asked to relocate to Halifax for a year.

Knowing when I'll find out has really made it easier for me to deal with this. Somehow I've been able to put it out of my mind once I learned that. If I DO have to go, the next two months will be a whirlwind of activity for me, while I prepare to move. I've realized I'll probably have to change ALL my stuff to Nova Scotia...drivers licence, health insurance, car insurance, etc...which will be a pain in the ass, as I'll just have to change it all back a year later. But oh well, c'est la vie. It's probably easier than trying to cheat by for a year without changing over anything.

So, that's it, I guess. I should go to bed now and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow will be a busy day. Gotta take my rats over to my friend Tonia's place to take care of while I'm gone. Plus I promised to buy her brunch after that. Gotta pack, gotta remember to get my umbrella from the car, in case Hurricane Wilma makes an appearance in the Maritimes while I'm there...which she just might. Gonna be an interesting trip!

Mustn't forget to bring my camera!