Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Travelin' in circles -- sheesh

This was not a good day. I'm now driving to Maryland with boxes and packing material that we had in storage so as to get rid of them, meaning I'm leaving Sunday (450 miles), spending Monday in Maryland then driving to NYC (200 miles) and staying there Monday and Tuesday nights. Then I'm heading back to Buffalo (400 miles) to turn the rented SUV in so we don't get hit with a week's charge instead of 4 days. At least it'll be through pretty country, for the most part.

Of course, this messed with my plans to visit with friends who are coming to New York, so I went ahead and bought a plane ticket to hop down Friday and come back Saturday; that's the only way I could afford it and, to be honest, I'll have a HELL of a lot to do on Sunday to catch up with myself.

Then I pissed off a customer by misspelling his name in an e-mail (It's Stephan with a PH not a V, thank you, and DON'T call me Steve). As I was trying to assure him I wasn't some idiot who can't spell and that I would handle his job just like he wanted it, apparently I assured him too much and pissed off my supervisor, who felt I was being too compliant and detailed in how I would handle things.

Then all plans about San Antonio got changed because a packing job in LA looks like it's happening and the best time to do it is before then. Thing is, I found out I need to be in SA the 27th, so I'll have to make sure it's all right if I head for LA on the 24th and pack on the 25th so I can fly there on the 26th. What's good is, Southwest works with you on re-scheduling, without much extra charge ($7.50, unlike US Airways and Delta and United who charge you $150 just to change the ticket then hit you with additional charges for flying different days).

So...August will be my away-from-home-a-lot month and expenses through the roof. So much for saving for taxes. Maybe in September...

It was a scramble to get everything arranged -- and not all of it is completely, yet -- but my hope is to use this time away to keep writing. I'll have my laptop with me and the fact is, 75% of POS has been written on it so it feels more appropriate than my desktop, for some reason. I got rewrites done on RIHC6v1 and BC while house-sitting in Austin because I was off to myself. And I did a lot of work on RIHC6v2 while in a Motel 6 by Buffalo Airport, waiting to hear if my apartment application was accepted. And I've done some solid bits on POS while waiting in an airport for my flight. Seems I've turned into a gypsy scribe.

Oh -- when it comes to rewriting...well, actually I'm in non-stop rewrite mode. I've already have ideas about how to deepen and intensify Brendan's actions during this rough section. Notes are being made, even as I type.

So why am I typing instead of notating?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

You do get around. For myself, I have always wanted to travel but found I over pack. My solution is to pack light nowadays. If I want to go to the Orient, I put a paper umbrella in my martini. Mexico? A lime on the rim of the beer and France, champagne and cognac.
Once I wake from the floor, I'm back home. It's amazingly inexpensive when you compare that to going to the site and getting drunk.

JamTheCat said...

Hmm...it'd sure as hell keep me from getting caught in O'Hare, again. I actually just paid $25 more for a plane ticket -- well, the company I work for did, since they'll reimburse me -- so I could avoid Chicago altogether.

Love to travel to different places; I just am getting to where I hate going by plane. When will they put in high-speed trains? After I'm dead, probably...the bastards.