The First Night's Usually the Biggest

I'm in Newport Beach, California for a few days of intensive sales training. The training hasn't even started yet— it's on Wednesday and Thursday— but the partying has. ...I know, I wrote yesterday that this trip is not a boondoggle. But last night we went out to a fancy-ish restaurant on the coast, Javier's. The valet parking was full of high end luxury and sports cars. The restaurant was full of people in their see-and-be-seen attire; a style I only see in certain places where wealth and vanity collide like in Southern California.

I was hoping for a not-late night last night. I even seriously considered blowing off the group dinner. But I decided to go because the group seemed small enough. There were just 12 of us. Well, dinner was languidly paced at the packed, fancy restaurant. We had drinks. Then simple appetizers. Then bigger appetizers. Then full dinner plates. I estimate my end would've been $175 all-in if I were paying my own bill. And we didn't get back to the hotel until almost 11pm. So much for my idea of a not-late night. I had been hoping we might be done with dinner early enough for me to take a dip in the hot tub before 10!

Getting back to my room at 11pm was bad enough— considering I was up, sick half the night the night before— but then, because it's a business trip and I'm in an unfamiliar bed, or possibly because I'd eaten too much food too late, I couldn't get to sleep right away. I tossed and turned until about 12:30. And this morning I was up at 5:30 for a 6:30am meeting before the all-day training sessions. Ugh.

Cancel My 6:30am Meeting... At 5:30am 😡

I had a 6:30am meeting today. For sure that's not my favorite time of day to meet, but it was with a major customer who we're trying to close a big deal with this year, and it was a compromise on time zones and availability. Especially after being up late last night it was rough getting up at 5:30am. Then I saw the meeting was canceled.

The "sorry, something came up" message was sent at 5:30am. I didn't see it until closer to 6, after I'd showered, dressed, and first took a peek at my email. By then it was too late to go back to bed in hopes of catching another 45 minutes of shut-eye. Even if I'd seen the message right when it was sent, it was already too late.

Needless to say, I hate it when before-normal-hours meetings get canceled at the last moment like this. I accept the need to handle occasional out-of-hours meetings as a necessary part of the 21st century work environment, where employers have hired staff scattered all over the world to save money. But I wish said staff would should more consideration for the situation we're in.