I just finished a REALLY GOOD DAY.
Here's what I experienced in the last 24 hours:
- Flight #1 on Delta: Rochester - Detroit. Slept the whole way
- Walked to connecting gate in Detroit...right into...FIRST CLASS SEAT
- Flight #2 on Delta: Detroit - Raleigh. Read "Quitter"...inspiring book on how to make your dream job your day job
- Landed in Raleigh...walked...without even slowing down...into the Hertz bus.
- First stop was Gold member drop-off...into my car.
- Drove to hotel and got a great room
- GPS'd 'sushi' and found a wonderful sushi place
- Slept for 10 hours!!!!
- Woke up (no alarm needed) and had free breakfast
- Practiced my presentation and ran through live demo system
- Recorded my demo one time I ran through it
- Drove to Raleigh site jamming to music
- Noticed Jimmy Johns and had a quick (and tasty!) lunch
- Ran into Tony, old colleague at Raleigh, who showed me where coffee bar was
- Hooked up demo to iffy wireless and projector...both held through the demo
- Showed demo to Sr. VP...flawless demo
- Met with other UX colleagues for dinner
- Had a fantastic conversation about work, life, and adventures with my UX friends
- Had mexican dinner with beer...then margarita (with blood orange YUM!)
- At hotel blogging after a hot tub
If I were asked what would my dream 'work week' day be like, this would be very close.
Then I got to thinking of how many people behind the scenes made this possible.
It makes me appreciate hundreds of people...and also makes me wonder if God uses the little things people do...or the little things that happen to them...for helping others well beyond what I (or they) can imagine.
Here's what I wonder:
- Did the lady sitting next to me on flight #1 realize how helpful she was by not complaining that I closed the window shade so I could get a reprieve from my 6 month fatigue?
- Did the grounds crew intern who made my first flight a tad late realize that he made my walk between gates time out perfectly so I could board the next plane without sitting around?
- Did the Delta IT staffer who coded the 'who gets a free upgrade every blue moon' algorithm realize he would make my day by giving me a first class seat on my way to a big-deal demo?
- Did Jon Acuff know that the chapter on "doing your best at your day job may in fact help your dream job" inspire me to really hit this demo out of the park?
- Did the guy in Raleigh that cut the Hertz bus driver off...forcing him to stop at the red light...realize that the 3 minute delay made the Hertz bus roll up to the curb and open the door JUST as I was stepping off the curve? I mean you couldn't' have choreographed that better in a movie! (leave plane...walk out of airport...across heavy traffic with a perfectly timed gap...into awaiting bus)
- Did the gal who assigned cars know I had an iPod aux cable and would be so happy listening to Ramble On on my way to my VP demo (with AC/DC t-shirt under my dress attire as my mojo)?
- Did the guy who dropped his car keys between the door and the front seat...making him pull out 50 seconds later...which allowed me to sign out of the Hertz lot first...realize that his 50 seconds of frustration would make me hit every green light between the airport and the hotel?
- Did the Google developer who got the address wrong for the first sushi place realize that the next-nearest sushi place would be oh-so-tastey that totally made my night?
- Did the front desk clerk...who decided which room I was to stay in...a room away from the 'lift' and not facing sunrise...did he realize it would be the perfect environment for me to start catching up on badly needed rest?
- Did the committee that decided against in-room wifi realize that I far prefer wired connections anyway...and that was really the only way I was able to make a backup movie using Camtasia?
- Did Tony realize that when he left 5 minutes early from a meeting for lunch he would cross paths with me and help me find my coffee-pick-me-up that catapulted me to a great demo?
- Did the buildings full of developers who implemented wireless, laptop projectors, not to mention the software I demoed...did they realize they were going to work in concert together to make a senior VP happy he invested in us?
- Did the old lady who named her weird oranges "Blood Orange" because her oranges were a tad darker than others realize it would taste perfectly with agave nectar and tequila and that it would help me unwind from a long and satisfying day?
- Did Mark and Jack...who joined me for dinner...realize how much it meant to me to have good conversation about life, work, and adventure? Do they realize their compliments mean the world to me and help fight back the feelings of doubt, failure, and loneliness?
Sometimes I stand amazed at how the world works.
...and how God works through the world.
...and sometimes, I deflate my ego long enough to recognize that really good days are possible not because of how good I am, but because of the good people around me.
Sure, sometimes a day bends my way because of strange circumstances...but sometimes a good day happens because of how productive, caring, and passionate a crazy amount of people are with what they do. And if they aren't passionate...at least they show up and do their job. And by just showing up...look what can happen?
To all those people who made my day a great one, I say:
Salud!
Here's to Life!
and...
Thank you.
