Saturday, September 05, 2009

And it's Brazil

So here I am in Brazil... on too little sleep and with 'dinner and samba' being the thing that is going to make it a late one tonight. The weather is grey and cold(ish) and we're working the weekend - but it's nice to be in an office that has great natural light, on a schedule that blurs the days and amongst people who have ideas for a living.

Reading "Risk" and again loving sociology - if only it wasn't so Educatating Rita - all middle aged women trying to figure out where their lives and marriages took such a wrong turn. I could be interested.

Right - power nap time! Then it's hip swinging starters and heel ball toe entrees

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Mission Part Complete

So I had my New York meeting and was rabidly but genuinely enthusiastic... meeting went reasonably well and I really liked the people. Usually that means nothing as average tenure in a job in NA is 4 years - but these people like to stay a while in their positions and that would be good as I'd love to work with them.

9 hr flight down to Brazil comes next... will be there until the 7th - and then fly back home to Montreal for a couple of days before coming back down to the mothership for one final push... should be good (we hope)

All of that said it's been an uneventful couple of days, I've remembered why I do and don't like agencies and I'm looking forward to working with creative types over the next couple of days.

Sing hallelujah

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

The Royalton

I'm at the Royalton in new york, preparing for a meeting on Weds and then a flight to Brazil on Thursday that will eat up a holiday weekend and swallow up a birthday as I head for home on Monday.

The hotel here is all slick chocolate browns and glass sinks, flat surfaces and fake wood - it's kinda nice but you wonder whether they'll get the money they spent on the design back before fashion changes and they're forced to spend to change it - and whether they ran those numbers. Still it has a gym (desperately needed after the last three weeks of airports) and a bed that's free of bugs and not overly soft - so I won't complain to anyone about this choice.

Be good to get past this trip and be home again. Life on the road is expensive and it's lonely; my credit card bill being the only thing that I seem to check in with while traveling. Oh well, here's to Sept 23rd and being back without a trip on the horizon (said the man about to leave one great city for Brazil... surely a better trip than Toronto)

Sunday, August 30, 2009

I am now officially the worst blogger ever



So after all of the drama at the airport I got home to see my wife and a very dear and equally old friend and settled into a routine of frenzied hard work. I'm busy. Partly because I'm helping out on a global pitch and partly because, as global pitches too often are, this is one that has a million loose ends all urging you to tug a little and see what happens.

Throw in a couple of flights this week - first to New York and then down to Sao Paulo, Brazil and the hotel shown above and you suddenly start to see just why I've not been around. It's crazy. Stupidly crazy. And of course I'm letting myself suffer. The gym routine is down to nothing, the wine intake up 100%, I have a metallic taste in my mouth that makes the thought of food too bloody much and I'm sleeping like a baby (waking every two hours and screaming)

But it's almost done. I shall be home soon,