Woke up at 0730L and went downstairs for breakfast. Back in the room, reviewed over my notes about the company, resume and other information I had brought to prepare for the interview. I was supposed to be there at 0900, and the weather was so nice I thought I'd walk over to the office. When I was leaving my bag at the hotel front desk, the clerk said he couldn't let me walk. The staff knows all about the company I'm visiting - they said they get a lot of people. So, about 10 minutes later I was in a courtesy van, bound for the office that was only two minutes away... Arrived at 0830L and tried to kill time by walking on the nice deck (with a water-view) around the building. Eventually went by the front desk and told them I was there. Waited for around 20 minutes, watching the employees file in for the day. Eventually, one of the interviewers (Dave) came down and escorted me into a conference room. Now, I'd been given a few different impressions about how the process would go - but none of them turned out to be right. Before I knew it, four hours had passed and I'd had one phone interview, four face-to-face discussions and lunch with a senior associate and a principal! The best part was that the whole thing went by very quickly - and the meal (at a nearby diner) was good. It was a great opportunity. Ended up back at the hotel around 1300L, changed and then waited for the courtesy van to take me back to Dulles. It was an easier check-in process this time, and I had a chance to pick up a Subway sub for my dinner. We took off on time (this time a Continental flight, bound for Houston). My seat was closer to the front - but there was no movie to pass the time. Instead, I finished a ton of crossword puzzles I'd brought and read the paper. We got to Houston around 1800L. During my layover, a lady asked if she could charge her i-pod on my laptop [later, I found out it was the same one Nicky had bought for the kids while I was on my trip...]. The lady told me about her disasterous trip "backpacking across Europe" with her sister. After hearing her story, I count myself lucky that I've never had a trip that I could call "a nightmare." My next flight was on a United Express aircraft - no problem getting in the air but we had to wait nearly half-an-hour for someone to park us when we landed at DFW. This reminded me of many trips on ASA about a decade ago... After what seemed like an eternity, we finally got off the plane and I was able to get on the road quickly - bound for home. I like traveling with only a carry-on!
[up for intv (nearby) - to airport - flight to Houston then home]
