Okay, so on Wednesday morning, I was on my way out. It was 3am when I got up to pack the car and go. By 3:45, I was gone, bound for Colorado.

The drive was actually really nice. The sun rose behind me, so the drive wasn't too hot, even though there weren't many clouds in the sky.

I went through an audio book called "Let's Roll" about one of the men who quite possibly took down the terrorists over the Pennsylvania field on 9/11. I had to skip a few CDs because the thing got too boring (the biographies of the man and his wife spanned four CDs... not good driving stuff), but the details about the planes, terrorists, the family and how they were affected were all a terrificly told story. It was hard not to get filled with emotions as the reader recalled the phone call confirmations from the airlines that yes, indeed, her husband was on the plane that she saw burning on the fields in PA on the tube. It was rough.

I ended up turning that one in and getting "Getting to Yes," a self-help style book on the art of negotiations. I have a lot more confidence than I used to, and am happy to say that I already excercise the skills they mention in this book. It's a bit dry for a car ride book, but I still learned a lot about principled negotiations and dealing with everything from deceptions to tricks to logistics.

I got to Tennessee around 8:30 and kept on going, when, 20 minutes from Nashville, I got a call from the Martin Agency. They wanted to set up an interview. Knowing that I couldn't finish the trip and get back in a few days, I decided that the answer would be to double-back, do the interview, and try again.

Since I was 20 miles away from Nashville, I decided to at least check it out. I drove around the city, going through downtown and seeing a few things. Ultimately, I was too tired to get out and see the city- especially knowing that I needed to be home at a reasonable hour for the interview.

So at 2:30pm, I headed back to Richmond. The drive home took a bit longer, considering the exhaustion, but man- once I made it to Rt. 81 in Tennessee, the sun started to go down. I took all the windows down, cracked the sunroof open and just enjoyed the cruise. It was fantastic.

I made it home to my apartment at 11:45, with the help of Michelle. She was kind enough to yammer on the phone with me more than 5 hours throughout the day, and that really helped time fly. I was two miles short of making it a 1,200 mile day. Not too shabby for an inadvertent day-long road trip!!

I think I kicked ass at the interview, and while the position leaves a bit to be desired, I am really proud of the way I handled myself, and hope I left a good impression with the folks at Martin. At the same time, I'm also considering an offer about a sweet gig from a buddy of mine. It has been a rough week of decisions that could ultimately steer the next few years for me, or quite possibly my career path.

So in the meantime, I'm off to Colorado, this time the quick way. I'll probably stay the night in St. Louis, but I'm not going to miss the Arch like I did when Mike and I breezed through.

Hopefully I'll hear from both employers sometime early next week, and I can conclude this vacation with a job. It's going to be great to make steady money again, but it'll also be a bummer to start working again after almost 10 months of vacationing.

What a crazy fun break this has been from the man. :)