Ties

I'm due to go on a business trip soon. I get to use my brand new passport with the new ugly photo and all. Whee!

It's weird, I haven't left but I'm already missing my sis and the kids intensely. So intensely I haven't been able to sleep well lately. I can't imagine how much worse this is going to be once I actually leave. I'll find out but I don't think I'll like the experience very much.

Back when I was younger, I used to love business trips. It was a treat then - companies simply didn't let their developers roam outside their cubicle farms, let alone send them to meet (*gasp*) live customers. I remember it being fun then and indeed, I traveled quite a bit. I have very fond memories of having the most delectable rabbit kidneys in a restaurant in Hull, QC. Or blowing $800 back in 1997 on a sushi dinner with clients in San Francisco (don't worry, I expensed the lot).

Nowadays, it's just a drag. I'm looking at many many many days either in a cramped office or a lonely hotel room. I have no car there since there's no way I'm insane enough to go driving in that city. Don't get me wrong, there's very decent business reasons why I'm there. I should know, I reviewed them myself. It's still a drag though.

You know what I'll miss the most? The noise and thunder of the kids playing. The quiet companionship of my sister once the kids are in bed. The fact that at the end of the day, where I return to is the place I call home. Home is where the family is.

Which is where I won't be for a little while. Must remember to pack a ton or two of Kleenex.