Greetings from Palm Springs!

My company has sent me to Palm Springs for a transportation conference. Normally, this is my FAVORITE part of the job - traveling, learning about Transportation Demand Management and its relation to the environment, and networking/socializing with people outside of my company. This time around is off to a rocky start :\

First off, location. Last year's conference was in Washington, D.C. The year before that, my company sent me to Austin, Texas, for a conference on facility management. This year, it's Palm Springs. The weather is in triple digits and we have to walk past a scintillating pool to get to our workshops - that's a little tortuous. Add that it is tough to get around because of easily the area lacks accessible public transit and, if we could get around, there would be nowhere to go besides Moronogo and Cabazon outlets. Palms Springs just pales in comparison to the other places.

Second, and more important, my boss is here with me. Last year she didn't join me in DC, so I had a BLAST. Not that she isn't cool, because she is, but it's added pressure to perform and be "on point" when the boss is around. There's no down time to relax and really enjoy the conference because you always have to check-in with the boss, at least that's how I feel. There were so many times today where I wanted to go up to my room and chill out, but I felt obligated to stay and chat with our clients because she was.

Finally, I TOTALLY screwed up this morning by not turning on my work cell phone. I am adamant about not doing work on the weekends. I'm okay with checking emails on Sunday night just to get an idea of what to expect on Monday morning, but that's it. My laptop stays in its bag all weekend and I only use it on Sunday night before I got to bed, if at all. My work cell phone is turned off the minute I walk out of the office on Friday afternoon and not turned on until I get to the office on Monday morning. Well, after today's opening session, I go into the Exhibit Hall to check-in with the boss only to find out she had left me 6 messages about bringing more brochures from the office because the original shipment was lost in transit. Needless to say, when I showed up without the brochures and table display, I was questioned about why I hadn't been checking my messages and why I didn't have my phone on me at all times. There's a legitimate argument for both sides, but when it comes down to it I absolutely dropped the ball today. I felt horrible. I still feel horrible.

Hopefully, the rest of the conference goes smoothly and I have a chance to redeem myself. Lately, I've been feeling less and less enthusiastic about my job and it's made me very lazy at work. After today though, I've been given a swift kick in the ass because I really hate to let people down, especially if it's an authority figure like my boss. The real question is, once I redeem myself for fucking up this morning, will I still be motivated to do the best I can or will I go back to just do enough to cruise by?