I’m back from the trip! It was a quickie, and back in the day would be no biggie whatsoever, but because I’m so out of practice (with the exception of two other biz trips I’ve taken in 2025), it was a minor adventure.
I really kind of hate flying anymore simply because they pack SO MANY people on airplanes nowadays, ya know? I can’t stand being crowded into a metal tube with 100+ people flying through the air. Plus, it’s the holidays and everyone is traveling. I get super claustrophobic and I also hate turbulence, so I usually take a valium to control my nerves.
Flights ended up being absolutely fine. I find that if I pick a window seat on larger planes, I can face the window and see the expansive space beyond all of the crowd on the inside. That helps.
This trip ended up having a layover, and the second leg was a teeny tiny commuter plane to Tupelo. The good news is that it was a teeny tiny JET, not a prop like a lot of other commuter planes. The flight was actually GREAT and better than most. There was plenty of leg/body room and the flight was super smooth. I’d fly like that every day!
The airport in Tupelo is one tiny building, about the size of a large shed, ha!!
The owner of the company that flew me out picked me up, and he’d originally told me he’d take me to dinner, but instead told me he had to go pick up his 3-year old for whatever reason, so dropped me off at the hotel and said I should eat at the restaurant in the hotel. It was cold and dark and I didn’t feel like exploring anyway, so that’s what I did.
It’s been a while since I sat at a bar on a business trip and chatted with the other patrons. I’ve missed that in a way, and in another way, it’s pretty gross.
At first, I sat down in a very empty space with empty seats on either side of me. Ordered an amazing salad made with veggies that apparently came from the owner’s personal garden! Of course, no alcohol. Weirdly, the bartender didn’t even offer?? I guess she somehow assumed?
One guy left at the very end of the bar and was replaced with a model-gorgeous man. I’m not even kidding, this guy was stunning and I was like…what is a guy like you doing in a place like this?? We did lock eyes for a moment, but I was so shy I quickly looked away. Plus, I clearly saw a wedding ring, so I minded my own business.
But then…suddenly…
Two drunks, a man and a woman, threw themselves into the two seats to my left, and another super aggressive kinda country bumpkin dude, made me move my bag from the seat on my right (even though there was an empty seat next to that seat, so he clearly wanted to sit with me and chat me up), and we were off to the races.
The long and short of it was, the drunks were exceptionally drunk. Seemed like some kind of illicit affair, and the woman, at one point asked me to watch her bag. I told her that I didn’t want to be responsible as I was going to be leaving soon. She said that’s fine - that if someone came up and wanted to steal it, let them have it. She was fall-down drunk. Her dude was a big ol’ burly guy and I’m not sure what his deal was, but he was sort of walking around the joint. I don’t know where he was or why HE wasn’t watching her bag. And WHY did she want to leave it with me? It was a tiny crossbody that she could easily take it with her to the loo.
Meanwhile, I figured the country bumpkin dude on my right was harmless. He was from Biloxi and was telling me about all of his travels in Mississippi and beyond and his southern drawl and goofy looks made him super endearing to me. He seemed like a friendly dork who just wanted a friend.
But ohhhh, never let looks and drawl fool you, my friends.
This Gomer Pyle was trying to get in my pants! Goooollly! I shit you not. Long after hot dude at the very end of the bar sadly left me with this one, I realized I’d picked the wrong company for dinner.
After drunk girl and her man came back over and just about fell on me and tried to pick a fight with Gomer, calling him rude because he was trying to get her off of me after she slobbered all over me, I decided to call it a night. It was 9:30 and about to be a bar brawl?? WTF.
Plus I had an early morning.
I charged my meal to the room and said goodnight, and sure as shit, Gomer whispered his ROOM NUMBER into my ear as I was leaving! I then realized that I think he may have heard me telling the bartender my own room number, so I actually changed rooms after I got back up to my room and realized that the heater wasn’t working in my room anyway. It was a good excuse to switch. I don’t need no dude knocking on my door in the Heartbreak Hotel, people. Nope.
Next morning, owner dude said he’d pick me up between 7:15 and 7:30, so of course, I wanted to make a good impression, so I was in the lobby by 7:10…and waited…and waited. He finally showed up about 7:45 and wanted to have coffee and chat, but we didn’t have time to have breakfast or anything.
And then the other guy showed up. He is the one who connected me to this potential gig. Let’s call him Jay. Jay is the sweetest guy and has been on my side for years and years. I never in a million years thought that he might be able to hook me up with something, but here we are. It’s allllll networking, folks.
The actual meeting itself was a little mind-boggling. The company that wants this consulting expertise is HUUUGGGEE. Like, they are one of the best-kept secrets in manufacturing right now. I don’t want to give too many details for a couple of reasons - one of them being, I don’t really understand all of it. But let’s just say, we are not talking millions of dollars in potential - we are talking billions. I shit you not.
And I’m the person, along with the other two guys, who have the expertise to pull off this part of the potential project(s).
Thing is, this will be an experiment. And of course, nobody wants to sink a huge amount of $$$ into a test. So here we are.
In the end, I gave a presentation that sort of sealed the deal with BIG Company as well as SMALL Company. The meeting ran an hour over (three hours in total), and of course, we ended up being pressed for time because I had to get back to the airport to catch the ONE flight back home!
We still haven’t signed a contract, but I reiterated that full-time with bennies (read: health insurance) is my top priority, but we agreed verbally that we can go month-to-month and analyze where we are each month. We left it off by saying we’d get this buttoned up by the end of the week…and I was on my way back home!
Trip home was just as uneventful. The little jet back had the same flight attendant, and she remembered me, so we had a little chat. She said that plane just flits back and forth all day!
Home to pick up Martini at the sitter’s. She was mad at me the whole drive home. Wouldn’t even look at me!! But we’ve made up since then, ha!
Called Dad when I got home to make sure all is ok. Of course, he’s still banged up and bruised and I feel like they (he and Mom) are going to need even more help come the beginning of the year. He told me a little story about how Mom is upset over Christmas again because she can’t get out and shop, bless her. I reminded him about the crafts - which he’d forgotten…which lets me know that Dad’s memory is starting to slip, too.
And now we are here today. I’ve done not much of anything so far today. Need to catch up on everything - the job hunt, the networking, etc. today. And I need to flesh out some more contract details and get back with SMALL Company. And keep chugging…
I also need to do my workout. I should get going with that.
Good to get this trip down. If I keep on with this gig there will be many more. Stay tuned!
xox,
GS
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