Life of Steve

Here I go…On the Road Again…Here I go…Turn the page

The last time I spent a major amount of time on the road was during the Spring to Fall of 2001. This was during the very beginning of my Consulting Career and I was working for a Management Consulting Firm based in Las Vegas. Most of my clients were in the Southwest and were small businesses far away from major cities. This made for pretty punishing travel since I would have to fly to the nearest major airport and then (usually) drive for another 2-3 hours to get to the small town where the job was. Small towns in the middle of nowhere are not really known for having decent hotels or restaurants either. Sometimes I was sleeping with the bedbugs and eating Jerky for dinner. It was pretty tough being at a new client every couple of weeks and never getting any sleep (since my travel was always had me arriving at work or home very late at night. Aside from an occasional upgrade to first class (which I would treat myself to when it only cost 40-60 dollars) and meeting some interesting rural people (like farmers, etc) it was pretty tough.

Fast forward to today. I am once again working for a consulting company which requires me to travel. However, this time things are much much better. I am working jobs that are measured in months or years with clients that are very large and some of the top in their respective industries. In addition I have a really great Travel Agency that supports our company (American Express Travel.) I really can’t say enough about their customer service. They have really done a great job with the last minute changes I sometimes need and go above and beyond. In addition, the management I deal with at work is really experienced and talented.

Sometimes I will rant about how Delta screwed me by a delay causing me to miss my connection home and then refusing to pay for my hotel room when I am stranded between work and home. On the whole though (other than the Airlines) everyone seems to go out of their way to have the “on the road” consulting experience as pleasant as possible. A vast improvement over my first traveling consulting experiences to be sure.

Business Travelers go through a lot to do their jobs. Perhaps things could improve with some open bars, after-work parties, and groupies (Similar to Rock Stars perhaps?) but in the meantime we try to remember that those frequent flyer miles and hotel points might give us our next free vacation (or Honeymoon Flights! Thanks United!) Sometimes we even can get a plane without a screaming baby or the flight that is going to the next modeling convention. One can only hope.

Gone Corporate

Back when I was in College my buddies used to call me Prez. This was because I was President of the University Organization for our major. During our "Reign of Terror" (Or was it the Reign of meetings with great food at Ruby's Tuesday?) we did a lot of social things, had meetings, and ate a lot of Papa John's Pizza.

Now I have the title of "President" again. This year I finally realized a long-time dream of mine: To start my own corporation (of which I am the President.) So the good news is you can call me "Prez" again. The more humorous side of this is that some of you (Marc) never stopped!

Fall Preview

Here is what I got in the works for this upcoming Fall:

-Steeler Football! (Notice that it got top billing. Got all the tickets I need for the regular season games this year. Sweet!)

-Penn State Football. (I got a Fridge full of Beer and a Box of Kleenex by the couch for the tears I will be shedding as they get killed by Big Ten teams that are actually good this year.)

-Penn State Road Trip- (An annual tradition. This is where I will be doing drinking with actual PSU alumni as well as my special guests. Hey, I haven’t been thrown out of the Rathskeller in 10 years or so. I am due.)

-Fright Nights at Kennywood-(soon to become another annual tradition.)

-Hay Ride and Bonfire- (Still in the planning stages. But this would be a good time if we can figure out which place is close by, reasonably priced, and will let us drink.)

-Halloween Parties! (This time I think I will forgo the bar scene and hit the big party. Haven’t figured out the costume yet but I know it will involve a Mullet this year!

Started a New Project!

Some good news (for a change.) Over the last couple of weeks I had been talking with a new prospective (and now an actual) client here in the Pittsburgh Area.

Some background. Some of you know that I am an Independent Functional Consultant (in business for myself.) The services I provide is implementing (and upgrading) Oracle Financials Applications.

So a couple of weeks ago I did get a call and talked with some people at a Major University here in Pittsburgh about an upgrade from 11.03 to 11.5.10 Oracle Applications who needed my help. To make a long story short, it all worked out and I have started this week with my new client.

Professionally, I am on a roll. This is my third project in the Pittsburgh Area (Which is where I live and therefore my preferred geographic area to get a project.) All my projects have helped me increase my knowledge and experiences with the Oracle Software and have been in different industries. In addition, I have also been able to work on the latest versions of the Oracle Technology that is available. Financially, consulting is very rewarding as well. (Another good thing) And this latest project will continue past the end of this year (2005) which fulfills my own performance goal (since I work for myself) of being fully billable throughout the entire year. Hmmm maybe I should give myself a promotion! :)

Anyways, I figured with all the ranting and such I have been doing lately it was time to share some "positive" news with you, my loyal readers.