Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Living on the edge

Today was nothing short of SCARY. Here's how the story started: yesterday I ended up leaving the office at around 8:30pm, only to go home with a bunch of printouts and a couple of boards to finish a presentation at home. I was up for a while mounting everything because our account execs had to be at a meeting early this morning with a potential new client. I finished pretty much everything before I left. I had the on-screen presentation saved to our server at work, I had the leave-behinds ready to go, but the boards were with me. I was supposed to get there this morning at 8 so I could talk to the account managers who were going to present the project. But then... I WOKE UP AT 8:40! I was almost 1 hour late already, plus a 20-minute drive, I had fucked up BIG TIME. I HAD THE BOARDS! We hadn't even gone through the presentation, and the meeting was the clients headquarters at 10!



I called the office and told them I would be there in 10 minutes. I put on the same jeans I wore the day before, because they were still thrown all over the floor. I brushed my teeth, didn't even brush my hair, and rushed out of the door with the boards. I couldn't even take my dog outside (of course the poor thing peed in the living room by the time I got home at the end of the day). I FLEW down the freeway and ended up arriving at work at 9:07, don't ask me how. I was so embarrassed and I could not believe myself. I could have completely ruined a new deal for the company single-handedly! Just because I ignored a freaking alarm! My second month at work and a major fuck up. The good thing is, most people at the office usually arrive at 9, and I actually got there with the 2 other designers. The fact that I have been putting in a lot of extra hours also helped. I had worked on Sunday and met a big deadline on Monday. I also had stayed really late the night before, so that made things not look as bad as they really were.

End of the story, the meeting went really well and they complimented me on my work, and we even went out to lunch. I suggested Side Street Deli, which they had never been to, and they LOVED IT! Luck was on my side - the food was great, there were 2 guys playing the guitar and the saxophone, very sultry and charming. They now think I have good taste.

I was one of the last ones to leave tonight, and before I walked out of the door, one of my bosses yelled "Have a night. Oh... AND GET SOME SLEEP!".