all about me and my comfort zone

This morning I showed up at the client site, and was shown to the room where I'd be working. There was seating for about 20, a lectern with a microphone, and a laptop & projector shining onto a large display screen at the front of the room.

The laptop wasn't connected to the remote site I needed to access, and the people who were supposed to set up the connection weren't answering the phone -- they were on the west coast and still asleep. Worst of all, the person who had scheduled me wasn't the one paying for my time, and the purpose of my visit in the first place was only vaguely defined. I had expected to do a consultation -- lots of give-and-take, half a dozen people max -- but clearly I was going to have a crowd, and they were expecting a presentation.

It was an interesting feeling to know that in a half hour a bunch of people I didn't know were going to be sitting in those seats, and I was going to be standing behind that mic typing who-knows-what into the laptop and talking. What I was going to talk *about*, I wasn't sure -- I looked forward eagerly to hearing it myself.

Anyway, it all turned out okay -- I tap-danced for a while until I was able to get the connection set up, then did an impromptu presentation on the stuff they wanted to discuss. We actually accomplished what they wanted to get done, and my contribution was well-received.

Wouldn't want to do it again, tho -- that kind of mental stress wears me out. At the end of the day I met up with another consultant I know on this project. The first thing she said was "Are you okay? You look like you really need a drink." :-)