- For my second work trip in a fortnight I visited our HQ in sunny San Diego.
- On the 11-hour flight out I did a bit of work and then worked my way through three films: The Holdovers (heartwarming), Dune (better than I expected) and Oppenheimer (dull, disappointing and far too long).
- I didn’t attempt to adjust to the time difference, getting up very early and arriving at our office around the corner from my hotel by 7:30am. My smugness tended to disappear by mid-afternoon when I hit the wall.
- Slack was initially full of red bubbles each morning and then much quieter for the rest of the day. It effectively becomes like email when my UK team is eight hours ahead.
- It was good being in-person to switch from Zoom rectangles to real-life people. My English boss, our CTO, has moved out to San Diego and we spent some quality time drawing on whiteboards and planning. It was also useful bumping into other higher-ups and having a chat. It doesn’t hurt to show my face.
- I’d forgotten just how big the food portions are in the US. My Katsu curry from L&L, although very tasty, had enough chicken for three people and I threw most of it away. Even a deli sandwich was the size of my head. How do the locals manage?
- I flew home overnight on Friday. I slept reasonably soundly, my ears plugged and eyes covered. The jet lag is minor but I’m still glad of a bank holiday weekend to recover.
