Becoming a road warrior

Yesterday I blogged that I was driving back to Chapel Hill after my informational interview at the internet company. That didn’t quite work out. Or you could say that it did work out, depending on your perspective.

I met with the college recruiter this morning and after talking to her for about ten minutes she listed five people she wanted me to meet with. These include the vice president whom I looked up on the alumni database who referred me to the recruiter, the interim CEO who is also a Kenan-Flagler grad, and three managers who may possibly be able to create a position for me. Unfortunately none of these people were in the office today because of an off site meeting but she was able to get me onto the schedule of two of these folks for tomorrow. So I am going to be staying one more day for tomorrow’s meetings and may have to come back late next week to meet with the other three.

For the past two nights I have used Priceline to book hotel rooms. The first night I offered $50 (all prices non inclusive of taxes and fees) and got a room at Homestead. The second night I lowered my bid to $44 and ended up at Extended Stay America. Both these hotels are substandard. This afternoon when I went to Priceline again I once again lowered my offer to $39 and was blown away but what I was given. I was assigned a $145 suite at the Hyatt. I am not entire sure why I bid lower today but ended up with a much better room but I am beginning to understand how Priceline works. I suspect it may be programmed to match you to the lowest grade room possible. That explains why I got Homestead and Extended Stay America the previous nights but by lowering my bid to $39, I must have priced myself below these hotels’ price minimums. The next time I use Priceline, instead of setting specifications to “two stars or above” (both Homestead and Extended Stay America are two stars) which is what I normally do, I am going to “start high” with three or four stars and if I don’t get a match lower the specifications.

I am glad I am beginning to learn these little tricks about how to best take care of myself when I am on the road. Especially since I know I will be traveling quite a bit between now and the time I start my new job.