He Bought It... for About $200 More

On Wednesday evening around 5:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, I got an IM from my boss, the CTO, telling me that he was in the process of making my travel arrangements.

The e-mail that I had sent to the CEO and him on Friday evening must have gotten lost in his Inbox because the next 15 minutes were spent having me answer questions that basically repeated all the information in the e-mail. I didn't ask him what he found out about hurricanes in the area.

Later that evening, I got three e-mails: an e-ticket/flight itinerary, a hotel reservation confirmation, and an e-mail from the CTO telling me what had been taken care of and what he still needed me to do.

He went ahead and booked me for an outbound flight to the northeastern Florida city that departed two hours earlier than what I had originally planned and had me returning on the late Thursday flight that I had suggested in my e-mail. On Friday, the total cost of my suggested Monday/Thursday trip was $264. The cost of his itinerary? $471.60.

Per his instructions, I registered myself for the meeting, applying the discounts that he instructed me to use. The cost was $550, which would be paid upon arrival at the conference. He said they would cut a check for me to hand over to the organization when they were in the office on Monday.

The hotel, which will run for $544.40 after taxes, will be charged to his credit card.

In the instruction e-mail, the CTO said I could charge meals not covered by the conference to the room account. He then asked me how much cash I would need. Since there is no free shuttle to the aiport, and the hotel information estimates cab fare at $35, and I'll need to cover long term parking at the local aiport, that breaks $100. I'll probably need another $100 for any incidentals, especially if I have to schmooze any with the standards body folks after hours.

I'll be a much happier person about a week from now.