Kinko's 90210*

Those of you who follow my business travels know for a fact that I am often sent to the most undesirable US locations possible - Richmond, VA; Memphis, TN; Harrisburg, PA; a small tent on the plains outside of Kansas City (ok, so perhaps I am exaggerating just a tad bit with that last one...)

That is why it was with simultaneous delight and revulsion when, at 10PM yesterday evening, after spending 24 hours literally writing a client proposal and most of the weekend working on another, I was informed that I needed to be in Los Angeles for a one hour meeting at 4PM (PT) the next afternoon.

I was even more thrilled when, upon requesting the exact address, I was informed that the client site was none other than smack dab in the middle of Beverly Hills, just a stone's throw from Rodeo Drive.

Jackpot!

Better yet, I was asked to attend a three hour business lunch at a local Italian restaurant to "prepare" for the meeting (read: eat way too much and speak about anything but the subject at hand).

How could it be, that I was asked to cross the country in my oh so unglamorous lifestyle (albeit via business class and limousine service), to discuss such an un-sexy subject, in such a fabulously sexy location?!? And with only a small price to pay - a quick limo stop by Kinko's 90210 to pick up some documents on the way to my business lunch. There was even window shopping galore on the leisurely stroll towards the client site.

We did not even get to my subject in the meeting, and so I spent the entire time looking down at Cartier and Chanel.

I know I won't be feeling this way when I arrive in NYC on the redeye tomorrow morning, but in the meantime, life in consulting, for once, is beautiful!


* For my foreign readers, 90210 is the zip code for Beverly Hills, California