Hello, Austin

Yesterday I had the opportunity to travel to Austin, Texas for a job interview with Gymnastike.  It all started about a little over a week ago when one of their head guys, Martin, gave me a call expressing interest.  The next day I had a Skype date with him and the main site editor, Anne.  After that I received an email asking me to send in a video tape of me breaking down the uneven bars final at the Olympics. With some help from Alex and Cale I was able to get it done and sent it in really early last Friday morning.  I heard back soon after and was asked if I would be available to make a quick trip down to their headquarters (HQ) for a visit.  Of course I said yes and soon I was sent an itinerary for my trip.  I left really early yesterday morning (got up at 3:40am, flight was at 6am) and arrived in Austin after stopping in Phoenix at 1:45pm local time.  I was greeted with really warm weather and Martin picked me up from the airport.  We grabbed lunch on the way to HQ and as soon as we got there we jumped right in.  I was asked to go through the motions of a planning meeting, met with the CEO, did a video shoot with one of the producers, and had a quick meeting with Mark, the other head guy/company founder.

After all the formal stuff things cooled down a bit and I was able to just chat with Anne and the site editor for cycling.  It was nice to talk about anything and everything and get a feel for what it's like to work there on a day-to-day basis.  It seems pretty relaxed and the company is still small so they're pretty much like a family.  Anne is getting married in six weeks and Mark is in the wedding, which is pretty cool.

Anne took me out to dinner (Tex-Mex!) before dropping me at my hotel.  I decided to get my running gear on but the combination of being full and it being really hot outside led to me just walking around.  It was fun to see parts of the city and I must say that I really do like just wandering around on my own sometimes.  I was able to watch the sun set and then I made my way up to the capitol building.  I came back to the hotel afterwards, showered, and was going to make a phone call but passed out instead around 9pm.  I was exhausted and I needed to get up early again this morning so it was good to get some sleep.  Anne was a trooper and came to take me to the airport at 6:45am; we arrived thinking I was there in plenty of time but neither of us took into account that it is Labor Day weekend so I was stuck in the security line for a long time.  I almost missed my flight actually, being one of the last people on and unable to stop and grab breakfast beforehand.  I was starving by the time I landed in San Francisco, but a call to Alex and Cale in Phoenix distracted me for enough time and I was able to make it to noon when I could finally grab lunch.  I have a busy afternoon ahead and I can only hope that I can stay awake until I'm done working at 9pm tonight, but it was well-worth the trip.