to go or not to go to orlando

It appears that the impossible may actually be possible...my crazy work schedule could end on the projected end date. That NEVER happens, but apparently this time around could be an anomaly. So now I'm faced with a question I had no reason to worry about only a few days ago: To go or not to go to the Ligonier's Orlando conference?

The catch is, the thing starts this coming Thursday. (It's not that I haven't known about it for months, but that my schedule has been completely up in the air for the exact day or two I need to know about to make a decision.) My last night shift could end Wednesday, and I likely wouldn't know for sure until less than 12 hours before the beginning of the conference. So I'd have to have all my stuff packed and on hand when I go to work the previous evening, and if that's all then one of the more hectic days of my life would go something like this: buy tickets and make a bunch of reservations online, dash to the airport, fly to Orlando, get a rental car, drive to Calvary Chapel, register at the door, sleep in my seat and wander around like a zombie for the Thursday afternoon session because I'd effectively be pulling an all-nighter at that point, and finally go to the hotel early that evening and crash, and maybe eat but likely not. That's one of those things I'd like to do just for the sheer adventure and madness of it if for no other reason.

There are plenty of other reasons to pull it off though. For one, the only other Ligonier conference I've been to was great and I've wanted to make a return trip since. The topic is evangelism, which is very interesting from a theological perspective and one of the few things that might keep my miniscule attention span focused for minutes and minutes at a time. Heck, any time a group of theologians with that kind of firepower gathers to talk about anything at all, it's gonna be good.

I'd also get to see some family and friends that I haven't seen in a long while and don't get many opportunities to see. That'd be worth it even if it did add a bit of extra cost to the trip. Not only that, I just need to get away from my mundane home base for a while and see some cool people and cool stuff. It's only been less than four months since my last trip, but that's already too long and I need another vacation. Now.

Last but not least, I kinda feel like my mental and spiritual health demands it at this point. It seems I've been sinking more and more into the familiar wasting-away, do-nothing mode that I spent much of my college and Little Rock years in. I seem to be in my best spirits when traveling and doing cool and somewhat adventurous stuff--which makes me just like every other American I guess (not sure that's a good thing but bear with me as I struggle to stay on topic)--and hearing some truth for a few days to boot sure can't hurt. Given some bigger stuff I'm considering jumping into these days, such a short turnaround on this isn't rash at all by comparison.

Problem is, there are some hitches. For one, it'd run me well in excess of a grand or so, a few hundred more bucks than I hoped to get by on and still with room to increase due to things like amusement park tickets--things that would become absolute necessities if a big enough window of time presents itself on one or more occasions over the weekend. I can haul my own food down and stay in the cheapest hotel I can find in Orlando, but even then I'd be out at least a thousand bucks. That's due in no small part to the fact that I'd get HURT on flight tix--I guess the gas price woes are hitting the airlines hard--and I have no way around that. (A co-worker mentioned driving and I'd seriously consider it were it not for the whole time-crunch thing.) I actually did make enough "extra" money by working lots of overtime a few weeks back to pick up the trip cost plus a little, and the feds are giving back more than I expected of the money they stole from me over the past year, but still...a lot of money for a short jaunt. It's not like I have bags of the stuff just sitting around as it is.

Also, the scheduling obviously isn't great. I think I could recover sleep-wise in a day or so, but Thursday would be a LONG day and that could get me off to a rough start. And since I wouldn't have a lot of time there after the conference, I'd be doing a bit of driving around Florida between Sunday afternoon--of course I'd stick around Orlando and hit one of The Two Presbyterian Churches In Florida--and Tuesday afternoon. Not that the drive times look too terrible, but it would be a bit more rushed than I'd prefer.

So, anyway, come Thursday afternoon I'll either be in Florida or Maryland, and I probably won't know until maybe four hours before I'm either boarding a plane or sleeping at home. But in a sense, I guess I wouldn't have it any other way. For now I'm actually leaning toward going...now if my work schedule will just cooperate then maybe I can make that happen.

UPDATE: Nixed, for now. Frustrating but not at all surprising. And to think, this wouldn't be happening if we weren't so critically short-staffed that there isn't a single other engineer in our department capable of covering for me. Bleep...