Nooooo…….
A few weeks had gone by since his recon mission, and Ben was looking at his calendar while in the office. One week until the train would come through town.
Suddenly his email made a “ding” sound.
“Shoot, I thought I turned off my notifications.”
He saw that it was an email from his supervisor, John.
“Ben,
I noticed on your calendar that you were taking a half day on September 9th, but do you think you might be able to hop on a quick call that morning? I hope so, I would like to have a quick strategy meeting to set up the 4th quarter.
Thanks, John.”
Ben’s heart felt like it landed in the pit of his stomach. He had just checked three of the seven weather apps on his phone, and they all showed September 9th was shaping up to a spectacular day. There it was, no cloud cover and cooler weather so Ben would be comfortable in jeans.
One minute earlier and Ben’s thoughts were dreaming of the perfect weather, for the perfect shot, of the perfect train, coming through the perfect opening. Suddenly, all he could think was, “Isn’t that why we use those damn calendar apps anyway, so you know I’m busy!”
“Hi John,
“I should be able to work around my appointment. Let me know what time. Earlier works out better for me if you can.
“Ben.”
During his research, Ben found out that Big Boy No. 4014 was departing its overnight stop at 9AM from a train station that was about sixty miles away. Some online message groups also mentioned that the train usually traveled about 35 miles per hour on this journey. Accounting for a few other variables, Ben guessed that to give himself enough time to set up, he should be in position around 10:30AM on Trail Ridge. That would give him ample time to get his camera gear unpacked, check his settings, and be ready the instant the train appeared through the trees. He also knew it was about a thirty minute walk to Trail Ridge, so he would need to leave the house by 10AM at the latest.
“God, he better not want to have that meeting after 9:30. I know how he likes to talk, and there is no way we would be done by ten.”
Ben’s hopes of the perfect picture seemed to be dashed.
“Ding,” went Ben’s computer.
“Dang, I have to remember to turn that off,” thought Ben. “How did it turn back on in the first place. Damn computer updates.”
Ben had forgotten that he turned notifications back on the previous day so he wouldn’t miss an important client email that was supposed to come through.
He opened up the new email from John:
“Thanks Ben, let’s talk at 8AM. That shouldn’t be too early since that’s what time you would be at work anyway.
“John.”
“Good thing I wasn’t planning to sleep in anyway,” thought Ben.
“Thanks John, that should work great. Send me the calendar invite.”
Ben breathed a sigh of relief, but then thought, “He couldn’t drag that meeting longer than two hours, could he? No, at least I’ll be remote, I can figure out something.”
Ben found his email settings, found the button to turn off notification sounds, and as he set it to “Off” went back to dreaming of the upcoming photo shoot.