When I interviewed for the Web Specialist position with the Automotive Service Association about six months ago, I learned about NACE and CARS and the probability of heading to Las Vegas to work. Which was great news.

Sort of.

Don’t get me wrong: I love Las Vegas … most of the time.

This town is one of my favorite destinations: My wife and I spent our honeymoon there. Some of my favorite restaurants are on the Strip, and I’ve lost enough money to the casinos that I need my own personal bailout plan every time I leave.

They even have slot machines as soon as you get off the plane. How ingenious is that? It’s one of the few airports I know of where you can lose massive amounts of money at the ticket counter and at the gate. Anymore, the slots might be a better value.

I’ve definitely been looking forward to ASRW. It’s been the subject of a lot of my work since I started with the ASA a few months ago, and I look forward to the challenge of  daily photo and Web coverage. Plus I look forward to finally meeting ASA members that who up until now, I’ve only communicated with via e-mail and the occasional phone call.

But traveling to Las Vegas for work presents its own challenges, and it’s not your average day at the office.  For the next week, the commute to work involves making new friends with Transportation Security Administration screeners (my new biggest fear: someone wearing a pair of rubber gloves); traveling at 30,000 feet while keeping the tray table in the upright position; crowds at the baggage claim conveyer belts that make a full-scale riot seem pleasant; and kamikaze cab drivers.

After checking into what is be “home” for the next four days at the Luxor, I finally make it to the office: The Mandalay Bay Convention Center. I’ve gone from a 10-foot-by-10-foot cubicle to thousands of square feet of show floor and ballrooms. I guess I should have been a little more specific when I put in that request for a bigger workspace.

The most disturbing thing of all of this is that I think I may actually enjoy it. I’m the type of person who relishes a challenge, and I’ve got a feeling that being on the road, as well as the days that follow, will not disappoint me.