There was one flight that got me to the interview on time.
It left Denver at 12:55 in the morning and landed in New York around seven. I could stop at the apartment, drop my bags, and head straight to Jersey City.
The timing worked. The money did not.
The ticket was $299. My original flight had cost $79, and changing it would have been even more expensive than buying another one. I had also just bought the CJ5, which had taken care of any extra room in my bank account.
I told the recruiter exactly that. I was excited about the company and the first phone call had gone extremely well. The role sounded broad enough to make a compensation cut worth considering. I wanted the in-person meeting. I just could not float a last-minute flight that week.
There was another clock running in Denver. Beatport wanted a new agreement that included a longer notice period in exchange for salary protection. Signing it could make leaving more expensive. Waiting could remove that protection. I was trying to buy enough time to see whether the New York opportunity was real.
A flight was eventually confirmed.
I landed, dropped my things, and kept walking around Jersey City so I would not fall asleep before the interview. I asked the recruiter to meet for lunch near the office.
There was no clean pause between the old job and the possible new one. There was an overnight flight, a nearly empty bank account, a contract waiting in Denver, and a few hours to see whether I wanted to move my life east.
Last-minute caffeine was part of the plan.