Working for a Living

One of the things I love best about working for Lexus is that every so often, we are asked to do things that you almost feel guilty about getting paid to do. The latest example was an invitation from Lexus Europe to fly down to Zagreb, Croatia, stay in a world-class hotel, eat gourmet food and drive the hell out of new Lexus, BMW and Mercedes vehicles so they can have my opinion! "Uh, OK, I guess I can find time to do it..."



The first part of the day was spent driving through the hills and countryside outside of Zagreb, to get a "feel" for the cars. After a wonderful catered lunch, we "rolled" ourselves out of the dining hall into the cars to drive them on the handling track that Lexus had set up (note to Lexus: bad idea to schedule this activity after a big lunch). Finally after several hours of speed runs and high speed braking (where I actually "broke" a Mercedes - oops!), we were herded off to listen to the new marketing plans for a soon-to-be released Lexus SUV. (Zzzzz...)



The evening was spent socializing with the other members of the group over dinner in a nearby restaurant. We were served one of the most delicious and tender steaks I have ever eaten, followed by dessert and free-flowing wine all night. I have to admit, the Lexus people sure know how to throw a meeting!

After dinner, we retired to the Regent Esplanade Hotel, said to be one of the most exquisite and elegant hotels in Europe. Built in 1925 to house passengers travelling on the Orient Express, it was, and still is, one of the finest hotels from that era.



But soon enough, it was time to go home to the office and back to the daily grind.

Although, the first thing I did was scan my emails for any new invitations from Lexus...