Thursday, April 24, 2008
This week is really dragging. Last week flew past because we spent so little time that was actually job-related, or so it seemed. Peggy and I did go out on the floor and I got to punch down a few lines but it felt like most of our time was spent outside, smoking.
I mentioned this hotel has paper-thin walls? I woke up this morning around 3:30 and I could hear some low mumbling. The people to the right of me had their TV on. Then, when I was in the bathroom getting ready (putting rollers in my hair) the guy to the left of me sneezed and I really wanted to say "bless you".
I noticed last night on the map that Avis gave me that I'm about 6" from Williamsburg, Iowa. That's where my sister, Carol, lives! Had I been here last week I might have been able to fly up there for a day because I had the entire weekend free. But I fly home on Saturday morning. So near and yet so far.
Today went a little faster than yesterday. Probably because I spent some of my time instant messaging people (you know who you are). At one point I had 3 conversations going! woo hoo
By the way, the thunder storm last night was just a regular CA type of storm. Not nearly as thrillling as the last one. Some good lightning flashes, and some thunder, lots of heavy rain, but no thrill. I had to put a towel on top of the air conditioner, which is right under the window, because the rain was coming in and making a little puddle. :)
I was working on filing my travel expenses so I can get reimbursed and I'd left one of the receipts back at the hotel. I decided to go back to the hotel at lunch time. Gotta get those receipts turned in!! So, for lunch I ran to Target to pick up another mini pizza ... but all they had was pepperoni. I wound up with a very salty, nasty hot dog and a Chai tea latte. For some reason the tea seemed only half full. I think he did so much froth (whip?) that by the time all the bubbles burst I was left with no tea. So...all you Starbucks speakers out there...do I order it with no froth???
Hal spent about an hour and a half giving me a basic rundown on how Genesys and Siebel work with the PBX. He's very full of himself, but a good teacher. Said he taught college for 4 years and was a trainer for several. The guy's only 35 (tomorrow) but knows his stuff. He also loaned me a book from a class he took, "Telecommunications Fundamentals 1". Even though he's been doing what he does for umpteen years, they still wanted him to take this class. Now I'll get some benefit from it! He has another college level text that goes into more depth when I'm done with this one. If nothing else, it might teach me some of the terminology.
Hal is also seriously in the running for my favorite telecom person. He said his fiance is taking him to dinner for his birthday, which is how I learned his birthday is tomorrow and he's 35. I groaned and said my YOUNGEST is 30 (well, Justin, you will be this year!) and he said he'd guessed that I was 42. I laughed and said I know he's lieing through his teeth, but isn't he sweet. So he said, really he figured about 52 because he knows I've been with the company 20 some years. When I said I'm 60 he seemed sincere when he claimed he'd never have guessed that. And now he's really impressed that I'm willing to learn something new when most people my age are just thinking of retiring. Of course, that's just the people who can AFFORD to retire!! But that'll be our little secret.
On my way home tonight I noticed that across the street I have a Wendy's, Long John Silver's and Panda Express. AND (you have to realize I can't see anything from my window because I look out over the canopy that's over the entrance) practically in our parking lot is a McDonald's! I guess I'll go all out tonight and run to Micky D's for dinner. Tomorrow will definitely be a Panda Express night.
The sky is still overcast -- I love it! I haven't watched much TV so don't know what the weather prediction is. As long as I get where I'm going between rains (no umbrella, no hat, nothing), I'll be fine.
I know this is rather short tonight but there's really nothing going on and I don't want to bore you too much. OH! I seriously had to laugh. Yesterday I said I expected 3 of you to write and say take me off the list ... nope! FOUR of you wrote and said DO NOT remove me! I actually laughed out loud. None of my boys ventured to ask because they know it will fall on deaf ears. It's their "reward" for having me as a mom.
Alrighty then. I'm off to McDonalds and maybe another Starbucks run (no froth??). Should I pick up a cupcake for Hal's birthday??? Make points ... don't make points. It would certainly make points with the other group!! Donna wrote me a really nice note about how much she enjoyed meeting me and ended it with "the next time you're in Austin, don't forget to bring food!"
You all get a good night's sleep and I'll be seeing some of you soon. Some of you even sooner than others!
Friday, May 2, 2008
If it's Wednesday, I Must Be in Kansas ...
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Middle of the week. What have I accomplished? Nothing! I can hear Todd saying 'so what's new?'
Rusty was really busy today with phone issues that were beyond my understanding so I spent most of the day working on my VCU class .. learning about VoIP, supposedly. Thank goodness I can print it all out. I'll have to read it a dozen times to make any sense out of it. Jaime finished it in an hour and totally gets it. Whatever.
The few times Rusty had me work on something (adding a user or removing a user) it seemed there was always a problem. Peggy made sure I could log in to each system before I left TX, but to no avail. And of course, they each do things differently. She logs on this way ... Rusty does it another way. Her way doesn't work because she'd created a shortcut on their system that won't work on his system. Yeah, let's confuse the new kid!
I was telling Wade, who's been here 5 mos, that he's no longer the new kid on the block but he graciously reminded me that his counterpart for OR, Carlos, starts next week, so I won't be the new kid either!! YAYYY
I can see why Adrian felt it important that the new person be able to integrate well with his team. They're all a bunch of smart alecks and jokesters. Hmmmm...
I stopped at Starbucks on the way "home". AnnaMarie, I thought of you. They have a drive-through! My vente chai tea latte is $4.52 here and I swear it's only $3.60 at home. Sheesh
Oh, Heather, I keep forgetting to tell you. I searched for a country station on the radio and it's the Wolf. Seriously. Same wolf howl and everything. Different DJ's of course, but still.
It was starting to rain when I left Starbucks. Not heavy, but BIG drops. Barb, I should have packed that rain poncho. You knew I'd need it for OR, but no one told me I'd need it here. They're predicting heavy rains tonight with possible thunder storms. If it's anything like the last storm, I'm going to video again and this time remember to save it! Reminds me, I'd better charge my phones.
Okay, I'm back.
I was instant messaging a friend in home office (Shawn Arshad) and gave him my new cell phone number. The doofus called me "just to make sure I gave him the right number" or so he said. Well, no one has called me on this phone so I didn't know how the ringer would sound. I have it buried in the bottom of my side pocket on my purse because I have no holster for it. I hear a cell phone ringing and I'm looking around because no one is answering it! Turned out to be me. duh
I had someone at the service center take me off their email distribution list *sigh* and AnnaMarie told me she took me off hers too. That got me all choked up. Cutting the ties. My only consolation, if it can be called a consolation is that after May there won't be any distribution lists to be taken off.
I'm so clever it scares me. I was going to buy some paper bowls to eat my cereal, but I decided to get the Ziplock plastic ones with lids instead. This morning I took my cereal in a bowl and took a single serving container of soy milk, and voila!! Breakfast for break time. I didn't even bother with the breakfast they serve here.
Service Points apparently have food vendors come in 3 days a week and today was a guy who serves beef brisket. Rusty convinced me that it's pretty good. It was great! I had 1/2 beef brisket (must have been done in a crock pot, it was that good) and 1/2 turkey. I think the buns were homemade. They looked like small hamburger buns but they were so fresh and not like store-bought. Got a side of potato salad (minimal onion, so edible) and tossed green salad. All that for $6!
I just accidentally deleted half my letter. So now you're going to miss all the best parts! LOL
I keep comparing the two hotels and even though this one has the better internet access (got through an entire movie last night without it once stopping on me) the towels are small and scratchy, I can hear the people talking in the next room and when they shower, forget about it. I heard no one at the other hotel. They're remodeling this place and I noticed the door is crooked and there's a large gap on the side. Seems kind of flimsy too. And the sink! Yikes. It's like a granite desk top with 4 legs (curved legs, so they're pretty) that happens to have a sink in the middle of it. There's one shelf underneath and that's where they store the extra towels. Not much room for your personal items ... except on the top! No drawers. And the middle of this thing bows out .. again, very pretty, but not practical. When rinsing one's face, it's very awkward and uncomfortable trying to get close to the faucet.
I'm going to watch another Netflix movie .. oh hey! It's raining!! Those are some big raindrops! I opened the window so I can listen to it.
You all behave yourselves and we'll chat again tomorrow. (I'm expecting at least 3 of you to write and ask me to take you off this list ... you're getting tired of my ramblings, aren't you!) Just for the record, none of my boys will be removed, I don't care how much you beg.
TTFN
Middle of the week. What have I accomplished? Nothing! I can hear Todd saying 'so what's new?'
Rusty was really busy today with phone issues that were beyond my understanding so I spent most of the day working on my VCU class .. learning about VoIP, supposedly. Thank goodness I can print it all out. I'll have to read it a dozen times to make any sense out of it. Jaime finished it in an hour and totally gets it. Whatever.
The few times Rusty had me work on something (adding a user or removing a user) it seemed there was always a problem. Peggy made sure I could log in to each system before I left TX, but to no avail. And of course, they each do things differently. She logs on this way ... Rusty does it another way. Her way doesn't work because she'd created a shortcut on their system that won't work on his system. Yeah, let's confuse the new kid!
I was telling Wade, who's been here 5 mos, that he's no longer the new kid on the block but he graciously reminded me that his counterpart for OR, Carlos, starts next week, so I won't be the new kid either!! YAYYY
I can see why Adrian felt it important that the new person be able to integrate well with his team. They're all a bunch of smart alecks and jokesters. Hmmmm...
I stopped at Starbucks on the way "home". AnnaMarie, I thought of you. They have a drive-through! My vente chai tea latte is $4.52 here and I swear it's only $3.60 at home. Sheesh
Oh, Heather, I keep forgetting to tell you. I searched for a country station on the radio and it's the Wolf. Seriously. Same wolf howl and everything. Different DJ's of course, but still.
It was starting to rain when I left Starbucks. Not heavy, but BIG drops. Barb, I should have packed that rain poncho. You knew I'd need it for OR, but no one told me I'd need it here. They're predicting heavy rains tonight with possible thunder storms. If it's anything like the last storm, I'm going to video again and this time remember to save it! Reminds me, I'd better charge my phones.
Okay, I'm back.
I was instant messaging a friend in home office (Shawn Arshad) and gave him my new cell phone number. The doofus called me "just to make sure I gave him the right number" or so he said. Well, no one has called me on this phone so I didn't know how the ringer would sound. I have it buried in the bottom of my side pocket on my purse because I have no holster for it. I hear a cell phone ringing and I'm looking around because no one is answering it! Turned out to be me. duh
I had someone at the service center take me off their email distribution list *sigh* and AnnaMarie told me she took me off hers too. That got me all choked up. Cutting the ties. My only consolation, if it can be called a consolation is that after May there won't be any distribution lists to be taken off.
I'm so clever it scares me. I was going to buy some paper bowls to eat my cereal, but I decided to get the Ziplock plastic ones with lids instead. This morning I took my cereal in a bowl and took a single serving container of soy milk, and voila!! Breakfast for break time. I didn't even bother with the breakfast they serve here.
Service Points apparently have food vendors come in 3 days a week and today was a guy who serves beef brisket. Rusty convinced me that it's pretty good. It was great! I had 1/2 beef brisket (must have been done in a crock pot, it was that good) and 1/2 turkey. I think the buns were homemade. They looked like small hamburger buns but they were so fresh and not like store-bought. Got a side of potato salad (minimal onion, so edible) and tossed green salad. All that for $6!
I just accidentally deleted half my letter. So now you're going to miss all the best parts! LOL
I keep comparing the two hotels and even though this one has the better internet access (got through an entire movie last night without it once stopping on me) the towels are small and scratchy, I can hear the people talking in the next room and when they shower, forget about it. I heard no one at the other hotel. They're remodeling this place and I noticed the door is crooked and there's a large gap on the side. Seems kind of flimsy too. And the sink! Yikes. It's like a granite desk top with 4 legs (curved legs, so they're pretty) that happens to have a sink in the middle of it. There's one shelf underneath and that's where they store the extra towels. Not much room for your personal items ... except on the top! No drawers. And the middle of this thing bows out .. again, very pretty, but not practical. When rinsing one's face, it's very awkward and uncomfortable trying to get close to the faucet.
I'm going to watch another Netflix movie .. oh hey! It's raining!! Those are some big raindrops! I opened the window so I can listen to it.
You all behave yourselves and we'll chat again tomorrow. (I'm expecting at least 3 of you to write and ask me to take you off this list ... you're getting tired of my ramblings, aren't you!) Just for the record, none of my boys will be removed, I don't care how much you beg.
TTFN
What Day Am I On?
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Let me educate you about thunderstorms. Remember last week when I said I vaguely remember hearing thunder when I was falling asleep? WELL!!! Sometime around 2 am I heard a thunder clap that was directly over my bed--and I'm on the 2nd floor of a 3 story hotel! (They don't do things very big here) That will wake you up!
In CA we see the lightning and then we count -- one one thousand, two one thousand -- to see how close the storm is. There's no counting here! The lightning flashes are so close together I thought for a minute that there was a flickering sign somewhere over my window (ok, remember I just woke up out of a hopefully sound sleep). The flashes are continuous, some are just brighter than others. And the thunder? I used to think those CD's with thunder storms were fake because the thunder just keeps rolling on and on and on. Nope. Turns out they taped them here! It was one lo-o-o-o-ng continuous roll of thunder. Now I see why there were thunderstorm watches on the news last night.
I was speaking to the young man at Starbucks (I've got 4 gift cards, okay) and he said he almost headed for the basement. Basement? People go to the basement during thunderstorms? Oh, yes! he said. huh I'm at a hotel, I said. Wow. That's too bad. I guess no basement for you. (Oh, yeah? Well I'm from CA buddy. We ride earthquakes and there are NO basements!)
I'm happy to report that the folks here are not obsessed with food. It's all guys (Hal, Rusty, Wade and Doug .. who wasn't there) and they pretty much don't do food. I sat with Rusty all day and even though he smokes, it was 10:45 before he went out for his first cigarette. I don't know if he even had a second one. They pretty much left me on my own for lunch (they're guys). I went to Target to pick up some bowls and spoons for my raisin bran and grabbed a Pizza Hut mini pizza (inside Target!)
After lunch Rusty took me on a tour of the building. It's 2 full floors so not as spread out as Austin. Not nearly as bright either. Poor lighting or the ceiling is too high, but whatever it is it isn't as bright as Austin. Perfection would be the Austin service center in the Kansas location! He let me do some "adds" to the system -- well, one of the systems. I've already forgotten 1/2 of what Peggy showed me and didn't catch the other half anyway. They all keep patting me on the head and saying, it will be fine!
Dinner is a broccoli/bacon salad from the Target deli (and it was full of onions! YUK I've been scraping them off for 5 minutes) and carrot sticks with cottage cheese. This is so much better.
Oh! Let me tell you about breakfast this morning. Dry, crumbly biscuits. Eggs that could not possibly be real. Perfectly round (I know they could cook them in one of those 'frames') with a yolk that honestly looked like it was painted on. It was too round, and hard cooked. Looked phony. Perfectly round slices of ham (?). Fruit compote that looked really good, but when I bit into it was still partially frozen. I don't like frozen fruit. I should have had the instant oatmeal, but I wonder now if the water is hot enough. I'll see what they're serving tomorrow, but I may just stick with my raisin bran (I need the fiber anyway -- I know, TMI)
When he left, Rusty said there's not much to do in Olathe, but I assured him I'm not a sight-seeing kinda gal. It just dawned on me that this hotel does not have one of those "things to do in Olathe" books that you find in every hotel room. LOL I guess there really is nothing to do here. There's a big multi-plex theater just one parking lot away from me. I could take in a movie one night. I'll have to check it out tomorrow ... see if it's even open yet!
Well, kiddos, that's it for this missive. I have a feeling the rest of this week is going to be pretty dry. If I can't be creative enough to make stuff up, I'll have to wait for the next leg of this journey to write. Do NOT be praying for something to happen!! You know who you are.
TTFN
Let me educate you about thunderstorms. Remember last week when I said I vaguely remember hearing thunder when I was falling asleep? WELL!!! Sometime around 2 am I heard a thunder clap that was directly over my bed--and I'm on the 2nd floor of a 3 story hotel! (They don't do things very big here) That will wake you up!
In CA we see the lightning and then we count -- one one thousand, two one thousand -- to see how close the storm is. There's no counting here! The lightning flashes are so close together I thought for a minute that there was a flickering sign somewhere over my window (ok, remember I just woke up out of a hopefully sound sleep). The flashes are continuous, some are just brighter than others. And the thunder? I used to think those CD's with thunder storms were fake because the thunder just keeps rolling on and on and on. Nope. Turns out they taped them here! It was one lo-o-o-o-ng continuous roll of thunder. Now I see why there were thunderstorm watches on the news last night.
I was speaking to the young man at Starbucks (I've got 4 gift cards, okay) and he said he almost headed for the basement. Basement? People go to the basement during thunderstorms? Oh, yes! he said. huh I'm at a hotel, I said. Wow. That's too bad. I guess no basement for you. (Oh, yeah? Well I'm from CA buddy. We ride earthquakes and there are NO basements!)
I'm happy to report that the folks here are not obsessed with food. It's all guys (Hal, Rusty, Wade and Doug .. who wasn't there) and they pretty much don't do food. I sat with Rusty all day and even though he smokes, it was 10:45 before he went out for his first cigarette. I don't know if he even had a second one. They pretty much left me on my own for lunch (they're guys). I went to Target to pick up some bowls and spoons for my raisin bran and grabbed a Pizza Hut mini pizza (inside Target!)
After lunch Rusty took me on a tour of the building. It's 2 full floors so not as spread out as Austin. Not nearly as bright either. Poor lighting or the ceiling is too high, but whatever it is it isn't as bright as Austin. Perfection would be the Austin service center in the Kansas location! He let me do some "adds" to the system -- well, one of the systems. I've already forgotten 1/2 of what Peggy showed me and didn't catch the other half anyway. They all keep patting me on the head and saying, it will be fine!
Dinner is a broccoli/bacon salad from the Target deli (and it was full of onions! YUK I've been scraping them off for 5 minutes) and carrot sticks with cottage cheese. This is so much better.
Oh! Let me tell you about breakfast this morning. Dry, crumbly biscuits. Eggs that could not possibly be real. Perfectly round (I know they could cook them in one of those 'frames') with a yolk that honestly looked like it was painted on. It was too round, and hard cooked. Looked phony. Perfectly round slices of ham (?). Fruit compote that looked really good, but when I bit into it was still partially frozen. I don't like frozen fruit. I should have had the instant oatmeal, but I wonder now if the water is hot enough. I'll see what they're serving tomorrow, but I may just stick with my raisin bran (I need the fiber anyway -- I know, TMI)
When he left, Rusty said there's not much to do in Olathe, but I assured him I'm not a sight-seeing kinda gal. It just dawned on me that this hotel does not have one of those "things to do in Olathe" books that you find in every hotel room. LOL I guess there really is nothing to do here. There's a big multi-plex theater just one parking lot away from me. I could take in a movie one night. I'll have to check it out tomorrow ... see if it's even open yet!
Well, kiddos, that's it for this missive. I have a feeling the rest of this week is going to be pretty dry. If I can't be creative enough to make stuff up, I'll have to wait for the next leg of this journey to write. Do NOT be praying for something to happen!! You know who you are.
TTFN
Journey 2, the Saga Continues
Monday, April 21, 2008
Well, despite some nasty rumors to the contrary, it appears I *CAN* get on an airplane and get off again with boarding passes, purse and all other accoutrements intact. Two different airplanes, as a matter of fact.
Let me just say THANK GOD FOR GPS! I would NEVER have found Olathe without my Magellan. In fact, I doubt I'd have found the Austin airport without it. So far I like KS better than TX. Austin Service Point is in a semi-industrial area and as I said , everything is kind of dusty and unappealing.
There's a lot of GREEN here, the highways are wider, there is less traffic and where I'm located in Olathe looks relatively new. LOTS of shopping all around me. I stopped by the super Target to pick up some tea, cereal and milk. One could get lost in that store. It even has a Starbucks inside so I used one of my several Starbucks cards to get a Chai tea latte. Yum. The best part is that Farmers is just on the other side of the freeway, about five minutes away. How cool is that!
I will say that this hotel room isn't as nice as the other one. That one was huge compared to this one. In Austin I had a queen bed with a sofa bed and a kitchenette (2 burner electric range, microwave, 12 cup coffee pot, dishwasher, full size 'frig) and here I have a king bed with a 4 cup coffee pot, a tiny microwave and a mini frig. The closet is about 1/2 the size. I feel cramped in here!
The other drawback is that it's VERY humid. I just love hot and humid. NOT. My hair is already reacting. It's drawing up into tight waves. Not really curls, but waves that one can't do a thing with. Hawaii humidity makes my hair like straw ... here it's like kewpie doll curly.
I had to buy another suitcase (because I was 2.5 pounds over) and now I'm carting around two laptops! I put my personal laptop case inside the new suitcase along with some miscellaneous stuff in the various pockets. So now I get to pull my big suitcase and tie my work computer bag to the 2nd suitcase and roll it all while slinging a heavy purse over my shoulder and chewing gum, patting the top of my head and rubbing my tummy.
Hey, check out the cool radio in this room! It has a button labeled "Country" and when you push it you get country music. How cool is that! Yes, there are other buttons, but who cares? Okay, I'm going to try out the Oldies button.
I'm obviously rambling so I need to unpack and unwind. They serve breakfast here too so I'm making out like a bandit. Let's just hope this group isn't as food obsessed. I bought some baby carrots and broccoli florettes to take to work tomorrow. Maybe that will help. Shoot. I forgot to buy bottled water at Target. Tomorrow. Maybe.
That's it for now. Just wanted you all to know I made it safe and sound with nary a mishap along the way. You all behave yourselves and I'll be in touch.
Well, despite some nasty rumors to the contrary, it appears I *CAN* get on an airplane and get off again with boarding passes, purse and all other accoutrements intact. Two different airplanes, as a matter of fact.
Let me just say THANK GOD FOR GPS! I would NEVER have found Olathe without my Magellan. In fact, I doubt I'd have found the Austin airport without it. So far I like KS better than TX. Austin Service Point is in a semi-industrial area and as I said , everything is kind of dusty and unappealing.
There's a lot of GREEN here, the highways are wider, there is less traffic and where I'm located in Olathe looks relatively new. LOTS of shopping all around me. I stopped by the super Target to pick up some tea, cereal and milk. One could get lost in that store. It even has a Starbucks inside so I used one of my several Starbucks cards to get a Chai tea latte. Yum. The best part is that Farmers is just on the other side of the freeway, about five minutes away. How cool is that!
I will say that this hotel room isn't as nice as the other one. That one was huge compared to this one. In Austin I had a queen bed with a sofa bed and a kitchenette (2 burner electric range, microwave, 12 cup coffee pot, dishwasher, full size 'frig) and here I have a king bed with a 4 cup coffee pot, a tiny microwave and a mini frig. The closet is about 1/2 the size. I feel cramped in here!
The other drawback is that it's VERY humid. I just love hot and humid. NOT. My hair is already reacting. It's drawing up into tight waves. Not really curls, but waves that one can't do a thing with. Hawaii humidity makes my hair like straw ... here it's like kewpie doll curly.
I had to buy another suitcase (because I was 2.5 pounds over) and now I'm carting around two laptops! I put my personal laptop case inside the new suitcase along with some miscellaneous stuff in the various pockets. So now I get to pull my big suitcase and tie my work computer bag to the 2nd suitcase and roll it all while slinging a heavy purse over my shoulder and chewing gum, patting the top of my head and rubbing my tummy.
Hey, check out the cool radio in this room! It has a button labeled "Country" and when you push it you get country music. How cool is that! Yes, there are other buttons, but who cares? Okay, I'm going to try out the Oldies button.
I'm obviously rambling so I need to unpack and unwind. They serve breakfast here too so I'm making out like a bandit. Let's just hope this group isn't as food obsessed. I bought some baby carrots and broccoli florettes to take to work tomorrow. Maybe that will help. Shoot. I forgot to buy bottled water at Target. Tomorrow. Maybe.
That's it for now. Just wanted you all to know I made it safe and sound with nary a mishap along the way. You all behave yourselves and I'll be in touch.
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