Friday, September 28, 2007
On Our Way
I'm in Denver on my first day of orientation. I walk out the lobby of my hotel and recognize a few friends from the Ice. Walking into headquarters today was a bit of reunion. There were many familiar faces. Looking at the conference room was like looking at a sea of neutral colors. Khaki, army green, dark brown, and gray seem to be the choice clothing colors of my co-workers.Tomorrow morning we've got a quick orientation, and then we fly out for New Zealand arriving there on the 30th.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Printed!
My passport has FINALLY been printed. I will be leaving on Wednesday. Now I can start packing for real.Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Done with Denver
Last time you heard from me, I was feeling a little overwhelmed at the office. Well, I feel like I have a grasp on things now. The weekend was spent out of town; Saturday in Wyoming and Sunday kayaking on Lake Dillon. There are photos on my Wisconsin weblog. This past Thursday a bunch of us went out for Ethiopian food as a sort of send-off for me. Not that I'll be gone all that long. I'm headed back to Denver on the 26th of this month. A group of us caught a Rockies game Friday night, and then went out for a little karaoke.Now I'm home and trying to visit a bunch of family and friends before I leave. I'm doing a PowerPoint presentation for a group of 4th and 5th graders in Madison next Monday so I'm preparing for that as well. I have a box of stuff left to send, but I need to finish packing it first. I have bills I need to make sure are covered. I have rubbermaid totes I need to find homes for. I have to buy a car cover for my Saturn. I need to pack my stuff I'm taking with me to the Ice. The list goes on and on...
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
First Day On the Job
I was up early this morning, and... some of you aren't going to believe this... I ironed my clothes! I don't think I've done that in 5 years. Immediately upon arriving at work, I was buried in paperwork, safety training, and IT orientation. Someone had to walk me over to Cara because the office is very confusing. I spent another couple hours settling into my desk and being introduced to full-timers. Adam Fontana came to say hello. We lived in the same dorm last year until he took a transfer to Pole. Now he's full-time. Holly Troy stopped by to say hello, and as we were chatting Mike Delaney walked by. Delaney didn't even know I was going to be there. Apparently I failed to mention it to most of my Colorado friends. I apologized and explained that my brain has been in a million different places in the past week. Ralph and I went out for lunch. We cruised to Quiznos in his convertible. It was so great to see everyone!Unfortunately Cara had to leave this afternoon for her grandmother's funeral in New York, so I'm flying solo with a little help from Robin, a woman who did my job on the Ice a few years ago. I had training this afternoon for a DOS program, and the trainer said it was really good that I'd be going down in this position. Training was interesting. I spent the rest of the day working on an email and a spreadsheet to send to scientists requesting them to pick a date to give a science lecture. By 6pm I was ready to leave, but I had forgotten to call for a shuttle pick-up so I spent another 15 minutes reading through materials I need to review.
All-in-all I was a little overwhelmed, but it's all coming together. This new job will be challenging, but I'm excited to see the different perspective it will give me.
I Must Be Cursed... or Maybe I Have Bad Travel Karma
I spent almost all day yesterday in airports. I arrived at the La Crosse airport only to find that the incoming flight was delayed. After more than an hour of waiting in the gate area (there's only 1 or 2 gates), I went upstairs to visit my parents at the restaurant. The flight finally arrived, as we boarded I felt a wave of heat. UGH... NO AIR CONDITIONING! Seriously. An almost hour-long flight later, we get stuck waiting to pull into the gate.I knew I'd missed my connecting flight by only 15 minutes or so, and then I found out that the next one wasn't leaving Minneapolis for another two and a half hours. So I did what any smart business traveler does... got lunch on the company!
We arrive in Denver around 6pm, and I get my luggage (at least that showed up) and head out to meet my shuttle to the hotel. I had called the shuttle company earlier to let them know what time I'd be arriving due to my delayed flight. But why would they be there waiting for me? Wouldn't it make more sense to make me wait for over an hour? Yes, I waited an hour. Then the driver wasn't even sure where the hotel was. He knew the area, but he found it by taking a bunch of wrong turns.
Needless to say, I was ecstatic to arrive at the hotel. Even if it was 8pm.