This was my first week back on the instructor rotation program, so I was in Cleveland, imparting knowledge to the kiddies as best I could. I'd been swamped with prepping for training and trying to get in planning work for a couple of clients, so I spent most nights in my hotel room working and prepping. I really didn't get to see much of the city. From what I did see, though, Cleveland does not rock (damn you and your lies, Drew Carey). The hotel and the training center were not really what I expected for a major international accounting firm, but that might be my big city snobbery shining through again. When you're used to hosting trainings in gleaming new office buildings and staying at 4- or 5-star hotels, everything else seems shabby.
So during this particular trip, I learned a few valuable lessons:
1. When leaving a message, make sure you hang up at the end of the call. I was leaving a message for a staff on their cell phone when I saw that he was trying to call me back. I finished up my message and then tried to pick up the other call, thinking that it would hang up on the other line. Problem was, I missed the incoming call, muttered my favorite 4-letter word that rhymes with "duck".... and then realized that I had said that straight into my phone, which was still recording the message on the other line. Oops! So much for not scaring the kiddies....
2. It is a good thing to wake up early and get a head start on the day. For 3 days in a row, I got up at 5:45AM to hit the gym (3-5 mile runs). I managed to turn in pretty good times, felt REALLY good during and after the runs, and made it to class on-time, all with absolutely no soreness afterwards. Maybe it's just because I was out of town, but I was super motivated to get in some mileage this week. We'll see if it keeps up, but somehow running early in the morning doesn't feel as hard as it does in the evening. Or maybe I was just sleep deprived?
3. As with all endurance events, epic happy hours require the appropriate training beforehand. As I realized on Wednesday night's HH with the class, my tolerance was not very high (wow, that could be interpreted in SO many ways), and as I haven't been drinking on a regular basis, I decided to take it easy and not try to keep up with the 23-year olds. I do not have a 20-year old's liver trapped in this 30 year old's body. What I do have is a 30 year old brain that is filled with reminders of similar events held in years past that have resulted in countless instances of stupidity, one self-inflicted black eye, and a pinch of shame. So, like a good, responsible, and mature trainer, I had 3 beers (not counting the Irish car bomb) and made a few friends by giving the next few shots to others. I was definitely feeling pretty happy with the world by the end of the night, but I was still able to get up in the morning and wrap up the last day of class with a decent amount of energy.
On a side note, the other highlight of this week was winning pub trivia. Yes, at long last, all the random crap that's in my head finally paid off! Actually, it was a tremendous team effort (team consisted of my accounting class, myself, and my awesome co-instructor). Together, we turned in a 100+ point performance, totally dominating the locals (just like the Angels did to the Indians). Along the way, we won a bunch of bonus rounds and got 2 pitchers of beer on the house, and that's before the gift card that we got for winning. Ah, the thrill of victory!!
Tomorrow, it's off to New York for a weekend conference (yes, I'm technically charging time all weekend-long for this event). On the plus side, I am the only person from Baltimore going so I am going to have to network and practice talking to strangers, which is still something I'm not comfortable with. And since it's New York, if it all goes horribly wrong, I can just go and drown my sorrows at Ginger Man or console myself with a couple of enormous cupcakes from Crumb.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Withdrawal
This morning was pretty rough, as I woke up with a splitting headache and was literally sick to my stomach for a couple of hours. Eventually, I figured I'd gotten all the sick out of me and decided to clean up and get to work. The drive in was brutal, as there was a close call on the Beltway, when I was seriously debating whether or not I should just open my door to lose my lunch or if I could make it to the client site and to the restroom (I had just enough will power to do the latter). I couldn't figure out why I was feeling so bad. All I had to eat yesterday was a piece of fruit and a burrito bol from Chipotle that I split between lunch and dinner, but I was feeling just fine that evening - even got in a half hour run and lifted/stretched for another half hour, so everything was fine until I woke up. Then it dawned on me - I had no caffeine yesterday. I'm no expert on addiction, but the headache and nausea seemed to point to withdrawal symptoms. My healthier eating habits of late have mostly replaced the caffeine and sugar-laden goodies that used to make up the bulk of my diet. Apparently going cold turkey on the caff (even if inadvertently) is not a good idea, so I'll have to wean myself off of the stuff gradually in order to avoid nasty mornings in the future.
The other random thing that happened today was related to my computer. A new function popped up in the Format menu of Word. I now have some kind of "Asian layout" option that apparently no one else on my team has. I found it rather odd/creepy that my computer decided to give the one Asian user in the room an Asian layout function. Isn't this how the Terminator movies started, with the computers becoming self-aware?!
The other random thing that happened today was related to my computer. A new function popped up in the Format menu of Word. I now have some kind of "Asian layout" option that apparently no one else on my team has. I found it rather odd/creepy that my computer decided to give the one Asian user in the room an Asian layout function. Isn't this how the Terminator movies started, with the computers becoming self-aware?!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Taking the Scenic Route
My blog posts have gotten fewer and far between, mainly because I've been sleeping in on the weekends. I don't suppose sleep counts as a hobby for most people, but it does for me. Anyway, I did manage to wake up at 8AM on Saturday to run a few errands, do some work, and then head down to DC to go kayaking with Beney.
It was pretty humid by the time I got there around 10:30, and I was also fuming a bit. Georgetown is a bit of a debacle when it comes to how the roads are laid out, so the 27th St. turnoff that I was looking for wasn't marked on the Whitehurst Freeway. I ended up driving around DC for a bit, driving in the general direction of the Potomac until I finally stumbled across the boathouse. Once we got on the water, everything was fine, though. Kayaking is a great way to work off a little road rage (or maybe a lot, in my case). It was a bit overcast for the rest of the morning, but that was just fine because the water was about 80 degrees and the air temp was around 85-90, so I wouldn't have lasted long in the sun. We paddled upstream for about an hour, dodging the faster kayaks and the random day boats that were tearing up the river looking for a good place to anchor. Along the way, we saw something distinctly DC - 3 Presidential helicopters flying overhead, making their way to the White House. I suppose that is better than the motorcades which make DC traffic even worse than it already is. The planes flying overhead on their way to DCA were another interesting sight...the last time I saw the underside of a plane that close overhead was in Hong Kong, where it felt like the planes could at any second clip the top of one of the skyscrapers. I couldn't help but think about that plane that crash landed in the Hudson...can't recall if that happened in the daytime, but if so, that must have been a hell of a sight for anyone on the water.
We spent a couple of hours kayaking up and down the Potomac, chatting and catching up, especially on plans for her birthday party. It'll be an interesting one, as it includes some thinking (Spy in the City - basically a scavenger hunt sponsored by the International Spy Museum), good food (Georgia Brown's for dinner), and general chaos (bowling at Lucky Strikes...beer + 12 lb. bowling balls + general clutziness = good times and potentially broken toes). We headed back to the boathouse around 1, having communed with nature for the 2 hours that we'd rented the kayaks. All in all, it was fun and pretty good exercise. I counted that towards a 40-min. cross training session that I was supposed to do that day anyway (since I wasn't paddling hard the whole time, I figured I did at least 40 min. of real exercise). And for under $20, it wasn't a bad way to spend the morning.
Sunday morning was mostly spent on work, but I did manage to venture down to the farmers market in Bethesda again. My food snobbery has reached new heights with this latest focus on buying as much of my food from local organic producers as possible. I have a budget of $50/week, $25 of which is allocated to purchases from the farmers market, and the remainder to be spent on sundries at a regular grocery store. My parents would freak out at the idea of spending $2.50/lb on fresh peaches, but ultimately, I am buying fresher, better tasting food, supporting the local economy and small businesses, throwing out less food because I'm only buying what I can finish in a week and not buying in bulk (sorry, Costco), and still spending the same amount of money. My 3 week experiment in organic eating has resulted in slightly improved mood and a slight drop on the scale...so far, so good.
It was pretty humid by the time I got there around 10:30, and I was also fuming a bit. Georgetown is a bit of a debacle when it comes to how the roads are laid out, so the 27th St. turnoff that I was looking for wasn't marked on the Whitehurst Freeway. I ended up driving around DC for a bit, driving in the general direction of the Potomac until I finally stumbled across the boathouse. Once we got on the water, everything was fine, though. Kayaking is a great way to work off a little road rage (or maybe a lot, in my case). It was a bit overcast for the rest of the morning, but that was just fine because the water was about 80 degrees and the air temp was around 85-90, so I wouldn't have lasted long in the sun. We paddled upstream for about an hour, dodging the faster kayaks and the random day boats that were tearing up the river looking for a good place to anchor. Along the way, we saw something distinctly DC - 3 Presidential helicopters flying overhead, making their way to the White House. I suppose that is better than the motorcades which make DC traffic even worse than it already is. The planes flying overhead on their way to DCA were another interesting sight...the last time I saw the underside of a plane that close overhead was in Hong Kong, where it felt like the planes could at any second clip the top of one of the skyscrapers. I couldn't help but think about that plane that crash landed in the Hudson...can't recall if that happened in the daytime, but if so, that must have been a hell of a sight for anyone on the water.
We spent a couple of hours kayaking up and down the Potomac, chatting and catching up, especially on plans for her birthday party. It'll be an interesting one, as it includes some thinking (Spy in the City - basically a scavenger hunt sponsored by the International Spy Museum), good food (Georgia Brown's for dinner), and general chaos (bowling at Lucky Strikes...beer + 12 lb. bowling balls + general clutziness = good times and potentially broken toes). We headed back to the boathouse around 1, having communed with nature for the 2 hours that we'd rented the kayaks. All in all, it was fun and pretty good exercise. I counted that towards a 40-min. cross training session that I was supposed to do that day anyway (since I wasn't paddling hard the whole time, I figured I did at least 40 min. of real exercise). And for under $20, it wasn't a bad way to spend the morning.
Sunday morning was mostly spent on work, but I did manage to venture down to the farmers market in Bethesda again. My food snobbery has reached new heights with this latest focus on buying as much of my food from local organic producers as possible. I have a budget of $50/week, $25 of which is allocated to purchases from the farmers market, and the remainder to be spent on sundries at a regular grocery store. My parents would freak out at the idea of spending $2.50/lb on fresh peaches, but ultimately, I am buying fresher, better tasting food, supporting the local economy and small businesses, throwing out less food because I'm only buying what I can finish in a week and not buying in bulk (sorry, Costco), and still spending the same amount of money. My 3 week experiment in organic eating has resulted in slightly improved mood and a slight drop on the scale...so far, so good.
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