Learning

I spent a good portion of this week in a class for work.  Though the class was fairly rudimentary, I learned a little bit and met some very intelligent people that will be useful to know for future work projects.  I don’t think I’ll be recommending this class to other people at work though.  It turns out we already teach most of it in our own initial training class.

Other than all the new airline miles I’ve accrued, this week was fairly basic.  I’m headed out for the week to attend two graduation ceremonies.  I’ll be able to see family and friends that I haven’t seen in quite some time and have some good laughs with them.  I went to a half-price book store one day when we got out of class early and bought a bunch of books.  I haven’t purchased a physical book since I bought my Kindle but the price for these was way less than even the digital Kindle version was online.  It felt kind of funny to read through a paper book that wasn’t a manual of some sort. We’re always reading paper at work, but books have just come to be Kindle material for me.  I’m sure I’ll be able to adapt, it’s just interesting how quickly you can become accustomed to reading on an
e-ink display.

If anyone is thinking about getting a Kindle and is unsure about it, just buy one.  It has really changed the way I read and I now read a lot more than I did when I would have to order a book online or go to a store and stand in line to purchase it.  Embrace technology.

Done

Well, my friend and I managed to complete the Master Cleanse challenge.  We had some really bad days and some days that weren’t so bad but I will be the first one to say I have never thought about food as much as I did over the course of the cleanse.  I was constantly thinking about how I would spend my first couple meals and carefully planning out how much I could eat when to keep from getting sick after my stomach had shrunk so much.

We had a midnight dinner on Friday morning to celebrate being done the cleanse and had about 12 people over to eat a lot of food and watch a movie.  After Kung Fu Panda, we ate pizza, lasagna, cheese and crackers (courtesy of Mom) and various other items of interest.  Because most people at dinner and weren’t looking to gorge right before going to bed, we have a lot of leftovers.  That will just make for better dinners than the macaroni and turkey dogs we’ve been having lately.

One of the guys I work with and I were in a class that offered us the privilege of attending class on Friday when we would have otherwise gotten the day off of work.  It worked out for us because the class on Friday only went about two hours total when it has been going eight hours for the rest of the week.  While the teacher wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, he did understand the need to let us out for breaks often and make sure we accomplished a little extra every day so we weren’t stuck in class into the late hours of a Friday afternoon.  I’m pretty sure if he had done that to us, we would not have been receptive to what he was saying anyway.

Soon I’ll be traveling again to another class and then it looks like I might finally be able to see some family!

Lemonade

I found out on Wednesday afternoon that I was expected in another state on Thursday morning to give a briefing.  This caused a huge scramble as we all tried to find a flight, hotel and rental car for the seven or so hours I would be on the ground.  It wound up working out and I was in the air an hour after I found out I was supposed to be leaving.  I just wore one outfit the whole time which seemed like a good idea at the time.  It turned out it wasn’t.

I was sleeping at the hotel in just a pair of boxers and a t-shirt when the fire alarm went off super early in the morning.  It was one of those industrial fire alarms where there is a blinking light and an ear-piercing sound in each room and all down every hallway.  I only had a pair of boots to wear and I didn’t feel like putting my work clothes back on, so I walked out in boxers, boots and an undershirt.  It was cold enough outside that I was kind of miserable for a while but at least I made it out of a building that was supposedly on fire.  It turns out it was a kitchen fire on the ground floor and the whole building was in peril, but at that moment all I wanted was more sleep and a full set of clothing to wear outside.

Despite that, the briefing went well and I made it back home safely.

On Saturday, we went to the waterpark near here and had an absolute blast!  It has been rated one of the top waterparks in the work time and time again and I think I would second that rating.  We all wore SPF 50 sunscreen because the last time we went in the sun, we all got fried.  I think it might have been expired or something to that effect because we all applied multiple times throughout the day on the beach and all of us got at least a little burned.

After a late night, we woke up late and went to the local homeless shelter to cook food and serve it to the residents.  It turns out cooking and service food when you aren’t eating anything is kind of rough on the will power.  I had to make some incredibly good looking turkey salad on croissants with lettuce and tomatoes and it smelled phenomenal.  On Friday of this coming week, our fast will be over and we’re going to throw a celebration with food and friends at midnight.  We’re watching a movie and making delicious food (to be consumed in small portions for our shrunken stomachs).  I’m thinking we should watch Kung Fu Panda; I really love that movie.

Camping Take Two

I was in class all week getting ready to take one of my certification exams.  It was a pretty rough experience.  My friend was sitting next to me and kept falling asleep each day; in a class of seven people, the instructor can usually tell when one of them falls asleep.  The material wasn’t new for most of us, so it was a week-long rehash of much of what we do every day.

Because we were pretty much brain dead after this week, we decided another camping trip was in order.  It was with a slightly different crowd which means they wanted certain luxuries that most of us are willing to forgo.  This meant beds and hot showers along with a stove and fridge.  When the rest of us asked if it was still camping, we were told that because we weren’t sleeping in our own beds that night, we were camping.  Apparently all it takes to go camping (and believe me, I use that term loosely) is a hotel room.  We ended up in a cabin not too far from where we live.  It was a great time even if I wouldn’t necessarily say we were roughing it.

Next week I go back to work and for the first time, the girl who uses my desk and I will be in the office at the same time.  We have been switching back and forth due to trips and various classes but now it’s going to be an issue.  She lost her desk when they did a renovation in the lab and so she just took to using mine while I was gone.  For the past two weeks we’ve both been in various locations because of class and trips, so it will be interesting to see who wins out this week.  I may just grab a seat in the lab and switch back and forth with her this week.  After that, we’re set again because we’ll both start traveling again to classes and other trips.

I’ve found that explaining my living situation to people is difficult at best.  Because I am really just a couch surfer at the moment, people don’t understand what I mean when I try to tell them.  I usually just leave the ‘no permanent address at the moment’ part out and tell them I live with two roommates.  That alleviates a lot of the questions and perplexed looks.

We’re starting marathon training again next week.  We’re all looking to run a marathon in September and another one in October so wish us luck!