So, it's been awhile, eh? I think that's a GOOD thing. Means I got off my ass, and went outside! Got myself a life!
Work is going remarkably well, considering the turmoil earlier in the year. My team has grown accustomed to "flying solo," and as a result, we have become very cohesive. Depending on one another, "us against the world," that sort of thing. Seems healthy.
I just returned from a nine-day business trip. So often I allow myself to get stressed-out when I travel for business. It's my own damn fault - don't think I don't recognize that... I over-pack, I procrastinate, I run late. I know it. But the flip side is... I ALWAYS have a good time! The destination this time was Orlando, Florida and Minneapolis, Minnesota. As usual, I managed to build in some "Kathy-Time." Some SERIOUS "Kathy-Time!"
The conference (the reason behind the business trip in the first place!) wasn't due to start until Sunday, April 29th. Naturally, I left Boise on Wednesday, April 25th! Well, c'mon!? If my company is willing to fly me across the U.S. to attend a conference, I may as well make the most of it! Right?! As old as I am, (?) I have only recently reached a point in my career where I work for a company invested enough in me to spend money on me - does that make sense? Oh, previous companies might have invested in additional training for me, but no out-of-town trips. Certainly not across the country! So, even if you count my six trips to and from India, and even though I probably bitch about it, I do love my business trips. (Not really a new revelation, is it?)
I arrived at Orlando International Airport Wednesday evening. Rented a car, and drove to Tampa. It looked a lot closer on the map, but thanks to hitting Tampa towards the end of rush-hour, it took over two hours to reach my hotel on the west side of Tampa, at the edge of one of the causeways leading to St. Petersburg and Clearwater. Thanks to a healthy bonus of Gold Points last year, (thanks, Joe!) my lodging at the Radisson was free.
First impressions of Tampa were not good. I am used to heat and humidity from Belize, but DAMN, folks! Roll up your friggin' windows, keep your cigarette butts and empty soda cans INSIDE your cars, and DRIVE! Sheesh. Very aggressive drivers, so there was a lot of speeding up and then slamming on the breaks on the freeway. Grrrr.
I spent most of Thursday by the pool. Thank goodness, because like MOST of my mini-vacations, I tend to overstock my itinerary. So this was my ONE shot at some pool-time! I thought I was doing fine... I only had three destinations in Tampa in mind, and was trying to build some time into my schedule to finish up a presentation (the reason behind the return trip through Minneapolis.) That afternoon I headed to Destination #1 - The University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum. Even though I left the hotel close to 3pm, somehow I still managed to encounter traffic. Sigh. Good thing I was "on dang vacation," because when I FINALLY found the museum (ginormous campus!) it was CLOSED. Ugh! All was not lost, however. The sign on the door indicated the museum would be opening late the following evening for a Master of Fine Arts Graduation Exhibition. Right on.
Destinations #2 and 3 were too far to hit by this point, so I chose a secondary destination to pass the evening away: Ybor City. (Can anyone tell me how to pronounce this?! Since this historical district had a distinctly Cuban-feel, I'm going with "Eee-bore City.") I found a brewery, had dinner and a local version of Hefeweisen - YUCK! I've had Hefeweisen-type beers with the underlying flavors of lemon, orange - even watermelon... but BANANA? Not good. But, hey - that's my thing, right? To try new things? :o) Including beer!
An early night, as I knew Friday NOW had to include all three of my planned Destinations, thanks to the Museum closure. To start with, I had arranged a volunteer opportunity at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and had to report for duty by 9am. HOW COOL IS THAT?! I was psyched. For a small donation (ahem!) I got to work in the Aquarium from 930am-1230pm, primarily with Dolphins, and O-T-T-E-R-S. Those of you who really know me, KNOW I am obsessed with otters. Granted, my preference is Sea Otters, but hey - when in Rome.(Yes, the trainers had a GOOD time explaining to the dummy from Idaho that sea otters are warm-water creatures, and if they ever found one at their aquarium, located on the Gulf of Mexico, they would be highly concerned, as that little guy would be very, very LOST. Oh, well - it seemed like a good way to break the ice?)
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The initial tour had me worried - I met the trainers and interns in the freezer, where they were chopping up fish heads. ("Fish heads, fish heads, roly, poly fish heads!") I was prepared to get dirty, sweaty, and potentially soaked in sea water, but I was hoping my donation didn't buy me three hours of cleaning fish guts! Luckily, it was just a very informative explanation by Amy of the various residents' diets - the Clearwater aquarium is strictly a rescue-rehab-release facility. So the only residents are either temporary (meaning, they were being prepared for release) or damaged in such a way as to be permanent tenants. There were sea turtles, dolphins and river otters. I was charmed to learn that otters like to eat carrots, much like a cute West Highland Terrier that I know, but most of their diet is pretty stinky. Lots of fish, and a ground-meatball-like substance where the trainers hide the various medications.
Marissa adopted me next - she was thrilled to learn that I was an "otter-freak." (Apparently, most "Trainers for a Day" are dolphin-freaks.) We went upstairs to the dolphin tanks to watch the staff work with the dolphins. There are four currently in residence: Panama (found near Panama City,) Nicholas (found in December!) Indy (found near Indian Rocks) and Winter. The trainers first worked with Indy and Nicholas, the boys. I just watched as the trainers ran the dolphins through some drills. They were training the dolphins to respond calmly to medical attention. They had the boys roll over on their backs, and rest their tails in the trainers' hands. The trainers mimed rubbing alcohol on the tail, and pressing on it with their thumbnails, simulating a needle. The goal being that in the very likely event they actually had to draw blood for tests, the dolphins would be accustomed to the sensation and lie still.
Marissa was great to talk to. Obviously extremely passionate about her career. Her goal was to work for Sea World, with the Killer Whales. Amy was interesting, too, but her goal was in research. Marissa was the one to educate me on Sea World's killer swimming test. I learned a lot about what I tentatively considered a career option for me someday. Not so much. These kids work for YEARS for free, just building up experience to compete for the one or two staff positions aquariums have open each year. They are all young, dedicated, and apparently able to function on zero sleep. They all spend two to three eight-hour days a week at the aquarium, working around other jobs and school. Most are getting their degrees in psychology, the "it" degree if you want to work with animals. (The "it" minor being marine biology.) Yeah. I'm WAY too old and in-debt to start working for peanuts, holding down multiple jobs, going back for a second bachelor's degree in psychology. Not gonna happen. But it's good to know!
It was, however, EXTREMELY refreshing to work with people who are passionate about their jobs. I observed the trainers and interns throughout the morning, and even when they weren't "on," meaning - literally on-stage in front of an audience, or minding their p's and q's in front of their guest (me,) they were focused. They discussed the dolphins - they discussed their diet, their reaction to the drills, their recent behavior. That was it. No bitching about their boss. No complaining about another co-worker. No whining about the dress-code. Refreshing. As content as I may be in my current working environment, I've never claimed to be enamoured with call centers... hmm...
Next I was able to interact with the newest member of the dolphin community - Winter. She's a sweetheart. Her tail was damaged in a crab-trap, and eventually fell-off. She can do nearly everything the other dolphins can do, except jump. I actually got to touch my first dolphin! Very cool - but the texture of their skin wasn't what I expected. Kinda makes me wanna re-think my fondness for sushi. Seriously. The trainers had a great time setting me up - by the time it was over, I was soaked. Every drill they ran Winter through had some comic-relief to it - they'd coach me to ask her to wave, and she'd splash me. I'm surprised I didn't fall in! It was good practice for the 12-o'clock show...
SWEET! Time to work with the otters! Also time for my new digital camera to need new batteries - my Samsung 630 is adorable (it's green!) but it goes through double-A's like there's no tomorrow! So, after a gift-shop-run, I was ready to meet the boys! Webster, Garth and Cooper were ready for a mid-morning snack. I got to help throw stinky fish and otter-friendly meatballs at them. They did a few tricks, but it was too dark to get any good pictures. Marissa comforted me with the knowledge that our next stop was Billy's private cage, where I would be getting up close and personal with the youngest otter at the aquarium.
Billy was still learning how to interact with humans, and was too little to hang with the older otters. So he had his own pad. Marissa kept warning me that if Billy jumped up on my boots, I was NOT to react. As if! He was adorable! We took him upstairs so folks could watch us feed him. 
I prefer to think of him as smiling in this photo, versus snarling. He really was very docile - I didn't let my fingers get TOO close to his teeth, though.
After Billy's playtime, Marissa and I returned him to his private cage, and headed up to the dolphin tanks. It was almost time for the noon show, and guess who was supposed to be part of it?! Yipes!
The show involved all the trainers, and the male dolphins Nicholas and Indy... oh, and me! Surprise, surprise! The stars of the show ran through some drills, splashing the crowd. Then Marissa had me get down on the step closest to Nicholas, and mimic what the trainer was doing. Essentially, I became the target of any and all splashes. It was a lot of fun, but I was glad I was prepared after working with Winter earlier.
And that was it! Tired, hungry, (surprising, after being surrounded by the ever-so-pleasant smell of rotting fish,) and drenched, I headed out. I poked around Clearwater Beach, but a lot of the more famous piers were closed for renovation. The contemporary museum show wasn't 'til 7pm, so that left me about four hours to get some lunch and hit Destination #2, the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg. A bit of a downer after my morning of marine merriment, but I was very moved by the Holocaust Museum in D.C., so it made the list.
I enjoyed a very nice lunch al fresco across from the museum. The area of St. Petersburg where the museum was located was very pretty - lots of nice architecture. The museum was very nice... three floors, and with the time remaining before closing, I only made it through two. But, I learned some new things, and it was a nice tribute, considering the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech. Sometimes it's not a bad thing to reflect. 
I made it to the museum about 7:30pm. The party was in full-swing! Very, very cool. The exhibit itself was, um, kinda cute? I mean - it was the opening night of a student exhibit, 
so - things were falling off the art work, and in a professional exhibit, you would assume it was part of the art... here you could tell it was an "oops." But it was cute. (See the stuff on the floor? That wasn't on purpose!)
As you approached the front doors, the was an exhibit of people-movers - hard to explain. Basically, four moving carts, each with a different theme. There was a line of people waiting for a ride. They climbed in, the lid was closed, and music or a little movie ran while large men in old-fashioned wrestling costumes jogged a lap around the parking lot. The line was too long for me to attempt it, but I did try to get some photos of the buff men in tights!
It was just the perfect end to a wonderful day... wandering through a museum with a glass of wine, people-watching, looking at art. Very cool. Too bad I probably still smelled like salt water at best, fish-heads at worst!
Sunday morning, and I had to get myself back to Orlando for a tour of the Disney Cruise Center Call Center, the beginning of the conference. Luckily, the Wonderful World of Disney is on the outskirts of Orlando, so I made very good time. Enough time to explore my hotel, the Disney Beach Club, before the tour began at 3pm. 
Here's the view from my window - the Disney Beach and Yacht Clubs are on one-half of a Disney Lake across from the Disney Boardwalk. I freakin' love all things Disney - must be from spending a few of my formative years near Anaheim. But check out the haze - fires in Georgia really messed with Orlando's air-quality.
People can walk through the hallways of Carlson and agents don't even SMILE at them. As we wandered through the Disney Call Center, every employee greeted us with a smile and a hearty welcome. Refreshing... ok, maybe NOT as refreshing as Billy the Otter, but I still noticed. So, the sponsor of this conference, eTalk by Autonomy held NOTHING back! I was very impressed - below are some shots of the opening reception: they reserved the beachfront for us, and set-up tons of food, free drinks, and I loved those big inflatable thingys - they lit up at night, and ALMOST withstood the wind!
To make a long story short... the conference was very informative, even though I was distracted by cramming for my Green Belt presentation. The theme was "Mission Possible," so eTalk rounded the event off with a "Team Mission" at Epcot. They reserved the American Pavillion for a Tuesday night dinner. It's always fun to watch co-workers you have been networking with all week down some free drinks and act like idiots! A very bonding experience! (Some people just should NOT dance. Ever.)
The Wonderful World of Disney took a minor hit when they escorted us to the Pavillion, monitored us when we left the building to use the restroom, and escorted anyone who wanted to head back to their hotel early to the gate. What were they afraid we were going to do? Spend possibly MORE money inside Epcot? Sheesh!
We left Orlando on May 2nd (poor Maricela was really not feeling well by then.) We still managed to hit one outlet mall on our way to the airport... funny - leaving the overly air-conditioned environment of Disney revived Maricela immediately! ;o) The airport was the first indication that I had left the Disney Sanctuary... I was behind a couple, their toddler, their in-laws, and about a million plastic Disney bags overflowing with stuffed animals, Mickey Mouse ears, etc. They had a complete meltdown. The mom was crying, the father almost got into a fight with the guy in front of him - it was a mess. I see my future - a book or website on HOW TO PACK SO YOU DON'T LOSE YOUR MIND GOING THROUGH AIRPORT SECURITY. Either that or a dating guide, so women stop marrying mean men who LET them overpack, embarrass them by picking a fight with fellow travelers, and leave $500 worth of Disney Souvenirs at Airport Security. (Dude, picking fights in the Security Line is NOT the way to get through it faster!!) Sorry - no pictures of this E-Ticket Ride. (If you're old enough to remember what that means, leave me a Comment!)
Maricela headed home, and I headed to Minneapolis... by way of Chicago. Oh, yeah - by way of an overNIGHT in Chicago! O'Hare was even more of an unpleasant shock than usual, since I was leaving the protected atmosphere of the Happiest Place on Earth. People in O'Hare remind me of... what was that again... oh, yeah, CARLSON! ;o) Just kidding. But a few more smiles wouldn't kill anyone. I got bumped from my flight to Minneapolis. Okay... truth be told - United was offering a free travel voucher, and I decided I could still make my afternoon appointment in Minneapolis, PLUS earn a free ticket! And the bonus? United put me up at the Airport Westin! So I was back in Disney-esque HEAVEN!!
Oh, hmmmm... in my enthusiasm for the free ticket and Westin-accommodations, I neglected to consider the impact of all my luggage going on ahead to Minneapolis. No biggie - I had my laptop, my free ticket, a confirmed seat in Economy Plus for o'dark-thirty the next morning, and the Westin Gift Shop had a sale on t-shirts! I was set. (I did learn a valuable lesson - always pack dental floss in your carry-on.)
Sorry - no photos of the hotel - it was sweet, though. http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1032 I love Westins. It's a great way to weed through prospective suitors - if asked whether I enjoy camping, I usually reply, "Sure, in a Westin." If they don't get it, I move on. ;o)
Interesting dating side note... I boarded my Chicago-Minneapolis flight feeling FRESH AS A DAISY in the clothes I'd traveled in the day before, zero-makeup, and that funny, tight feeling your face has when you resort to using hotel body lotion on it (all those too young to understand this, bite me.) I sat next to a very nice man from Ann Arbor. We chatted the entire 60 minute flight - the first time I wished my flight was longer! There was clearly a connection, but no sense in exchanging contact info, since he lives in, um, ANN ARBOR. But I learned two things from this... one is (and please keep your DUH'S to yourself) I need to stop sweating the dating scene. I start sizing up every eligible man I meet, and begin to anticipate rejection, when the reality is - when it's right, it's just right. There's nothing you can do to force it if it's not. C'mon - there I was, NOT looking my best, not particularly FEELING my best, and something sparked. I decided it had far less to do with ME, and far more to do with where the prospective bachelor is at in his own head.
The second thing I learned - well, it's an epiphany, but I am still undecided about it. Either men outside of Boise are more assertive, or I am just more relaxed and approachable when I travel. The "I'm on dang vacation" mindset. Or possibly both? Funny thing - people married or already in relationships vote for Option Two - clearly, it's ME. People still in the dating market vote for Option One - "Kat, maybe we should BOTH move to a bigger city!" Guess that's my answer.
I made it to Minneapolis, sweated through my 2+ hour presentation, passed "conditionally," (the panel needs some follow-up data from me before they give me the thumb's up,) and then I crashed! Man - I was so amped up from the presentation, I didn't eat anything but coffee all day. By 4pm I was whipped! I dived into rush-hour traffic (albeit, Minnesota-nice style, so not nearly as stressful as Tampa!) and did what I almost ALWAYS do when I hit Minneapolis... headed to IKEA!
C'mon - I had to eat dinner, didn't I? Although - can't say that I recommend the IKEA cafeteria. Swedish Meatballs, lingenberries (?) and gravy... not super on an empty stomach! But IKEA is always a lovely place to kill-time before heading to the airport. SORELY tempted to try to stay ONE MORE NIGHT - the radio revealed Ben Gibbard performing at First Avenue - for those of you who know me well - this was tempting on TWO levels - I have worshipped (too strong?) Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie fame since I saw them perform at Bumbershoot 2005 (insert Sarah Vowell reference here!) and First Avenue was made famous in WHAT 1984 movie??? (If you answered "Purple Rain," move ahead 10 places!) Luckily (for my pocketbook) the concert was completely sold out (Go, Ben!) so I headed home.
So yes, I complain about business trips. YES, I make myself CRAZY packing and getting ready for them, mainly because I am a World-Champion Procrastinator. But I still love them, and get the very most out of them I can!
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