YaYa Princess

So the boy left me here in Philly today.  All alone.  You know, just me and a major city full of people and 1400 attendees.  Like I said, he left me allll alone.

I’ll be honest, I was super sad to see him leave.  It’s odd, I realize, but better I suppose than the opposite…you know, me ushering him out of the door.  He wasn’t even gone before the poo started to hit the fan.  Just another day in paradise around here. I suppose I’m lucky though, my floor even manager was a third party planner like me until about 6 weeks ago so hopefully we speak the same language.

The weekend was a lot of fun, and we did a LOT.  It’s funny to me to be back here where it all began for my family.  The convention center is litterally over the old train station…the same train my parents met on.  And I’m blocks from Jefferson Hospital where she worked, and I can see good ole William Penn like we used to when we’d go into work with my dad at night.

The boy and I got into the “what if” discussion again.  I’m so often drawn to the idea of the smallest change in decisions and how they would change your life as a whole.  What if…

My parents never left Philly

I chose a different unviersity than ECU

I stayed in Harrisonburg

No right or wrong, just the fact that even the little choices change the course of your life.  The boy tells me I’m nostalgic.  I say, yes thank you I am.

Just a walk down memory lane.

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Last night I was tooling through old posts.  I found one that I never published from when I was in Philly for the site inspection in December.  Tonight I leave for the City of Union Fun Brotherly Love.  Time really is flyin these days.

Anyway, it’s my first onsite of the year…well, for my standard clients.  Sadly one of my shows this spring was cancelled due to that ponzi scheme.  It’s always hard getting back into the swing of things.  Not to mention that apparently at some point the client was promised something called “continuous web registration” but there was a discconect with programming, so reg closed yesterday.  Sadly the originally reg coordinator is no longer with us due to downsizing, so there was a lot of searching through old e-mails to figure out what was going on.

Now, considering all that’s going on in the world, it’s really not THAT big of a deal.  But it’s just one more fun hurdle to conquor.  Luckily I set days like this aside for the eminent choas that occurs when people remember the 7200 things they forgot to do over the course of the last few weeks.  Product of being human and all.

Meanwhile, I have to admit that I’m nervous about this onsite.  Not just b/c I have been dormant for a whopping 2 weeks either.  I tend to watch a lot of news as it pertains to scares of any sort.  What can I say, I’m a drama queen and the news media certainly helps me fulfill that quotent.  Normally I’m not really all that concerned about whatever catastrophe of the week they are reporting on, but I cannot lie, this swine flu thing has gotten to me.

I was in Texas when I first really heard about it, and when they started reported about it coming over the boarder from Mexico.  I need not remind you of the proximity of Mexico to Texas.  On my return trip there were people in masks in the airport…a little too close for comfort.

And now?  Well, now it’s spread through out fine country.  New York has the largest outbreak in the US, which let’s face it is not surprising concidering that mass amounts of people that come through that state/city on an hourly basis.

Tuesday morning I will be faced with 1400 registered attendees from all over the country.  Attendees who are executives that travel all over the world themselves.  I’ve taken to washing my hands and carrying my Purell, but none the less, I have an uneasy feeling. Perhap b/c it is basically a convulted flu and not SARS or the Bird Flu or something. 

I suppose the fact that I’m a rather healthy individual should calm my nerves, knowing that while the flu would suck beyond all suckiness, I’d be ok.  And if not ok, I live in a major city with some good hospitals.  And beyond that, I have a friend whose husband does medical research, so I’m pretty well connected

Perhaps what really got me though, was the mass industry e-mails that came through on Monday about the effects of this on my industry, or the fact that by Monday night my company had created literature on how to deal with the swine flu as it pertians to events, planning and the like…literature that I have printed out in my binder.

It’s uneasy I suppose.  In reality I’m sure I’ll be fine, but in truth I’m nervous.  And Lord help any single person, VIP attendee or not, who has the sniffles and comes around me.  I may just have to sic the union on them.

Now, off to cross the border…err, uhh, Mason Dixon line.

No Comments | In: Personal, The Boy, Travels | | #

So it’s NOT SARS, but let me start again.

I just went to donate blood, b/c I’m a good person like that. They ask you the normal questions and I answer honestly. I tell them about the cruise and ask if I went to the ruins in Cozumel. No, I tell them. We really weren’t in any place more than 8 hours either.

Then she says, “Ummm, where were you in Haiti?”

“On a private Island owned by Royal Caribbean International, called Labadee” I tell her, thinking, no biggie.

She gets quiet, reaches for her humongous infectious places binder and there on pg 3 is a memo stating that as of August 2007 Labadee is know to have outbreaks of Malaria. Not only does that mean I cannot donate for 1 year (understandably) but what really chaps me is that Royal Caribbean NEVER mentioned this. Not one word.

As you may recall I got sick when we came home. I joked that I had “the SARS” and the boy thought I was being silly. Good thing I didn’t know about this then

Stupid cruise line. I’m not even gettin’ PAID!

1 Comment | In: Travels, Vent-Central | | #

Today is the 3rd very full day at my company’s annual meeting. They have pretty well had every moment packed for us, with the exception of 1.5-2 hours in the evenings between sessions and receptions. Unfortunately, we’ve run late every day so we’ve only had about 1 hour to ourselves.

I have met a lot of people, constructed a pretty kick a** bridge with people I didn’t previously know, and tried to get energized. There is just one problem, I can’t possibly have one more sip of “kool aid”-I just can’t do it.

I’ve been at this job for about a year and a half. Then I come here, and it’s like I’m smack dab new again. I don’t so much mind that though, it’s just slightly frustrating.

But I got stuck at another hotel for reasons I’m not even certain about anymore, meaning that NO ONE from my office is here (i.e., I know/knew no one) and generally, I just don’t know that I can drink any more of it in, or that I want to.

And I’ve tried, and I WANT to, I swear I have and I do. But despite all of my efforts, I cannot shake the fact that I still don’t feel like I fit in with my company-or at least my office. And it’s frustrating. And I’m tired. And because I’m at this outcast hotel, it’s pretty lonely. And the truth is, I’m not sure I want to fit in with my office….maybe the Boston office will adopt me.

2 Comments | In: Personal, Travels, Work | | #

I must admit, I feel like crap at the moment. Apparently all that hand washing didn’t protect me from some little stink pot who got me sick. I still haven’t downloaded the pictures, but you can see them at the boy’s site, Southbound Home, for now.

The things I learned while on our cruise:

1. I am still, in fact, subject to motion sickness.
2. Haiti is friggin’ HOT. Consequently the boy tends to fry like a greased fish burn in those spots where he neglected to put sunscreen.
3. I wish whoever designed our cabin would have had a say in our apartment – we actually had MORE space in the cabin.
4. There is a reason that they put hard bottoms in the base of the inner tubes…
5. Mexicans seem to think that white, middle-aged Americans on a catamaran want to listen to Jimmy Buffet and do line dances… and they would be correct . They are also quite the margarita slingers
6. Speaking of which, apparently Margaritaville’s not only an American commodity
7. Safety ALWAYS comes first…even above fashion.
8. Cigars are okay, because you don’t inhale…
9. The floors of the elevators changed every night at midnight to tell you the current day…you know, in case you drink so much you forget what day it is…(they really DO think of everything!)
10. Enough Said…

Welcome Home!

2 Comments | In: Personal, The Boy, Travels | | #