Penny for Your Thoughts

Six cents worth:

1. Who knew central Pennsylvania was so beautiful?

2. Is it really a compliment when your presenter says he likes that "you drive fast but not carelessly"?

3. I've acclimated. Fifteen degrees is no longer cold.

4. It's amazing how magnificant my own bed seems once I've been on the road more than a week, even though the hotel beds are sometimes so much better appointed.

5. McDonnalds coffee is not much cheaper and definitely not better than Starbucks coffee. And when I ordered, the girl couldn't fathom someone ordering a latte without a flavor.

6. Driving sometimes requires caffine. Sleeping requires a lack of caffine. This is how one becomes sleep deprived.

Immunity and Impunity

Turns out my cold might have been a flu, but after coping with feeling horrible from Thursday through Monday, I managed to beat whatever was keeping me down by Tuesday night, just in time for the fun to begin. Working with a bug keeping you at about 25% of your capacity is pretty wretched though, especially when you have no other option. I had to register people and do all of the AV set-up and tear down, regardless of how sick I was. It was something I knew going in, but I didn't realize that I'd be getting a flu over the course of the year. Flying on Sunday turned out okay since I got to talk my way into the Economy Plus section of the United flights I was on. Turns out threatening to need "constant access to the bathroom" due to a flu gets you some kind of respect. Might have to try that again later on. :)

The good part of my job is that I can just sleep all morning once the morning announcement is out of the way. So if I do it to start off the day at 8:30, I can sleep at least until 1pm if not 2pm. That's how I managed to get better, no thanks to my presenter refusing to offer to do a day's worth of driving... At least he cut me some slack and let me go sleep rather than insisting I be out front all day. He's actually really laid back, as was my presenter last week, so I have been very lucky in that. It's nice to be able to sleep through your work day, even if you have to get up and drive 2-3 hours after the seminar.

Since I'm driving, I was able to snag a side trip to the state of Delaware (as seen above). We were going from DC to Cherry Hill and I got off the turnpike for a mile to get to the University of Delaware so that we could take a picture. So that's another state checked off the list! I've also had same cities with other program managers this week so I've had fun hanging out and getting good food with different people my age. We have a great instant camaraderie on the road since we all know what the other one is going through. We gab about presenters and other program managers and just generally have a chance to relate to someone who is not hotel staff or a teacher. Teachers... ugh.

This weekend, I'll pick up another state and travel to Vegas for the first time with a whole crew of present and former program managers! Should be a barrel of laughs and debauchery... I'm so excited!! :)

New Jersey Tackiness

Really...?

Fake frescoes on the ceilings, fake marbling on fake columns, gaudy Christmas decorations everywhere, fake Grecian statues, gold accents everywhere, and even a ceiling panel that has the constellations of the night sky on it. It's like a low-rent version of all things holy.

Not to mention the glorious Christmas music on a loop. Everything from operatic style carols, to children's choruses, to some kind of chintzy organ music.

I am in hell.

Although, when it comes right down to it this week I've been enjoying things more than in the last few previous weeks. In Manchester I got out and drove around town a bit, and my presenter is great fun. Yesterday after the seminar, we drove through "downtown" trying to find a place to grab something to snack on since our flight was so late. We discovered that almost nothing in Manchester is open at 3pm, especially nowhere that you could get a glass of wine. After a few instances of "driving like a Bostonian" (ie backing up and making u-turns/3-point turns in traffic) we managed to find an irish pub that served only pizza. It was good pizza at least!

She drove to town in a PT Cruiser so we had a car in Manchester, and after taking that thing for a spin (or two or three in downtown Manchester...) I ended up getting another one for us now that we're in Jersey (although it's a much better color... Cherry Red rather than Electric Shock Blue). It's much more fun to drive than the gigantic SUV's I've been having previously, even though no matter what color it is, it's still an ugly car.

Next, we get to drive the Jersey Turnpike to Newark. My wallet is drastically weighed down with coinage for this part of the treck... I'm pretty sure I went overboard. I'm guessing I've got about 10-15 dollars in coins. That's what I get for packing them the morning I was leaving. I'll definitely have to let you know how the hotel that is next to the correction center turns out... Yay Newark!