Tomorrow morning I'm flying to Denver on my first ever business trip. I was originally going to stay for 4 days but another all-day training meeting came up the following Monday. It's cheaper for me to stay in Denver over the weekend than it would be to fly back here on Friday and fly back there on Sunday night. That means I won't be coming home until a week from Tuesday.
I have a 17 year old kid stopping by every day to feed my cats and pick up the mail. He's done it 2 or 3 times before and he does a good job. I pay him around $7 per day, which is a lot cheaper than boarding them. He seems happy to do it and the cats are less stressed out. I just have this nagging feeling that I'm not paying him enough. His mom is (was) my manager and she negotiated the amount, so I guess it's okay.
My coworkers have suggested things to do and see while I'm in town. I have an expense account for meals, lodging and travel but I'm on my own for entertainment expenses. I might try to find a theater and see the new Harry Potter film but that's something I could do at home. I could also go shoe-shopping (my new obsession) but, again, I can do that here. I hear downtown Denver is packed with things to do and most of it is within walking distance of my hotel. It's just a little bit daunting to be staying alone in a strange city. I may be so overwhelmed by everything that I spend the weekend sleeping!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Feelin' groovy
The last 7 or 8 months have been exhausting. I've worked an average of 60 hours per week since December. The short version is that the field converted to a new system and there were major issues with their data flowing into our system. This created a huge backlog of manual research and mandatory (unpaid) overtime. Those issues are mostly resolved now but there are still a lot of errors caused by training issues/noncompliance with procedures. Joy.
This is no longer my problem because as of Friday, July 1st I have a NEW JOB!!! It's a job that has me scared shitless but it's a job that promises to respect my personal time and allow me to have a life again. The exciting thing is that I didn't apply for it, I was referred to to it by someone who had been impressed by me in my old job. The manager invited me to interview. That has never happened to me before and I was extremely flattered. I had a job offer within 3 weeks of that first phone call but was not allowed to tell anyone where I was going until the end of May. Then, less than 2 weeks after I announced that I was leaving, the rest of my department was given notice that they would be laid off next spring. Wow. I am so glad not to be going through that again.
Now that I have some spare time, I've started on a project in my downstairs bathroom. The ceiling was water-damaged and sagging in places. There was also a hole cut out above the shower where a plumber fixed a leak from the tub in the upstairs bathroom. That was 4 years ago. Yeah. I'm a slob.
My brother Five was here last week attending training in the city. I live about an hour closer to the shop than he does and I was thrilled to have him stay with me. He's a lot of fun; we like a lot of the same things (sushi, scifi, seafood). He's also very handy and has been renovating his house mostly on his own. He helped me get started on the bathroom. Together we tore down the old ceiling and put up new drywall. He even helped me put on 2 coats of mud and sanded the first coat by himself.
This morning I put on the last coat of mud (I hope). Tomorrow I'm going to sand it. If everything looks flat then the next thing to do is paint. I chose a white paint for the ceiling and a light periwinkle blue for the walls. I might be able to finish the ceiling tomorrow and maybe get the walls done by next weekend. I'm so excited to have it finished! I think it will look really great with brown towels and rugs.
Now that I've popped my home improvement cherry, maybe I'll move on to other rooms. I really hate the beige walls and popcorn ceilings in this house. It would be nice to have some cooler shades; blues and purples and burgundies, even some pinks. I guess I'm not much for warm tones. If anyone would like to volunteer to paint or scrape ceilings, I would be more than happy to pay you in sushi. Pretty please?
This is no longer my problem because as of Friday, July 1st I have a NEW JOB!!! It's a job that has me scared shitless but it's a job that promises to respect my personal time and allow me to have a life again. The exciting thing is that I didn't apply for it, I was referred to to it by someone who had been impressed by me in my old job. The manager invited me to interview. That has never happened to me before and I was extremely flattered. I had a job offer within 3 weeks of that first phone call but was not allowed to tell anyone where I was going until the end of May. Then, less than 2 weeks after I announced that I was leaving, the rest of my department was given notice that they would be laid off next spring. Wow. I am so glad not to be going through that again.
Now that I have some spare time, I've started on a project in my downstairs bathroom. The ceiling was water-damaged and sagging in places. There was also a hole cut out above the shower where a plumber fixed a leak from the tub in the upstairs bathroom. That was 4 years ago. Yeah. I'm a slob.
My brother Five was here last week attending training in the city. I live about an hour closer to the shop than he does and I was thrilled to have him stay with me. He's a lot of fun; we like a lot of the same things (sushi, scifi, seafood). He's also very handy and has been renovating his house mostly on his own. He helped me get started on the bathroom. Together we tore down the old ceiling and put up new drywall. He even helped me put on 2 coats of mud and sanded the first coat by himself.
This morning I put on the last coat of mud (I hope). Tomorrow I'm going to sand it. If everything looks flat then the next thing to do is paint. I chose a white paint for the ceiling and a light periwinkle blue for the walls. I might be able to finish the ceiling tomorrow and maybe get the walls done by next weekend. I'm so excited to have it finished! I think it will look really great with brown towels and rugs.
Now that I've popped my home improvement cherry, maybe I'll move on to other rooms. I really hate the beige walls and popcorn ceilings in this house. It would be nice to have some cooler shades; blues and purples and burgundies, even some pinks. I guess I'm not much for warm tones. If anyone would like to volunteer to paint or scrape ceilings, I would be more than happy to pay you in sushi. Pretty please?
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