Why Me?

A few days ago, I wrote about how I would do things differently if I were in charge.  At the time, I didn't even know about the biggest thing I would do differently - that would be, not forcing my employees to attend a train the trainer class they I know they're terrified to attend.  I'd say that's quite close to cruel and unusual punishment, which is most definitely a Better Business Bureau violation....right?!

It sounds piddly.  4 days of getting paid to learn something new.  4 days of sitting in class with people you like learning from a great instructor.  But what everyone fails to mention is that on the very last day, students are forced to present on a topic of their choice for 20 minutes, in front of their peers and are critiqued on that presentation.  If that's not torture, I'm not sure what is.  

Some people are fabulous at this. Some people can walk into a crowded room and turn on the charm with ease.  Other people can spend a few minutes planning then give dynamic presentations with very little work.  And then there's me.  I will most likely spend the next 6 days fretting over the 20 minute presentation and may actually have a bit of a panic attack that morning.  I HATE public speaking.  

When I say hate, I mean with every fiber of my being, I loathe it.  I'm socially inept in small groups, imagine throwing me in front of 10-12 people.  It's like a train wreck.  What's even worse is that these are computer people.  They do this on a daily basis.  So basically they can rehash exactly the same jargon and tech speak they use each day to pass the class with flying colors.  While non-techie, creative me, will be presenting on, quite possibly baking a cake or crafting a card.  I'm sure the 10 guys (I'm one of 3 girls in the class) will enjoy either of those things immensely and won't think I'm a stupid girl at all.

So yeah.  It sucks...

Wishful Wednesday

I read a blog each day.  It's written by a girl who's just about my age and is currently living in Paris for the summer. Paris?  Seriously?  I have no idea how she does it.  She's a freelancer but somehow has gone to about a dozen more states and countries than I've visited and now she's living in Paris.  Not that I'd choose Paris if given the shot, but it'd be nice to live somewhere else just for a while.

Though, seeing all the fabulous things she's doing in Paris makes me want to go back at least for a bit.  It wasn't my favorite place in the world (that'd be London), but I'm thinking I need to give it another shot. If only to drive through the mountains and visit some non-touristy traps, just to see how beautiful the city of light can really be.  Also, while I'm there, there will of course need to be some serious chowing down... : )

I'd Do It Differently

For the last year or so, I've been working in a field that means very little in the long run.  We didn't make the world turn and quite frankly, if we were to not come in for a few days, very little would get lost in the shuffle.  However, in the last month, I actually moved into my dream field.  It's also not brain surgery or saving the world from hunger, but I can feel good at the end of the day that we're helping people - even if it's only teaching them something they didn't know before coming to us.  

The position is perfect for me. I get to be in the training and development world.  I get to see the inner workings of a training practice and I get to learn from some super smart computer-type people (of which I'm so not). I'm still stuck dealing with boring computer coursework, but it's hands-down an improvement over what I was doing.  

Herein lies the problem.

With my old job, like I said, it was useless and menial (much more menial than I was led on to believe it would be).  But it also had nothing to do with what I went to school for so I was stuck trudging through daily.  I had nothing to add so I just did my work and collected my pay check.  Soul-crushing? Yes.  But now that I'm in this training world, it might be a little more frustrating.  Because I have to see all sorts of things that I know I could do better. Though, because I'm an underling, I'm stuck going with the flow again.

I have visions of a creative and interactive training environment with great instructors teaching things they're passionate about and things that will change the world (at least a little bit), not how to do XYZ on a computer.  I happen to know for a fact some cool ways to get involved on Twitter and Facebook.  I know how to create courseware and house them online.  I know how to run a sharepoint site and keep all sorts of materials organized.  I'm terrible at speaking in front of people (bad news for a training pro, I know) but I know this about myself and I know to look for instructors so much better than me.  I know you have to spend money to make money but I also know if you're spending more than you're making, you're never going to get anywhere.  And I definitely know that the big wigs get special treatment sometimes in the business world, but catering to them so much that even after doing all the work for them, aside from actually taking the class, you now have to email the secretaries the same paperwork you emailed them so they can print it all out for the bosses, is just demeaning to say the least, to all parties involved.  I know what makes a great work environment and I'd love to have the chance to shape that.

So now that I've got this awesome job, I find myself itching to find a way to do it differently. I know I can't start my own business, as the number stuff eludes me.  But oh it's so frustrating to watch things you know are wrong continue daily.  Ugh!  

Ok, rant over for this evening.  I just had to get that off my chest.  Now, does anyone want to go into business together - I've all sorts of crafty, creative and non-soul crushing ideas, even if no actual business sense! : )

Are you Ready for Some Football!?!

Disregarding all the ridiculous stunts they pulled in the off season (5 arrests!  Really!?), it was so good to see the Purple Birds of Baltimore, i.e. The Ravens, back on the field at M&T Bank Stadium.  I happen to love football season.  It's a bit of a new development, as it's just happened in the last few years.  I mean I do love a good O's game, but there's just something about Football season starting, that makes me happy.  I think it has something to do with the stakes.  They play SO many games during baseball season that the ante never seems to be rightfully up.  But in football season, there's only 16 games. Records are much easier to track and the stakes are that much higher.

After the extreme high of winning the Super Bowl in 2012, the Ravens had what can only be called a disappointing season in 2013.  OK, an EXTREMELY disappointing season. I have no idea what this season may bring, but I do know for sure, they seem pumped and ready to not repeat last season.  And it's wonderful to see Baltimore joining in on all the fun again and standing behind their team 100%.  Go Ravens!  May you have another awesome run!

Happy Start to the Week!

After a full day of shopping til I dropped and binging on Comic Con panels on You Tube, I'm a little out of coherent thoughts to write, so I'm off to bed if I hope to have coherent thoughts tomorrow.  

Happy Monday!

So Very Jealous

No thanks to BuzzFeed, and Twitter for articles like these, I've been hearing all sorts of fun things out of San Diego.  At first I thought it wouldn't be a big year.  There weren't many things I was excited about opening or panel-ing, but now that I'm seeing EVERYone there having a blast, including Benedict Cumberbatch, the Supernatural dudes, The Hobbit, Big Bang, Bones, and I could go on and on, I'm so darn jealous of all the fun everyone seems to be having!  A few years ago, I don't think I lived it up enough, at some point in the near future, I'm going to be needing to go back - I feel a costume is even on the horizon.  Now what should I pick - Amy Pond or Mary Morstan? : )

Best of: Boston

After seeing all the awesomeness of Connecticut and Rhode Island, I had visions of Boston being a let down.  Boston was going to be the big destination, and I assumed, it wouldn't live up to the hype.  And to be honest, it didn't...on the first day.  The first day we were there was a total washout.  It poured buckets!  There's only so much food you can eat in so many restaurants before you get really bored and really grumpy.  We were finally able to duck into a trolley that at least let us see the city without getting too drenched, but even that was wrought with issues since we bought the wrong ticket for the dumb trolley that took us nowhere we wanted to go.  By 7:00 in the evening, I was bored, wet, grumpy and not overly optimistic.

But 12 hours later, it was bright, sunshiney and the start to a beautiful day. After that, it was smooth sailing.  The city was walkable.  Our hotel was right in the middle of everything we wanted to see.   The weather was gorgeous.  And there was so much to see just laid out all over the city waiting to be seen.  It was much quieter than NYC and much cleaner.  And I think I may have loved everything about it! It's the perfect city for kids, and pets and grown-ups too.  I have to say it definitely ranks up there in some of my top 5 cities and i just know I'll be going back again one day.

My most favorite thing of the trip and the one thing I was most looking forward to was the Whale Watching cruise sponsored by the Boston Aquarium.  The boat took you 3 hours out into the ocean, and made a guarantee that you will see whales or you'll get a rain-check for another cruise.  For the first 1.5 hours we saw nothing, so I was a bit worried.   But they just started appearing everywhere.  We didn't get the money shot that you see in all the nature films (whales leaping out of the water!) but we did get some serious tale shots which was awesome.  To top it all off, they were humpback whales which aren't always seen in those waters.  Pretty amazing to see!

After the cruise, we just wandered the city which I have to admit was pretty much the best way to see Boston.  There is literally so much to see, it may be overwhelming to plan to see it all.  But the city is laid out so that you literally just happen upon these amazing historical landmarks, like the site of the Boston Massacre, or Ben Franklin's family tomb or the Duckling statue in Boston Commons.  Boston Common was my favorite that we happened upon.  The swan boats that had been around for years, were super cute and fountain for the children (and adults too) to play in, was the perfect way to cool off after a long day walking.  

Then of course there was the food.  As much as I love Italian food, the North End was of course my favorite place to eat.  After a Sfogliatelli as big as my head on the first day, I had high expectations for our last night's meal.  After wandering for a few minutes, we grabbed a seat at the first place we saw that had seats.  I'm not even sure I remember the name but the gnocchi and the tortellini we had were some of the best I've ever gotten in a restaurant. Hands down!  Though the atmosphere at Cheers was pretty fun too!

I don't have the same urge to move to Boston as I do to London, but if needed be, I think I could be very happy there - given enough sfogliatelli : )

A Curious Rave

I had planned to talk about how wonderful Boston was today. But I'd forgotten I was seeing this in DC this evening.  So seeing that there's so much to love about Beantown, and the fact that my alarm will be going off in approximately 4 hours, Boston Best will definitely need to wait until tomorrow.  

However, I need to say that this production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time was everything I'd hoped it would be and more. The creative team behind it and the actors in it deserve any all awards thrown their way!

Best of: Nantucket & Salem

Like most people, I was a big fan of Wings when I was little.  So since that time, I've been wanting to go to Nantucket.  Of course, the only thing I really knew of on the little island was Tom Nevers field i.e. the airport : )  Since then I learned a bit more but not much.  I knew the island was incredibly expensive to get to and was full of beautiful houses. After finding the ferry, I learned it wasn't too expensive, but the houses are exactly as I'd hoped.  They're all the grey washed siding and are covered in flowers galore.  (The gardeners must be quite well paid - and deserve every penny!)

What I learned on the island, is that it's most definitely just like the small little towns you read about.  There's a main street and some great restaurants.  And all sorts of cottages. They even have a small trolley system that stands as their public transport system. In other words, it's perfect!  So, I suppose I'm saying, the island itself is the best of Nantucket. Everything there from the beautiful beach, to the grey-washed cottages, to ice cream shop at the dock to the hundreds of dogs enjoying the summer with their owners. It was everything I had hoped.  The only thing that could have made it better was landing at Nevers field via small plane.

 For those who care, about 10 seconds after this photo was taken, I caught a rogue wave and was drenched...and quite chilly

Then there was Salem.  Unlike Nantucket, it's very much a working town.  People live there and work there. But boy do they talk up the witches.  Even the town paper has a witch logo. Like Nantucket, I knew a lot of Salem from watching Hocus Pocus and reading The Scarlet Letter.  

If you're into the witch thing, basically all you have to do is walk around the town to see all sorts of monuments to the trials.  But you can also check out the witch museum.  Museums aren't really my thing but sitting in the park was quite nice.  While it's a great little town, all you really need is a day to look around.  We got there about 10:30 then left about 4.  It was perfect. 

 Now I know I talk a lot about the food and I feel terrible saying "my favorite part was the food!" so much, but in this case it was absolutely true.  We had a delicious lunch at Turner's Seafood.  I had the shrimp tacos which were probably the best I've ever had.  A little spicy, but to die for!  And they were even one of only 2 places that had normal iced tea.  Then off to dessert at the Salem Screamery (get it?  witches, scream?)  Nothing like Dark Chocolate Ice Cream to make me all giddy!