Portland!

I work for a company that loves acronyms.

My old job was in a department called RBU; my team was RD. Actually, it was originally LD, but we re-orged....thus, RD. I designed training for employees of FCs, including PFRs, LPFRs, FCMs, AFCMs and HIPs. A majority of my work consisted of designing training entitled FOCL, DOT (later renamed SIT, which had an OAT component), RFFC and SP (later renamed SE). Another team was bombarded by a huge project referred to as SBB (later shortened to SB, for ease of pronunciation). And yet another team is currently working on NAP, FLB, FLBMA and TS (not to mention the 40 other classes, all of which have their own cute little acronyms).

I just trasfered to a department that delivers training to employees of LFCs, and the majority of our audience are SLCs. They are familiar with BEDE, and we train them about VB. But sometimes, I guess, we train them about JDC. But only in certain regions. Normally they work on files sent to them from the HLCs (not to be confused with the CLPCs), but the training I will do highlights files sent to them by the FCs. I think...? We also talk about how to communicate with the DCC during class. Heaven help me.

So, given this, is it any wonder that, 45 minutes into the road trip to Portland - my FIRST DAY ON THE JOB, mind you - I asked "So....why is it that are we going to Portland, again....?". I thought it was a perfectly valid question. My new co-workers (Aaron and Chad) thought it was hysterical.

Anyways, the trip was great, and I am very excited to FINALLY be writing a blog about my travels (which is why I started this whole thing to begin with!). However, given that the trip was a short one to Portland (which I have already visited; same for Aaron and Chad) I didn't take many pictures. In fact, there were exactly 3 pictures on my camera when I arrived back in Seattle.

The first was of me and my lovely friend Chelsea. Chelsea was kind enough to meet me, Aaron and Chad for drinks and food upon our arrival to Portland. It was wonderful to see her and catch up. Chelsea is currently in the midst of applying for psychology internships (the cool doctorate ones), and so I was very, very glad that she was able to meet up. Chelsea, you're fantastic!

Me and Chelsea, during my first night in Portland!

The second picture was of Aaron and Chad (taken the same night), but unfortunately it didn't turn out. Even with my impressive photo editing skills, all you could see were two noses, some teeth and a shirt collar. Dang it. Next trip I will try to get a better one.

Anyways, my first day on the job was pretty hard. I rode in a car for 3 hours, and then had dinner with a good friend. (I'm being facetious, for you literal readers out there).

The second day was much more difficult. A half hour into the class we discoved none of the passwords worked for the system we were training. Therefore, nobody could log onto VB. So Chad contacted TSG and asked them to fix the problem. He was refered to DS. While DS was working on the problem, the class was dismissed and we trainers spent the remainder of the day doing important things such as playing Text Twist, reading the Seattle Times Online and checking our frequent flyer miles. Then, the REAL fun began!

I think I'll leave out the details regarding the real fun, other than to say we had a heck of a lot of fun! Early on in the night, however, we passed under a hotel sign that reduced me to delighted and immature giggles, and resulted in my third and final Portland picture.

Not necessarily a classy picture. But I grew up in a town called Kent, so I thought it was kind of funny. "Kent HO".... Haha! HA!

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. The password situation was finally resolved, and the rest of the class went well. Oh! And one night we had dinner at this tiny hole in wall Mexican/Peruvian restuarant. They had the BEST enchiladas I've ever had, which is strange given that I was in Oregon, which is not necessarily known for it's Mexican cuisine. Go figure.

Alrighty, I guess that's about it for my Portland re-cap.

Next stop(s): Colorado, Pittsburgh and Boston! Woo hoo!

Pictures of my dog wearing clothes

My biggest pet peeve in the world is when people make their animals wear clothes. I do NOT think it's cute, nor do I think it's funny. I am being very serious right now. In fact, it makes me feel pretty angry on the inside when I see animals wearing clothes.

However, my ex-roommate (whom I still refer to as "Roomie".....is that weird? I hope not. Because I plan on calling Megan "Roomie" for the rest of my days, even though all indications point to the fact that we will never actually be roommates again)....where was I? Oh, OK. Anyway, early on "Roomie" and I agreed to disagree on this subject. She is one of those people who enjoy seeing animals wearing clothes, and I am one of those people who do not. So, even though I was adamant that Karma would NEVER, EVER WEAR CLOTHES from the day she entered our domestic partnership, I think Megan occassionally snuck dog clothing products into our apartment and dressed up my dog while I was gone. Whatever. I'm not bitter about it.

I have to be honest, though. There have been two occassions in which I voluntarily put clothes on my dog. First case in point:

One time I made my dog wear green fishnets. I admit it.

The second time was today. I dropped by the old apartment to pick some stuff up and drop some things off, and found that Roomie had included a doggy Halloween hat in my bag of stuff that I was picking up. Given that I like Megan and wanted to show gratitude for her thoughtfulness, in addition to the fact that Megan has expressed that she actually misses my neurotic dog, I thought I'd buck it up and put the dang hat on Karma's head.

Happy Halloween, I guess.

So, anyways. I still get angry when I see animals in clothes. It does not make any sense to me whatsoever. However...I kind of have to admit...my dog does look pretty cute in these pictures, doesn't she?

Does that make me a hypocrite? I hope not...

P.S. I must add that Karma chewed up her Halloween hat promptly after the picture was taken. That's my girl!

Karma says: "Dogs aren't supposed to wear clothes!"

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy birthday to a woman who is as lovely as on her 25th! :)

Cars and Weddings....both good things.

Today I am sick. (Which I currently pronounce as "thick", but it would look funny if I typed it that way). Unfortunately, this means I won't be able to go to work tomorrow. Fortunately, that means I get to stay home and do fun things like read books and watch cable tomorrow. So I see it as a wash.

Some of you may already know that I was in a car accident last week. Today I found pictures of my poor car (which is currently in the shop) on my insurance company's website.

I miss my car.

So, minus the missing headlights, and the spattering of tools sitting in the engine compartment that you may or may not be able to see, it doesn't look so bad, right? Maybe a few quick fixes....a week in the shop at most, you say? Well, you would be WRONG! Dead wrong. You are looking at a car that has accrued $7,000 worth of damages that will take 4 weeks to fix. And I was going about 7 mph when the accident happened. That works out to $1,000 per mile per hour, people! Thank goodness for car insurance. And for people named Miwa who let people named Annie borrow their car for a month. (Miwa, you are a goddess!)

In other news, I went to my friend Linsy's wedding this weekend. It was a lovely wedding, and it was great to see a bunch of old high school buddies again. Good times while eating, drinking and dancing were had by all. And lots of laughing. WITH people - not AT them - though. I swear.

Linsy and Erinn, her twin sister. As Erinn pointed out, Linsy looked stunning. :)

CONGRATULATIONS, LINSY & ANDY!!!