One’s 29th birthday, I’m discovering, is sort of a let down. Just like your 19th birthday, or your 23rd, or 27th…nothing happens to you on those days. At 29, no milestone has been reached, no threshold has been crossed; it’s just another year gone by. Aside from the fact that I’m celebrating my 29th birthday here in Chicago, there’s really nothing all that grand about today.
That being said, let the countown to 30 begin!!
Dear Microsoft Outlook (not responding),
I hate you. When I try to open my calendars, you freeze. When I receive new appointment emails, you freeze. Whatever this “Microsoft Exchange Server” thing is that you are always trying to connect to…it sucks, because it doesn’t work. How is it possible that your status can consistently be “Waiting to update this folder”? Can it be that you are perpetually in a state of limbo?
Perhaps this is a personal grudge you have against me, retaliation for some crime committed against you on a previous date. Whatever it was, I assure you it was without intent or malice, and I do apologize profusely. Please, oh PLEASE respond! I have work to do!
Sincerely Frustrated,
Essaytch
Ps…My laptop REALLY hates it when I start swearing at it, especially when it’s already working overtime to put up w/ Vista. Can’t we all just work together?
As I mentioned in my last post, on Tuesday morning I left my gloves and cute hat w/ fuzzy pom-pom on the top in a cab. It wouldn’t have been too big a deal, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was only 13⁰ and snowing. Knowing I needed to procure another hat and gloves before my trek back to the hotel that evening, I asked my fellow co-workers for some advice on where I could find some. Their response, in stereo, was “Walgreens”.
In Seattle, Bartell Drugs is the place to go for all your drug store shopping needs. Greeting cards, electronics, canned meats, stationary, pharmaceuticals, cleaning supplies, and about 10 rows of candy and junk food greet you upon entry at your local Bartell store. Well, here in Chicago they don’t have Bartell Drugs…but there is a Walgreens on every corner. And Walgreens, as I’ve come to find out, is a veritable shopping MECCA!
So on my way home from work that day, I stopped at one of the three Walgreens I passed in the 5 block walk back to my hotel. What I discovered was the epitome of one-stop shopping. My purchases included: vitamin C lozenges to stave off the sickness that is going around the office here, hand lotion, M&Ms for my chocolate fix, Gummy Life-Savers for my fruity fix, and a hat w/ matching gloves*.
Had I wanted (or needed) to, I could have also purchased a pink down vest, a variety of Fabio-adorned romance novels, a bra (oh yes!), any number of children’s toys, a gigantic heart-shaped box of chocolates, a dozen roses, or a mega-sized shiny purple MP3 player that was as big as my head. And at the checkout counter, I was solicited to add Ghirardelli chocolate bars to my basket because they were on sale (“And those good quality chocolate bars haven’t been on sale in 20 years.”). Considering the M&Ms and Gummy Life-Savers I was already purchasing, I passed on the quality chocolate bars…but I may go back for that bra.
*A note on the hat and gloves: the selection was dismal and I was frozen. Because of that, I ended up w/ a bright pink hat with white snowflakes and THREE fuzzy pink pom-poms on the top. The gloves? You guessed it…bright pink. My efforts to “blend in w/ the crowd” have been thwarted, and I am now a walking bubble-gum flavored blow pop. The up-side? I should be easy to locate if I become buried by a snow drift…just look for fuzzy pink pom-poms sticking up out of the snow.
Thank you dictionary.com, for accurately describing my current state of being. Yes folks, I arrived in Chicago Sunday afternoon. Because I’m leaving work in 30 minutes and do not want to pay for the internet connection in my room (because it’s $10.99 for 24 hours!), what follows is merely a short update on my time here thus far:
-Weather upon arrival: -2⁰…and that’s without the windchill. You think I jest. I assure you, I don’t kid about temperatures like that. I would go out and explore the city, but I have no desire to be returned to Seattle as an Essaytch Popsicle (but oh! how tastey!). The weather today is better, being 11⁰. I would say that’s t-shirt weather, no?
-Times I’ve already been lost: 1. Yes, after checking in to the hotel Sunday night, I decided to go for a little walk (-2⁰ be damned) to make sure I would be able to find the office first thing in the morning. I crossed the river, then went left towards the lake. Uh, WRONG! And I knew it when I reached Michigan Avenue, face frozen, nose running, feet hurting, no idea where I was. All I could think, as the sun was starting to sink, was “Get back to the hotel as soon as possible before you die.”
-Number of Blisters: 1. Would you believe my heels are more comfortable than my boots?! And no, two pairs of socks does not help. Neither does a band-aid. Oh, my poor little piggie…
-What time I went to bed Sunday night: 9pm Chicago time, 7pm Seattle time. What can I say, flying takes it out of me.
-Closest Starbucks: right across the street from the office (thank you Jesus). Because by the time I get to work, I’m pretty dang cold.
-Number of freakouts since arrival: 3. The first when I got lost Sunday night. The second when they found out I had already been re-imaged to Vista and weren’t sure if the client network was compatible—thinking I’d have to get re-re-imaged back to XP for my time here, then re-re-RE-imaged to Vista when I go home. And the last when I found out my company credit card spending limit is so low that it will only cover a week and a half of expenses at a time…barely enough for my hotel and meals for a week. Um, supervisor? Can we get that raised? I promise I won’t go to Nordstrom and buy a fur coat or a million pairs of shoes.
-Number of freakouts prior to departure: innumerable…but specifically regarding the weight of my checked baggage. And thank you, Roomie, for not feeding my neurosis by giving in to my pleas to lift the bag and tell me if you thought it was over 70 lbs. (turned out to be only 43 lbs)
-Number of times I’ve left something in a cab: 1. But it was the hat and gloves that I searched the entire city of Seattle to find before I left. But I refuse to be that tourist that calls the cab company to see if they found it, because I can hear that conversation now:
CAB DISPATCHER: Generic Cab Company of Chicago…
ME: Yes, I accidentally left a hat and gloves in one of your cabs this morning. It was charcoal and had a cute pom-pom on the top.
CAB DISPATCHER: You lost a charcoal hat w/ a pom-pom on it? Let me look in our lost and found. *sifts around in a gigantic box FULL of hats and gloves, more than a few of which are charcoal w/ cute pom-poms on the top* Yeah, I’m not seeing anything…
ME: Nuts.
Anyway, so that’s just a small sampling of my time in Chicago thus far. I’m sure there are plenty more adventures to come, especially if I keep purchasing and losing hats and gloves in random cabs around the city. I’ll post more as the adventures continue, but for now my next mission is simply to make it downstairs to the Starbucks to drink my breakfast.
…must…post…something. You know you’re starting to suck at blogging when your stats take a sudden dive due to lack of fresh content. So, because I must post to keep the circulation going, I will share an update on my next adventure at Fabulous New Job. I eluded to it last week in my follow up post to “What I MEANT to say was…”, but now it’s official: I am heading to The Windy City of Chicago! And I’m leaving on Sunday! And I haven’t packed A THING!!!
If I haven’t explained it before, my role at Fabulous New Job is like that of a permanent Temp. They call me a “Floater” because I float around from desk to desk, department to department to fill in as needed. If it’s busy season and a function needs more hands on deck: I’m your gal. If a committee is planning a special event and they need someone to coordinate a few details for them: gimme a call. If an admin is on maternity leave/medical leave/extended vacation and the partner doesn’t know how to manage his/her own Outlook Calendar: I’m game. The downside to this particular position is that, while I do have a desk w/ my name on it in our office, I never get to sit at it. Which means all the fun things that most people do to make a space their own, like putting up pictures and organizing their drawers and files a certain way, I don’t really get to do. Another downfall is that as soon as I get comfortable in a position and feel like I’m really hitting my stride and have figured things out, I get uprooted and have to move again. The upside? I get to experience the ins and outs of all the functions and departments, and considering this particular business sector is completely foreign to me, I would assume that by the end of the year I’ll have a much better understanding of what is going on around here. Oh, that and the fact that I get to do cool shit like travel to Chicago w/ all expenses paid, and help plan a retreat (that I also get to attend) in another cool city. So yeah, no complaints from me!
Last week, I found out that the admin supporting the team for one of our major clients that I was working on put in her two weeks notice: she’s moving to another state to be with her boyfriend/fiance/lover guy. (aside: I discovered recently that this is a different guy from the one she claimed she would be moving to London for 6 months ago–eh, love is fickle, go figure) Anyway, the partners had a brief moment of panic when they realized she was leaving them stranded in the middle of busy season and they had no one w/ any knowledge about this particular client engagement to fill in her place. Except for yours truly. So they immediately (last Wednesday) called the partner I’d been supporting to inquire when the permanent admin was returning, and could they “borrow” me for a while. It just so happened we had received the latest update from her that morning saying that she would be returning the next week, this past Tuesday.
By Thursday last, I had agreed to the proposal (duh, who wouldn’t?), and received the official “OK” from my supervisor (who manages my assignments). On Saturday, I took the cat to my parent’s house for an extended stay. On Monday, plans were solidified for my arrival in Chicago a week later. Yesterday, I booked my flight (one way–how scary is that?!) and hotel. I’ve spent the last few days making detailed packing lists. I’ve spent ALL my extra money buying travel toiletries (love them) and an extra suitcase. I even bought 8 new pairs of underwear, because the hotel laundry will see them. I cannot find a matching hat and scarf anywhere in Seattle. I have gone over Fabulous New Job’s travel and expense policy with a fine tooth comb to make sure I know what’s “allowable” and what isn’t. I found out I can travel to another city in lieu of coming home for the weekend, as long as the airfare is of equal/lesser value than a ticket home…hmmmm, NYC anyone?
I have staked out a few things to see and do already: The Field Museum, The Art Institute, I’ve made plans to see Wicked. But other than that, my itinerary is empty! Considering the fact that I’ll be eating virtually 3 meals a day from restaurants, if anyone has any recommendations for fab eats downtown, please let me know! In addition, if there are any must-sees to recommend, again send ‘em my way!
So, while I may not be “home” for the next month, do not fret! I’ll still be blogging, and considering I plan on buying a digital camera before I go, I’m sure there will be plenty to “photo blog” about too! So keep your eyes peeled…hopefully, the next few weeks will prove to be HILARIOUS!
The Mood: a warm fireplace, low lighting, fantastic view of Lake Union & downtown Seattle, a table by the window with 3 fabulous friends, the piano stylings of Walt Wagner
The Celebration: one new job, three upcoming birthdays
The Wine: a bottle of Viognier, a bottle of the jammiest Zinfandel
The Food: Amuse Buche– warm cauliflower and leek puree in a sake shot glass; First Course–House Salad of romaine, bacon, Romano cheese, fresh mint, oregano and a dressing of lemon, olive oil and coddled egg; Escargot under puff pastry with whole roasted garlic, thyme and lemon butter; Smoked Pheasant Tart w/ goat cheese, cranberry emulsion, endive salad and candied pecans; Main Course–Filet Mignon, aged, naturally raised Black Angus beef with market vegetables, cooked medium rare and served w/ potato gratin; Muscovy Duck Breast w/ butternut squash ragout, sage brown butter and aged balsamic; Pacific Ahi Tuna w/ pan seared with furikake, Thai cucumber salad and chive oil; Dessert–Apple Tarte Tatin, Fuji apples baked on puff pastry with cinnamon ice cream and apple mint ice, ordered w/ Capuccino; Grand Marnier Souffle w/ crème anglaise
The Details: a chair always pulled out for you; a new napkin folded and waiting upon your return from the restroom; the invisible valet ticket
The Place: Canlis
*sigh*
