Aaagh. The pleasure of spending a weekend at home.
Well, sort of. I have some Princeton Alumni meeting this weekend. I am, surprisingly, looking forward to it.
In addition, I have some studying to do.
Work is getting a lot tougher, but it's challenging and exciting at the same time. Comparing my position here in this plant with my previous position has highlighted the reason some companies succeed and others don't. This is a professional organization: an organization of absolutely seasoned people who blow my mind every single time I see them. It's a truly remarkable place, where every single person is just bloody bright. I have met two truly forgettable people: one of them was fired, and the other one (word has it) is on his way out.
It's sink-or-swim here.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Upcoming week
I started studying for one of the 3 big exams I have coming up soon. Well, at least I tried.
Yesterday, Saturday, I went to get my hair done. The hair dressers are from Togo, and they are great: very nice ladies. Crucially, they didn't braid the hair unbearably tight, as some people are prone to do.
One deal breaker, though: the lady who did my hair talked on the phone the entire time. She yelled and screamed and hollered and spit on my poor head. It was quite disconcerting. Enough to make me seek another hairdresser, sharpish. Yes, I'm paranoid like that.
Oh yeah, I'm going out to dinner tomorrow with a group of people in a meetup group. SO that's Monday settled, then. I plan to go to work really early, work on some administrative stuff, and then leave work around 3pm, before coming back to my apartment to do laundry and possibly pack. And then go to dinner around 7pm or 06:30pm.
And then Tuesday night, head out to Illinois after work. And then return Thursday night. Sleep over in Cleveland on Thursday (at the airport hotel), and then return to work Friday, and drive to Columbus on Saturday.
Luckily, I am not doing any more traveling for the next few months. I think. Perhaps a drive to Cleveland every now and then. Perhaps.
Not sure... I realized earlier today just how unbearably tired I am right now. I need to start resting a little. Take things easy.
And, yes, I'm thinking of going to the US Open (perhaps even the finals). I kind of wonder how much it will cost. But no matter. Seeing Rafa Nadal is a priceless experience. I hope the knees hold up, and (more importantly), that he does very well at the tournament.
Yesterday, Saturday, I went to get my hair done. The hair dressers are from Togo, and they are great: very nice ladies. Crucially, they didn't braid the hair unbearably tight, as some people are prone to do.
One deal breaker, though: the lady who did my hair talked on the phone the entire time. She yelled and screamed and hollered and spit on my poor head. It was quite disconcerting. Enough to make me seek another hairdresser, sharpish. Yes, I'm paranoid like that.
Oh yeah, I'm going out to dinner tomorrow with a group of people in a meetup group. SO that's Monday settled, then. I plan to go to work really early, work on some administrative stuff, and then leave work around 3pm, before coming back to my apartment to do laundry and possibly pack. And then go to dinner around 7pm or 06:30pm.
And then Tuesday night, head out to Illinois after work. And then return Thursday night. Sleep over in Cleveland on Thursday (at the airport hotel), and then return to work Friday, and drive to Columbus on Saturday.
Luckily, I am not doing any more traveling for the next few months. I think. Perhaps a drive to Cleveland every now and then. Perhaps.
Not sure... I realized earlier today just how unbearably tired I am right now. I need to start resting a little. Take things easy.
And, yes, I'm thinking of going to the US Open (perhaps even the finals). I kind of wonder how much it will cost. But no matter. Seeing Rafa Nadal is a priceless experience. I hope the knees hold up, and (more importantly), that he does very well at the tournament.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Training and work
Aaaaaaaagh. I hate to keep harping on and on about the same thing. I am definitely going to Illinois next week. Today I gave a big presentation at work - myself and another dude from work. He's very bright, and I was quite impressed with him.
It went better than I expected. I think I was a lot less nervous about presenting to such a large group than I thought I'd be. Indeed I was very confident when I got up to speak before the group. Rather surprising, but for me, what that means is that I will never be nervous again when speaking before a large group. I am that way: once I conquer a fear, there is no going back. And I really think this is one fear that has been conquered.
One more thing, though: I had a 12-hour day at work today. The training session we had was a big eye-opener for us. What it showed us is just how far we have to go. Today, my boss mentioned something to the effect of doing this every week from now until September 30th. AND. I. WAS. LIKE. HOLY. BLOODY. SHIT.
He said we might have to do this 2 days out of every week, and do it every week from now until September 30th, when we have a massive, massive massive audit which our plant HAS TO pass! Scary shit! Tomorrow, we have to sit to finalize what the plan going forward is (i.e. myself, my boss and the bright dude I gave the presentation today with have to have a meeting). Anyway, what matters is that we completed this round of training...
It went better than I expected. I think I was a lot less nervous about presenting to such a large group than I thought I'd be. Indeed I was very confident when I got up to speak before the group. Rather surprising, but for me, what that means is that I will never be nervous again when speaking before a large group. I am that way: once I conquer a fear, there is no going back. And I really think this is one fear that has been conquered.
One more thing, though: I had a 12-hour day at work today. The training session we had was a big eye-opener for us. What it showed us is just how far we have to go. Today, my boss mentioned something to the effect of doing this every week from now until September 30th. AND. I. WAS. LIKE. HOLY. BLOODY. SHIT.
He said we might have to do this 2 days out of every week, and do it every week from now until September 30th, when we have a massive, massive massive audit which our plant HAS TO pass! Scary shit! Tomorrow, we have to sit to finalize what the plan going forward is (i.e. myself, my boss and the bright dude I gave the presentation today with have to have a meeting). Anyway, what matters is that we completed this round of training...
Monday, July 12, 2010
On the road again
I found out that I might be going to Illinois again next week. For a 2-day conference.
Actually, that was the first email I read today upon my return to work. It's funny how these things happen: you return to work and find that your name has been entered in some conference and you are expected to be there, sometimes even to talk at said conference. Hilarious. In this case, though, since I really like my job, it's not a big deal at all. I sent the invite to my boss to confirm that I am indeed the one they want (and not him). I'll wait to hear what he has to say, but I am pretty sure it is me.
In the spirit of travel, I hereby post this video:
And, yeah, since tomorrow is my birthday, I am going out to dinner with a new friend. I just met him a few weeks ago. He is a nice man from Cameroon who lives in the same apartment building. I am really looking forward to that, as I am rather bored.
Actually, that was the first email I read today upon my return to work. It's funny how these things happen: you return to work and find that your name has been entered in some conference and you are expected to be there, sometimes even to talk at said conference. Hilarious. In this case, though, since I really like my job, it's not a big deal at all. I sent the invite to my boss to confirm that I am indeed the one they want (and not him). I'll wait to hear what he has to say, but I am pretty sure it is me.
In the spirit of travel, I hereby post this video:
And, yeah, since tomorrow is my birthday, I am going out to dinner with a new friend. I just met him a few weeks ago. He is a nice man from Cameroon who lives in the same apartment building. I am really looking forward to that, as I am rather bored.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Back in town - barely
Good morning all. Today is July 11, 2010. My birthday is in 2 days. I have a busy week ahead of me.
I write from my apartment in Twinsburg, OH. I have been away from my apartment for quite a while now, and when I got back last night, it felt a little unfamiliar. I was surprised at just how messy it was. That was a little disappointment. I remember that before I left for Oklahoma, I had left things in a mess. And when I got back from Oklahoma for that one night, I didn't do much cleaning, as I was too caught up with recovering from the long trip, and preparing for my trip to Arkansas.
Well, Arkansas was a blast. Shame on me for pre-judging Arkansas. I had such terrible notions about what Arkansas would be about. I visited our plant there in March or February (I forget when), and even though I loved Jonesboro, I convinced myself that Jonesboro was an island of civilization in a backward, back-water state. Well, Little Rock changed that. First, the airport is as modern as any other I have seen in recent times. Heck it's a lot better than the airport at New Haven, which (as I think I blogged about), is a disgrace of a room-and-parlor organization with just two gates that are about 10 feet apart. No missing your flight because you couldn't get to the gate in time at that airport.
Back to Arkansas.
My trip to Arkansas was eventful. A little background first. The main reason I had to go to Arkansas was that my company was sending 20 people in my plant to Arkansas, as part of a team-building initiative. We all work together, but really never thought of one another as a solid, indivisible team, mostly because we work at different times, and sometimes do not see each other for weeks on end. In any case, we all had to go to this place called Team Trek. We were scheduled to fly into Little Rock, and then take a shuttle from Little Rock to a little place called Tumbling Shoals. Now I admit I did not do my homework on this trip. Our assistant booked the flights, but I did not find out how I would get from the airport at Little Rock to Tumbling Shoals, which is about 90 minutes away. At the Cleveland airport, I saw a co-worker, who informed me that there was a shuttle to get us from Little Rock to Tumbling Shoals. Turns out she was right. We were due to arrive Little Rock around 01:10pm, and there was a shuttle at 01:30pm to take us there. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the flight out of Cleveland going to Chicago was delayed. By the time that flight landed Chicago, the flight out of Chicago going to Little Rock was boarding. I mentioned that I met a coworker on the plane. Her name is Yolanda. Well, when our plane landed in Chicago 9about a half-hour late), Yolanda ran out of the plane and caught the flight to Little Rock. Me, on the other hand, had some plane-side hand luggage which I had to retrieve. So I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And finally got the luggage.
But missed the flight to Little Rock.
What now?
It was the first flight I ever missed. Considering that I have been a relentless road warrior over the past 18 months, that is a little surprising. I also like to think that I plan my flights very wisely, but in this case, I did not book my flight. Our assistant did. Which is not to say it was her fault, because it really was not, but...
It was already a tight connection in the first place (about a 45 minute layover), but since the inbound flight was delayed, I had no chance. I got to the gate just as boarding ended. The monitor said "Boarding for the Flight to Little Rock is complete". Yikes! Oops!
I was pissed.
It was my first time flying American Airlines, if I am not mistaken, and the experience was horrible (since they delayed the inbound flight and knew I was on that flight).
In any case, I spoke with the man at the counter, who was nice enough to inform me that "2 people from your flight made the connection to Little Rock".
Well, well, well... is this how this is gonna go down? They'll try to blame me for this? I explained the circumstances to the foolish man, who eventually backed down and put me on the next flight to Little Rock, about 4 hours later.
In the interim, I was on the phone with HR at my company (including our assistant, who was awesome about everything, and who booked for a separate car to pick me up when I arrived Little Rock).
I arrived Little Rock around 05:30pm or thereabouts, and thankfully my luggage was there. I was driven by a really cool driver to Tumbling Shoals (we talked the whole way about his life, my life, Nigeria, West Africa, ghettoes, poverty, Princeton, Newark, Yale, etc). It was quite awesome.
Oh, by the way, Yolanda had gone ahead and narrated my situation to the rest of the group. You see, the group took different routes to get to Little Rock. We flew out of Cleveland at different times (7am, 10am, what not). sometimes 2 or 3 people from the plant were on the same flight, sometimes about 10 were on the same flight, etc. Some flights went to North Carolina, others went to Dallas, etc.
From North Carolina, Dallas, what not, we all then flew to Little Rock; the idea was that everyone would get to Little Rock at around 01:00pm, and the shuttle would take us away at 01:30pm. Well, of the 20 people expected to be at Little Rock Airport by 01:30pm, 19 showed up. No prices for guessing who didn't show up!
Well, my manager excused himself from the group - he got a charter car and drove himself. So 18 people made the trip in the shuttle, instead of 19.
In any case, I made it to tumbling Shoals later in the day. But only after I got a voice message from my boss asking me to buy some booze along the way. And then another voice message came in asking me to buy some Jack Daniels along the way, too. Hilarious. When I saw that he had left me a voice message, I thought he would be inquiring about my welfare, but alas, that was not the case. He was instead thinking of liquor. Hilarious!
I couldn't buy either, since the company had specifically instructed the limousine company that we could only stop the car to make restroom breaks. Any other thing was forbidden. Strange, but true.
So I got to Team Trek liquor-less.
And found out that Yolanda had made it, but her luggage had not. Since she was literally the last person to get on the plane, her luggage was not checked in with her, and it was left behind. We would later find out that her luggage came on my flight, and since she was not there to receive it at Little Rock, it was left behind there. FedEx would not deliver that night. Or the following morning either. Not until 04:30pm the next day!
In any case, Team Trek was awesome. The first night, I arrived late. Too late for dinner, so I missed dinner. But my lovely co-workers had saved me dinner. I loved that fact. I ate the dinner hurriedly (baked potato and some roast chicken! It was awesome).
First a little description of the setting. Team Trek is set in a remote area in Arkansas (really remote area, but my GPS got us there, thankfully!). The site is made of different cute cabins, set on several acres of land (at least 30 acres, if I were to guess). The rooms are bunk-style (yes, like back in a dormitory), but they are incredibly comfortable and really awesome. Thick mattresses, clean sheets, good lighting, good restrooms, etc. The only complain was that the shower stalls were a little tiny. Everything else was awesome. I was in a room with 8 beds (so 4 bunks), but luckily did not have to climb up or down, because there were just 4 women, so each of us chose the bottom bunk. Well, the following day was Outdoors day, where we were to learn about team building and trust through outdoors-y activities. I tell you, it was frightening.
Our group of 20 was split into two groups, naturally of 10 each. Since there were just 4 women, each group had 2 women. Each group had a guide, who was a trained coach on the Team Trek staff. They gave lectures on team building, but also handled the outdoors stuff (so safety, logistics, operations, etc). When I got there in the evening, they were all at a lecture, which was completed after I had my dinner. We were told to be ready at 06:30am for breakfast, and by 07:00am, we should all be back in the classroom. I tell ya, I was so excited: it was awesome!
Well, the first test for our team of 10 came by going into the jungle. We were taken to complete a 'task'. Before we reached the site, the instructor (his name is Nick) told us that he wanted all of us to commit to the task. We all said 'yes', that we would do the task. Now, before we even set out that morning (Wednesday), we were given a safety briefing, 2 harnesses, a helmet, etc. The kind of stuff you'll need to go bungee jumping. I started to suspect that we might all have to do that....
In any case, it was not bungee jumping. Instead we stopped somewhere in the jungle and came to a really tall tree. On the trunk of the tree were steps, the kind of steps that mountain climbers usually use as footholds. 40 feet in the air was a platform, about 20 feet across (the actual numbers are 38feet and 18 feet, but who cares, right?). About 7 feet away from the platform was a bar, about 4 feet wide. It appeared that the objective was to climb the tree, walk across the platform (which, by the way, had no railings to hang on to), and then leap out and catch the dangling bar. Oh, yeah, there were ropes we would attach to our harness for safety. The fun part, though, was that the ropes would be held down by the rest of your teammates. In other words, you had to trust them with your life. I tell you, it was scary. Nick told us to first sit down and write down our thoughts. I wrote what I just narrated above, that the objective appeared to be climbing the tree, walking across the platform, and then jumping. I added that that seemed impossible, as it simply looked too tall and too far, etc.
Well, it was. And I did it. I was the 3rd person to go, and my co-workers held me down. I didn't catch the bar, but that was not the objective. It was to conquer fear, and for me, I had long knew that I was afraid of heights. It was awesome. I loved it, especially when I missed the bar, and felt the tug of my harness as my teammates (9 of them), held me back so I could be safely lowered to the ground.
What else?
After that, we had other things to do. We had to catch a vial of "contaminated" material from the middle of a field, without going into the field. In effect we had to use a lasso. Then we had to get all 10 of us across a tight rope (yes, I walked a tight rope, albeit with a harness). Afterwards, one of us had to climb another really high tight rope while the rest of us held him down. I was not the chosen one - it was another guy. That was pretty awesome.
The next day, we had another challenge - this one was to get out of a contaminated "nuclear" zone. We failed on this challenge, because we didn't ask one of our teammates (who had a radio) the right questions, or communicate correctly with him . After this day, we watched a movie that demonstrated the importance of team building: Remember the Titans. I quite liked it. Many people in the room had seen it before - I'd never seen it before, and I quite enjoyed it! It's apparently based on a true story. Very interesting!
Finally, we had a grand challenge, which was to build a boat. But first we had to find the items to build the boat. You guessed it. The items were scattered across acres and acres and acres of land. And we had to find the items, one of which would "expire" after a few hours. There were about 23 or 24 items in all We were given radios for communication, maps for finding our way, compasses for navigation, basic training on how to use these, and a slap on the back for good luck. It was kind of like a reality show.
We split into teams, including a stationary headquarters, which would eventually realize that we needed them out there, so they gave up coordinating activities from a "control" base and actually went out there to look for stuff. It was amazing. I was part of a group that had to find 6 items. Each item was given a number or a letter or a combination, each of which was attached to a tree. We had to find the numbers or letters and call them in as we did.
My group was led by a Canadian man who had hiked the Grand Canyon. No, I mean really hiked at the Grand Canyon. He went inside the Grand Canyon and back out.
o_O
I, the couch potato, am 25 pounds overweight and cannot remember the last time I did any real exercise. Also in my group was a nice man with a lot of endurance (he is about 50 years old, but he does a lot of exercise). And a Vietnam vet. And another guy who is about my age, but still, another man. Men of that age are typically really fit. You can understand why I would struggle a little. Or at least think I would.
In the end, there were only 2 people who did not stop for a break. The Grand Canyon man and... myself. I was so proud. It took us about 3 hours to find all the items. I was proud of my Geography lessons from secondary school, as I was able to read the map flawlessly..
Next day, early in the morning (Friday), we built the boat using 55-gallon drums (6 in all). We chose 6 rowers, and tried to beat a record set by another company. We failed at the record, but were all so proud of our effort, that we didn't care. We all got in the water (eventhough I cannot swim), and took pictures. Then we went over each person's Coat of Arms, where we talked about our lives: the defining moments (for me, the day my father bought a computer and also the day my brother got his hand caught in a running blender). From those two days, I said a) a new world was opened up to me through the computer (i.e. science, because I spent a lot of time reading encyclopedias on CDs and Disks), and b) I learned through my brother's physical pain and my mother's anguish, that I did not want to become a doctor. We talked of our strongest and weakest points (mine were for strongest: curiosity, fact-based decisions a.k.a. objectivity in inherently subjective matters and for weakest: level-headedness - oft mistaken for coldness, curiosity -oft mistaken for nosiness and being judgemental, and on the latter point, I narrated the story of a mechanic I know, who has a tough-guy demeanor and tattoos all over his body. Alas, he is cute as a bunny in reality, watching chick flicks all day long. Yet I had assumed he would be the kind of person watching slashers all day. I was wrong. I had made assumptions about him, but his reality ended up being so different from my picture of his life, that I was thoroughly ashamed when I eventually got to know him).
We also spoke of governing values. I chose four: temperance, faith (not in a particular religion, but in a Higher Power - this is not exactly true, but...), generosity (since I relied on this from other people to get me through college). We also talked about something we have that money cannot buy & death cannot erase, and I mentioned my college degree, because I paid a total of $0 for it, and, well, even if the paper copy disappears, the process of going through college will never be taken from me. We talked about what we want to be remembered for after we die, and I said I want to be remembered for conquering my fears. I actually quoted Fela, and his "The secret to life is to have no fear" quote. Then the other 19 people had their own presentations about their quote of arms, and that was it.
There were many revelations during this coat of arms stuff. One lady told us her mother had passed away 15 years before, of bone marrow cancer. Another told us about how he had a son, only to find out 2 weeks later that the child was not his. Another told us of having twins born on Christmas Eve, only for them to die on New Year's Eve. It was quite revealing.
Afterwards, we parted - it was emotional, and it was difficult to say goodbye to everyone.
The best part of the whole thing was the personal growth for me and for everyone else over the past few years. I also got to spend a lot of time with some of my coworkers, which was a lot of fun! We roamed the Chicago airport and ate and rambled about, etc. I had a good time, actually.
I got back to Cleveland Airport around 11:30pm, and got in bed at 11:45pm on Friday night. I stayed at the Airport hotel (a Sheraton, which was very nice), and then drove to Columbus on Saturday morning, and back in the evening. I don't need to mention the fact that i was exhausted by the time I got back.
So I took a step back recently and checked all the traveling I have done over the past 2 weeks. I went from Cleveland (on Friday July 2nd) to Minneapolis to Tulsa (Oklahoma) where I stayed for one night at a hotel to Stillwater (Oklahoma) to Tulsa (Oklahoma) to Stillwater, back to Tulsa, and then to Tennessee and then to Cleveland and Twinsburg, then after one night in Twinsburg, back to Cleveland, to Chicago, to Little Rock to Tumbling Shoals, back to Little Rock, to Chicago, to Cleveland, then one night at a hotel in Cleveland, then to Columbus yesterday (Saturday) before driving back to Twinsburg in the evening.
o_O
Needless to say, I plan to remain in Ohio until September. I will make about 4-6 trips to Columbus between now and September, and Inshallah (no, I'm not a Muslim), make a trip to California in September and Texas in November and possibly again in December. But I really want to take it easy now...
Oh, yeah, the World Cup finals was played today. Holland vs. Spain. Two perennial losers. Spain won, 1-0, as they have other games in this tournament. I kind of watched the match, and did laundry and cleaned my apartment at the same time. To be honest, the match was a disaster. Did I mention that the officiating (by Howard Webb, a Brit) was a bloody disgrace? The ref, at a point, gave a yellow card for a foul he did not see. Indeed I believe he gave the card because the Spanish player play-acted and screamed like a little school girl). The match itself? Boring. Negative. Lots of fouls by the Dutch. Lots of diving by the Spaniards. Just before the goal, I texted my pal Tim in NJ and told him that the game needed some excitement, like a headbutt as we had the other time in the 2006 finals, and lo and behold, we got a red card shortly after that. Following that, Spain scored a goal, Casillas burst into tears, and at the final whistle some on the Dutch team started crying like a bunch of school girls. I didn't really stick around to watch the celebrations, so terrible was the match. I think it's the most boring World Cup finals I have seen since... well, ever... perhaps 1990, cos I don't really remember that one. 1994 was really exciting. As was 1998, as was 2002, and 06, and now this. Yuk. I am glad this useless World Cup is well behind us!
In any case, after the boring match, I watched "Behind the Music" on VH1, with Jennifer Hudson. And, right after that, was a movie on VH1. "Remember the Titans". I laughed out loud when I saw that.
What next now, after this long blog post? I have to clean my apartment a bit more, and then after that, possibly watch the show "The Next Food Network Star". And then go to sleep. This week is a big one for me at work, so I have to be on my A-game!
OK, that's it for now. Take care!!
I write from my apartment in Twinsburg, OH. I have been away from my apartment for quite a while now, and when I got back last night, it felt a little unfamiliar. I was surprised at just how messy it was. That was a little disappointment. I remember that before I left for Oklahoma, I had left things in a mess. And when I got back from Oklahoma for that one night, I didn't do much cleaning, as I was too caught up with recovering from the long trip, and preparing for my trip to Arkansas.
Well, Arkansas was a blast. Shame on me for pre-judging Arkansas. I had such terrible notions about what Arkansas would be about. I visited our plant there in March or February (I forget when), and even though I loved Jonesboro, I convinced myself that Jonesboro was an island of civilization in a backward, back-water state. Well, Little Rock changed that. First, the airport is as modern as any other I have seen in recent times. Heck it's a lot better than the airport at New Haven, which (as I think I blogged about), is a disgrace of a room-and-parlor organization with just two gates that are about 10 feet apart. No missing your flight because you couldn't get to the gate in time at that airport.
Back to Arkansas.
My trip to Arkansas was eventful. A little background first. The main reason I had to go to Arkansas was that my company was sending 20 people in my plant to Arkansas, as part of a team-building initiative. We all work together, but really never thought of one another as a solid, indivisible team, mostly because we work at different times, and sometimes do not see each other for weeks on end. In any case, we all had to go to this place called Team Trek. We were scheduled to fly into Little Rock, and then take a shuttle from Little Rock to a little place called Tumbling Shoals. Now I admit I did not do my homework on this trip. Our assistant booked the flights, but I did not find out how I would get from the airport at Little Rock to Tumbling Shoals, which is about 90 minutes away. At the Cleveland airport, I saw a co-worker, who informed me that there was a shuttle to get us from Little Rock to Tumbling Shoals. Turns out she was right. We were due to arrive Little Rock around 01:10pm, and there was a shuttle at 01:30pm to take us there. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the flight out of Cleveland going to Chicago was delayed. By the time that flight landed Chicago, the flight out of Chicago going to Little Rock was boarding. I mentioned that I met a coworker on the plane. Her name is Yolanda. Well, when our plane landed in Chicago 9about a half-hour late), Yolanda ran out of the plane and caught the flight to Little Rock. Me, on the other hand, had some plane-side hand luggage which I had to retrieve. So I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And finally got the luggage.
But missed the flight to Little Rock.
What now?
It was the first flight I ever missed. Considering that I have been a relentless road warrior over the past 18 months, that is a little surprising. I also like to think that I plan my flights very wisely, but in this case, I did not book my flight. Our assistant did. Which is not to say it was her fault, because it really was not, but...
It was already a tight connection in the first place (about a 45 minute layover), but since the inbound flight was delayed, I had no chance. I got to the gate just as boarding ended. The monitor said "Boarding for the Flight to Little Rock is complete". Yikes! Oops!
I was pissed.
It was my first time flying American Airlines, if I am not mistaken, and the experience was horrible (since they delayed the inbound flight and knew I was on that flight).
In any case, I spoke with the man at the counter, who was nice enough to inform me that "2 people from your flight made the connection to Little Rock".
Well, well, well... is this how this is gonna go down? They'll try to blame me for this? I explained the circumstances to the foolish man, who eventually backed down and put me on the next flight to Little Rock, about 4 hours later.
In the interim, I was on the phone with HR at my company (including our assistant, who was awesome about everything, and who booked for a separate car to pick me up when I arrived Little Rock).
I arrived Little Rock around 05:30pm or thereabouts, and thankfully my luggage was there. I was driven by a really cool driver to Tumbling Shoals (we talked the whole way about his life, my life, Nigeria, West Africa, ghettoes, poverty, Princeton, Newark, Yale, etc). It was quite awesome.
Oh, by the way, Yolanda had gone ahead and narrated my situation to the rest of the group. You see, the group took different routes to get to Little Rock. We flew out of Cleveland at different times (7am, 10am, what not). sometimes 2 or 3 people from the plant were on the same flight, sometimes about 10 were on the same flight, etc. Some flights went to North Carolina, others went to Dallas, etc.
From North Carolina, Dallas, what not, we all then flew to Little Rock; the idea was that everyone would get to Little Rock at around 01:00pm, and the shuttle would take us away at 01:30pm. Well, of the 20 people expected to be at Little Rock Airport by 01:30pm, 19 showed up. No prices for guessing who didn't show up!
Well, my manager excused himself from the group - he got a charter car and drove himself. So 18 people made the trip in the shuttle, instead of 19.
In any case, I made it to tumbling Shoals later in the day. But only after I got a voice message from my boss asking me to buy some booze along the way. And then another voice message came in asking me to buy some Jack Daniels along the way, too. Hilarious. When I saw that he had left me a voice message, I thought he would be inquiring about my welfare, but alas, that was not the case. He was instead thinking of liquor. Hilarious!
I couldn't buy either, since the company had specifically instructed the limousine company that we could only stop the car to make restroom breaks. Any other thing was forbidden. Strange, but true.
So I got to Team Trek liquor-less.
And found out that Yolanda had made it, but her luggage had not. Since she was literally the last person to get on the plane, her luggage was not checked in with her, and it was left behind. We would later find out that her luggage came on my flight, and since she was not there to receive it at Little Rock, it was left behind there. FedEx would not deliver that night. Or the following morning either. Not until 04:30pm the next day!
In any case, Team Trek was awesome. The first night, I arrived late. Too late for dinner, so I missed dinner. But my lovely co-workers had saved me dinner. I loved that fact. I ate the dinner hurriedly (baked potato and some roast chicken! It was awesome).
First a little description of the setting. Team Trek is set in a remote area in Arkansas (really remote area, but my GPS got us there, thankfully!). The site is made of different cute cabins, set on several acres of land (at least 30 acres, if I were to guess). The rooms are bunk-style (yes, like back in a dormitory), but they are incredibly comfortable and really awesome. Thick mattresses, clean sheets, good lighting, good restrooms, etc. The only complain was that the shower stalls were a little tiny. Everything else was awesome. I was in a room with 8 beds (so 4 bunks), but luckily did not have to climb up or down, because there were just 4 women, so each of us chose the bottom bunk. Well, the following day was Outdoors day, where we were to learn about team building and trust through outdoors-y activities. I tell you, it was frightening.
Our group of 20 was split into two groups, naturally of 10 each. Since there were just 4 women, each group had 2 women. Each group had a guide, who was a trained coach on the Team Trek staff. They gave lectures on team building, but also handled the outdoors stuff (so safety, logistics, operations, etc). When I got there in the evening, they were all at a lecture, which was completed after I had my dinner. We were told to be ready at 06:30am for breakfast, and by 07:00am, we should all be back in the classroom. I tell ya, I was so excited: it was awesome!
Well, the first test for our team of 10 came by going into the jungle. We were taken to complete a 'task'. Before we reached the site, the instructor (his name is Nick) told us that he wanted all of us to commit to the task. We all said 'yes', that we would do the task. Now, before we even set out that morning (Wednesday), we were given a safety briefing, 2 harnesses, a helmet, etc. The kind of stuff you'll need to go bungee jumping. I started to suspect that we might all have to do that....
In any case, it was not bungee jumping. Instead we stopped somewhere in the jungle and came to a really tall tree. On the trunk of the tree were steps, the kind of steps that mountain climbers usually use as footholds. 40 feet in the air was a platform, about 20 feet across (the actual numbers are 38feet and 18 feet, but who cares, right?). About 7 feet away from the platform was a bar, about 4 feet wide. It appeared that the objective was to climb the tree, walk across the platform (which, by the way, had no railings to hang on to), and then leap out and catch the dangling bar. Oh, yeah, there were ropes we would attach to our harness for safety. The fun part, though, was that the ropes would be held down by the rest of your teammates. In other words, you had to trust them with your life. I tell you, it was scary. Nick told us to first sit down and write down our thoughts. I wrote what I just narrated above, that the objective appeared to be climbing the tree, walking across the platform, and then jumping. I added that that seemed impossible, as it simply looked too tall and too far, etc.
Well, it was. And I did it. I was the 3rd person to go, and my co-workers held me down. I didn't catch the bar, but that was not the objective. It was to conquer fear, and for me, I had long knew that I was afraid of heights. It was awesome. I loved it, especially when I missed the bar, and felt the tug of my harness as my teammates (9 of them), held me back so I could be safely lowered to the ground.
What else?
After that, we had other things to do. We had to catch a vial of "contaminated" material from the middle of a field, without going into the field. In effect we had to use a lasso. Then we had to get all 10 of us across a tight rope (yes, I walked a tight rope, albeit with a harness). Afterwards, one of us had to climb another really high tight rope while the rest of us held him down. I was not the chosen one - it was another guy. That was pretty awesome.
The next day, we had another challenge - this one was to get out of a contaminated "nuclear" zone. We failed on this challenge, because we didn't ask one of our teammates (who had a radio) the right questions, or communicate correctly with him . After this day, we watched a movie that demonstrated the importance of team building: Remember the Titans. I quite liked it. Many people in the room had seen it before - I'd never seen it before, and I quite enjoyed it! It's apparently based on a true story. Very interesting!
Finally, we had a grand challenge, which was to build a boat. But first we had to find the items to build the boat. You guessed it. The items were scattered across acres and acres and acres of land. And we had to find the items, one of which would "expire" after a few hours. There were about 23 or 24 items in all We were given radios for communication, maps for finding our way, compasses for navigation, basic training on how to use these, and a slap on the back for good luck. It was kind of like a reality show.
We split into teams, including a stationary headquarters, which would eventually realize that we needed them out there, so they gave up coordinating activities from a "control" base and actually went out there to look for stuff. It was amazing. I was part of a group that had to find 6 items. Each item was given a number or a letter or a combination, each of which was attached to a tree. We had to find the numbers or letters and call them in as we did.
My group was led by a Canadian man who had hiked the Grand Canyon. No, I mean really hiked at the Grand Canyon. He went inside the Grand Canyon and back out.
o_O
I, the couch potato, am 25 pounds overweight and cannot remember the last time I did any real exercise. Also in my group was a nice man with a lot of endurance (he is about 50 years old, but he does a lot of exercise). And a Vietnam vet. And another guy who is about my age, but still, another man. Men of that age are typically really fit. You can understand why I would struggle a little. Or at least think I would.
In the end, there were only 2 people who did not stop for a break. The Grand Canyon man and... myself. I was so proud. It took us about 3 hours to find all the items. I was proud of my Geography lessons from secondary school, as I was able to read the map flawlessly..
Next day, early in the morning (Friday), we built the boat using 55-gallon drums (6 in all). We chose 6 rowers, and tried to beat a record set by another company. We failed at the record, but were all so proud of our effort, that we didn't care. We all got in the water (eventhough I cannot swim), and took pictures. Then we went over each person's Coat of Arms, where we talked about our lives: the defining moments (for me, the day my father bought a computer and also the day my brother got his hand caught in a running blender). From those two days, I said a) a new world was opened up to me through the computer (i.e. science, because I spent a lot of time reading encyclopedias on CDs and Disks), and b) I learned through my brother's physical pain and my mother's anguish, that I did not want to become a doctor. We talked of our strongest and weakest points (mine were for strongest: curiosity, fact-based decisions a.k.a. objectivity in inherently subjective matters and for weakest: level-headedness - oft mistaken for coldness, curiosity -oft mistaken for nosiness and being judgemental, and on the latter point, I narrated the story of a mechanic I know, who has a tough-guy demeanor and tattoos all over his body. Alas, he is cute as a bunny in reality, watching chick flicks all day long. Yet I had assumed he would be the kind of person watching slashers all day. I was wrong. I had made assumptions about him, but his reality ended up being so different from my picture of his life, that I was thoroughly ashamed when I eventually got to know him).
We also spoke of governing values. I chose four: temperance, faith (not in a particular religion, but in a Higher Power - this is not exactly true, but...), generosity (since I relied on this from other people to get me through college). We also talked about something we have that money cannot buy & death cannot erase, and I mentioned my college degree, because I paid a total of $0 for it, and, well, even if the paper copy disappears, the process of going through college will never be taken from me. We talked about what we want to be remembered for after we die, and I said I want to be remembered for conquering my fears. I actually quoted Fela, and his "The secret to life is to have no fear" quote. Then the other 19 people had their own presentations about their quote of arms, and that was it.
There were many revelations during this coat of arms stuff. One lady told us her mother had passed away 15 years before, of bone marrow cancer. Another told us about how he had a son, only to find out 2 weeks later that the child was not his. Another told us of having twins born on Christmas Eve, only for them to die on New Year's Eve. It was quite revealing.
Afterwards, we parted - it was emotional, and it was difficult to say goodbye to everyone.
The best part of the whole thing was the personal growth for me and for everyone else over the past few years. I also got to spend a lot of time with some of my coworkers, which was a lot of fun! We roamed the Chicago airport and ate and rambled about, etc. I had a good time, actually.
I got back to Cleveland Airport around 11:30pm, and got in bed at 11:45pm on Friday night. I stayed at the Airport hotel (a Sheraton, which was very nice), and then drove to Columbus on Saturday morning, and back in the evening. I don't need to mention the fact that i was exhausted by the time I got back.
So I took a step back recently and checked all the traveling I have done over the past 2 weeks. I went from Cleveland (on Friday July 2nd) to Minneapolis to Tulsa (Oklahoma) where I stayed for one night at a hotel to Stillwater (Oklahoma) to Tulsa (Oklahoma) to Stillwater, back to Tulsa, and then to Tennessee and then to Cleveland and Twinsburg, then after one night in Twinsburg, back to Cleveland, to Chicago, to Little Rock to Tumbling Shoals, back to Little Rock, to Chicago, to Cleveland, then one night at a hotel in Cleveland, then to Columbus yesterday (Saturday) before driving back to Twinsburg in the evening.
o_O
Needless to say, I plan to remain in Ohio until September. I will make about 4-6 trips to Columbus between now and September, and Inshallah (no, I'm not a Muslim), make a trip to California in September and Texas in November and possibly again in December. But I really want to take it easy now...
Oh, yeah, the World Cup finals was played today. Holland vs. Spain. Two perennial losers. Spain won, 1-0, as they have other games in this tournament. I kind of watched the match, and did laundry and cleaned my apartment at the same time. To be honest, the match was a disaster. Did I mention that the officiating (by Howard Webb, a Brit) was a bloody disgrace? The ref, at a point, gave a yellow card for a foul he did not see. Indeed I believe he gave the card because the Spanish player play-acted and screamed like a little school girl). The match itself? Boring. Negative. Lots of fouls by the Dutch. Lots of diving by the Spaniards. Just before the goal, I texted my pal Tim in NJ and told him that the game needed some excitement, like a headbutt as we had the other time in the 2006 finals, and lo and behold, we got a red card shortly after that. Following that, Spain scored a goal, Casillas burst into tears, and at the final whistle some on the Dutch team started crying like a bunch of school girls. I didn't really stick around to watch the celebrations, so terrible was the match. I think it's the most boring World Cup finals I have seen since... well, ever... perhaps 1990, cos I don't really remember that one. 1994 was really exciting. As was 1998, as was 2002, and 06, and now this. Yuk. I am glad this useless World Cup is well behind us!
In any case, after the boring match, I watched "Behind the Music" on VH1, with Jennifer Hudson. And, right after that, was a movie on VH1. "Remember the Titans". I laughed out loud when I saw that.
What next now, after this long blog post? I have to clean my apartment a bit more, and then after that, possibly watch the show "The Next Food Network Star". And then go to sleep. This week is a big one for me at work, so I have to be on my A-game!
OK, that's it for now. Take care!!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Greetings from Twinsburg, OH
I am back in Ohio. I am in Twinsburg for one night. Oklahoma was a blast; I went to see a friend of mine, a lady I have known for about 20 years now. She is a beautiful, brilliant, humble, God-fearing lady, and I absolutely adore her and wish her the best. In many ways, she is a lot that I am not: easy-going, patient, etc. I really loved my time there. She and I and her lovely roomate and her roomate's friend, and another friend of theirs went out to several places: dinner on Saturday at a Thai restaurant, a movie on Saturday night (Grown Ups, with Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and the guy from King of Queens - overall a really funny movie, even if a pointless one); We rented 2 movies (The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Maid in Manhattan, which I had seen before, which stars Jennifer Lopez) and then on Sunday we went to church for the church's 4th July celebrations. I met a lot of her friends, all Nigerians: they are a brilliant, dynamic bunch. We talked, we laughed, we argued! It was a typical Naija gathering.
On Sunday, we drove about 70 miles from Stillwater to Tulsa for the Sunday service at 10am. In church, we had a sermon delivered by an energetic Nigerian preacher, who is actually a Schlumberger engineer. He is a very bright man, and his wife, this welcoming, warm and very beautiful lady was just awesome to us. In any case, after church, we went to the Tulsa Zoo ("And Living Museum") where we saw all sorts of animals, took lots of pictures and generally goofed around. I bought some figurines in the zoo, too.
Towards the end, as the zoo was closing, a massive snake crept out of the bush and passed right in front of us. We screamed and ran off in different directions. The snake went back into the bush - it was at least 10 feet long, wide as my knees. I was frightened, and we were all badly shaken. Needless to say, we kept leaping and screaming at every little motion after that. We couldn't get out of there fast enough. On our way out, we saw a man on a golf cart, with 'SECURITY' emblazoned on his shirt. Upon narrating our story of the snake, he assured us that the authorities already know about the snakes; indeed the authorities put the snakes there themselves, to kill rats. He mentioned that they are harmless snakes and "they will not bother you", he finished emphatically. That was precious little comfort. He was very pleasant about the whole thing, and calmed us down as much as he could. After he left, one of us wondered out loud why there had been no warning signs before we entered about wandering (but harmless) snakes. My friend replied that it would probably scare folks away. She was right. I might not have gone in at all if I had seen a sign of that nature. Not after having lived in Ibadan for so long and seeing snakes at a frequency of more than one a week for over 10 years of my life, sometimes finding the snakes upstairs inside the house. A thousand horses would probably not have dragged me inside the zoo.
Sunday night, there was a planned fireworks show, but with the rain relentlessly battering the area, the show was canceled. My friend and I stayed indoors, while her roomate and her roomate's friend went off with their boyfriends. We watched the beginning of Maid in Manhattan and ate Jollof Rice, which she had prepared before I arrived. She is an exquisite cook. We go waay back. Her father taught my eldest sister Chemistry in University. Her father taught my other sister Chemistry in University. Her father taught me Chemistry in University (she and I were in the same class her dad was teaching). Her father and my step-mother were friends before my step-mother passed away. Her father and my father are friends. Her father probably wrote one of the numerous recommendations that my eldest sister required for her application to American universities a decade ago. In other words, we go waaaaay back. She made me feel incredibly welcome - made her home my home; it was tough saying goodbye to her this morning, but somehow I summoned up the courage to do so. She is a true friend, and I am glad that I am in her life and she is in mine.
On the way back, I drove from Stillwater back to Tulsa. I very nearly missed my flight. At the Tulsa airport (which is much bigger than I remembered from 2 days back), there was a long line at the Delta desk - the line had about 35 people, but the line was only moving at a rate of 2 people every 15 minutes. And there was just 1 hour before the flight took off. Do the math. I had arrived so late because a) I had not anticipated that the airport would be so busy - big mistake. The day after a holiday in the USA is always terrible for flying or other public transport, and 2) I had spent quite a bit of time traveling around the city trying to find a gas station that accepted credit cards or cash or didn't require my having to enter the store to find the clerk and pay him for gas and then go back outside to pump gas. Of course, while I was driving around Tulsa looking for a suitable gas station, I was still working on the assumption that Assumption 1 was valid i..e that there would be hardly anybody at the airport, and that the airport was a very tiny one anyway, kinda like New Haven's airport. Big mistake. Upon arrival, there was a) trouble finding the Delta Check-in Kiosk and b) a big crowd of people waiting at said Delta Kiosk, with just a couple of really slow attendants at the Kiosk and no self-service.
Eventually, everyone flying to Memphis (my transit point) was waved to the front of the line and the self-service kiosks were opened up. I made it in time. At Memphis, I had about 30 minutes, so I sat down to a nice meal of fries and crab cakes (which I had never eaten before, but of which I had heard a tremendous amount). And after that, it was mercifully boring - I got to Cleveland, drove to Twinsburg, and voila! here I am: watching youtube clips of Wimbledon, which I completely missed, as I was at work for the first bits of the tournament, and for the weekend matches, I was on the road or in Oklahoma. So I am effectively watching 2 weeks on tennis via highlight reels: of Berdych beating Federer in 4 sets in the Quarter finals, of Murray beating Tsonga and the dramatic point I had read about but had had difficulty envisioning - at 5-5 in the tie-break in the second set, Tsonga let a sitter slide, and the momentum of the tie-break, set and match swung firmly in Murray's direction after that. Of Berdych beating Djokovic in straight sets in the semis, of Nadal beating Murray in straight sets in the semis (some say this was the match of the tournament), of Rafa beating Berdych in straight sets in the finals, and of the comments Federer made about his injury after he was beaten by Berdych. Looks like it was a fun 2 weeks. And of course there is Serena's victory to watch, too: over Sharapova and eventually over Zvonareva.
In other matters, my Ghanaian friend has recommended a good Ghanaian movie to me. It's called Front Door. The recommendation came in response to my unreserved plaudits for Shirley Frimpong Manso and her excellent movies. He tells me that this is the 2nd best Ghanaian movie out there, after Perfect Picture (I don't even agree that Perfect Picture is the best Ghanaian movie, but that is a matter for another day). He also said, however, that it is like the Ghanaian Ocean's 11. I don't know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, since I found Ocean's 11 unwatchable and stopped after about a half hour of trying and failing to follow the plot.
In any case, we shall see. Still on the subject of movies, my friend and I saw parts of "Why did I get married", by Tyler Perry and it was actually quite nice. We could not watch the whole thing as we did not find a website that would stream it fast enough, and the clips uploaded on Youtube are missing several parts; since I want to watch the rest of the movie (I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw), I think I will go off to rent the movie some time in the near future. Once I figure out what my schedule will be the next few weeks, I'll probably find time to watch the movie.
I am going to Arkansas tomorrow, so I need to hurry up and finish this post, probably watch the movie called Front Door, and write down the list of things I need to pack specially for the trip (work-related items). The good news is that I really don't have to unpack at all, since I just returned from another trip today and my suitcases are sitting in my (very dirty) apartment. I am spending so little time in my apartment these days that I might as well live in a hotel. At least for the next week, I know I'll be away until Friday night, and then possibly I'll sleep over at the airport hotel (instead of driving back here at night - after 11pm), and then go to Columbus on Saturday morning, and return either Saturday evening or Sunday morning. I'm still not sure.
Anyway, I have lots of figurines purchased from the Tulsa zoo, had a great time with my friend and made new friends, too.
Overall, a productive weekend, and it was oodles of fun, too!
Take care,
And have a great week!
On Sunday, we drove about 70 miles from Stillwater to Tulsa for the Sunday service at 10am. In church, we had a sermon delivered by an energetic Nigerian preacher, who is actually a Schlumberger engineer. He is a very bright man, and his wife, this welcoming, warm and very beautiful lady was just awesome to us. In any case, after church, we went to the Tulsa Zoo ("And Living Museum") where we saw all sorts of animals, took lots of pictures and generally goofed around. I bought some figurines in the zoo, too.
Towards the end, as the zoo was closing, a massive snake crept out of the bush and passed right in front of us. We screamed and ran off in different directions. The snake went back into the bush - it was at least 10 feet long, wide as my knees. I was frightened, and we were all badly shaken. Needless to say, we kept leaping and screaming at every little motion after that. We couldn't get out of there fast enough. On our way out, we saw a man on a golf cart, with 'SECURITY' emblazoned on his shirt. Upon narrating our story of the snake, he assured us that the authorities already know about the snakes; indeed the authorities put the snakes there themselves, to kill rats. He mentioned that they are harmless snakes and "they will not bother you", he finished emphatically. That was precious little comfort. He was very pleasant about the whole thing, and calmed us down as much as he could. After he left, one of us wondered out loud why there had been no warning signs before we entered about wandering (but harmless) snakes. My friend replied that it would probably scare folks away. She was right. I might not have gone in at all if I had seen a sign of that nature. Not after having lived in Ibadan for so long and seeing snakes at a frequency of more than one a week for over 10 years of my life, sometimes finding the snakes upstairs inside the house. A thousand horses would probably not have dragged me inside the zoo.
Sunday night, there was a planned fireworks show, but with the rain relentlessly battering the area, the show was canceled. My friend and I stayed indoors, while her roomate and her roomate's friend went off with their boyfriends. We watched the beginning of Maid in Manhattan and ate Jollof Rice, which she had prepared before I arrived. She is an exquisite cook. We go waay back. Her father taught my eldest sister Chemistry in University. Her father taught my other sister Chemistry in University. Her father taught me Chemistry in University (she and I were in the same class her dad was teaching). Her father and my step-mother were friends before my step-mother passed away. Her father and my father are friends. Her father probably wrote one of the numerous recommendations that my eldest sister required for her application to American universities a decade ago. In other words, we go waaaaay back. She made me feel incredibly welcome - made her home my home; it was tough saying goodbye to her this morning, but somehow I summoned up the courage to do so. She is a true friend, and I am glad that I am in her life and she is in mine.
On the way back, I drove from Stillwater back to Tulsa. I very nearly missed my flight. At the Tulsa airport (which is much bigger than I remembered from 2 days back), there was a long line at the Delta desk - the line had about 35 people, but the line was only moving at a rate of 2 people every 15 minutes. And there was just 1 hour before the flight took off. Do the math. I had arrived so late because a) I had not anticipated that the airport would be so busy - big mistake. The day after a holiday in the USA is always terrible for flying or other public transport, and 2) I had spent quite a bit of time traveling around the city trying to find a gas station that accepted credit cards or cash or didn't require my having to enter the store to find the clerk and pay him for gas and then go back outside to pump gas. Of course, while I was driving around Tulsa looking for a suitable gas station, I was still working on the assumption that Assumption 1 was valid i..e that there would be hardly anybody at the airport, and that the airport was a very tiny one anyway, kinda like New Haven's airport. Big mistake. Upon arrival, there was a) trouble finding the Delta Check-in Kiosk and b) a big crowd of people waiting at said Delta Kiosk, with just a couple of really slow attendants at the Kiosk and no self-service.
Eventually, everyone flying to Memphis (my transit point) was waved to the front of the line and the self-service kiosks were opened up. I made it in time. At Memphis, I had about 30 minutes, so I sat down to a nice meal of fries and crab cakes (which I had never eaten before, but of which I had heard a tremendous amount). And after that, it was mercifully boring - I got to Cleveland, drove to Twinsburg, and voila! here I am: watching youtube clips of Wimbledon, which I completely missed, as I was at work for the first bits of the tournament, and for the weekend matches, I was on the road or in Oklahoma. So I am effectively watching 2 weeks on tennis via highlight reels: of Berdych beating Federer in 4 sets in the Quarter finals, of Murray beating Tsonga and the dramatic point I had read about but had had difficulty envisioning - at 5-5 in the tie-break in the second set, Tsonga let a sitter slide, and the momentum of the tie-break, set and match swung firmly in Murray's direction after that. Of Berdych beating Djokovic in straight sets in the semis, of Nadal beating Murray in straight sets in the semis (some say this was the match of the tournament), of Rafa beating Berdych in straight sets in the finals, and of the comments Federer made about his injury after he was beaten by Berdych. Looks like it was a fun 2 weeks. And of course there is Serena's victory to watch, too: over Sharapova and eventually over Zvonareva.
In other matters, my Ghanaian friend has recommended a good Ghanaian movie to me. It's called Front Door. The recommendation came in response to my unreserved plaudits for Shirley Frimpong Manso and her excellent movies. He tells me that this is the 2nd best Ghanaian movie out there, after Perfect Picture (I don't even agree that Perfect Picture is the best Ghanaian movie, but that is a matter for another day). He also said, however, that it is like the Ghanaian Ocean's 11. I don't know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, since I found Ocean's 11 unwatchable and stopped after about a half hour of trying and failing to follow the plot.
In any case, we shall see. Still on the subject of movies, my friend and I saw parts of "Why did I get married", by Tyler Perry and it was actually quite nice. We could not watch the whole thing as we did not find a website that would stream it fast enough, and the clips uploaded on Youtube are missing several parts; since I want to watch the rest of the movie (I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw), I think I will go off to rent the movie some time in the near future. Once I figure out what my schedule will be the next few weeks, I'll probably find time to watch the movie.
I am going to Arkansas tomorrow, so I need to hurry up and finish this post, probably watch the movie called Front Door, and write down the list of things I need to pack specially for the trip (work-related items). The good news is that I really don't have to unpack at all, since I just returned from another trip today and my suitcases are sitting in my (very dirty) apartment. I am spending so little time in my apartment these days that I might as well live in a hotel. At least for the next week, I know I'll be away until Friday night, and then possibly I'll sleep over at the airport hotel (instead of driving back here at night - after 11pm), and then go to Columbus on Saturday morning, and return either Saturday evening or Sunday morning. I'm still not sure.
Anyway, I have lots of figurines purchased from the Tulsa zoo, had a great time with my friend and made new friends, too.
Overall, a productive weekend, and it was oodles of fun, too!
Take care,
And have a great week!
En route Oklahoma, by way of Minneapolis
I write from the Cleveland airport, where I just found that my flight is overbooked. Before I checked in, I was offered the chance to give up my ticket. I declined. I am yet to determine whether my flight to Tulsa is a direct flight or not. On the ticket, there were two cities listed: Cleveland (the origin) and Tulsa (the destination), and there were no transit times. But on the screen at the gate, it says Cleveland, then that flashes away and disappears, Minneapolis appears, and then Tulsa. So I'll find out shortly whether or not we'll be stopping over in Minneapolis. It matters little to me. My bag is checked in and my hand luggage is fairly light (one wheeled bag and a very large purse that contains 2 smaller purses). It sounds like a lot, but it really is not. I'm accustomed to carrying lots of weights (as a geeky high school student, I hurled lots of textbooks to school every day). In addition, I have a very large purse (hell, I have 2 large purses, so this is nothing new to me).
09:38pm ET: I am now in Minneapolis, and there is an African-American woman at the terminal, gossiping on the phone. She opened by talking loudly about some friend of hers who wrote a play and is now about to hit the big time. Now she is talking in normal tones, conspiratorial tones, if you please. But I have good ears. She is talking about her job and her company and her boss. Being in Minneapolis brings memories of the trip I took here in February this year, for some personal development session when I was still a (disgruntled) employee of my former company. I can't say I have great memories of the place, since it was bitterly cold when I arrived there, but visiting in transit is a totally differenty experience.
On the plane from Cleveland, there were a number of unusual things. First was the extremely skinny kid who sat next to me, wearing a T-Shirt that read Oklahoma State. Since I will be visiting Oklahoma State, I tried to pick up a conversation with him, but that died a quick death, since this chap appears to be an absolute social failure. More importantly, his mouth reeked of carbide. I think I need to look into the origin of carbide, and the reasons some people have lots of it, and others don't. To make matters worse, he sneezed a lot on the flight. As did the woman in front of me, and the man sitting across the aisle to my left, and the people in the 2 rows behind him. Indeed the man sitting to my SouthWest was coughing so intensely that I was convinced he would expel his lungs right unto the seat in front of him. Furthermore, the couple that sat across the seat from me had a strange condition: the woman had something covering her nose, akin to a surgical mask. When she briefly took it off prior to boarding, I noticed that she has one nostril, with a black hole for the other nostril. Something made me suspect that she has cancer. In addition, there was a smell around this couple: the smell of disease and decay, and (morbid and heartless as this might sound) a smell of impending death. I was frightened and eventually very guilty, especially because I only realized very late in the flight that the odor which I had noticed upon arrival in the plane, was coming from the couple. I thought of the fact that they already have a nasty invader in their lives, in the form of a potentially incurable disease. How dare I complain about the fact that I was inconvenienced for all of 90 minutes?
Anyway, away from that, I spoke extensively with my boss today. He is, like I have mentioned many times before, a very bright man - a very strategic brain. We plotted the path for my plant for the next year. It was great just speaking with him so extensively. Unlike my previous bosses, who were bright eyed and clueless about manufacturing, here is a man who knows exactly what he is talking about. I love that about him! I have learned more from him in 8 weeks than I learned from my bosses at my old company in over a year. That's how awesome this guy is. And the entire plant is full of people like that. I have also found that he is a perfectionist, so I know I have to step up my game.
In other matters, there is a white couple here at the terminal, with a little black baby (very cute baby). Everyone is staring at them, open-mouthed. I love it when people just forget their manners and allow their curiosity to take over. It's hilarious!
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal beat Andy Murray to reach the Wimbledon Finals. Britain, still reeling from England's pathetic display in South Africa, invested a lot of expectation in this match, and there was the usual shameless hype from the blinkered British Media: endless articles about how this is Murray's time, shows about how Murray has all it takes to beat Nadal, etc. Well, the good news is that Rafa did not read the script. Furthermore, I think the British are probably reluctant to admit that Murray might not yet have what it takes to win a Grand Slam. He has all the shots. He has all the skills, but one thing he does NOT have is the mindset. Tennis is at least 50% mental - I know this despite never having played it professionally. Even when I hit with my sister (who is by no means Steffi Graf), I can tell just how mentally exhausting it is to do well under pressure. That's what matters more than your footwork or the quality of your ground strokes. Plus, Murray relies more than anything else on consistency. Nadal, on the other hand, relies on explosive points - turning defense into offense quicker than possibly any other player on either the WTA or the ATP, and yes, that includes the GOAT.
Another really funny thing, there was some article yesterday on the internet by Nick Bolleteri, who is responsible for producing some of the greatest tennis players of all time i.e. Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova, etc. Mr. Bolleteri gave a number of reasons why this was Djokovic's year. How the real Djokovic, who had charmed the tennis world with his imitations and his humor, had returned. How Djokovic was free swinging again. How Djokovic's game is dangerous when he is in this sort of mood, and yada yada yada (you get the point). Turns out Berdych did not get the memo. It was apparently a routine straight-sets victory for Berdych, with Djokovic providing little resistance to Berdych's power. I didn't see the match, but that's what I was told. So Bolleteri, the guru of tennis, got it wrong this time.
Edit: This is being posted on Monday 5th July, as I didn't have internet access in Oklahoma.
09:38pm ET: I am now in Minneapolis, and there is an African-American woman at the terminal, gossiping on the phone. She opened by talking loudly about some friend of hers who wrote a play and is now about to hit the big time. Now she is talking in normal tones, conspiratorial tones, if you please. But I have good ears. She is talking about her job and her company and her boss. Being in Minneapolis brings memories of the trip I took here in February this year, for some personal development session when I was still a (disgruntled) employee of my former company. I can't say I have great memories of the place, since it was bitterly cold when I arrived there, but visiting in transit is a totally differenty experience.
On the plane from Cleveland, there were a number of unusual things. First was the extremely skinny kid who sat next to me, wearing a T-Shirt that read Oklahoma State. Since I will be visiting Oklahoma State, I tried to pick up a conversation with him, but that died a quick death, since this chap appears to be an absolute social failure. More importantly, his mouth reeked of carbide. I think I need to look into the origin of carbide, and the reasons some people have lots of it, and others don't. To make matters worse, he sneezed a lot on the flight. As did the woman in front of me, and the man sitting across the aisle to my left, and the people in the 2 rows behind him. Indeed the man sitting to my SouthWest was coughing so intensely that I was convinced he would expel his lungs right unto the seat in front of him. Furthermore, the couple that sat across the seat from me had a strange condition: the woman had something covering her nose, akin to a surgical mask. When she briefly took it off prior to boarding, I noticed that she has one nostril, with a black hole for the other nostril. Something made me suspect that she has cancer. In addition, there was a smell around this couple: the smell of disease and decay, and (morbid and heartless as this might sound) a smell of impending death. I was frightened and eventually very guilty, especially because I only realized very late in the flight that the odor which I had noticed upon arrival in the plane, was coming from the couple. I thought of the fact that they already have a nasty invader in their lives, in the form of a potentially incurable disease. How dare I complain about the fact that I was inconvenienced for all of 90 minutes?
Anyway, away from that, I spoke extensively with my boss today. He is, like I have mentioned many times before, a very bright man - a very strategic brain. We plotted the path for my plant for the next year. It was great just speaking with him so extensively. Unlike my previous bosses, who were bright eyed and clueless about manufacturing, here is a man who knows exactly what he is talking about. I love that about him! I have learned more from him in 8 weeks than I learned from my bosses at my old company in over a year. That's how awesome this guy is. And the entire plant is full of people like that. I have also found that he is a perfectionist, so I know I have to step up my game.
In other matters, there is a white couple here at the terminal, with a little black baby (very cute baby). Everyone is staring at them, open-mouthed. I love it when people just forget their manners and allow their curiosity to take over. It's hilarious!
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal beat Andy Murray to reach the Wimbledon Finals. Britain, still reeling from England's pathetic display in South Africa, invested a lot of expectation in this match, and there was the usual shameless hype from the blinkered British Media: endless articles about how this is Murray's time, shows about how Murray has all it takes to beat Nadal, etc. Well, the good news is that Rafa did not read the script. Furthermore, I think the British are probably reluctant to admit that Murray might not yet have what it takes to win a Grand Slam. He has all the shots. He has all the skills, but one thing he does NOT have is the mindset. Tennis is at least 50% mental - I know this despite never having played it professionally. Even when I hit with my sister (who is by no means Steffi Graf), I can tell just how mentally exhausting it is to do well under pressure. That's what matters more than your footwork or the quality of your ground strokes. Plus, Murray relies more than anything else on consistency. Nadal, on the other hand, relies on explosive points - turning defense into offense quicker than possibly any other player on either the WTA or the ATP, and yes, that includes the GOAT.
Another really funny thing, there was some article yesterday on the internet by Nick Bolleteri, who is responsible for producing some of the greatest tennis players of all time i.e. Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova, etc. Mr. Bolleteri gave a number of reasons why this was Djokovic's year. How the real Djokovic, who had charmed the tennis world with his imitations and his humor, had returned. How Djokovic was free swinging again. How Djokovic's game is dangerous when he is in this sort of mood, and yada yada yada (you get the point). Turns out Berdych did not get the memo. It was apparently a routine straight-sets victory for Berdych, with Djokovic providing little resistance to Berdych's power. I didn't see the match, but that's what I was told. So Bolleteri, the guru of tennis, got it wrong this time.
Edit: This is being posted on Monday 5th July, as I didn't have internet access in Oklahoma.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Life - it can be such a heartless bitch
A friend of mine has lung cancer. He is about 40, and yes, he has been smoking for years and years. He is in New Jersey, and I understand that he is receiving chemotherapy. Word on the street is that it has spread to his brain, and that it's not looking good. He was so nice to me at my old plant. When I first arrived, as a kid who was scared out of her mind, I needed some help. He helped me. Took me under his wing. Indeed, he was the one person who told me one day (upon realizing that I was the only Team Leader in the plant, late at night), that if I needed any help anywhere in the plant, even if he didn't know the area well, he'd be there to help. He is that kind of man. Once, a few months ago, I took him to the hospital. He'd cut his hand badly - there was quite a bit of blood. I was frightened. I was nervous because of all the blood and all the pain I imagined he would be in. Turns out he was in very little pain - or at least he didn't show it. Instead, he was laughing: at me for reacting so sheepishly to all the blood. At my relentless fidgeting as the nurses came to examine him. When the doctors finished with him, they slapped a band-aid on his finger and told him to go home and rest. And he put a smile on his face. That's the sort of guy he is - quick to smile, quick to reassure, and, I might add, quick to comfort other people. I hope this ends well. Or at least that it ends quickly and he doesn't have to suffer for a long time.
Still on the subject of the bitch known as cancer, today my plant manager had an emergency meeting. A long-serving member of my plant passed away. She had lung cancer, too. She had only begun chemotherapy really recently. Apparently she got a chance to see her family before she passed away. She didn't wake up this morning, we were told. My plant manager was pretty shaken up by the whole thing. So were the long term employees at the plant, as this lady had been at the plant 30 years.
Life, you see, is short. And too often, it can be a bloody bitch.
Still on the subject of the bitch known as cancer, today my plant manager had an emergency meeting. A long-serving member of my plant passed away. She had lung cancer, too. She had only begun chemotherapy really recently. Apparently she got a chance to see her family before she passed away. She didn't wake up this morning, we were told. My plant manager was pretty shaken up by the whole thing. So were the long term employees at the plant, as this lady had been at the plant 30 years.
Life, you see, is short. And too often, it can be a bloody bitch.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)