So this week was going to be unusual in that I was in PST in Nevada, not Las Vegas, Henderson, Lake Las Vegas specifically, and in a global division meeting, one I was a big part in setting up an untested feature to a standard corporate meeting. It could go really well, well, wrong, horribly wrong. The survey will tell me what I need to know. The initial feedback on my "Colleague Connections" space and activities was positive. But who, besides my colleague, Emily Wright, will say "that sucked" to your face? Not many. My perception is it was largely well received. The one thing I had trepidation over went about as I anticipated, partly because it was much nicer to spend the "Colleague Connection" time outside in the beautiful warm sunny weather and partly because it was a bit of a dud. Sometimes you have to let someone fly with their idea even if you aren't sold, and support them enthusiastically.
After the race on Sunday I got back to a few messages of people wanting to meet about 9 a.m. on Monday morning. Well this was going to blow any chance of getting in a bike ride. I begged off the plans I made with a colleague, he anticipated that would be the case, knowing I'm one to over commit on occasion. I apologized to him and my bike shoes and went to sleep, which did not come as easy as I hoped. Considering they are three hours behind us, it was REALLY late! Monday went about as I anticipated, lots of tension, I managed to get done what I could get done, got told to get lost, and was actually relieved to hear that. I went to my room and did some eMail and took a nap till I could get into my "Colleague Connections" space to get people rounded up to do their thing and get the space set up. The movement was really good for my spirit and my nerves. After a welcome reception with heavy hors d'oeuvres and frankly the worst beer selection I've experienced in a long time, gosh have I become a beer snob? sleep came a little bit easier on Monday night, pshew.
Big day with the kick off of the meeting on Tuesday and one colleague from Japan and the other from Dubai presenting and ice breaker exercise, in their SECOND language to an audience of 400 to start the meeting. I think they were cursing me all last week and based on how horrible my back felt sticking pins in a voodoo doll!! Actually I don't blame them, I'd be terrified and excited all at the same time too. They did great and they were so happy for the push to just try, funny my back felt like I was getting a massage later in the day. Guess voodoo dolls work for good to?? I got in no walk or a run and dinner was right after the meeting on the Las Vegas strip. I and one other colleague wanted so badly to break away from our group and take a power walk up and down the strip to burn off both the excess energy and excess beer! Alas, the group was divided up among many restaurants and the people in charge of our bus (we went to Gordon Ramsay Steakhouse) weren't letting any of us out of their sight for a minute. Drats!! I had a fitful night sleep, each time I started dozing my brain told me if I fell asleep I was NEVER waking up. That's the first actual nightmare I've had while I was awake.
That joy made Wednesday morning a little trying, BUT at least it wasn't me getting up to kick off the ice breaker, no it was two Japan colleagues. I swear they could have said, NO and made me do it. They were up for the challenge. I work with some really great people, for sure. Fortunately the afternoon was a group activity; while I didn't get my first choice of a bike ride I did get to play cornhole and stay near the hotel, which was actually very nice because it was relaxing and a very small group we could all be social with as we did a double elimination tournament. "Corn Hole Queens" were out after their second game. So we cheered and drank beer (again lousy selection) and enjoyed a surprising overcast and warm day in Nevada. Having been able to get in some activity was excellent, not the amount I needed, but peeling away wasn't really going to happen. At least my brain let me try and sleep, which was really appreciated.
Thursday, oh boy, this was the last day and the award ceremony. I skipped out on all the morning breakout session meetings because I had to go to rehearsal because I was receiving one of the 6 General Counsel awards later that morning. I manged to assemble something of a speech I felt comfortable with and only made minor tinkers to it through the morning as I paced and practiced. It all went smoothly, not a dry eye in the house, I was the last recipient and slightly in tears when I accepted the award. I'll have to YouTube the segment, well if I'm not too mortified by it, I may just show it to family.... After all of that I put on my shoes and my sports bra and running clothes, not sure if I could actually run but I knew I could walk. There was a 3 mile loop and I knew that went by The Toughest Mudder course so I took a walk on that course, it is the desert, it is rather boring dry and dusty. When I got off that property THEN I saw the NO TRESPASSING sign, whoops. I stuck to side walks for the rest of the walk till I saw a little trail down to Lake Las Vegas and decided to investigate. At the end of this I found a bridge to what looked like a bunch of restaurants, but hey what if one was open and I could get a real beer? To my amazement there was a store, with things like milk, and cheese, and BEER. Not a great selection but there was a local brewed brown ale and that would do just fine for me! Thrilled with my discovery I scurried back to the hotel to crack open a real beer and enjoy while I caught up on what ever needed to be caught up on, because of course if I actually take 90 minutes to myself something is bound to explode, it did, the pieces were in big chunks and mostly easily to reassemble. I had REAL beer! I was happy!
Up at 4:30 a.m. PST (7:30 EST) so it would be like a regular Friday right? On the plane and landing in Philly for lunch time where I was so happy to see a favorite porter on the menu, that paired well with a philly cheese steak. Got into Providence about 6 p.m. and then forgot where I parked my car. My parking stub was helpful for which garage, but that I was pretty sure about. It was the floor. I didn't write it down nor did I take a picture of where the car was, dipshidiot. I started on the 2nd floor (I sort of remembered maybe I parked there) pressing the panic button on the remote and BOOM lights and horns! Whoop, this wasn't going to be so bad! Got home just in time for Gus' walk. He was really happy about this and didn't give me a moment's peace till I took him out, which really was the best thing. It was nice and warm and not dry and dusty I could feel my body starting to feel normal again. I slept like it was my job, ah!!
Dave took a run to the dump for amnesty day on Saturday and got rid of some waterlogged planking boards that have been taking up space and not at all fitting in to Sanford and Son look in the front yard. It was good to get rid of them and not have to pay for disposing of the water the once very very dry lumber had soaked up. He put the new bike rack in the back of his truck and loaded up the bikes so we could take Jax out too the woods for a nice mountain bike ride. I can manage about 2 hours before I'm exhausted to the point of being ready to pitch a fit and/or be a pain in the ass. We got in 8 miles on some easy and some challenging and some where I had to hike the bike. A lot less falling and hike a bike than in the last few outings. I made some hills Dave was surprised I managed, he's good about not upping the ante too much, just enough. Hopefully these aren't too boring for him. Bringing Jax with us also regulates speed. Jax can bop along at about 5 or 6 MPH on the easy stuff, but not for an extended period of time. He is, after all, a boxer, they aren't running dogs!
Gus got me out for a walk before dinner, he really does like his walks and he is on a mission, for sure. Not much stopping to smell things or to meet people. Well, maybe he also knew dinner was after the walk so he stepped it up just a bit? It's a nice way to spend an hour and get some fresh air and see what's going on in and about town.
A little change of pace:
Seth, If only the LV RnR had shots at every mile, that would have made it REALLY interesting!!!
Jeff, I'm glad my babble is entertaining!
Muddy, I'm sad I missed this, I am sure it was excellent! (I had a hard time trying to figure out how to compare and contrast the Long Island Rail Road (LRR) to Politics, I'm sure you made it uber clear! ;)
Sunday was supposed to be a trail race, I woke up achy and being in the cold and wind made me more achy. I'm sure the run would have warmed me up. I'm just not ready for 8 miles of trails in the stress of a race format, so I didn't run. I'll be better off for it in the long run, I'm sure.
Mileage:
Feet: 11.8 for a yearly total of 1,515.8 against a straight line target of 1,790.7
Saddle: 8 for a yearly total of 1,463.9 against a straight line target of 1,790.7
Yeah we can say good bye to that 2,016 goal, it was a well calculated long shot. Hmm... I never did do a B or a C goal, it's kinda late now, ALTHOUGH against my current straight line trajectory 1,702 may be more reasonable for feet and 1,644 for saddle for B and hmmm thinking out loud here ~6 weeks left in the year 1,660 for feet and 1,590 for saddle for C, or should I just go with my usual C goal of Do Not Die?
😏
I dunno, I think all in all I'm plugging along just fine for someone with limited/no talent and a lot of gumption to keep moving forward, well pain free forward, and numbers are arbitrary and injury threw me way off.
Sincerely,
Beth, happy to be home, if only for a few days
