Rollercoaster

Travel, like life, can be a roller coaster. And this past week had plenty of those. I had to fly to Cleveland for a training class. I volunteered to become a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the west zone for one of our software applications. At my layover in Denver, my flight was delayed.

Down: Typical at Denver airport. And when I got to Cleveland, my luggage was lost. I did, however, meet up with a colleague in Denver so I got a ride with him to my hotel. After a restless night, my suitcase was delivered in the wee hours of the morning. It was pretty beat up. This pic shows the good side

Up: At least I made it to Cleveland. I didn’t see much of Cleveland, not that it’s an exotic place to be. But I did discover that Cleveland is where Superman was created.

Down: At lunch that day, we all placed separate orders for Chipotle and sent one of us out to pick it up. They got everyone’s but mine. We managed to reach out to one of the educators to pick it up. An hour later, I had cold Chipotle bowl for lunch.

Twist: I was in class with a separate group within Philips - the Delivery Group. Weirdly the delivery group are the educators who teach the classes. I trained briefly with them when I first started with Philips before transitioning to my current role. So they’re friends. It was good to see them. As an SME, I was supposed to be auditing the class - learning. But the first day, I was told that I would be learning to teach it - getting checked off and certified - which required teaching back to the instructor. I hadn’t expected that or prepared for it. Fun times.

Up: I found a nice little pond and fountain near the hotel. It was a nice walk in the warm humid air of Cleveland. Gave me some breathing space and time alone to think. A brief interlude of peace.

Curve: Who designs hotels, really? I seriously think they are sadistic human beings. I mean, look at the carpets. If you’re drunk, you’d seriously have a hard time standing up. Even if you’re not, it makes you dizzy.

Down: Every morning, the routine is to hit Starbucks on the way to class. We usually order on the app and pick up on the go. On the second morning, I couldn’t get the app to work. So I had to order in store. They were super busy. I waited 20 minutes and still didn’t get my drink. And couldn’t get their attention to check on it. I ended up having to leave without the drink I paid for. I’m beginning to think Cleveland hates me.

Twist: We went out to dinner at Cooper’s Hawk Winery in Beachwood. Great food. Outdoor seating. Good company. The dessert I ordered was not available because of a kitchen mishap. But I got dessert for free instead. And on the final day of class, the instructor realized I wasn’t supposed to have been teaching. But I opted to finish out the certification.

Loop de loop with a twist: I had a late flight out of Cleveland and couldn’t get anything earlier to Missoula on a Thursday. Instead of going to lunch with a few colleagues, I caught a ride to the airport 4 hours early figuring I could eat there and maybe find a place to get some work done. Only, I didn’t realize that because Alaska/Horizon Air doesn’t have a big presence in Cleveland, they don’t open the ticket counter until 4 pm - two hours before my flight. And I need to check my bag. Rookie mistake. 🤪 So I ended up sitting near the ticket counter for 4 hours. Lunch was chips and a coke from a snack place. The flight to Seattle was delayed and I was in the back of the plane. By the time I got off, I had 10 minutes to make it to my next flight at another gate. I made it in time, and managed to arrive in Missoula, MT by midnight and caught a ride in the hotel shuttle with a bunch of pilots and airline attendants.

Did I mention hotel designers are weird? Check out the duck feet lamps in my hotel room.

Double loop and a steep drop: Friday morning. I made it to the conference on the shuttle bus only to find that I really wasn’t needed. I was able to meet with my account manager and also with the staff at the hospital. It felt good to be helpful for the staff. So that was worth the trip. I met another colleague for the first time who challenged me on 3D - one of my weak spots. I loved it but I also felt horribly deficient. I don’t think I made a good impression on him.

I had hoped to meet some doctors in my territory at the conference. Instead I ended up embarrassing myself. I asked one of the doctors in line with me at lunch if he was learning things at the conference. And he turned out to be the keynote speaker. 🙄😳 I knew his name but had never seen him in person. Not my finest moment. I definitely felt that drop.

Bringing it home: Despite the chaos from the Microsoft security update, I managed to get an earlier flight home - so I arrived home at 7 pm instead of midnight. My suitcase, battered, with zipper bulging - held together long enough to get home. And I got some nice glimpses of Missoula on the way to the airport.

Whew. It’s good to be home and off this roller coaster for a bit. 😃🤪

As always, thanks for reading!

Gypsy Jules