Week 1 Recap

The lack of posts last week might be rectified this week... I brought my computer. Even better, I'm sitting at my gate waiting for my Continental flight to Houston and discovered that I'm close enough to the outside of the "Elite Access" club room that I can pick up the free wifi signal. :)

Last week was a whirlwind... Packing was stressful, flying was typical, renting a car and driving in a new state was completely new and different, and being with my training group was fun and helped me get a handle on how all of these various little components of the job come together to make sense on a daily basis. Yet, it was nice to get rid of all the extra people and just do the job. Learning anything new takes more mental energy than once you've got a handle on it, and that was definitely the case all week. I came home exhausted, but thrilled with everything.

As for the highlights: seeing Maureen in Atlanta, making a lunch run over the river to take pictures in Kansas, getting room service and watching the debate in St. Louis, and splurging on a taxi ride to the Five Points South district of Birmingham and getting Indian at Taj, as recommended by a friend who grew up in B-ham. Some of the crazy moments: driving into construction and detour "road spaghetti" on the way to the St. Louis airport, working with the slowest staff ever in B-ham and having to ask for every little detail that was already outlined on their confirmation sheet, and realizing that coming into a city in the dark every night means I might be sketched out in even a nice part of town. My presenter this week was nice enough, although she had very little interest in going out or leaving the hotel. In fact, she liked to get to where she needed to go right away and stay there. No dinners out with her, but at least I had my training group to ease the boredom.

So some statistics (as per the suggestion of my dear friend KN :)):

• flights: 4
• airlines: Delta (x2), Southwest, American
• cars rented: Blue Chevy Trailblazer
• states visited: Georgia, Missouri, Kansas, Alabama
• new states: 4
• dinners alone: 2

This week is a southwest adventure, from Houston to San Antonio, to Dallas, to Phoenix, to Alburquerque and then home. I'll be flying every day this week and racking up the miles! We'll see how much internet I can manage, but hopefully I'll be able to at least stake out claims near the elite clubs. :)