It's Alive!

Test post to see if this will work in the new editor. Yes, yes it does.... :) Hello from Buenos Aires everyone!

Send me some Heat!

I was up at 5:00AM to be ready to give a virtual training session at 6:00AM. It was 46* when I woke up. It's now 8AM and 48* and I just heard that there is a heavy snow warning for the Cascades tonight - snow level dropping to 2,500ft. So while the rest of the nation is suffering under an intense heat wave, I am still shivering and looking longingly at my summer clothes. Send me some heat!

Exciting Start to the Weekend

It’s 2:45 AM and the firemen left my apartment about 30 minutes ago. I was sound asleep when the building alarm went off, but I quickly grabbed my shoes, coat and purse. I paused at the door to slip my shoes on and heard my neighbor’s door open and slam closed. I opened my door to leave and quickly slammed it shut as the hallway was filled with white smoke. I left my door unlocked and went out on to the balcony to call the fire department.
I called 911 and told them there was a fire in my building and I couldn’t get out. The dispatcher transferred me to the fire department. When I repeated that there appeared to be a fire in my building and my hallway was filled with smoke she asked if I was the same person who had just called. I assured her that I was not and gave her my apartment number and she told me to stay where I was and hung up.

Meanwhile, the 2AM drunk crowd had begun to merge with the crowd of my evacuated neighbors down below. The late night party people just getting home from the bars mingled with those who had thrown on coats over their PJs. They were all looking up at the building and a few started pointing to me. I yelled down to some them that the hallway was full of smoke and I couldn’t get out. They told me to lie down on the ground. As the smoke had only entered my apartment from the brief time I had the door cracked open and I was standing in the cold clear air on the balcony, this didn’t make much sense to me, but I sat down anyway. When the fire trucks started arriving some of the crowd cheered – I’m not sure if it was the drunks happy for another distraction, or my neighbors happy that the fire department was here.

I watched from my balcony, shivering as the firemen got suited up and headed out of my line of sight. More firemen rolled out large hoses from one of the smaller trucks and attached them to the valve on the side of the building. I was more than a little anxious, but they had obviously seen me up on the balcony and didn’t seem to be overly concerned. I started to wonder, “Are they going to have to get the ladder out to rescue me? What about the rest of the people on my floor? Why the hell didn’t I buy rental insurance? When will they turn off the alarm?”

A group of three firemen came through my apartment door – axes and hoses over the shoulder and everything. They asked if there was a fire in the apartment and when I told them no, they said to stay out on the balcony, they hadn’t found anything yet. They left and I opened the living room windows and closed the bedroom door trying to vent the smoke that had come into the apartment. The firemen came back once to check on me and said I wasn’t in any danger. The next time they came back they said it appeared to have been arson. I thought they meant that someone had lit a fire in the hallway, but quickly realized that some idiot had set off the huge industrial fire extinguisher in the hallway. What I thought was smoke was just the dry-chemical fire extinguisher, but it was everywhere. Since the firemen had opened my door several times to look for a problem and then check on me, there was already dry-chemical residue in my apartment so they decided to go ahead and vent the rest of it out through my living room. They had me stay out on the balcony and opened my apartment door to the hallway to vent everything out through my livingroom windows.

The firemen checked to make sure my breathing was fine and told me the chemical was an irritant, but wouldn’t make me sick. They stayed and chatted with me for a few minutes. Apparently my balcony is also an ideal place to be in the event of a real fire where I can’t get out - good to know, but I hope I don’t need to use it. They told me to call the apartment management and get them to send someone in to clean my apartment as EVERYTHING is now coated in a fine white dry-chem film. They then apologized and said they hoped they hadn’t ruined my night. I thought that was kind of funny and told them I was just happy we weren’t on fire and thanked them for their help!

The residue is not too bad in the bedroom as I had the door closed, but the livingroom/kitchen/bath are covered in dust and I can feel in on my skin, hair and clothes – blah. I will have an interesting weekend trying to clean it all up as I am not too sure my apartment management will be of any help.

Security?

I am on my way to San Jose Costa Rica on business. We were just told that we had to leave the plane we had just boarded due to a security breach - and now we have to get back on. Better safe than sorry.

Woked Out

John and I were on the balcony last night cooking dinner. The sun was going down over the city and the smells coming from our wok were truly mouth-watering. I turned to go inside and put the rice on the plates in anticipation of the stir-fry and found that the door would not open. We were locked out with our wok. Visions passed through my head of having to call down to the passing strangers on the street for help. Thankfully our bedroom windows were open and we could push a screen in. We ended up crawling through the window a few times because the door is mysteriously stuck - not locked. The stir-fry was great.

I have a job

I accepted an offer. I will be working for HP - more specifically I will be an ITO Svc Delivery Consultant IV in the the Outsourcing Services Global Delivery Department in the Technology Solutions Group Organization. I will actually be working at Weyeraeuser for HP. Basically I will be doing needs analysis for the Weyerhaeuser and then setting up training courses for them and the HP staff. It won't involve a lot of actual training and courseware development, mostly project management. I am scheduled to start around Aug 27th - depending on paperwork.

I went shopping yesterday and today trying to find work clothes since I only own one suit and a lot of casual clothes - I have nothing business casual! I have decided that I HATE shopping. I spent 4 hours yesterday and 2 today and I don't even have one complete outfit yet. Everything in the stores is 60's throwback right now and I hate it. Babydoll shirts and wild patterned everything. I feel like I am in an Austin Powers movie. I saw a girl today in a nylon psychedelic pattern dress in neon orange and green with furry green Ugg flip flops. Not my style.

The Options

Yesterday I had three interviews. Today I have one offer in hand and the promise of two more coming within the week. I feel better now, but have run into a new dilemma - which one do I choose?

Option 1: A training consultant working contract to hire with a group of other training consultants. Contracts from clients are anywhere from 1 week to 9 months or more and it can involve up to 100% travel depending on the assignment. I would be developing and conducting training on whatever the client needs - a great opportunity to learn and grow my skills. Pay rate - $40 per hour, but no benefits and no paid travel time. I really like the people and the way they go about doing things, but I think the travel may be too much and I think Option 3 will be a much higher offer.

Option 2: A functional consultant (full-time) working for my old company (no offer yet). I would work with clients to gather requirements, configure the software to fit their needs, train them on how to use the software, etc. This is good because I already know the software, the company, and a lot of the people, I would be able to work from my home office, or in Redmond with little travel involved. I would grow my skill set in the area of technical consulting more than I have previously. I really like many of the people and the managers in the group.

Option 3: A training coordinator/developer working for a major IT company providing services to a prominent Northwest company (full-time). Basically, the Northwest company has contracted out it's entire IT department to the major IT company. I would be in a higher level position working to assess the client's needs, develop courses, coordinate SMEs to do training, do some training myself, and do a lot of project management. No offer yet on this one, but I meet with the regional boss on Tuesday and he sounds pretty sure that he wants to bring me on board. I would be working in Federal Way when on-site, from home when not needed face to face, traveling a bit through NA and Canada to the Northwest company's facilities to do trainings when needed, but not much. I am not sure how much team support I would get on this one, I need to find out more.

Hmmmm.... anyone have advice? Email me if you want specifics (like company names) I would love to hear your opinions on this!