Let's Not Do That Again

Wow.

What a weekend!

Friday night saw me heading south to Margate

a little early to meet the new/old instructor.

(She quit and then un-quit... lol)

Anyhow - during her hiatus we got our new iPads.

She came to the training, but still won't get

her own iPad until Wednesday.

(Today is her official "hire date") 

And it's the first time I tried it "live".

So we got together to hook it up,

make sure it all works, etc.

It hooked up a little slower than I wanted

but easier than I thought.

(And once I knew it takes a couple of

minutes I'm fine - was just getting

nervous when it wasn't "instant")

When I got there, she was already there

chatting with our newest Regional Vice President,

Markis.

He just got promoted last month

and moved into his new office this week.

We visited for a couple of minutes 

and then he left.

Lillian and I got finished and I decided

to put my stuff in my locked cabinet for the night.

Went to the back corner office were my

cabinet (full of all my school supplies)

only to find THAT was Markis' new office

and he LOCKED THE DOOR when he left!

Unfortunately, all we knew about him was his

name is Markis.  No last name.  No number.

Called the resident RVP and left a message.

Also texted him.

Headed out (around 9:00) to grab a salad

at McDonald's and head to my hotel.

On the way I called Rod and while we were

talking, I realized I didn't turn off the

projector hanging from the ceiling.

(When I turned off my iPad it went dark,

so I forgot all about it!)

Turned around and headed back.

Glad I did - you could see the Apple TV

stuff shining through the window.

A great invitation to the less savory types

to come on in and steal it.

While there, the RVP called and said

he would try to get a hold of Markis and

not to worry - he would make sure it was ok.

(Markis called him while we were on the phone,

so he said to hang for a minute in case Markis

was coming right back... he lives right around the corner)

I waited for 20 minutes with no word.

By the time I got out of there

it was too late to mess with dinner,

so I just went to my hotel.

When I got there, Kevin (RVP) called and said

Markis doesn't have a key either!

Omar (a Senior VP) owns the office and has

the key and HE is in the Bahamas!

Told Markis to put his stuff in his new office

and just lock the door - they would figure out

keys etc on Monday.

Sigh.

Luckily Kevin has a spare and he would drive

into town in the morning and get me in.

(Poor guy lives 30+ minutes away)

I got there 15 minutes early and Kevin

had already been there and "hidden" the key

and sent me a text with a photo.

Whew!

Crisis averted!

I got everything all set up and ready to go.

Then waited for students to show up.

And waited for students to show up.

And waited for students to show up.

(We had 38 pre-registered - can't run without 6)

At 7:45 they started to trickle in.

(Registration is 7:30)

By 7:50 I had 4.

As #4 came in, I looked at him and thought

"I know this guy.  He's been in my class before..."

Which isn't unusual.

He says

"Hi.  My name is Wayne, and I'm your auditor."

I laughed.

(Auditors are "mystery shoppers" and NEVER

identify themselves.)

He said, "no really".  

I said "Yah, I know.  I remember you from last time.

You audited me 6 years ago in Boynton Beach.

You brought a banana to class.

And you had weird ID."

LOL

So we laughed for awhile.

He was a "walk in" and "forgot" his ID.

(the idea is to see how I deal with that...)

I had him fill out a form and sign in

and class started.

Now, I send a welcome email to all my

registered students during the week to invite them

to class, give them directions to the school

(it's SUPER easy to find, but people still get lost)

and notify them we have been requested NOT to bring

ANYTHING but bottled water into the classroom.

*new carpet

The biggest problem with this site is there is no signage.

So I made a laminated sign for the front door

and another for the office door.

The one on the office door again reminds them

NO FOOD / DRINK.

So class starts.

I'm welcoming them and going over the rules.

(You know where this is going, don't you...)

NO SOONER do I say

remember, they've asked us to only bring in bottled water

than sure enough, the lady on the front row

reaches behind her to hang her jacket on her chair

and knocks the FULL CUP OF COFFEE

off the desk behind her onto the floor.

Creating a 3 foot coffee stain RIGHT INSIDE THE DOOR.

Fabulous.

So lunch break sees me dashing to Home Depot

and buying industrial strength carpet cleaner

and two rolls of paper towels.

Spent the rest of lunch scrubbing and spraying

and blotting and spraying and scrubbing and blotting.

This is what it looked like after a TON of cleaning.

(during lunch, every break all afternoon,

and about an hour after school)

Meanwhile, while trying to clean the carpet

I was also entering the student's hours into the computer

and registering my "phantom" student.

Turns out he only put half the information I needed

on the form.  The last 4 of his SSN and only

a house number but no street name.

I'm trying to figure out what to do

when I get a text.

From HIM!

LOL

He said, in all the excitement, he forgot

to give me the rest of his fake information.

Hahahahaha.

Finished up,

went out for a DELICIOUS dinner

of fall off the bone tender ribs and coleslaw.

FINALLY.

Something fabulous!

Sunday went well.

(Although it included more cleaning of

"the spot".  The lady who bumped it

brought some Oxyclean so we tried that...)

(The lady who brought the COFFEE was all 

like ... stuff happens... whatever...)

(grrrrrrrrr)

(Subway for a TERRIFIC, on plan,

turkey sub for lunch.  It was yummy!)

During the final hour, we were playing an online

game that the students use their phones for.

They love it - it's a really fun, competitive review.

And the sound system quit working.

Sigh.

(This is the same site where last month the projector

quit working so I had to teach the entire class without

my power point presentation.)

I was SOOOO glad when class was over!

Except when the students left,

Markis came back wanting the key.

And then he went in his office and closed

the door so he could call clients.

But I NEED to get in there and do my

inventory, put my extra stuff away, etc.

Which meant it was again about 8:00

before I finally got out of there.

Stopped and grabbed a burger.

(I was going to get another Subway for the

road, but it was POURING rain and I didn't

want to have to get out of my truck... lol)

When I FINALLY got home,

Rod was sitting on the couch.

I dragged my suitcase in the door.

Normally I sit on the couch with him and we

watch our favorite Hallmark show together

while I unwind from the drive.

NOPE!

I actually sat at the front gate for a couple

of minutes, wishing with all my heart it 

wasn't broken and I could just push a button

instead of get out.

(I was REALLY REALLY sleepy!)

Finally got out, opened the gate,

drove through, closed the gate,

parked the truck,

grabbed my suitcase (only because I needed

my pills and alarm clock out of it)

slouched into the house,

said Hello, I love you!

to my husband

and went STRAIGHT to bed.

LOL

This morning I am drinking a LARGE

Diet Coke.

And (kind of) dreading next weekend already.

LOL