My Life on the road | Peaches Prattlings

{September 2, 2016} Mile High Club… how?

No! Dirty minds! I just want to know how!

Ok, so first, I’m writing to you from 30,000 feet, how cool is that?!

Second…I went into the lavatory and it was teeny.. so, I want to know… how do people join the Mile High Club in there? Unless you’re a teeny tiny person and the other person is teeny tiny. Ok, to be honest, this particular one was barely big enough for one.

No, I dont have plans to join, just curious. What else does one think about on a plane, well, a lot, but i thought this was a good one!

{September 1, 2016} A girls night…we got kinky… we needed that!

We went to see Kinky Boots… what were you thinking!?

I was out with LJ last week and saw the marque for one of the theaters here in Chicago, Kinky Boots! I don’t know if you remember how much GES and I loved it when we went to see it in NYC last year! I looked it up and it was only going to be here for a week… who wants to go!

LJ and DLP both said yes, tickets were purchased and here we are! Then coordination is next. LJ is no longer on the project with us and DLP had been in Springfield and got back today. We all synchronized our watches and off we went!

We met at Vapaianos for dinner, it’s across from my hotel, drop our bags there, eat, it was DLP’s first time there, yum! Then Uber to the theater, didn’t want to take a chance of being late! Up, up, up…in the balcony, almost in the last row, huff, puff, lots of stairs!

Curtsins up and…sigh! I miss the theater! I feel that every time I go. Sometimes I regret not pursing it, but then it is kind of what I do every time I’m in front of a class teaching.

The show was great! And I did my best not to quote everything! I’m sorry girls… it was hard not to! I love the movie!!

The cast was great, Lola was amazing and we had a great time! Walk back to the hotel, said goodnight. I opened the window for the first time, nostalgic for sleeping with the window open as a kid. I guess it’s a NYC evening all the way around.

“Ladies… and gentlemem… and those who have yet to make up their minds”

“We are no longer making a range of shoes for men… are are making shoes for a range of men”

Go see it!

{August 30, 2016} One thing influences another.

Isn’t that the way things work?

You aren’t sure what you want to eat, someone makes a suggestion or you’re watching something on tv and that’s it.

Tonight, as i was leaving the office, it started to rain and I thought take-out and soup, mmm. I get to the room, I’m waiting for my bags and I sit down to unwind, I put the tv on and it’s Kung Fu Panda.

Chinese it is!

{August 22, 2016} Oh my…delicious!!

A really simple and fabulous meal in Chicago!

After work LJ and I needed some pampering, so mani for her and pedi for me. Let’s just say, I like blue, it’s not my favorite color, but apparently it was today! Fingers…aqua, ring..blue, sunglasses…aqua, sneakers…blue and now…toes, sounds good to me.

After our pampering…food! It was 8pm by now and lunch felt like yesterday! I know I’m exaggerating, just felt like it! So we headed to my hotel, dropped my bags off and went across the street to a place I’ve wanted to try, just haven’t hey, so we went, Viapano.

This was a great place! It’s nice and open, high ceilings, wooden just about everything, slightly rustic, but definitely modern, if that makes sense.

It’s a counter service, so, first, you get a card that you put on a tablet in the counter when you order, the chef puts in a code and you pay at the end from the card. There was pizza, pasta, soup, antipasto, insalata, lots of choices.

You order at the counter and wait, then you load your food on a silver tray to take it to your table. Everything was self service, like a fast food chain or actually, I felt like I was back in school!

This is definitely not fast food as everything is cooked fresh to order. One line for appetizers and salad, another line for pasta, and so on. In got a small salad and bruchetta from one line, then on to the pasta. The pasta is in individual bags behind the chefs, you select what you want and they cook it right there in front of you, it tasted like fresh made pasta, yum! They cooked mine al dente, nice.

While the pasta cooks, they have the giant wok like pans to cook whatever you ordered with the pasta and the chefs check what you want, how spicy you want it. It’s ready in about 7-8 minutes, however long it takes to cook the pasta.

I ordered spaghetti with aglio e olio, garlic and olive oil, which I love and added fresh spinach. I liked the he threw a little salt in with it, cuts the bitterness and I don’t have to add it, very rare! The garlic, oil and salt were the perfect combination.

The presentation is very appealing and the taste…molto delizioso!

http://us.vapiano.com/en/magazine/

{August 18, 2016} Fails and wins this week

This week was interesting.

No problems with my flight Monday morning, I would put that in the wins column. Tuesday night dinner…ended up with a bitter salad because the manager or waiter, not sure and I apologize for that, I said vegan, he mentioned what they usually do and I said I can’t, so I came up with a solution, apparently he didn’t like that and kept walking away when I started to ask a question, after the fourth time, I said just give me the salad. Fail. But…still had a nice time at dinner, it was the company.

Wednesday morning, I worked out, 40 minutes on the elliptical, win. I got back to the room, took a shower and when I was finished, guess what was missing…towels. huh? I had 4 hand towels, 3 wash cloths and a bath mat, seriously? Epic fail!

I called down and barely an apology, big fail. I talked to the concierge on my way out, she did something about it, win. I went to the place I like to get breakfast from, almost every day, and ordered the same thing, egg and avocado sandwich. I get to the office, eat a little, start to feel weird…cheese on the sandwich…epic fail. I called the restaurant and told the person who answered what happened and today, she bought my breakfast, win. I got back to the hotel last night, two sets of towels, win win!

I left for the airport at 245pm, got to the airport just as I get notification, delayed…really? Apparently the weather in the south had almost every flight in Chicago was grounded. Flight should have left at 455pm, then 6pm, then 625pm, I think we finally took off about 7 something. Fail. Flight out of Detroit, first class, win. Ten hours to get home…fail.

Now, I’m at home, in my jammies, snuggling with my furry babies. Big win.

Goodnight!

{August 18, 2016} Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour?!

What?

For those of you not in the know, you’re thinking this girl is crazy and does not know her history, maybe she was absent that day.

For those of you who knew instantly, rock on! Tonight, I went to a movie theater to see Animal House on the big screen! It was awesome!

I went with my friend from work, DLP. I asked her Monday if she wanted to go with me and she did! We left the office, went to have some dinner then movie! No previews, which was bad because we got there at 704pm, the restaurant was next door, and I needed the potty! I came in just as it was starting, there was a little intro from like you see on TCM, some background about the movie and the actors, then they were off!

I have to apologize to DLP, I quoted lines as it went, I’m usually pretty good about it, but I couldn’t help it tonight!

It was so much fun to see it on the big screen! I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this movie, but never on the big screen! It was awesome!

My one regret…not seeing it with my dad!

What’s next?

{August 11, 2016} Wardrobe malfunction

Not quite Janet Jackson at the superbowl wardrobe malfunction, but enough.

Ok, I think I’m exaggerating.

So…the shirt or nice tank top I was wearing yesterday was a little low cut. It seemed ok when I bought it and tested it out with my cardigan, but it was not to be yesterday, I was very conscious of it and slightly self conscious.

So, after work I made the executive decision to buy a new shirt. I new some new short sleeve shirts for work. I bought a few cute ones, I’m happy, I’ve been wearing the same ones over the last few weeks.

I decided to wear the emerald green shirt, I think they called it a cocoon shirt. It’s nice, only thing is, it’s got a deep V, but the “flaps/collar” overlap.

Everything seemed fine until I got to the office and things started to show. One thing I haven’t told you is that I’m, well, let’s just say, well endowed and leave it at that.

I got to the office and realized there’s no way the neck is going to stay closed on its own, so I go in search of a safety pin. Now, i have a lot of them…at home. All the races I’ve done in the past I have safety pins from the bibs and kept them. I used to keep some in my bag. Not today…go figure.

It’s also interesting that is the one thing hard to find in an office! When DLP got in, I thought, perfect! I bet she has one! Unfortunately, she was meeting with someone and had had a bad morning…ummm…

I apologized profusely for interrupting, met the person she was meeting with and asked if she had a safety pin. Her response “Are you flashing people in the office?” Umm…trying not to!

Lo and behold we found one in her desk, I thanked her profusely, headed to the restroom to fix the issue and the rest of my day…smooth, ahhh..

{August 9, 2016} A good day and a red letter evening…

The day was exciting, the evening riveting, ha!

I taught another great class, it was nice when some of them came in and told me that they heard the class last week was great and I was pretty good too.

Here’s where it gets riveting, hold on to your hats! After class, I went back to the hotel, ate left over Chinese food from lunch, finished my updates to the materials, did my hair, put on my jammies, painted my nails, cross stitched while I watched movies, talked to you and then I’m going to pass out.

What an exciting life I lead! Hold me back! Actually, it was nice, after the very busy weekend and the crazy travel day yesterday, it was nice to relax and almost do nothing!

How was your day?

{August 8, 2016} What a travel day!

Did anyone else get caught up in the Delta debacle?

My flight was scheduled for 535am this morning as it has been for the last few weeks out of Boston. I got to the airport about 430am and the security lines were crazy, I’m so glad I have TSA Pre-Check! The lines for bag drop were crazy and at the Sky Priority line for Delta it was almost out the door with ONE person working, what!? Apparently the system was down, I thought just at check in, so luckily, I had two small bags and decided to travel with my checked bag. Off to security I went.

I get to the gate and find out that the system is down globally! No idea why, but down, uh oh. Since the system is down, they can’t print paperwork for the pilots and if they can’t print paperwork, we can’t get on the plane. They also printed paper tickets for us in case they can’t scan.

So, about 630, they still have no updates, I get on the phone to call my travel company. I wait for 30 minutes to talk to someone, it’s understandable. I get booked on a 730 Jet Blu flight, problem is…by the time I get to the terminal it’s too late to check in and get a boarding pass, so I call the travel company. One hour later, someone picks up the phone…

I am now booked on an 11am from Boston to Chicago. So, off to the gate I go, sit down, plug in and get to work.

Finally get on the plane, 1st row is nice, nice guy sitting next to me, was in the same boat I was, I think quite a few people were…

I finally got to Chicago, took a taxi to the airport and got in to the office about 2pm, only for hours late. But…everyone knew what was going on. GES texted “Are you on Delta?”, when I emailed someone at work to let them know I’d be late…their only response, “Delta?”

How did you all know? It was on the news! While I was switching terminals, there were at least four news stations there.
I got to the office, printed what I needed and in less than two hours, out the door for Amtrak for Springfield! I got to Springfield, took an Uber to the airport for a rental car, then to the hotel. It’s about 930pm, think I’ll make it past 1030? We’ll see…

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2016/08/08/delta-air-lines-system-outage-causes-worldwide-delays.html

{August 2, 2016} A great class!

Today I taught a new class and it was great!

A while back I was told I would be teaching this new class, I’m also the only one teaching it, no pressure!

I downloaded the materials and started looking and studying, but I had to hold off on some parts and testing because there we changes coming. The classes also got moved from July to this week and next, great, more time to prep!

I worked with a bunch of awesome people to get the data set up so we would be ready today and it was worth it! The extra time and staying late to get cases built.

The funny thing was, I was going through all the scenarios so much over the last two weeks that I didn’t really pay attention to how I would teach, but then when I started teaching today, it all clicked and made sense.

I also had a great co-trainer who works for the client and has been on the testing team so she has all these hear “real world” examples and can speak to b what works in the live environment.

The learners have been great, some were apprehensive about learning something new, worried they wouldn’t get it, it’s normal, no one likes change, but they all wanted to find out what’s coming and we worked together today and they left on a positive note and I think they’re ready for more tomorrow.

I was jazzed, it was great! I had my runner’s high at the end of the day! I love that!!! Can’t wait for tomorrow! Let’s go!

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