Chicago Part 2

Thursday, June 28, 2007
8:30 seemed late on Monday, but today it seems very early after our late night at the theater. I had a headache for most of the day, so this was not my best day. We had breakout sessions to practice the software presentations. We were in a room with no windows, and the AC here does not work like it does back in Louisiana. I also was bored because I didn’t need practice for the software. It is very much like netTrekker to set up students and reports are similar to Achievement Series, so I felt confident and prepared from the get-go. I presented the software demo games and the section on writing. The training did not complete until 5 PM. Everyone met in the lobby at 5:45 for a group dinner at Giordano’s Pizza to experience some authentic Chicago pizza. It was very good, especially the deep dish spinach pizza.


Friday, June 29, 2009
This morning everyone received individual feedback on presentations from one of the trainers. I was pleased that my trainer felt I would be ready to present immediately. They had a limo service for me at 11 AM because my flight was at 1:13, so I left for O’Hare after telling everyone a quick goodbye. All the people in this group have been interesting and fun to meet, so I hated that I had to be the first to leave. I had to fill out some forms before I left, then off to the airport. This ride with AC was much better than the hot taxi ride on Monday; however it was chaos at the airport. Apparently, weather had forced many delays and cancellations in the past few days. I saw that my 1:13 flight was now changed to 2:00 PM meaning I would not make my flight to Lafayette from Dallas. We actually did not get to leave until 2:30. The airlines had gotten a 747 and merged two flights to try to catch up the backlog of standbys. I felt like I was on the Amazing Race as I tried to find options for getting home. I checked flights directly to New Orleans, but everything at O’Hare was behind, so I decided to try my luck once I got to Dallas. Luckily, I was able to get on a 7:10 flight to Lafayette. Did I say 7:10? Silly me, thunderstorms in Dallas, flight changed to 7:20. 7:40, 7:55 – every time I looked at the monitor the time changed. I contemplated going to Houston and catching a redeye in the morning, but then decided to stick with this flight. We finally took off in the rain at 8:20. After landing in Lafayette and driving to Morgan City, I finally arrived home at 11:30 P.M. – 12 ½ hours to get from Chicago to Morgan City. Now I just have to unpack and repack as we leave for our Daytona trip at 10:00 AM tomorrow morning!