Let's Get Brainwashed.

My goodness. Did I really hang out with people from my class? Did we really rock out to Metalhed and their covers of 80s rock? Did "librarians" really pour water on me because I asked for it? Did I really bump and grind with the hottest girl in the class?

Oh my. ANd did I really dance with a pole on a table? Oh please tell me no one took photos.

And did we really say, "That was fun." Was that all? Did we not say, "hey, that was cool, I wish we had known each other longer" ? No, we went to our hotel rooms and said:

"See you later today."

Did I say this before? I like going up to my hotel room after lunch and brushing my teeth. The privacy is so nice. I'm sitting next to 4 people all day, when I visit the restroom there are always others there, when I eat lunch, I sit at a table with 10 people.

And then I go upstairs and brush my teeth. I am alone. I like it that way.

I am pleased with my group this week. (One comment, to catch you up if you didn't read before: the rest of my group is women, particularly the gals who wore sweaters around their necks the first couple of months, and all work for the same company). We did not finish our project, but it was late, 7pm, and our model showed curvature (a bad thing!), so we called it quits and decided to ask the instructor what to do next tomorrow morning. So what did they suggest we do? Meet at the pool in 15 minutes to get a drink.

I didn't know the pool had a bar! So we met, talked more project stuff over mojitos, then went and ordered t-shirts. This is so, so ridiculous, but so, so right for the situation we are in. Yes, this will sound corny to most people, but listen: We have our group presentation tomorrow, and to be funny, we had t-shirts made at a store across the street. They will say S. S. Allstars, and then on the back, each shirt will have a famous quote from our instructor. It will be so funny for people in the class. Like any insular group, only they will "get" the joke. Anyway, we also had a t-shirt made for our instructor. He will love it. Seriously. I'll take a pic when I get the shirt tomorrow.

Then we went to an Irish pub. My, can these ladies drink. I had to keep up with them. We talked about work mostly. It was interesting and relieving to hear that their company, in a completely different industry from mine, suffers from the same problems. All companies probably have the same problems about lack of communication, lack of training, and lack of understanding of issues, and decisions are made by the wrong people and for the wrong reasons. And IT support generally sucks. All that over Irish beers.

So now I have to work on my own project. More "hotel" work. I am tired, though. It's been a long day. This whole week has been about 10 - 12 hours a day of class related stuff. I will be glad for my 8-hour a day job.

Also, I should mention that my manager's manager is flying in tomorrow to go to the celebration dinner. That will be interesting. It might feel like having a parent there, because not too many others (only 2 others) will have their managers there. It's a free dinner and happy hour.

Should the sweaters gal and I show him how to have a good time in this town?

I go through these roller coaster rides of indecision, anger, flippant feelings, sincere interest, and then dread. It's so weird. Like this morning, I was convinced I had wandered down the wrong path several years ago, and now was paying severely for it. I also felt like I had started a breadcrumb trail, and then forgot I even had made a trail, and now, years later, it was too late to go back and find it.

Also, I should mention that class was difficult this morning. So, after lunch, we did another example, and everything came together, and then I felt better. I thought, having this job pays for the things I want to do. Why should I get all worked up about it? This was the last week. Then I got through the day much easier.

And then tonight, walking to find dinner (and declining another dinner offer from my classmates), I bought a shirt from the A. Apparel store here. The cashier started giving me the lowdown on their clothing (don't wash it warm, the size will shrink, blah), but I said I know all about their clothes. I was slightly sassy and said that I lived down the street from AA's warehouse in downtown LA. I asked if she had ever been there? She said no.

She asked why I was here, so I told her, but I felt like I had 20 seconds to tell her my life, so I told her what was on my mind. I didn't relate to the people in my class. I told her they played golf and took their kids to soccer practice. And I wanted to change careers. And---

"Do it, man," she said, interrupting, walking me to the door. I nodded and gave her a high fist (as opposed to a high five, where we would have actually touched hands). Then, when I left the store, conscious that I walked a little taller, those homeless punks kids tried to get my attention.

"Hey man, can I have 10 seconds of your time?"

I said no, and then his female friend shouted at me: "You look like Clark Kent!"

So I turned, used my x-ray vision, and said, "I can see all the money in your pockets!"*

Then I ordered room service for dinner.

Now I have "homework." This week's group project involves a lot. We have to pull everything together. We have to use all the major tools we learned and put together a presentation by Thursday.


*I didn't say this, but I thought about it...does that count?

So, lucky me - this week my group is me plus 3 of the 5 sweater girls! They chose to sit with me. I'm just glad I don't have an engineer in my group this time. They often get caught up in the details of things, and we don't finish our projects easily.

I went to dinner with over half the class tonight, but I am feeling sick again (some ear/throat infection, probably from all the weird temperature changes in the last couple of weeks), so it was nothing wild. But the jokes! They talked so much about our night out.

I stole/borrowed a salt shaker from the restaurant so I could make some salt water in my hotel room to gargle with. I probably will be in bed soon. Oh, our group has a meeting at 7:15 tomorrow morning to work on our measurement system analysis!

We're getting a new conference room. The one we had was so cold. It was about 50 degrees inside, and outside it's 85. So they are changing us. Also, there is a HUGE sales meeting, over 200 people, and they are all dining outside on the patio. Very soon they will go into the conference room next to our cold room, and "sales people are loud," everyone has said. So, another reason to move.

Therefore, I get to stay in my hotel room for an extra 30 minutes while they move things around.

This is it. The last week. The end is so close. It's sometimes a whirlwind of feelings. Now I won't get a week away from the office anymore. But at least I won't be here doing strange things that can sometimes wipe your brain cells clean. I'm talking about the statistical analysis stuff, and the little airplanes and launch machines we played with, and collected tons of data from.

Almost there.