A couple of really, really funny things have made me laugh out loud recently. Check out the following blog, http://crummychurchsigns.blogspot.com/. Be sure not to miss March 26th, March 18th and February 4th. Tim came in from the other room just to see what was up as I was laughing so hard it made me wheeze!
On NPR last week they talked to the web master for the New York Times website. He was talking about the most searched topics on their site. Most were obvious, like Korea, Obama, etc. One had him and the host stumped, however. It was May 4, 2009. They invited listeners to email if they knew what it was. Turns out it is a self-declared holiday by Star Wars fans. They chose that day to celebrate their fandom so they could say to each other "May the 4th be with you." Go on, say it out loud. You know you wanna! I keep chuckling over that one . . .
Monday, June 1, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Kelley's Island Weekend
At long last, another post from me. We just got back from a fabulous trip to Kelley's Island (in Lake Erie, north of Marblehead, OH) http://www.kelleysisland.com/. Ohio friends and family will know about KI and Put in Bay on nearby South Bass Island. I have been to Put in Bay several times over the years, but never to KI. Tim was happy to learn that there are cool places to visit in lake Erie, the most maligned of the great lakes.
Our friends, Jen and John, and their daughter Anna, invited us to join them for a long weekend. We stayed in a great cottage, very near the airstrip. John and Jen flew to the island in their cool Bonanza plane and we drove and took the ferry -- a fun adventure in and of itself. We spent a lot of time biking, walking and otherwise roaming the island. It is quiet, laid back and full of very friendly people. Well, all except for the grumpy lady at the ice cream stand next to the mini-golf. How can you be grumpy if your job is to sell ice cream?
The cottage was decorated with cool artisan sculptures and art, and was super comfortable. It had a fire pit with lots of wood just begging to be burnt. I think it must be wired into human DNA to love to sit around a fire and stare into it for hours on end. Of course, it helps when there is great beer involved! Lots of Oberon and Great Lakes beers were consumed. The Commodore Perry IPA was particularly apropos as we flew over Put in Bay that same day and saw the Perry memorial http://www.nps.gov/pevi/.
Anna had her very first s'more around that same campfire and we all enjoyed throwing rocks into the "pond" (Lake Erie) with her on our last day. Other time was spent rambling over the island in the Polaris Ranger (check out pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahk7186). We did decide, however, that the neighbor's extended golf cart with the spinners and cow hide covered seats was really the ride we should have had! There are also some very cool glacial grooves set aside and maintained as a state park. To think that all the great lakes and a huge 5-6 state area were formed by massive glaciers that moved about 1 in per day is awesome and I get kinda geeky about reading the signs and learning about stuff like that.
Now back home, and dog free for one night. Tim will pick them up tomorrow from the vet's office. They were prepared to give Henry doggie valium (he doesn't like kennels at all) and we've never kenneled Bea, so there is no telling how that all went!
Our friends, Jen and John, and their daughter Anna, invited us to join them for a long weekend. We stayed in a great cottage, very near the airstrip. John and Jen flew to the island in their cool Bonanza plane and we drove and took the ferry -- a fun adventure in and of itself. We spent a lot of time biking, walking and otherwise roaming the island. It is quiet, laid back and full of very friendly people. Well, all except for the grumpy lady at the ice cream stand next to the mini-golf. How can you be grumpy if your job is to sell ice cream?
The cottage was decorated with cool artisan sculptures and art, and was super comfortable. It had a fire pit with lots of wood just begging to be burnt. I think it must be wired into human DNA to love to sit around a fire and stare into it for hours on end. Of course, it helps when there is great beer involved! Lots of Oberon and Great Lakes beers were consumed. The Commodore Perry IPA was particularly apropos as we flew over Put in Bay that same day and saw the Perry memorial http://www.nps.gov/pevi/.
Anna had her very first s'more around that same campfire and we all enjoyed throwing rocks into the "pond" (Lake Erie) with her on our last day. Other time was spent rambling over the island in the Polaris Ranger (check out pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahk7186). We did decide, however, that the neighbor's extended golf cart with the spinners and cow hide covered seats was really the ride we should have had! There are also some very cool glacial grooves set aside and maintained as a state park. To think that all the great lakes and a huge 5-6 state area were formed by massive glaciers that moved about 1 in per day is awesome and I get kinda geeky about reading the signs and learning about stuff like that.
Now back home, and dog free for one night. Tim will pick them up tomorrow from the vet's office. They were prepared to give Henry doggie valium (he doesn't like kennels at all) and we've never kenneled Bea, so there is no telling how that all went!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Oh, the Joys of Corporate Travel.
I'm finally back home from my first long work trip of the year. It was nice to get to March without an overnight trip for work -- although this one made up for it. I had 6 flight segments and 3 different hotels in 5 days. (The upside is that I was upgraded to 1st Class whenever it was available, and I earned quite a few miles. Plus, there was sunshine, even if I was inside most of the time.)
The past week was actually more interesting than most of my trips. First we started in TX, at Texas A&M, interviewing undergrad and grad students in the Food Science department for internships. I am so impressed by the quality of the students and really enjoy being part of screening them for internships. I do have a vested interest as these folks will someday be my colleagues. In the next 5-10 years a lot of our most senior people will be retiring and there is a shortage of food science students to back fill those jobs. While it feels a bit strange to not be the young/new kid any more, and I'm glad that I can give back by interacting with the students in this way. Most of them don't really know what professional jobs using their education will look like, and are woefully short on knowledge about interviewing, resumes and cover letters. We were able to give coaching and feedback on this part as well.
Then it was off to CA for the Natural Products Expo West convention. This is a trade show for the natural products industry. All the big players and many of the smaller ones are there to showcase their new products and interact with the rest of the industry. My interest is looking at the trends and looking for new ingredients or raw materials. Plus, I love to visit the booths of some of my favorite brands and find out what's new with them. If you had room in your suitcase and the time, you could take home a lot of great samples. I didn't have much of either, so I concentrated on small things -- like lots and lots of tea samples. I'm so glad that the tea companies and the market is catching up with me. I have so many types of teas to choose from now, and that fills the gap that I used to fill with Diet Coke. I was really struck by one trend, a tea company that is marketing teas for kids. Herbal with lots of fruit and other flavors coming from the ingredients. Now parents can start their kids on drinks that are low in sugar, high in antioxidants and steer them away from soda or juice drinks. Very cool!
We also went to dinners and events sponsored by a couple of our suppliers. I even learned to play craps at one of them. Totally fun -- if we ever go to a casino (highly unlikely) I'll definitely want to play. Then it was time to get up very early and head home. Unfortunately, the flight back was complicated by the fact that I have yet another cold. It's uncomfortable to fly when your ears are full of fluid and all you want to do is go to sleep. That's all I've done today and I doubt I'll make it into work tomorrow. Sigh. I long for sunshine and warm weather. Bring on Spring Break!
The past week was actually more interesting than most of my trips. First we started in TX, at Texas A&M, interviewing undergrad and grad students in the Food Science department for internships. I am so impressed by the quality of the students and really enjoy being part of screening them for internships. I do have a vested interest as these folks will someday be my colleagues. In the next 5-10 years a lot of our most senior people will be retiring and there is a shortage of food science students to back fill those jobs. While it feels a bit strange to not be the young/new kid any more, and I'm glad that I can give back by interacting with the students in this way. Most of them don't really know what professional jobs using their education will look like, and are woefully short on knowledge about interviewing, resumes and cover letters. We were able to give coaching and feedback on this part as well.
Then it was off to CA for the Natural Products Expo West convention. This is a trade show for the natural products industry. All the big players and many of the smaller ones are there to showcase their new products and interact with the rest of the industry. My interest is looking at the trends and looking for new ingredients or raw materials. Plus, I love to visit the booths of some of my favorite brands and find out what's new with them. If you had room in your suitcase and the time, you could take home a lot of great samples. I didn't have much of either, so I concentrated on small things -- like lots and lots of tea samples. I'm so glad that the tea companies and the market is catching up with me. I have so many types of teas to choose from now, and that fills the gap that I used to fill with Diet Coke. I was really struck by one trend, a tea company that is marketing teas for kids. Herbal with lots of fruit and other flavors coming from the ingredients. Now parents can start their kids on drinks that are low in sugar, high in antioxidants and steer them away from soda or juice drinks. Very cool!
We also went to dinners and events sponsored by a couple of our suppliers. I even learned to play craps at one of them. Totally fun -- if we ever go to a casino (highly unlikely) I'll definitely want to play. Then it was time to get up very early and head home. Unfortunately, the flight back was complicated by the fact that I have yet another cold. It's uncomfortable to fly when your ears are full of fluid and all you want to do is go to sleep. That's all I've done today and I doubt I'll make it into work tomorrow. Sigh. I long for sunshine and warm weather. Bring on Spring Break!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)