Packing Up

It may be 2:00 am here, but it is a light, bright 7:00 am on Friday morning in Dublin! I am still up packing for my ten-day trip. Okay, so I am blogging instead of packing. But I had to stop to document my vacation from its very earliest stages. I find that the adventure usually starts in the hours, days or weeks preceding any trip. I've been planning for weeks, packing for days and running around like crazy for several hours.

Today was not a good day for customer service. AT&T stressed me out over the course of half an hour, but I did leave with a paper saying that for $30.99 plus $0.99/minute for voice I can use my iPhone for calls and internet in Ireland.  Then it was on to Best Buy, which never fails to be staffed with the most frustrating people. How many times can you say no to the extended warranty and geek service protection plan?

Must be at work in 8 hours.
Leave for the airport in 11.
Arrive in Dublin in about 27 hours!

Oh, yeah! I bought a new toy to take with me! Here's to a seven hour flight to read the manual!

The Time of Your Life

I went to the National Mall today. Bright and early this morning, actually. I saw Michelle Obama give the commencement speech at the George Washington University graduation ceremony. When I graduated, our pompous, retiring university president declared himself to be the commencement speaker. Pissing off an entire class of alums was a brilliant last act. Our consolation prize was that Wolf Blitzer received an honorary degree and also made a speech. I guess that is all $200,000 gets you these days.

Doctor Obama (she received a Doctorate of Public Service) gave an expectantly eloquent and entertaining speech this morning. At least 80% of my reason for standing to applaud was in gratitude for her presence. The other 20% may have been to do with the heat and my desire to catch a cool breeze.

My friend who graduated today began her time at GW three years after I started. I think I had a lot to do with her choosing the school, yet we each had wildly different experiences. I hated my college experience. I hated the type of students (and families) my school attracted. I hated that I felt like a customer of a business rather than a student at an institution of higher education. I spent as much time off campus as possible and after some unsuccessful early efforts, I got involved as little as possible. In contrast, my friend loved her time at this school. She got involved, stayed on campus a year longer than I did, joined a sorority, made lots of friends, studied abroad.

I felt a little sad today.

I didn't go to prom in high school. At the time I was pretty okay with it. Most of the time I am still pretty okay with it. I hate being told that I missed out. That it was some major life event that I failed to experience. It creates a tug on my heart and my memories that I don't naturally have. This is how I felt today. I hate being told that college is supposed to be the best four years of your life. Why does it have to be? That almost seems counter-intuitive that so many seemingly happy people look at their life and consider the peaks to be back at senior prom and the four years they spent in college. I like living my life looking forward. I had a wonderful childhood, and I do have many good memories from my college years, but I still hope that my best years are ahead of me. Otherwise, what is the point?

Details

So much planning. So little time.

I am so excited for summer adventures, but already feeling brain-dead from all the planning. Things were supposed to kick off last weekend with a trip down south for the Kentucky Derby. Attending the annual event was placed on my bucket list quite awhile ago but despite soliciting promises from friends well in advance, 2010 was not my year. I comforted myself with a second trip to the Virginia Gold Cup.

Yes, there were horses.

This past weekend I had a friend crashing with me on her journey from Boca Raton, FL to Massachusetts. While practicing my good hostess skills (the reason for this is coming), I also managed to book the final details of my trip to Ireland: the rental car! Besides the round-trip flight, which was the first thing booked, the rental car was the second most important detail--yet I left it until last! So overwhelmed by details was I, that I forgot an evening trip to Europe means landing a day later and I booked the car starting on May 21 instead of the 22.  A five-minute international phone call this morning fixed my error and saved us 30 Euros, but left me feeling very frustrated with myself as I take immense pride in my attention to detail. (Maybe pride is my problem and not sugar-fueled, late-night, online rental car bookings?!)

Before I get to experience Ireland, I need to survive five days as the perfect hostess. My mom is coming to town! Her last (and only) trip to visit me was shortly after I moved in to my first apartment in early 2008. Prior to her visit I was really excited to show off my new found grown-up skills and life. After her visit I realized that my sparsely furnished apartment and relatively empty cabinets and refrigerator were not exactly welcoming. Giving up my bed and taking the couch for a long weekend wasn't enough to earn a return visit. I was matter-of-factly told that I go back home to Massachusetts frequently enough and that she would just see me there. Hmph! Well she has been forced to return to attend a family friend's graduation from GW and I am determined to run the best little bed-and-breakfast that ever existed! Deep cleaning is already in progress, grocery lists are being drawn up and outings and adventures are being coordinated!

Then...
I am off to Ireland for ten days!
Back to DC for 3 weeks...
Up to MA for the siblings' birthday!
One weekend ruined by the removal of my wisdom teeth :(
Fourth of July Southern Road Trip (if my friends come through)!
Austin, TX for Aquapalooza?
Disney World?
Charleston, SC?
Maine for My 25th Birthday!


At some point I will probably run out of money, but at least the Bahamas Cruise in October with some girls from high school has already been paid for and booked! And at 25 years old my "sign up for real life" plan goes into effect. My life will be much less fun after that. But that is another post.

Off to the Races!

Where are the horses?

United We Stand

I am not in a union. Nor am I in a career field that would ever need to unionize. I have seriously considered becoming a teacher at some point in my life, but until then I stand on the outside. My parents come from opposite perspectives. As a nurse in a large city hospital, my mother has been a union member for over 30 years. My father spent much of his life in management for the MBTA, regularly frustrated by the perceived cushy jobs and protections of his unionized employees.

In my life (which is really still in the upswing, so I can't claim to have it all figured out) my opinion has swayed both ways. I have been frustrated by teacher unions preventing needed changes to this country's educational system and I have been frustrated by management cabals that focus entirely on their profit margins instead of the employees that keep them in business.

There was recently an article in the New York Times that talked about the union policy of laying off the most recently hired teachers first. Due to financial mismanagement, up to 8,500 teachers will soon be laid off in New York City Schools. The idea of 8,500 of the freshest minds with the longest teaching careers ahead of them losing jobs, while so many average teachers are protected, upsets me. I think I have said it before, but I am entirely unimpressed with the education I received from K-12 in public schools, as well as, the four years  I spent at a very expensive private college. I was rarely inspired. I had far more average to awful teachers than excellent ones. So it seems quite unfair that seniority would be the sole determination of whether a teacher gets laid off and even worse that it is used to prevent  the replacement of truly ineffective teachers. I think job performance should matter. A lot.

With all that said, I believe that seniority is something earned and something that should be rewarded. The people most likely to disagree with that statement, of course, are employers. I think there are several industries in which seniority is a particularly important career benefit.  I mean this specifically for occupations that don't have a set career ladder to climb (assistant -> junior associate -> senior partner -> CEO). In jobs like that, your salary increases with your rank. In other fields, such as teaching or nursing, you are not receiving regular promotions, only raises.

Of all those who go into the field of education as a teacher, 90% will retire as a teacher. Of all those who are hired as young nurses, 90% will retire as nurses. Relatively few people start in these positions with the intention of moving  into educational or healthcare administration and this is a good thing. We need more teachers and nurses than we need principals and nurse managers. What this kind of career creates is a group of people who are all doing essentially the same job but are receiving vastly different salaries based on their years of service.  (Yes, many people get the requisite raise without doing the work to earn it, but that is a different problem and a different post.)

My problem with a system that does not allow for seniority benefits for those whom have dedicated their lives to a job is that when management needs to make staff cuts, it's most effective to cut those making the most money. Fire one senior teacher and you save the same amount of money as firing two junior teachers. Financially it makes sense, but basic social justice says people shouldn't have to worry about losing their jobs for making money that they have fairly earned.

Although my expectations are low, I hope that the teacher's union in NYC can negotiate to remove the "rubber rooms" and ridiculous policies that create these situations and find a way to combine seniority benefits with performance benefits so that students and upstanding employees will be served first.

Cherry Blossom Festival 2010

I had feared I would miss it this year, but I still have a little tourist left in me! On Thursday, April 1 (the first of the two peak bloom days!) I went down to the tidal basin to take some pictures and revel in the fact that I am not allergic to spring in DC!

Until next year!

Back Home

I went home to Massachusetts for Easter. It was a difficult weekend. Several phone calls to the police, a sleepless night, much worry and unease--it was hard to be home, but even harder to leave. I have spent several days deciding not only what I will share on my blog, but also how much I will share with my friends. I think in most situations, I typically choose to keep things to myself when there is doubt. I have never regretted keeping personal stories personal, but I have definitely experienced times where I have shared and then had a verbal hangover after realizing the amount of information I put out there. I always try to ask myself two questions: Do I want sympathy? Do I want advice? While sympathy is always nice to receive, I just never feel right about seeking it or about people who actively seek it from others. In this case, I really don't need advice. My weekend and missed day of work can only be summed up by letting people know I am contemplative and grateful for my family.  I returned to DC on Monday night and things seem back to normal both here and at home. Easter Sunday, itself, turned out to be quite nice--warm weather, good food, amazing family.

This boy makes me smile.

  

       My Youngest Cousin

I also went to see my nieces' skating show on Saturday after being awake for the better part of 30 straight hours (the things I do for these girls!)  I taught them to ice skate when they were 3 and 6 and my sister signed them up for group lessons about two years later. Unfortunately, I have been living in DC since then and have not been able to oversee their skating career quite as closely as I would like ;)  This Shrek-themed performance was the first real show that I have been able to attend in the past four years! 

My Nieces