I realized I forgot a few of the nicknames (and a few were added the last couple of weeks back in San Diego.
To recap, we had:
* Teacher's Pet
* Glasses
* Man Bun
* Marine
* Consuela
* Enterprise
* Lurch
Added:
* Trey - the number 3 was significant for this instructor
* Ryan - one of the CA guys. His name is NOT Ryan, but it is what he was called more often than his real name.
* Cat Nap - when you continuously talk about your love of cats & come in late from lunch one day because you fell asleep, the trainer will give you an appropriate nickname
* Little One - the smallest of us all
* Drake - lookalike (so they say)
* Teacher's Pet 2.0 - making good grades will get you made fun of at any age apparently
* Glasses 2.0 - when others find a nerve and take advantage. This girl was in our class.
* Glasses 3.0 - girl in the training class behind us.
* Dad - one of the trainers was called Dad by one of my classmates since day 2
* Uncle - the other trainer (by default)
EDIT: Also, one of my classmates from Alaska was very excited to announce yesterday that his dog won Pup of the Month at doggy daycare. As Pup of the Month, Endeavor (aka Mr. Dev) will have 3 free days and a pic & bio on the wall. (And Mr. Dev has his own Instagram. --- yes, I follow him.)
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Monday, May 27, 2019
Better late than never
Oops. It has been a while since I posted. I was trying to post at least once a week but it has now been a month. I failed to post the entire 3 weeks I was in Virginia. This will be an attempt to hit some of the highlights over the last month. Feel free to comment with any questions (or message me on whatever format you have my contact info for).
* Travelling from CA to VA was no joke! It was a very long day. and (TMI) I was on my period which made the 12 hours of traveling feel even longer. Honestly, tiny airplane bathrooms are already the worst!
* Basic Training was a LOT harder than I expected. I knew it would challenge me but I was honestly worried a few times that I would not meet the minimum requirements. I wondered more than once if I had made a mistake leaving everything I knew for this job. And I had even been warned these thoughts/feelings would come up.
* The hotel was about 20 minutes away from the training center which meant we had 15 passenger vans. My group (all CA folks - most vans were mixed) had the WORST van there. It was the hardest to get in/out of and had a funky smell. And I'm fairly certain that the rear suspension was gone.
* I did NOT like our hotel in VA. It seemed to be targetted at millennials. Tacky modern design but not produced very well. A lot of design elements that did not make sense. Cheap materials. But I did get to watch the Atlanta United match.
* CA came with the largest group to Basic Training. And honestly, most of the other regions did not like us. But not for the reasons I expected (attitude too laid back or weird food choices or other stereotypes) but because we were always hanging out with each other. And not in a Mean Girls sort of way but because we enjoyed each other. We laughed together.
* Several of the guys from CA created nicknames for many in our class. We had Teacher's Pet, Glasses (started as Sunglasses), Man Bun (not from CA btw, he was from TX), Marine (he was my favorite non-CA person I met), Consuela (I didn't learn who this was until the last day), Enterprise, Lurch (who reminded me of Ben Stein) ... I think there were a few others but some folks were called by name by the end and I forgot the nickname they started with. (Teacher's Pet actually got the highest grade at the end.)
* The same group of guys from CA created an elimination bracket to determine which fellow classmate or teacher we disliked the most. I know it came down to Teacher's Pet or Glasses. Pretty sure Glasses took home the prize on that one. I support this choice since I heard her giving wrong scoring/rules to cornhole the night we were at the hotel. Don't jump in & tell others how something works when you don't know. (And she was CONFIDENT about it.)
* I went to Top Golf for the first time. It was fun. They have the best tater tots that I have ever had. I ended up on the winning side of about 5 free drinks. :) And I was smart enough to grab a couple of Gatorade when I got back to the hotel. (There was a convenient store in front of the hotel.)
* Traveling back to CA was rough. We had only a partial day at the training center so we could get to our flights. We were done before 11 am and our flight left DC at 5:40 pm. I had been up since 5 a.m. Arrived at the hotel in San Diego around 3:30 am EST. I was up for nearly 24 hours.
* The Charlotte airport is hot garbage. Our terminal wasn't even finished. Like no flooring. Overbooked and way too many people. Garbage. But there was a pretty sunset from the gate.
* I learned that only non-California people refer to it as Cali. That is how they tell if you are a local or a tourist. It is either SoCal or NorCal.
* I learned that you can buy hard liquor at Walmart in CA. And the choice for hair color is a lot bigger.
* Several of my classmates made a list of Must Try places. Every time they would hand it back to me, they would ask for it back. Someone nearby would overhear the name of a place they were talking about and then add to the list.
* I got to go to a game at Petco Park. Arizona vs Padres. :D One of my goals is to watch as many MLB games in as many different stadiums as possible. It is a short list so far. Fulton Co Stadium. Turner Field. Sun Trust Park. Petco Park. ... Goals will be to add Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium of Anaheim this summer.
* There is some great architecture and art in downtown San Diego.
* I learned that it is illegal to tailgate in Los Angeles County. So even though I will be minutes from both USC and UCLA, tailgating is not allowed.
* Since the hotel in San Diego is a 3-minute walk from our training classroom, we walk back to the hotel during morning break which is usually around 9:30 am. And breakfast is not over until 10 am. We are living our best Hobbit Life and make it to Second Breakfast almost daily. :D
* I found out that I will get to drive from San Diego to Los Angeles this Friday. So I'll get to see some of the views. I don't have to deal with checked baggage. :D
This is not everything from the last 4 weeks. But it is all for now. Maybe I'll add more pics later.
* Travelling from CA to VA was no joke! It was a very long day. and (TMI) I was on my period which made the 12 hours of traveling feel even longer. Honestly, tiny airplane bathrooms are already the worst!
* Basic Training was a LOT harder than I expected. I knew it would challenge me but I was honestly worried a few times that I would not meet the minimum requirements. I wondered more than once if I had made a mistake leaving everything I knew for this job. And I had even been warned these thoughts/feelings would come up.
* The hotel was about 20 minutes away from the training center which meant we had 15 passenger vans. My group (all CA folks - most vans were mixed) had the WORST van there. It was the hardest to get in/out of and had a funky smell. And I'm fairly certain that the rear suspension was gone.
* I did NOT like our hotel in VA. It seemed to be targetted at millennials. Tacky modern design but not produced very well. A lot of design elements that did not make sense. Cheap materials. But I did get to watch the Atlanta United match.
* CA came with the largest group to Basic Training. And honestly, most of the other regions did not like us. But not for the reasons I expected (attitude too laid back or weird food choices or other stereotypes) but because we were always hanging out with each other. And not in a Mean Girls sort of way but because we enjoyed each other. We laughed together.
* Several of the guys from CA created nicknames for many in our class. We had Teacher's Pet, Glasses (started as Sunglasses), Man Bun (not from CA btw, he was from TX), Marine (he was my favorite non-CA person I met), Consuela (I didn't learn who this was until the last day), Enterprise, Lurch (who reminded me of Ben Stein) ... I think there were a few others but some folks were called by name by the end and I forgot the nickname they started with. (Teacher's Pet actually got the highest grade at the end.)
* The same group of guys from CA created an elimination bracket to determine which fellow classmate or teacher we disliked the most. I know it came down to Teacher's Pet or Glasses. Pretty sure Glasses took home the prize on that one. I support this choice since I heard her giving wrong scoring/rules to cornhole the night we were at the hotel. Don't jump in & tell others how something works when you don't know. (And she was CONFIDENT about it.)
* I went to Top Golf for the first time. It was fun. They have the best tater tots that I have ever had. I ended up on the winning side of about 5 free drinks. :) And I was smart enough to grab a couple of Gatorade when I got back to the hotel. (There was a convenient store in front of the hotel.)
* Traveling back to CA was rough. We had only a partial day at the training center so we could get to our flights. We were done before 11 am and our flight left DC at 5:40 pm. I had been up since 5 a.m. Arrived at the hotel in San Diego around 3:30 am EST. I was up for nearly 24 hours.
* The Charlotte airport is hot garbage. Our terminal wasn't even finished. Like no flooring. Overbooked and way too many people. Garbage. But there was a pretty sunset from the gate.
* I learned that only non-California people refer to it as Cali. That is how they tell if you are a local or a tourist. It is either SoCal or NorCal.
* I learned that you can buy hard liquor at Walmart in CA. And the choice for hair color is a lot bigger.
* Several of my classmates made a list of Must Try places. Every time they would hand it back to me, they would ask for it back. Someone nearby would overhear the name of a place they were talking about and then add to the list.
* I got to go to a game at Petco Park. Arizona vs Padres. :D One of my goals is to watch as many MLB games in as many different stadiums as possible. It is a short list so far. Fulton Co Stadium. Turner Field. Sun Trust Park. Petco Park. ... Goals will be to add Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium of Anaheim this summer.
* There is some great architecture and art in downtown San Diego.
* I learned that it is illegal to tailgate in Los Angeles County. So even though I will be minutes from both USC and UCLA, tailgating is not allowed.
* Since the hotel in San Diego is a 3-minute walk from our training classroom, we walk back to the hotel during morning break which is usually around 9:30 am. And breakfast is not over until 10 am. We are living our best Hobbit Life and make it to Second Breakfast almost daily. :D
* I found out that I will get to drive from San Diego to Los Angeles this Friday. So I'll get to see some of the views. I don't have to deal with checked baggage. :D
This is not everything from the last 4 weeks. But it is all for now. Maybe I'll add more pics later.
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