BLOGGED AFTER THE FACT: CAPE CANAVERAL, FL : PART 1

OK, you guys, this trip was a quick one and I'm still trying to recover!  Oy.

Tuesday evening, around 5 o'clock, Steve dropped me off at the airport for my very first, official, real-life business trip! Woo! I know I sound overly excited about it, and in a way I guess I was. I don't know why exactly, because it wasn't like I was going on vacation or anything, but saying that you're going on a business trip sounds awfully grown up and professional.  Those are two things I rarely get to say about myself!

Anyway, so Steve dropped me off and, since I'd already checked into my airline online, I went directly to security.  We are very lucky to have such a small airport nearby. While it's a pain in the ass that we can only fly directly to just a few cities, the silver lining of it is that it doesn't take any time to get through the unpleasantness of being scanned and x-rayed.  Well, usually.  For some reason I set off the scanner. Not only that, but when I looked at the body outline on the screen, the portion of my body that seemed to be questionable was (and forgive my indelicacy) was my crotch.

Now I know what you're thinking: "Kelly," you're thinking "there are better places to store your iPhone." You are correct, which is why my phone was in my purse. I genuinely couldn't think of any other questionable object that might have gotten lost in there over the span of the day, so I expected the TSA agent to get the woo-woo wand and do a few swipes over my person to make sure my crotch was weapon free, find me innocent of any devices, and let me go on my way.  Alas, that was not what happened. The nice TSA agent said that I needed to be patted down, and she explained in (almost) full detail about what she was going to do.  As I was wearing a trapeze dress for travel comfort, my considerable form was shrouded in a rather shapeless mass of cloth, so I figured that a good pat down would ease their minds. So I submitted.

Y'all...I've been patted down by security before, but this was the first time I ever got to third base with a TSA agent. Yikes. I'll say no more about it, except to say I thank God that I'd pregamed with my anti-anxiety meds before getting to the airport, because I think that was the only reason I managed not to faint in the process.  And just in case you're concerned, there were no liberties taken by this agent, I promise. From what I could tell, it was all by the book. I just didn't expect that my own "book" would be thumbed through, if you catch my meaning.

In due time, myself and my boss, Angela, got on the airplane and took off towards Florida. I'd been told we were going to Tampa, but found out a few days before it was actually Orlando that we were headed to. Eh, that was fine, although it was disturbingly close to Disney World.  We made it to our Hotel after 10:00 pm, and I grabbed some dinner at the hotel shop and enjoyed it, as well as the complementary cookie, in my room before passing out from near exhaustion.

We had to wake up early, and by early I mean by 4:00 AM, to be able to get ready in time to go to Port Canaveral, where the trade show was taking place. Everything was fine as far as that goes, except for one thing: Since I didn't have a napkin when I'd eaten dinner the night before, I'd wiped my mouth and hands on one of the washcloths from the bathroom. I'd placed it on the TV tray the night before, but when I went to pick it up to put it in the bathroom so it would be taken out my housekeeping, it was moving. Yep, there was a big, German roach having a field day on that washcloth. I've been in a lot of hotel rooms, both nice and questionable, and I've never seen a roach crawling on stuff in any of them until that moment. You'd be proud of me, though.  I didn't scream, or panic. I steeled myself and very gently picked up the washcloth so that I could shake that little hastared into the toilet and drown his wretched soul, but the minute I picked it up, it disappeared.

*SHUDDER*

I don't know where it went, and I didn't care. I got out of there ASAP, and I told the man at the front desk about my little visitor. I guess I could have made a fuss, but there was no point. I asked that the room be sprayed and cleaned, and went on my way.  Bleh.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) I know, I know. I don't write here much these days. I don't mean to neglect ye olde blog, but as I've mentioned, things have been kind of boring. I work, I eat, I go home, and once I'm there, I don't do much of note. That sounds kind of sad, actually, but it's fine. I'm sort of in a rut, I guess you could say. I need to get back into doing some things I've been neglecting, but it's a process. We all have our processes, right?

2) So, the biggest news I suppose is that I have a new job!  I also have my old job. I'm also still doing my freelance graphic design, so I have two and a half jobs! It's all very confusing, I assure you. In addition to my job at the church and the graphics, I have also been hired to work with one of Steve's colleagues at her new office!  I am an office administrator, or assistant office administrator (which is weird, because there isn't anyone other than the CEO I'm assisting) or maybe I'm an Admin Assistant. I really don't know, because we haven't landed on a title yet. The business is an IT/Cyber Security/AI kind of deal, and I'm eventually going to be running the office while other, smarter people do important computer work for other, bigger companies.  Basically, I'm doing the same type of thing that I do at the church, only I'm allowed to drink during lunch breaks!  No, seriously, I think it might even be encouraged. :)

I didn't set out to have more than one job. The new job was intended to replace my church job, but it turned out that being the very first non-contractor for this company (which I'm not naming because I don't know if anything I say on my blog might embarrass anyone) would require training that my boss would have to be able to do, and she's so busy that she doesn't have time to do the amount of training I need all at once. So we're doing it in bite size increments! In 6 months, we will reevaluate my work and go from there. So I'm part time office help for two offices!

What I like the most about the job (other than the fact that my new boss brings her dog to work and I love him) is that we have an office downtown in one of the historical buildings that has been outfitted as office space! I can't be 100% sure, but I think our particular office space used to be a bridal shop back in the day. I can't find the history of it online, but I'm still looking to find out for sure. Our floor has been separated into strange, uneven office spaces, but you can tell it was a part of something else at some point. We have a set of stairs that literally goes to a blank wall. I love working downtown, because we are right next to the swanky, hipster area that has been revamped for the influx of young professionals being lured to town with all of the new jobs. We can walk in any direction and be in a coffee shop, a restaurant, a neat little shopping area, or the courthouse square. It's all very cozy.  I'm sure the novelty will eventually wear off, but for now, I like it a lot.

So I'll keep you posted as things progress! Now my main concern is trying to remember what I'm supposed to do at two different jobs. I'm not sure my brain was made to handle that much.

3) Steve signed me up to do a redo of the race that almost killed me last week. He said "You're going to finish this time!" which I'm not sure if that is encouragement or a threat, but I'm game. It's not until November, so at least it won't be as hot! I just want to get the medal. I'll be honest, I like winning things. Medals are kind of a silly, borderline useless thing to have in the house, but that changes nothing! I WANT IT.

4) My weekend was fine, thank you for asking!  It wasn't at all what I was expecting, but honestly, no weekend ever really is.  One of the best things was, and I kind of hate that the food was the best part, but was breakfast on Saturday. Steve took me to a little hole-in-the-wall BBQ joint on the edge of town. It's literally inside a gas station, but the barbecue is excellent. We had something called a Boarhog biscuit, which was pulled pork, an egg, and cheese on a giant, homemade cat head biscuit. It was excellent! I was skeptical, because I'm not one to eat barbecue for breakfast, but it was better than any breakfast I've had in years. If you're ever in town, I'll take you to have breakfast there so you can try it!  If you don't want me to go with you (which is understandable) I can at least give you the address so you can go! Eat One Before You Die!