12-24-15 (First Class Citizen)

It’s Christmas Eve and I’m starting this blog entry from the Charlotte airport.  We booked an 8:20pm flight to New York.  Being with both started new jobs, we didn’t ask for any time off work today figuring we’re low on the totem pole so we’d not likely get it.  The plan was to have the car packed and ready to go right after work.  This morning, we decided to pay extra for a First Class upgrade.  We’ve never done it before so looking forward to the upgrade.

Jim’s job closed up shop at 3pm with advanced notice a week ahead.  My job, however, didn’t appear to have the same intentions.  It wasn’t until 3:45 that they decided to let everyone go.

We got to the airport about 5ish, parked, took the shuttle, and checked in.  We hoped to maybe get an earlier flight but our ticket wouldn’t transfer.  Oh well, we have a lot of time to kill.  Dinner and then surf the net. 

OMG, First Class was amazing!  We joked about watching the commoners board the plane as we sipped our beverages.  It was fun.  It was $90 each, yes each, for this upgrade for just little over an hour flight.  Also, that was for 1 way.  So, what I’m saying is, First Class will not likely be a part of our regular travel plans.

We checked into the Hilton Garden Inn Times Square and settled into our room.  We went to a 7-11 a few blocks away for some in room beverage supplies. 

The view from the room is nice.  It was dark when we arrived.  Here’s a couple of photos during the day:

That’s all for today.

12-20-15 (Miss Me, You Do)

Yes, a have a new blog layout.  This one is more modern and I really like the rounded tabs atop.  Just nod your head in agreement.

Now for some updates.

In October, I mentioned the living room TV was failing.  It got worse, but yet still intermittent.  We decided to take advantage of the Black Friday ads and buy a new, larger one.  Our existing Insignia, a Best Buy house brand, was a 40something”.  Jim researched reviews and Consumer Reports to find the best TV for us.  We settled on an LG 65”.  Jim ordered it from Best Buy online and the before Thanksgiving, we went to pick it up.  We got a decent deal on it but definitely not one of those super low Black Friday in-store deals.  You know, the ones that have a $1000 TV for half the price but only from 5am till 10am while supplies last.  We simply don’t shop like that.  My time is more valuable than camping out at Best Buy to grab a doorbuster.  Nope, not gonna happen.  Speaking of, here’s people in tents.  The first tent had a family with a propane heater sitting outside of it having dinner picnic style. 

I received a floating holiday that I had to use before the end of the year.  Thanksgiving week made training kind of come to a stop. Since I’m not yet a productive employee, I am using that extra day off on Black Friday.  I had no plans to shop, nor did I shop.  Jim was in a similar situation in regards to being non-productive since he too is in training.  He took the day off as well.

I’m done with training at work.  Finally.  2 months and I’m finally at my desk.  Unfortunately, they haven’t had anything for us to do just yet.  I think with the holidays (a slow time for business), perhaps there’s not enough work?  Maybe they’re trying to get us into the system?  I’m not sure.  As of late, I’ve been reviewing notes and helping the team with tedious functions where I can to keep busy.  Update (since I’ve taken so long to post this).  They’ve taken 6 of us to help our loan Closers.  It’s a lot of key entry and such.  Initially I was very mad about this since that’s not what I was hired to do but now I’m realizing I get a high salary to do easy stuff and so I’m content.  I am, however, very concerned about so much time elapsing between my training and actually doing my job.  It’s already been 4 weeks since I trained and they say we’ll be helping the remainder of this month and possibly next.  I hope we’ll get a day or 2 in class with some refresher info.

In the meantime, they’ve been sweating me out.  It’s been so hot in here.  They crank up the heat and are relentless.  I brought a thermometer and a fan in.  78 degrees.  What in the world?  Luckily my manager shares in my over-heated-ness.  After day 3 of me whining, the temperature has dropped to about 73.  Much better.   

In preparation for Star Wars, Jim went crazy on thinkgeek.com and bought a ton of stuff.  Here’s just a few things:

Above:  My Favorite.  A backpack.

Above: Carry-on luggage!  Good for NYC this month and for the cruise next month!

He also got a tie-fighter watch, droid pillows, etc, etc.  Meanwhile, from Hallmark, I got this Wonder Woman Ornament.  It’s Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman and plays part of the theme from the TV show.

That’s really all I have until after our NY trip. Merry Christmas.