Training in Vancouver

It was great. I travelled with Hip who is funny and warm and interesting and smart. I like her. We took the ferry the night before and shared a hotel room. The only thing we were required to bring was business attire and our training books and be there at 8:45am. Missing any one of these 3 requirements translated into "you're fired". Seemed simple enough. Business attire? Check. Training Book? Check. Alarm clock? Check. 3 different catastrophes almost spelled me getting fired though.

1. We took a couple of buses and almost got seperated. I had no idea of the name and location of the hotel, but we had it written down in a book that Hip was holding when we almost got seperated. Also, my phone was completely dead. It had her number in it as well as any other number I may have needed. Sure, I could call my work but they were closed and I wouldn't get ahold of anyone until 9am the next morning. Maybe call friends and get them to email someone on facebook? I don't have anyone's number memorized, it's all programmed into my phone. Thank God she held the doors to the skytrain open before it took off! Scary stuff.

2. Slept in. A good friend texting me is what woke me up at 7:45am. Apparently, I had pressed the "off" button instead of "snooze". I texted her thank-you's all day.

3. We thought the meeting started at 8:30am and our cab that we called came and left because we weren't in front of the hotel. So we called again and were waiting. We wanted to use that particular cab company because they bill directly to our company. But by 8:25am, we decided to go with a cab that was waiting out front. He got us there in record time. We got out of the cab with our bags and purses. Suddenly Hip screams and yells at the cab and runs over and opens the back door. I had left my book in the cab! She grabs it and throws it at me and we frantically run in, laughing at the craziness of the morning. It was 8:39am and we were shocked when the instructor didn't kick us out. I saw my co-workers and they said they were just about to call me. Yeah, right. So then we find out it actually starts at 8:45am. I was so relieved I told the instructor I could hug him right now. So he hugged me. Said he will always take a hug from a beautiful lady. I gave him 5 points. He was very happy with that and said he will keep the 5 points for as long as he lives.

A couple guys showed up late and were asked to leave. The instructor seemed very sad and kept apologizing to the guys. One of them had his book, but it wasn't completed. The instructor openly explained to us that this isn't acceptable. I honestly felt bad for that guy.

The rest of the day was smooth sailing. I did not get fired.