so, with all this change coming to quintiles (they are trying to make all the monitor more localized to a specific region) i am losing pretty much all of my sites that i have developed relationships with. i am very sad about this, because i value the relationships i form at my sites. if you develop relationships with your coordinators, they want to do things for you, when you ask them, and it makes my trips much more enjoyable if i am going to visit coordinators that are easy to work with. sometimes, i get really lucky and the coordinators and i get along so well that we go out to dinner, we talk about our personal lives, and becomes friends - that is what i have found in salisbury, md!!!
i told my coordinators in salisbury, md (erica, megan, kathy, and christina) at the last visit that this visit would probably be my last (i am still holding out hope, that maybe it won't be), so we all planned to go out to dinner. we went to market st to eat tonight and i enjoyed my last dinner with them. the last time i was here, we all went to texas roadhouse. i am going to miss coming to this site and hearing stories about erica's adorable children, megan's pregnancy, crazy kathy fiddler, and joking around with them in general. they actually made traveling not seem so bad. i hope the new monitor appreciates what a great site they are getting.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
a saduko partner, a very hot guy at 6 am
it is amazing how many interesting people i meet on the plane. last thursday i was on my way home from a site visit in connecticut and an older gentleman sat down beside of me. we started chatting, and he mentioned the church he attends in charlotte. i told him that i actually visited that church first when i moved to charlotte. somehow we ended doing a saduko puzzle together - it was hilarious. would you believe that we could not figure out the easiest one without a little assistance, haha.
i also met a very cute guy a few weeks back from charlotte on his way to san francisco. we had some great conversation, and talked about our walks with God and i am here to tell you, if i could see him again, it would be a-mazing. too bad when we landed in atlanta, i was in such a hurry. i had to take off running to make my connection to panama city.
sometimes i meet the most amazing people on planes, other times i meet annoying, smelling people. my travel experiences are definitely interesting.
i also met a very cute guy a few weeks back from charlotte on his way to san francisco. we had some great conversation, and talked about our walks with God and i am here to tell you, if i could see him again, it would be a-mazing. too bad when we landed in atlanta, i was in such a hurry. i had to take off running to make my connection to panama city.
sometimes i meet the most amazing people on planes, other times i meet annoying, smelling people. my travel experiences are definitely interesting.
a slit that kept growing
so, two weeks ago i was running a little late heading to the airport, the weather was not on my side either... it was pouring rain. i arrive at business valet approximately 57 minutes before my flight, yikes. i step out and the little lady is new = not good. but when i go to step out, my skirt that originally had a 1.5 inch slit, now has a 5 inch slit = holy cow, what in the world do you do. i had no time to turn around and go home, i seriously was so mortified. i immediately put my purse in front of my skirt and carried on. i searched in every store in the airport for an emergency sewing kit or safety pin, but what was i thinking, that would be considered a weapon... no go. the charlotte airport doesn't sell clothing, so i am starting to panic. then, i remember that the philly airport has an airport mall, and i am connecting there. so, when i land, i run to gap. i ask the nice lady in there for a size 8, black skirt immediately. i put it on, and walk out with the tags ripped off. she says, "are you flexible?" the sensor is still on my skirt... i have like 1o minutes to make it to my gate (through two terminals) and i have to jump up on the counter to get the sensor off the skirt. i pay and off i go. they actually paged me, last boarding call - so i just barely made it. what a day.
to make the day even more interesting, two of my friends had an engagement party i was trying to get back to that evening, and i got delayed in philly on the way home and didn't make it:( so much fun traveling i tell you.
to make the day even more interesting, two of my friends had an engagement party i was trying to get back to that evening, and i got delayed in philly on the way home and didn't make it:( so much fun traveling i tell you.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
6 hours worth of delays and i've been in three states in one day
so, last night i decided that i would try this whole carry on luggage thing and not check my bag. i'm thinking this can't be that hard, but oh my was it ever! i mean, it is nearly impossible for me to cram all my liquid items in a one quart bag (i left my shampoo/conditioner/body wash at home) and still my ziploc baggie is popping open, haha. i bought some no name hairspray and the smallest shaving cream known to man, put my facewash in a tiny little bottle, my perfume is in a tiny little tube, my concealer, mascara, face lotion, benzyl peroxide, and toothpaste had to come...how does it all fit. somehow i managed. probably won't be doing this again, just saying.
so, my day started around 5:20 am. i get to the airport this morning and my first flight from charlotte to bradley (hartford) left relatively close to on time and then i went to my site. it was located in downtown manchester, connecticut. i couldn't find anywhere to park, except main street (a downtown area) and there were signs that read, "free parking, two hours." i was thinking i am not sure how long i will be at my site, but probably not much longer than two hours due to the fact that i had to get back to the airport. i went to my visit, in which, the SC then watched me monitor (very strange) and hardly had anything entered into our electronic data capture system, but still managed to get finished in about 3 hours. i walk down and get in my car and realize about a minute down the road, that i have a parking ticket. the CT police have given me a $10 parking ticket!
i head to the airport to catch my flight to philly to get to salisbury, and all the fun begins. my flight was delayed 2 hours. we finally board the plane and i immediately fall asleep. i sleep through some of the drama, but i wake up after we have been on the plane for an hour and realize that we are still near the gate, we haven't even pushed back, FUN, not. the pilot says, the ground stop has been lifted, so we are clear, we are going to push back and get out of here ASAP, air traffic control has given us a time of wheels up at 6:15pm. (note: original flight should have left at 3:40pm, then the first delay was 5:00pm). so, we taxi out and we are like next in line to take off, and the pilot comes over the intercom and says, bad news: another ground stop in philly, at least an hour delay... so we go nowhere. so, around 7:15 we finally take off and land in philly at 8pm, whew, four hours of delays, not fun.
when i landed in philly, i get off the plane and realize that my salisbury, md flight left me. i am hoping and about to go into some serious prayer that there will be another flight to salisbury tonight. luckily there is an 8:50pm. the us airways staff was not very helpful to me, but i am an old pro, so it didn't stress me out that much. then we get on the plane for salisbury and that flight wasn't necessarily delayed, but traffic was backed up so we waited forever to take off.
when i landed in salisbury, finally, i realized that the heartz representative decided she was tired of waiting on me, how kind. avis only had one car left so i took it.
i am super tired now, finally i am at my hotel. goodnight folks.
so, my day started around 5:20 am. i get to the airport this morning and my first flight from charlotte to bradley (hartford) left relatively close to on time and then i went to my site. it was located in downtown manchester, connecticut. i couldn't find anywhere to park, except main street (a downtown area) and there were signs that read, "free parking, two hours." i was thinking i am not sure how long i will be at my site, but probably not much longer than two hours due to the fact that i had to get back to the airport. i went to my visit, in which, the SC then watched me monitor (very strange) and hardly had anything entered into our electronic data capture system, but still managed to get finished in about 3 hours. i walk down and get in my car and realize about a minute down the road, that i have a parking ticket. the CT police have given me a $10 parking ticket!
i head to the airport to catch my flight to philly to get to salisbury, and all the fun begins. my flight was delayed 2 hours. we finally board the plane and i immediately fall asleep. i sleep through some of the drama, but i wake up after we have been on the plane for an hour and realize that we are still near the gate, we haven't even pushed back, FUN, not. the pilot says, the ground stop has been lifted, so we are clear, we are going to push back and get out of here ASAP, air traffic control has given us a time of wheels up at 6:15pm. (note: original flight should have left at 3:40pm, then the first delay was 5:00pm). so, we taxi out and we are like next in line to take off, and the pilot comes over the intercom and says, bad news: another ground stop in philly, at least an hour delay... so we go nowhere. so, around 7:15 we finally take off and land in philly at 8pm, whew, four hours of delays, not fun.
when i landed in philly, i get off the plane and realize that my salisbury, md flight left me. i am hoping and about to go into some serious prayer that there will be another flight to salisbury tonight. luckily there is an 8:50pm. the us airways staff was not very helpful to me, but i am an old pro, so it didn't stress me out that much. then we get on the plane for salisbury and that flight wasn't necessarily delayed, but traffic was backed up so we waited forever to take off.
when i landed in salisbury, finally, i realized that the heartz representative decided she was tired of waiting on me, how kind. avis only had one car left so i took it.
i am super tired now, finally i am at my hotel. goodnight folks.
Monday, June 29, 2009
june has been absolutely crazy
so, quintiles requires us to have so many visits a month, and april and may i was short (we have a quarter to make up for slow months) so june was my month to make up for visits for quarter 2. i've been doing a lot of day visits, as i hate being gone here lately. here are some things to remember: don't get to the airport 27 minutes before your scheduled departure, you'll be running to your gate and your bag will be in an overhead bin totally far away from you, another thing, don't think you can fly standby without paying change fees the day before... stories to follow.
so, a few weeks ago, i had a three day, possibly four day visit in jacksonville, florida. i got finished early, but had booked my trip for four days. so i went to JAX and wanted to fly standby (with my status that normally doesn't cost any money - to most it is a minimum $150 change fee), but because it was not on the same day as my original ticket, i was there a day early, they charged me the fee, plus the change in fare... (side note: i had already changed my flight on sunday to monday due to a migraine headache, another $150). i begged and pleaded with the us air people, even spoke to a manager, but i got nowhere.... these airline attendants do not budge. can i just get on my soapbox, here. why is it that they can charge us all these change fees, but they can change our flights without any notice, cancel our flights, and we get nothing... i think it is so unfair. i could complain all day or offer my opinion on why i think the airlines rip customers off, but it will do no good, what started out as a $617 flight, ended up being a $1000 trip.
this past saturday i spent the day with one of my good friends michele at bridal mart, we spent about 5 hours there... can i just say that bridal mart is like a zoo.... the fitting room is like a large hallway, with no curtains or doors - so you are totally exposed, haha. you can take 3 dresses back at a time. one bride stole one of the dresses michele had back there to try on, so we had to watch her like a hawk to get it back... craziness. the bridesmiad's dresses were "organized" by designer and not by size which i hated, but i don't think one was decided on... it is ok though, we have time, the wedding isn't until september 18, 2010. the consultants weren't really a big help at this place either, at least at david's bridal, they take care of their dresses - the consultants get the dresses for you, not here, dresses are a free for all.
on saturday night i went to a toga party, can't say i ever went to one of those in college. we made a little scavenger hunt to spice the party up, molly won the scavenger hunt, fun times. she was so good. one of the things on the list was have a cop handcuff you, one guy at the party bought into this and totally embarrassed me, you had to be there, but lee, charlie, and molly saw it and let's just say that we all know why i am not a big flirt, my face turned 900 shades of red. i laughed so hard at the situation.
i'm going to try and update my blog more often. i've been so busy lately, it has been so hard.
happy 4th everyone, i'll be at the outer banks, so i'm sure i'll have a story or two. first, i got to cherry hill tomorrow.
so, a few weeks ago, i had a three day, possibly four day visit in jacksonville, florida. i got finished early, but had booked my trip for four days. so i went to JAX and wanted to fly standby (with my status that normally doesn't cost any money - to most it is a minimum $150 change fee), but because it was not on the same day as my original ticket, i was there a day early, they charged me the fee, plus the change in fare... (side note: i had already changed my flight on sunday to monday due to a migraine headache, another $150). i begged and pleaded with the us air people, even spoke to a manager, but i got nowhere.... these airline attendants do not budge. can i just get on my soapbox, here. why is it that they can charge us all these change fees, but they can change our flights without any notice, cancel our flights, and we get nothing... i think it is so unfair. i could complain all day or offer my opinion on why i think the airlines rip customers off, but it will do no good, what started out as a $617 flight, ended up being a $1000 trip.
this past saturday i spent the day with one of my good friends michele at bridal mart, we spent about 5 hours there... can i just say that bridal mart is like a zoo.... the fitting room is like a large hallway, with no curtains or doors - so you are totally exposed, haha. you can take 3 dresses back at a time. one bride stole one of the dresses michele had back there to try on, so we had to watch her like a hawk to get it back... craziness. the bridesmiad's dresses were "organized" by designer and not by size which i hated, but i don't think one was decided on... it is ok though, we have time, the wedding isn't until september 18, 2010. the consultants weren't really a big help at this place either, at least at david's bridal, they take care of their dresses - the consultants get the dresses for you, not here, dresses are a free for all.
on saturday night i went to a toga party, can't say i ever went to one of those in college. we made a little scavenger hunt to spice the party up, molly won the scavenger hunt, fun times. she was so good. one of the things on the list was have a cop handcuff you, one guy at the party bought into this and totally embarrassed me, you had to be there, but lee, charlie, and molly saw it and let's just say that we all know why i am not a big flirt, my face turned 900 shades of red. i laughed so hard at the situation.
i'm going to try and update my blog more often. i've been so busy lately, it has been so hard.
happy 4th everyone, i'll be at the outer banks, so i'm sure i'll have a story or two. first, i got to cherry hill tomorrow.
Monday, June 1, 2009
what not to do
so, sunday i was at the lake with friends, and i surely didn't want to leave, but as you know it, i had to fly out - one of my sites is being audited = no fun. i had a flight to catch at 8pm to salisbury, maryland. i knew i had a good 3.5 to 4 hour drive ahead of me to get back to charlotte, so off i go around 12:30ish from the lake. i finally make it to my house around 4:30 - what a long drive by yourself. HAVE I MENTIONED THAT I HATE DRIVING BY MYSELF? could it be more boring, haha. i am thinking, oh my gosh, i have to pack and get to my grandfather's to see him before i leave, how do i do all this. (oh a day in my life, haha.)
so, i pack up my stuff and get done by like 5ish on the dot, head out to lincolnton (a 30 min drive) and get to Pop's around 5:30pm and to my surprise my daddy is there too, woohoo. i get to see my dad and grandfather in one trip. pop had some items he wanted me to look over, and we chatted about my fun weekend at the lake, and before i knew it was 6:26pm, YIKES - get to the airport. so, i hop back in the car and book it to the airport. i had to get to the us airways counter by 7:15pm to check my bag. when i get to the business vallet location, the shuttle driver is MIA -what the heck. of all times, could they find someone else, i am flipping out. my watch says 7:09 pm. so, finally here comes this old man (who apparently had to use the bathroom - i mean, you can't blame the poor man) walking slow as ever... i basically beg him to speed to get us to the counter. i think i got to the counter at 7:12pm, whew, just under the deadline.
so, i made it to salisbury, md safely last night (not after some rocky turbulence - more than normal), but nothing i can't handle - i slept through most of it.
i'm in salisbury til wednesday. i come home wednesday night, then off to jacksonville thursday during the day. friday is brad paisley, woohoo, then saturday is joy's wedding - busy busy, but i wouldn't have it any other way!!!
so, i pack up my stuff and get done by like 5ish on the dot, head out to lincolnton (a 30 min drive) and get to Pop's around 5:30pm and to my surprise my daddy is there too, woohoo. i get to see my dad and grandfather in one trip. pop had some items he wanted me to look over, and we chatted about my fun weekend at the lake, and before i knew it was 6:26pm, YIKES - get to the airport. so, i hop back in the car and book it to the airport. i had to get to the us airways counter by 7:15pm to check my bag. when i get to the business vallet location, the shuttle driver is MIA -what the heck. of all times, could they find someone else, i am flipping out. my watch says 7:09 pm. so, finally here comes this old man (who apparently had to use the bathroom - i mean, you can't blame the poor man) walking slow as ever... i basically beg him to speed to get us to the counter. i think i got to the counter at 7:12pm, whew, just under the deadline.
so, i made it to salisbury, md safely last night (not after some rocky turbulence - more than normal), but nothing i can't handle - i slept through most of it.
i'm in salisbury til wednesday. i come home wednesday night, then off to jacksonville thursday during the day. friday is brad paisley, woohoo, then saturday is joy's wedding - busy busy, but i wouldn't have it any other way!!!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
a busy week
so, sunday i worked in the nursery at my church for the first time, what a huge blessing. having all the 18 month to 24 month olds love on me - well walk and climb on me in a tiny little room was so much fun. at first i had 9 of them in the room, all by myself, and then finally they brought in some reinforcement (just some help.) after that, i went home for a cookout with the family, which was so good for us, after the sudden death of my grandmother last week, we needed to rally together and try to have a good time and not be sad. my grandfather was even able to tell us about their first date without crying which was precious. i then headed back to charlotte and went over to christine's for "sunday funday!" since it was raining no park activities... we decided to play dominoes. who knew dominoes could be so much fun! i needed this so much, as i had had such a rough week the week before. i had to head to the airport to go to salisbury, md for work on sunday, so off i went.
i knew that monday morning when i called my grandparent's house and my grandmother wasn't there that would be rough for me, it was, but my grandfather was precious. he has tried to be both mom and pop - asking about the flight and trying to keep up with my schedule. my coordinator's in salisbury got me a daily devotional on how to deal with grieving, it was so special that they did that for me. i came home from salisbury on tuesday night.
on wednesday morning i had plans to meet a wish kid at the airport, then i met kasey for lunch, and then i had to catch a flight to richmond to go to the jason aldean concert in richmond with my study coordinator - whew what a busy day! so, i met little stephen who was so excited about going to the coca-cola 600 and to meet tony stewart! (this was kind of emotional for me, as my grandmother was a huge tony stewart fan.) i am not sure exactly what stephen's condition was, but he was too cute. after meeting him, i went to meet kasey and we got to talking... next thing i know i have like 15 minutes to get to the airport, oops. i get to the airport with 7 minutes to spare, wow. i get to richmond, and my SC picks me up for the concert. we went to the jason aldean concert, what fun - he played all the songs i love. then lisa and i went to the ale house in richmond to get a bite to eat, yummy!!!
yesterday, i monitored in richmond all day, then flew home and met kasey and jillian for dinner at big daddy's. after dinner, christine and i went to speedstreet to meet lee, carmen, and charlie to hear the group that sings, "poison," haha - but we didn't hear them because lee and them actually decided they wanted to go to buckhead and christine's show broke, oops - party foul.
today, i was supposed to go to florence, but i just couldn't do it, i felt horrible this morning, so i stayed in the office to get caught up. tonight, i'm going to hang out with friends in downtown charlotte, but not before i go see POP (my grandfather.)
i knew that monday morning when i called my grandparent's house and my grandmother wasn't there that would be rough for me, it was, but my grandfather was precious. he has tried to be both mom and pop - asking about the flight and trying to keep up with my schedule. my coordinator's in salisbury got me a daily devotional on how to deal with grieving, it was so special that they did that for me. i came home from salisbury on tuesday night.
on wednesday morning i had plans to meet a wish kid at the airport, then i met kasey for lunch, and then i had to catch a flight to richmond to go to the jason aldean concert in richmond with my study coordinator - whew what a busy day! so, i met little stephen who was so excited about going to the coca-cola 600 and to meet tony stewart! (this was kind of emotional for me, as my grandmother was a huge tony stewart fan.) i am not sure exactly what stephen's condition was, but he was too cute. after meeting him, i went to meet kasey and we got to talking... next thing i know i have like 15 minutes to get to the airport, oops. i get to the airport with 7 minutes to spare, wow. i get to richmond, and my SC picks me up for the concert. we went to the jason aldean concert, what fun - he played all the songs i love. then lisa and i went to the ale house in richmond to get a bite to eat, yummy!!!
yesterday, i monitored in richmond all day, then flew home and met kasey and jillian for dinner at big daddy's. after dinner, christine and i went to speedstreet to meet lee, carmen, and charlie to hear the group that sings, "poison," haha - but we didn't hear them because lee and them actually decided they wanted to go to buckhead and christine's show broke, oops - party foul.
today, i was supposed to go to florence, but i just couldn't do it, i felt horrible this morning, so i stayed in the office to get caught up. tonight, i'm going to hang out with friends in downtown charlotte, but not before i go see POP (my grandfather.)
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