Business Professional - Or Not

This week I had to take a one-day trip for work. . I've watched my dad travel for business quite a bit and I wanted to emulate his efficient travel style. So this morning I set out to play the part of an experienced business traveler.

Step one: pack light. I succeeded in this. I fit everything I needed into my computer shoulder bag. Toiletries, computer, clothes for tomorrow, I'm all set. More on this later.

Step two: don't waste time at the airport. I also succeeded here, sort of. I arrived at the terminal 15 minutes before my flight was supposed to board. No big deal, I had checked in online, had my boarding pass on my phone, no checked bags. I got through security, checked my gate and headed off towards my flight. The board had said B17 and I didn't think much of it until I was halfway through the trek to the B gates in the Salt Lake Airport. They are two people movers and one level away from security. I arrived at my gate, there was no where to sit but I saw some columns marked with row numbers so I went over and hovered near the one marked '6' because that was what row I was on. I waited until they were boarding and I went up to give the woman my boarding pass via phone. She didn't take it and scan it, she said "Uh...this is a Delta boarding pass." And I liked right back at here thinking "Yes....?" Then she explained, "This is a Southwest flight, not Delta." Then it all made sense, trekking all the way over there, the row numbers, almost no business-types around. Apparently when I checked the boards for my gate, I had looked at the wrong flight leaving for San Diego. What are the odds that there would be two flight leaving at almost the same time, for the same place, from the same airport? High apparently. So back I went to the C gates (which happen to be RIGHT in front of security). Thankfully I arrived before they called my zone. I was perspiring a little, and the two men sitting on either side of me didn't seem thrilled, but I didn't care. I had originally planned to read my Wall Street Journal finance book to keep up my appearance as the 'savvy business traveler' but that had pretty much gone out the window, so I played Monopoly on my phone instead.

Lesson: Double-check gates. 

Step 3: Move through the airport without slowing down (like you've been there a million times before and you know right where you're going) and get a cab. I did this just fine. Got in the cab, told him where I needed to go, and we were off. However, about 30 minutes in I looked up at the price clock thing and realized the amount of cash I had in my wallet was possibly not going to be enough. I remember thinking about that before I left, but also thinking, eh, the cab ride isn't going to be more than $40, that's how much it is in New York and there's no way it will be that much here.I quickly mapquested the directions to find out how much longer we had to go and realized that I DEFINITELY did not have enough cash to cover this.  And there was a little sign that said no credit cards. Bad news. So we arrived, and I told him I could give him what cash I had (enough to cover about 60%) when he pulled out a credit card machine from his glove compartment. He didn't exactly know how to work it so he was not happy but he got his money and I got to my hotel.

Lesson: Cab rides are based on distance, so don't assume the fee will be the same wherever you are.

Step 4: Get rewards points. I made sure the hotel had my rewards number when I checked in so I could get all my points. She called me Ms. West and told me there would be a shuttle to take me to my meetings in the morning. I felt that I had succeeded in making this woman think I was a savvy business traveler. She even looked surprised when she found out I hadn't stayed at the hotel before.

BUT THEN....I got to my room and realized I had forgotten two things in my effort to pack light. First, pajamas. Second....well, at certain times of the month, certain items are required. I required them...but I forgot to pack them. I literally ran to the hotel services book to see if they had a gift shop where I could buy them. They didn't, only vending machines with food. But they did have a section that caught my eye called "Forgot something?". It said they would provide toothbrushes, combs etc. free of charge as a service to guests. So I could call them and ask them, or ask my male business associate who I was going to dinner with, to make a stop at a store so I could buy them. I decided it was better to embarrass myself in front of strangers than colleagues.

So I called the front desk. To my chagrin a male voice answered. I just took a breath and said "This is an embarrassing question...but do you have any feminine hygiene products?"

Response: LONG PAUSE...Uhhh...let me check. ANOTHER LONG PAUSE. Yes...we have both....kinds.

Me: Oh great! So, should I....

Response: I can have someone bring them up.

Me: That would be great!

Response: Ok, um which kind would you like?

Me: Oh, uh, (awkward laugh) well..either one is fine.

Response: I'll have someone bring one of each.

Me: (To myself: One? Seriously one? Oh whatever I am not making this worse). Ok thank you!

So then I waited for the awkward exchange. Pretty soon there was a knock at my door, and I found myself being presented with a tray, the kind hotels use to bring room service food, lid and all. When I opened the door the man standing there lifted the lid for me, I took the stuff, and he walked away without saying anything. I'd like to think that they made it look like room service for my sake...but from the look on the kid's face...it was definitely for his.

Now I'm sitting here trying to force myself to call the front desk again to ask for a toothbrush, yet another thing I forgot.


Lesson: There are more important things than packing light.

Sharing the Joy

I am in my last real week of finals at BYU, sort of. Anyway, I'm attempting to find the joy in these last few (except the one that was at 7am - I literally felt like I could kill someone if they even looked at me wrong. Early morning=irritability to the point of psychopathy) and I thought I'd share the joy with you. (I fully expect this to be the least read blog post ever). Here are some gems from the week:


Philosophy of Law:  Today at 7am I was presented with five questions, including the following - our answers to each were supposed to be at least a page long - in total I ended up writing ten pages. Who needs coffee when you have this stuff?

• (a) Under the standard proposed by Estrich (p.875), what would a person be required to do to avoid being negligent regarding the consent of a sexual partner? (b) What problems does a negligence standard for rape entail? (c) In your opinion, what should be legally required to be guilty of rape? Defend your answer against possible objections.
• (a) Is the U.S. government morally obligated to provide remedies for past discrimination against African-Americans? Explain. (b) State arguments for and against using affirmative action as a legal remedy for past discrimination. (c) How does Justice Brennan in Bakke (p.594) argue that preferential treatment (affirmative action) should be subjected to less than strict scrutiny. Do you agree? Why or why not? 
  

Logic: Mostly proofs and some symoblizations. It's like math without numbers.

• I had to give proofs for give statements like the following:
• (x)(Cax→Dxb)
• (Ǝx)Cax                  C: (Ǝx)Cax→(Ǝx)(Ǝy)Dxy 

Philosophy of Language: Mixed bag, essays, short answer and memorizations.

• Essay: Drawing upon Kripke's theory of naming and the notion of a rigid designator, give a semantical account of the word "philosophy." Implicit in this answer should be an explanation of why "the love of wisdom" is a problematic answer. 
• Turn sentences like "The French king is not funny" into:
• It is false that: "x rules France" is sometimes true, "if y rules France then y=x" is always true, "x is not funny" is sometimes true.

• Memorize nine quotes like:
• Everything is what it is and not another thing.
• All these results were obtained not by any heroic method, buy by patient, detailed reasoning. I began to think it probably the Philosophy had erred in adopting heroic remedies for intellectual difficulties, and that solutions were to be found merely by greater care and accuracy. 

Philosophical Writing: Papers. Lots of papers.

• Excerpt from my term paper on Skepticism and St. Augustine: The Academics deny that knowledge is possible. They deny the validity of cataleptic impressions and sensory experiences because they are too easily duplicated in verifiably untrue ways (such as dreams), and they are too vulnerable to the errors of human perception. The Academics do acknowledge that truth exists but deny the existence of knowledge because our human modes of perception and reason are too fallible to access truth. They argue that while people may think they know some fact which actually turns out to be true, they have no way of knowing that they know it. Therefore, true knowledge, that is knowledge of our knowledge, is not possible (Klein).

Philosophy Senior Seminar: Very broad/general readings and another Paper.

• Excerpt from the paper on Ethical Egoism and Kantian Deontology: While it is true that committing to certain duties takes a degree of thought out of some choices, it does not take away one's autonomy in Kant's sense, or one's concern for self in an Egoist's sense. In fact, the adoption of these duties may  be necessary for us to truly conform to either system. If we always had to make hard choices in the moment of action, we would probably be much less effective both in choosing what is moral, and is choosing what in our own best interest.

Doctrine & Covenants: Multiple Choice and Matching - lots of terms like these: 

• Keys for detecting messengers (D&C 129) 
• Kinds of beings in heaven (D&C 129)
• Appearances of the Father, Son (D&C 130)
• Willard Richards
• John Taylor 
• Alvin Smith

Saturday, November 5th - Oy

Twas the hour before kickoff and all through Rice Eccles

All the fans had donned black and prepared their best heckles

The Horned Frogs were coming, ranked number three

We hoped the Utes would emerge victoriously

The crowd was in place, the fight song had been sung

We were ready for our team to tackle, pass and run

The ball was kicked off and the crowd seemed to swell

And then that dumb game went completely to…..

Normally I keep my sports thoughts to my sports blog...but this post isn't going to be focused on the game (because I'm still not really ready to talk about it). It's more a Philosophical musing about large sporting events and why we attend (like lambs to the slaughter in some cases).

The game last week allowed me to get a little perspective on the strange customs and rituals that are such a part of our sporting experiences. For example, by the end of the third quarter there was clearly no hope for a comeback (no matter how many bad habits I insisted I was willing to give up for a little divine intervention) and an interesting thing happened. The crowd seemed totally separated from the team on the field. Normally at these games it feels like we're all on the same team, willing the people who actually play on with our yells and dances and chants etc. 

Then, the 'Crazy Lady' (picture here) got up to do her dance that she always does and for the first time, she literally seemed crazy. I sat there and realized that this was actually just a woman, dancing in front of 40,000 people, just because she always does.In the context of a football game it always seemed like a cool tradition....sort of the older generation of fans (her) reaching out and showing the new kids (the MUSS) how its done. But on Saturday, by the time she got up to do her thing, there really wasn't a game going on, and I found myself sitting amidst a bunch of strangers watching an old lady dance. 

I suppose it was more realistic this way. Normally we have some illusions about our importance as fans, and our involvement in the wins, and we have a feeling of being a part of 'the team'. But in this game there were no such illusions. There was all this pent-up energy and nowhere to use it (except for booing our quarterback and yelling at the coaches and walking back to our cars).

Inkiversary

I was told it would hurt

And that I'd feel like dirt

And that it meant I was going astray

And that I'd regret it someday

However, on this date

One year late-r

I think

My ink

Rocks

And it puts me outside the box

I still love the quote

And I'll end on that note. 

The New Apartment

I've been living in a new apartment for about a month now. We moved here because we thought it would be a great place to live during the great Spring weather (which has yet to appear here yet...we had snow a few days ago). It's got a pool and lots of grass to lay around on. However, after staying at the Stein Eriksen Lodge last week, I realized what a dump our apartment is. And I decided to document it.

Our roommate Becky, whose TV we have been using for two years, moved somewhere else so we were left with my TV. I thought it would be perfectly adequate, but when we set it up...well the screen is about as big as a computer screen. We have to squint to see the ball when watching the NBA finals, and whenver any writing shows up (most often in the after-stories at the end of movies, ie: so and so went on to own a store in Bluffton) we all have to get about ten inches from the TV to be able to read it. A picture is worth a thousand words, but I think this picture just needs one word: pathetic.

We were actually fairly excited about the couches here, they look a lot softer than the ones we came from. However we soon discovered that upon sitting on them, you sink to the point of drowning.

The bathroom is doable. The toilet necessitates an unnatural observation of one's own waste as it doesn't completely flush about once in every ten flushes. You'll notice in this picture that the outlets in the sink area are oddly positioned. We're curious what electrician thought that putting the outlets immediately below the lights, barely within the reach of shorter people like me, was a good idea. I don't enjoy being reminded of my lack of height every morning as I go to plug in my hair dryer.

There is another lighting mystery in the bedrooms. Apparently the electrician also decided that only one of the two occupants deserved decent light, so he decided to put the fixture on one side, right up against the wall. I lucked out with the lit side of our room, but it is absolutely blinding in the morning.

The kitchen is small, but that's very doable as there are just three of us. The biggest problem is the absence of a dishwasher. It's sort of a wash-and-use situation at this point. If you need a spoon you've got to dig through the sink, find one, and wash it. But we don't really have anything to dry them after we wash them, so I've been using a clean t-shirt. We also decided to actually cook something after things settled down from the move-in. We wanted to make a chicken dish in the oven, but we realized we had no pans to put in the oven, and nothing to pull hot dishes out of the oven with. We bought some cheap stuff at Smiths but only the minimum. We made quiche (baked in an alumnum pie tin we got for 93 cents) and muffins last week. Instead of springing for a muffin tin we bought the cupcake liners, put them on an old cookie sheet, and poured the batter in. It worked well enough that I may never invest in a muffin tin!

The last, and possibly most irritating aspect of our apartment is the noise. We live right above the lounge of our complex, and there is a piano in the lounge. We have to deal with people pounding away at all hours of the day. I woke up to someone playing Phantom of the Opera (not well) and singing along! We also live on the pool, which we thought was brilliant. We'd have easy access, we'd have a good view of whoever was hanging out there, what could be bad about this? However we soon learned about the pool gate. It's this big iron thing that closes automatically behind people as they enter or exit. However, if they don't slow it down before it closes it BANGS shut and shakes our whole apartment. The heater vent drowns out most of the talking and yelling at the pool but there is NOTHING that will muffle the noise of that gate.

Thankfully only three more weeks of this place.

Hot Tub

I currently have the great pleasure of staying at the Stein Eriksen Lodge in Deer Valley, UT for a work event. The Stein is one of the premier ski resorts in the world (top 10 in the U.S. according to Forbes magazine, top 500 hotels in the world according to Travel & Leisure magazine). As you come up the main drive you pass U.S. and Norwegian flags waving against the backdrop of the gorgeous mountains covered with pine trees and some with snow. Needless to say, I love this place.

Upon my arrival, I discovered that I had a hot tub out on the deck of my room, with a fabulous view of the mountains. So, although I had not brought appropriate hot tub attire, I felt obligated to take advantage of such luxurious accommodations. After dinner, I fired her up, turned on some appropriate 'sit-in-the-hot-tub-and-look-at-the-view-music', (a little Frank Sinatra and one of my favorites, 'As Time Goes By' from Casablanca), disrobed and climbed up the steps to get in. It took me minute to get comfortable, I had to ease into the heat, and I was enjoying taking my sweet time getting in. I thought my balcony was pretty secluded, however, the road that led to the service entrance for the hotel was below me, and as I was taking my sweet time, a car drove up the service road. Feeling COMPLETELY exposed, I practically dove into the hot tub for cover and scalded every inch of my body. After that fun experience I realized that leaving the lights on on the balcony was probably not the best move, so I checked for approaching cars, and ran quickly to turn all the lights, every last switch I could see, off. (It was pitch black outside and any light on on the inside drew attention to my area.)

I floated around in the hot tub for awhile, although I must admit I've never really understood the point. I turned on the jets but they kept pushing me around the hot tub, I couldn't just sit and relax while being buffeted about like that. So I turned them off, but then I felt silly, I might as well be in the bath if I was just going to sit, less chlorine and I could get clean. So I turned them back on, and braced myself so that I remained stationary, despite the jet flow. I lasted about ten minutes, but I was bored and hot. So I got out, put on my robe and slippers, and went to go put the cover back on. 

However, in my haste to remove the cover I had let it slide to the side of the hot tub, and attempting to lift it between the edge of the balcony and the hot tub from the side was not working. I could lift it high enough on one side to get it over the hot tub but the other side of the cover would be stuck against the balcony. It was sort of stuck and there was only one solution: I would have to get back in the hot tub and lift it back on using the handle in the middle. So I disrobed again, and climbed back in. I had to stand on the edge of the hot tub, balancing precariously near the edge of both the tub and the balcony, to lift the cover high enough. So there I was, in my hot tub attire, or lack thereof, standing on the edge of the hot tub, high up on my balcony, pulling on this cover, when another car comes driving by on the service road. I couldn't have been more visible if I'd lit off a flare! When I had gotten out the first time I had turned on the light to make it easier to see the cover, but of course, did not think to dim it again when getting back in. I was horrified once again and dropped immediately back into the hot tub, pulling the cover with me. Thankfully only half of it closed so I wasn't completely stuck. But I stayed down for a good five minutes, half waiting to hear a honk from the car below (clearly an over-estimation of my impact on the driver). Then I started envisioning walking around the hotel the next day as people sniggered to each other "Is that the one from 218...the one with the hot tub?" Oh I felt sick.

When I woke up this morning I started to think that I hadn't been seen. But when I went back to my room for a half hour this afternoon a man stopped by to 'check my hot tub'. Lesson learned: hot tubs on balconies - only to be used with appropriate attire.