Really Big Deals
So. I got promoted at my job. I am now the Registrar at AMPC. Whoooo. Unfortunately, because of the company policies that changed due to recent government regulation adjustments for non-profit schools, I will not be seeing a pay raise until February. The actual raise itself wasn't that much. I'll be getting somewhere around $46k now, which doesn't seem like that big of a jump from $42k, which is what I'm making right now. So really, the biggest differences for me are 1) I am now getting salary instead of hourly, so no more overtime 2) I don't have to work in Career Services anymore 3) I am a manager with a manager's title. Is this an improvement? Yes, I suppose so. On the other hand, I have a lot more work, longer hours, and impossible goals for me to achieve to keep this job. So, the next step if figuring out where I can transfer to where I won't have an axe on my next in six months.
I'm sorry, I should be happier about this. Hold on one second while I try to have feelings...
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Anyway, while we are waiting for my ice cold heart to defrost, I'll tell you about my wonderful fantastic trip to Alaska to visit f_l_a_i_r. It was absolutely lovely. The sights, the sounds, the tastes were all amazing. Alaska is a crazy beautiful place and it was easy to see why some people had gone there to work temporarily then stayed forever. Delta lost my bag on my trip up there, which was annoying, but that was the biggest inconvenience on the trip, so I can forgive it. I was there from Monday to Sunday morning. Monday was just spent traveling. I arrived in Anchorage around 8pm. Since I have a horrible memory, I'll tackle each day I was there in order.
Tuesday- wake up around 6am (10am for my body time) and go with Mo and Jesse (the wife of the couple Mo is staying with) into Anchorage where they both work at the Anchorage museum. I hop around a couple coffee shops to keep warm since most of my warmest clothing was in the bag that got lost. I went into a bunch of the tourist trap shops just to check them out. Met back up with Mo around 5 and we went back to the house to meet up with Guy (the husband) to go with him to Target to pick up discounted Halloween candy. My bag arrives shortly after we arrive home.
Wednesday- I am much warmer this day. I sit in a coffee shop and work on NaNoWriMo for awhile. Then I went over to the Anchorage museum for awhile, where I waited for Mo to get off for lunch. The museum was really awesome. The exhibits were fun and interesting. They had an interactive science section that reminded me of the Cleveland Science Center. It was one of the better museums I've ever been to, the rest of which are:
Marie's Super Special List of the Best Museums Ever:
1. The Philadelphia Art Museum
2. Cairo Museum
3. British Museum
4. The Louvre
5. Cleveland Science Center
6. Anchorage Museum
While Mo and I are ordering lunch, I got a call to have a phone interview for the promotion. I felt very rude to Mo, but I spent the whole lunch hour on the call to the National Registrar at AMPC trying to convince her to give me this job. Apparently it worked. After lunch I went up to the Sheraton's Ice Spa and used the gift certificate my sister gave me three years ago to get a massage. It was my first time going to a spa ever so I was a little nervous. But goddamn, if that place wasn't amazing. The massage itself was fine. I forced myself to keep my eyes shut the whole time and stop freaking out about this strange person touching me. But after you are done your massage, you are free to just chill out at the spa. They had by far the best view of the mountains and Cook's Bay in Anchorage since the hotel is the tallest building there. I spent most of my time just gawking at the view. They also had complimentary tea and fruit for you to enjoy while you just chilled there. It was really nice.
After the spa, Mo and I went biking through the Alaskan tundra. Well, really it was a forest. A really flat forest. It was excellent for bike riding. The snow made it harder, but it was absolutely wonderful and really fun. Then we met up with Guy who had VIP tickets to see the Alaskan Aces. The VIP tickets included free food, which was cool. The hockey game itself was really fun. I actually really enjoy watching hockey. It's such a great sport. If you are losing the game, you just start punching the other team members. It's a beautiful thing.
Thursday- Mo and I sat at home and ate Halloween candy. We were going to rent a car and go places, but the weather was pretty shitty, and we didn't want to risk being stranded somewhere. We went biking again, but I didn't fare as well the second time. My legs kept cramping up. We went out to eat with Guy and Jesse and met up with some of their friends. The food was great and their friends, a singer/songwriter couple, were really cool.
Friday- The weather was better and Mo and I rented a car from Enterprise and went on a roadtrip past Girdwood toward Seward. The view was amazing! We kept stopping to take pictures, but really, you can't tell from the pictures how truly awesome these mountains are. When I say Alaska is gorgeous, I really can't emphasize this enough. We stopped in Girdwood to eat at a cute little coffee shop then drove around for a couple hours just to see the sights. We came back in time to see First Friday in Anchorage. The Anchorage museum just opened an exhibit called SuperTrash, which was posters from a bunch of B movies which were so trashy, they were truly art. It was really incredible. I love every second of it. Mo and I walked around the galleries in Anchorage for a bit, stopped by a coffee shop where I got a Breakfast Stout and Mo got a rootbeer. Then we headed home to chill out for a bit.
Saturday- We mostly just chilled. Mo and I went for a very long walk along the bike trails for exercise. We went with Guy to watch him play hockey on his company's team, then we came home and ate homemade deep dish pizza. It was a nice relaxing day to finish up an awesome vacation.
I'm sorry, I should be happier about this. Hold on one second while I try to have feelings...
....
...
Anyway, while we are waiting for my ice cold heart to defrost, I'll tell you about my wonderful fantastic trip to Alaska to visit f_l_a_i_r. It was absolutely lovely. The sights, the sounds, the tastes were all amazing. Alaska is a crazy beautiful place and it was easy to see why some people had gone there to work temporarily then stayed forever. Delta lost my bag on my trip up there, which was annoying, but that was the biggest inconvenience on the trip, so I can forgive it. I was there from Monday to Sunday morning. Monday was just spent traveling. I arrived in Anchorage around 8pm. Since I have a horrible memory, I'll tackle each day I was there in order.
Tuesday- wake up around 6am (10am for my body time) and go with Mo and Jesse (the wife of the couple Mo is staying with) into Anchorage where they both work at the Anchorage museum. I hop around a couple coffee shops to keep warm since most of my warmest clothing was in the bag that got lost. I went into a bunch of the tourist trap shops just to check them out. Met back up with Mo around 5 and we went back to the house to meet up with Guy (the husband) to go with him to Target to pick up discounted Halloween candy. My bag arrives shortly after we arrive home.
Wednesday- I am much warmer this day. I sit in a coffee shop and work on NaNoWriMo for awhile. Then I went over to the Anchorage museum for awhile, where I waited for Mo to get off for lunch. The museum was really awesome. The exhibits were fun and interesting. They had an interactive science section that reminded me of the Cleveland Science Center. It was one of the better museums I've ever been to, the rest of which are:
Marie's Super Special List of the Best Museums Ever:
1. The Philadelphia Art Museum
2. Cairo Museum
3. British Museum
4. The Louvre
5. Cleveland Science Center
6. Anchorage Museum
While Mo and I are ordering lunch, I got a call to have a phone interview for the promotion. I felt very rude to Mo, but I spent the whole lunch hour on the call to the National Registrar at AMPC trying to convince her to give me this job. Apparently it worked. After lunch I went up to the Sheraton's Ice Spa and used the gift certificate my sister gave me three years ago to get a massage. It was my first time going to a spa ever so I was a little nervous. But goddamn, if that place wasn't amazing. The massage itself was fine. I forced myself to keep my eyes shut the whole time and stop freaking out about this strange person touching me. But after you are done your massage, you are free to just chill out at the spa. They had by far the best view of the mountains and Cook's Bay in Anchorage since the hotel is the tallest building there. I spent most of my time just gawking at the view. They also had complimentary tea and fruit for you to enjoy while you just chilled there. It was really nice.
After the spa, Mo and I went biking through the Alaskan tundra. Well, really it was a forest. A really flat forest. It was excellent for bike riding. The snow made it harder, but it was absolutely wonderful and really fun. Then we met up with Guy who had VIP tickets to see the Alaskan Aces. The VIP tickets included free food, which was cool. The hockey game itself was really fun. I actually really enjoy watching hockey. It's such a great sport. If you are losing the game, you just start punching the other team members. It's a beautiful thing.
Thursday- Mo and I sat at home and ate Halloween candy. We were going to rent a car and go places, but the weather was pretty shitty, and we didn't want to risk being stranded somewhere. We went biking again, but I didn't fare as well the second time. My legs kept cramping up. We went out to eat with Guy and Jesse and met up with some of their friends. The food was great and their friends, a singer/songwriter couple, were really cool.
Friday- The weather was better and Mo and I rented a car from Enterprise and went on a roadtrip past Girdwood toward Seward. The view was amazing! We kept stopping to take pictures, but really, you can't tell from the pictures how truly awesome these mountains are. When I say Alaska is gorgeous, I really can't emphasize this enough. We stopped in Girdwood to eat at a cute little coffee shop then drove around for a couple hours just to see the sights. We came back in time to see First Friday in Anchorage. The Anchorage museum just opened an exhibit called SuperTrash, which was posters from a bunch of B movies which were so trashy, they were truly art. It was really incredible. I love every second of it. Mo and I walked around the galleries in Anchorage for a bit, stopped by a coffee shop where I got a Breakfast Stout and Mo got a rootbeer. Then we headed home to chill out for a bit.
Saturday- We mostly just chilled. Mo and I went for a very long walk along the bike trails for exercise. We went with Guy to watch him play hockey on his company's team, then we came home and ate homemade deep dish pizza. It was a nice relaxing day to finish up an awesome vacation.