I am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason. I also believe that you are meant to meet certain people and they come into your life for a reason and at a specific time for a purpose. That has been proven to me over and over again.
It happened again last weekend.
I was with my friend Sharon for dinner on the Danforth. It was a great night and we were sitting outside and talking about all kinds of things going on in our lives. Different things that were going on in each of our lives.
During the meal, I brought up something about a past post that I had written in this blog (see below).
http://yyztravelgal.blogspot.com/2010/09/stamps-in-my-passport.html
I am not even sure why this came up, but once I said what the post was called, Sharon stopped for a second and then went on. About 15 minutes later, she said that the name "stamp in my passport" was a perfect name for a website. She pulled out her phone and checked if that name was taken. It was. Okay...moving on.
A little while later, she tried again, different combinations, and came up with thestampsinmypassport. It was available, and there it began, my first professional travel blog site - http://www.thestampsinmypassport.com/
was born!
When I got home, she helped me register the site and then the next night we set up the home page and the basic layout. The rest was up to me.......to create a professsional blog about all the travel related stories in m life. Things that I talk about every day. Bits and bites of information that someone not in the travel profession would know or where to find it.
This is one of those situations where I KNEW in my head and heart what I wanted to do, but didn't know how to really make those thoughts my reality. And there was my friend....sitting across from me at the dinner table, who saw the vision before I did.
I hope you will check out http://www.thestampsinmypassport.com/ and be enlightened about what 21 years of knowledge and experience means in a career. If there are any topics you would like discussed, please feel free to contact me at any time and I will address them.
This is my personal blog, and will continue to be my personal life stories.
Feedback is appreciated as I embark on this new chapter of my social media life.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
how many ways are you connected?
Staying with my theme today about the "new" era of techonolgy....and the advancements...I pose the following question: How many ways are YOU connected?
Define "connected"? Well, email, voicemail, text, tweet, bbm, ichat, anyway that connects you to others, that is what I am defining as connected.
Just sitting here today I have been figuring out how many different ways I am connected.
Here goes:
Work connections:
- 4 email addresses (for the different arms of the companies I work for to separate the brands and hopefully avoid brand contamination).
- at least 5 different phone numbers for people to reach me at (only 1 extension 3209) but different phone numbers to feed into the extension.
Personal Connections:
- 2 hotmail addresses (the one on facebook is only for facebook so I don't get hacked and viruses spread to contacts. Other one have had for years, don't check often, used when I sign up for online updates).
- 1 rogers account
- 1 twitter account - follow me @yyztravelgal
- 1 facebook account (which has its own instant messaging, direct messaging and public posting forums).
- 2 phone numbers, home phone has v/m, cell phone does not. Moving towards a bb so PIN and bbm is sure to follow very very soon.
- 1 linkedin account - 'linkin' with me if we are already not linked.
- 1 blog address - which of course you are following or you wouldn't be reading this now!
I think that probably covers all of my 'online' connections.
So, I guess there are no more excuses for anyone to say that they can't reach you! And when I say you, I really mean all of us....we are all connected via some sort of social media, cell or land based phone system.
How many connections do you have?
Define "connected"? Well, email, voicemail, text, tweet, bbm, ichat, anyway that connects you to others, that is what I am defining as connected.
Just sitting here today I have been figuring out how many different ways I am connected.
Here goes:
Work connections:
- 4 email addresses (for the different arms of the companies I work for to separate the brands and hopefully avoid brand contamination).
- at least 5 different phone numbers for people to reach me at (only 1 extension 3209) but different phone numbers to feed into the extension.
Personal Connections:
- 2 hotmail addresses (the one on facebook is only for facebook so I don't get hacked and viruses spread to contacts. Other one have had for years, don't check often, used when I sign up for online updates).
- 1 rogers account
- 1 twitter account - follow me @yyztravelgal
- 1 facebook account (which has its own instant messaging, direct messaging and public posting forums).
- 2 phone numbers, home phone has v/m, cell phone does not. Moving towards a bb so PIN and bbm is sure to follow very very soon.
- 1 linkedin account - 'linkin' with me if we are already not linked.
- 1 blog address - which of course you are following or you wouldn't be reading this now!
I think that probably covers all of my 'online' connections.
So, I guess there are no more excuses for anyone to say that they can't reach you! And when I say you, I really mean all of us....we are all connected via some sort of social media, cell or land based phone system.
How many connections do you have?
side note about call centres
For the last three years (July will be three years) I have had the opprotunity to work from home. Essentially my desk at my condo is like I am working in the call centre. The calls come to me the same way as if I would be working at the call centre.
For those of you who have never worked in a call centre, it is an environment that is hard to understand.
It is kind of like taking a shower in a glass booth in the middle of times square.....well, not quite....but it is that exposed and open.
You have a cubicle, where you keep all your belongings, what you need for work, photos of your kids, nieces, dogs, whatever...awards you may have won. You may have a snack drawer, which can have anything from cup o soups, granola bars, chocolate (women know what the chocolate is for and when to find it).
If you are a loud talker, which you forget that you are in an open space when someone on the other end of the line tells a joke and you laugh, or you are having a heated conversation with a loved one and you raise your voice, if English isn't your first language and you end up screaming something that everyone can hear, but not understand. You get the picture.
And then of course...where do you eat? When do you eat? Not everyone eats PBJ on white bread with the crusts cut off. (just a joke for us Canadian folk). Cultural differences are very interesting in a call centre. They can be great at potluck time when you can sample food from all over the world.
I remember my desk at 1300 Don Mills Road when I started there in February 2001. It was the very last desk in a back corner of a 'pod' of four desks. Everyone said the desk was 'cursed'. The last three people that sat there had been fired! GREAT! Well, I showed them....I loved that desk, it had a window (didn't look out to anywhere it was on the ground floor) but it had privacy and I could work hard at my job. I remember being there on September 11th, 2001. When people will ask this year, on the 10th anniversary, "where were you"...I know where I was.
I had pictures on the walls, toys from product launches that I collected, and postcards that had been sent to me from friends and clients. Of course all the 'stuff' is gone now, but the postcards, I found one the other day actually. From Aviva...when she was travelling in Australia and New Zealand. I will never throw that away.
Now, in my own 'cubicle', I have photos on the wall (in frames now), pictures up (in frames) and still the remnants of my call centre cubicle are around....plastic trays for files and papers, brochures...yes, we still have brochures, even with the internet....and backup notes, files, notebooks etc.
I have the pleasure working from home to not have to share my printer/fax/copier and it is right at my desk. In a call centre, it is in the back room somewhere, away from your desk, and when you want to print something, you have to pray that it will be there when you go to pick it up. What about if you have to print something PRIVATE? Someone may read it when they go to pick up their stuff....
Ah...the life of a call centre employee......I do miss it at times.....really? hm.....
For those of you who have never worked in a call centre, it is an environment that is hard to understand.
It is kind of like taking a shower in a glass booth in the middle of times square.....well, not quite....but it is that exposed and open.
You have a cubicle, where you keep all your belongings, what you need for work, photos of your kids, nieces, dogs, whatever...awards you may have won. You may have a snack drawer, which can have anything from cup o soups, granola bars, chocolate (women know what the chocolate is for and when to find it).
If you are a loud talker, which you forget that you are in an open space when someone on the other end of the line tells a joke and you laugh, or you are having a heated conversation with a loved one and you raise your voice, if English isn't your first language and you end up screaming something that everyone can hear, but not understand. You get the picture.
And then of course...where do you eat? When do you eat? Not everyone eats PBJ on white bread with the crusts cut off. (just a joke for us Canadian folk). Cultural differences are very interesting in a call centre. They can be great at potluck time when you can sample food from all over the world.
I remember my desk at 1300 Don Mills Road when I started there in February 2001. It was the very last desk in a back corner of a 'pod' of four desks. Everyone said the desk was 'cursed'. The last three people that sat there had been fired! GREAT! Well, I showed them....I loved that desk, it had a window (didn't look out to anywhere it was on the ground floor) but it had privacy and I could work hard at my job. I remember being there on September 11th, 2001. When people will ask this year, on the 10th anniversary, "where were you"...I know where I was.
I had pictures on the walls, toys from product launches that I collected, and postcards that had been sent to me from friends and clients. Of course all the 'stuff' is gone now, but the postcards, I found one the other day actually. From Aviva...when she was travelling in Australia and New Zealand. I will never throw that away.
Now, in my own 'cubicle', I have photos on the wall (in frames now), pictures up (in frames) and still the remnants of my call centre cubicle are around....plastic trays for files and papers, brochures...yes, we still have brochures, even with the internet....and backup notes, files, notebooks etc.
I have the pleasure working from home to not have to share my printer/fax/copier and it is right at my desk. In a call centre, it is in the back room somewhere, away from your desk, and when you want to print something, you have to pray that it will be there when you go to pick it up. What about if you have to print something PRIVATE? Someone may read it when they go to pick up their stuff....
Ah...the life of a call centre employee......I do miss it at times.....really? hm.....
Where I have come from...where do I go?
I was sharing a thought with some people that I work with a few weeks ago. I was remembering when I started working in the travel industry. It was in 1990. I was right out of high school. My uncle assisted me in getting at job at the Last Minute Club. I took a one month training course with a group of people, and then after that...we were thrown to the wolves. Just kidding, on the phones, in the call centre.
Call centre - one big room with cubicles. Nothing like today of course. Smoking was allowed "back then", so the smoking section was on one side and the non smoking section on the other side - WITH NO WALL...so what was the difference? Crazy now that I think about it actually. I can't believe that old building at 1300 Don Mills road didn't burn down from all the chain smokers. One lady lit her cigarette with the last cigarette she was smoking!
No computers, no internet, no VOICEMAIL! All we had were big white dry erase boards. All the destinations, hotels, dates, etc were on a grid on these boards. And the only way to check the space was to use the phone! If it was sold out, we told our product department and and they came and crossed it out.
That was how we worked. No one checked trip advisory to see if the hotel was good, no one posted a facebook status update to see if anyone had been there or where is a good place to go. People didn't even SHOP around. They TRUSTED you, the agent, that you were making the best choice for them and their money they were spending. Funny, that doesn't feel any different than today...yet it is.
Slowly we had computers at this old office, one for every two people to share...they were raised and on a swivel stand so that we could take turns. So archiac and funny now that I am reminded of it.
Wow have times have changed!
I am not saying anything against the internet age. Personally I LOVE IT! I remember the first day when I heard about this crazy thing called Facebook, that was only a 'school' age phenomenon and it was just opening to the general public. The ability to 'find' and 'friend' people, people who you lost touch with, email, message, see their lives through pictures. Whoever created it (Zuckerberg or the other guys) was a genuis really. Now, mind you, some 'old friends' should have stayed lost....but others, wow, how amazing my life has enriched by reconnecting with others. I am sure you agree with that statement. We could be REfriends today because of facebook, and that is a good thing.
And now this...blogging...sharing a thought, story, personal insight to an event or personal life changing situation. I always had stories, and thoughts and could capture a room with them, but now, here, in the blogsphere, they live, breathe and exist on their own. That is something I find amazing and scary at the same time.
The funniest thing about this post today, this wasn't even what I sat down to write about! This was just a random thought that was in my head and jumped into my fingers as I typed away.
I guess that thought will have to wait until next time.....so stay tuned....and leave a comment if you want. It is a stamp to the writer that you were here...and we all want to be counted, and heard.
Whatever you do today - make it count!
Call centre - one big room with cubicles. Nothing like today of course. Smoking was allowed "back then", so the smoking section was on one side and the non smoking section on the other side - WITH NO WALL...so what was the difference? Crazy now that I think about it actually. I can't believe that old building at 1300 Don Mills road didn't burn down from all the chain smokers. One lady lit her cigarette with the last cigarette she was smoking!
No computers, no internet, no VOICEMAIL! All we had were big white dry erase boards. All the destinations, hotels, dates, etc were on a grid on these boards. And the only way to check the space was to use the phone! If it was sold out, we told our product department and and they came and crossed it out.
That was how we worked. No one checked trip advisory to see if the hotel was good, no one posted a facebook status update to see if anyone had been there or where is a good place to go. People didn't even SHOP around. They TRUSTED you, the agent, that you were making the best choice for them and their money they were spending. Funny, that doesn't feel any different than today...yet it is.
Slowly we had computers at this old office, one for every two people to share...they were raised and on a swivel stand so that we could take turns. So archiac and funny now that I am reminded of it.
Wow have times have changed!
I am not saying anything against the internet age. Personally I LOVE IT! I remember the first day when I heard about this crazy thing called Facebook, that was only a 'school' age phenomenon and it was just opening to the general public. The ability to 'find' and 'friend' people, people who you lost touch with, email, message, see their lives through pictures. Whoever created it (Zuckerberg or the other guys) was a genuis really. Now, mind you, some 'old friends' should have stayed lost....but others, wow, how amazing my life has enriched by reconnecting with others. I am sure you agree with that statement. We could be REfriends today because of facebook, and that is a good thing.
And now this...blogging...sharing a thought, story, personal insight to an event or personal life changing situation. I always had stories, and thoughts and could capture a room with them, but now, here, in the blogsphere, they live, breathe and exist on their own. That is something I find amazing and scary at the same time.
The funniest thing about this post today, this wasn't even what I sat down to write about! This was just a random thought that was in my head and jumped into my fingers as I typed away.
I guess that thought will have to wait until next time.....so stay tuned....and leave a comment if you want. It is a stamp to the writer that you were here...and we all want to be counted, and heard.
Whatever you do today - make it count!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
the never ending bug has left the building?
Sunday April 3rd started off like a normal Sunday. I made breakfast, my own little 'egg mcmuffin' sandwich on my hearty healthy grain bread. Edna came and we went to the gym together and then I went to meet my friend Liz for lunch.
By the time I got to lunch, I was feeling a bit off, but really didn't make too much of it. By the end of that day I was at Cindy's house and had to drive with my window open (it was cold that night) so that I wouldn't be sick. Barely made it home and in my door before I was very sick....all night long!
My mom asked me what I ate and I could only think of the egg first thing in the morning, so when I went to the fridge, and saw that the box was expired, I thought great - food poisoning.
So, I was sick for a day and a half, and then it went away. Yeah....not quite....came back about four days later with VENGENCE!!! I was so sick that I ended up at York Central ER for several hours. That was just the start....there were:
2 ER visits (one including a IV hydration hook up that took 2 hours)
4 sets of blood work
3 sets of 'other' samples
Gallbladder ultra sound
and 21 days, yes I said 21 DAYS of Cipro.
All of the tests came back clear - no salmonella, no e-coli, no hep A, gall bladder clear....this was just a nasty bug that refused to go away.
After the 2nd visit to the ER, they perscribed 7 days of cipro. That was great, it worked - until 36 hours later when all the symptoms came back again. Another 7 days of cipro....great, all the symptoms went away - and then came back 8 days later - TWO DAYS BEFORE MY TRIP! That freaked me out. So much so that I changed all my travel plans and went on Cipro for the 3rd and hopefully final time.
Reluctantly I went on the cipro three times. No one wants to be on antibiotics for that long, but clearly this was some sort of superbug that didn't want to leave my body just yet.
I went on my trip to visit Brad and it was great. It wasn't my dream trip up the PCH with my friend, but California and hwy 1 isn't going anywhere so we will get there someday. Great sights in LA, and fun with friends and then three days in Sin City having fun....it was a brain vacation that was well needed, well deserved and well appreciated!!!
It is now 11 days off the cipro and I am afraid every morning when I wake up that I will be sick. But....it hasn't happened so far, so I think I am hopefully in the clear.
Thank you to everyone who has messaged me and asked how I am doing. I appreciated all the calls, messages, and wishing me well. It was a really rough six weeks and I am hopefully on the other side of the mountain!
By the time I got to lunch, I was feeling a bit off, but really didn't make too much of it. By the end of that day I was at Cindy's house and had to drive with my window open (it was cold that night) so that I wouldn't be sick. Barely made it home and in my door before I was very sick....all night long!
My mom asked me what I ate and I could only think of the egg first thing in the morning, so when I went to the fridge, and saw that the box was expired, I thought great - food poisoning.
So, I was sick for a day and a half, and then it went away. Yeah....not quite....came back about four days later with VENGENCE!!! I was so sick that I ended up at York Central ER for several hours. That was just the start....there were:
2 ER visits (one including a IV hydration hook up that took 2 hours)
4 sets of blood work
3 sets of 'other' samples
Gallbladder ultra sound
and 21 days, yes I said 21 DAYS of Cipro.
All of the tests came back clear - no salmonella, no e-coli, no hep A, gall bladder clear....this was just a nasty bug that refused to go away.
After the 2nd visit to the ER, they perscribed 7 days of cipro. That was great, it worked - until 36 hours later when all the symptoms came back again. Another 7 days of cipro....great, all the symptoms went away - and then came back 8 days later - TWO DAYS BEFORE MY TRIP! That freaked me out. So much so that I changed all my travel plans and went on Cipro for the 3rd and hopefully final time.
Reluctantly I went on the cipro three times. No one wants to be on antibiotics for that long, but clearly this was some sort of superbug that didn't want to leave my body just yet.
I went on my trip to visit Brad and it was great. It wasn't my dream trip up the PCH with my friend, but California and hwy 1 isn't going anywhere so we will get there someday. Great sights in LA, and fun with friends and then three days in Sin City having fun....it was a brain vacation that was well needed, well deserved and well appreciated!!!
It is now 11 days off the cipro and I am afraid every morning when I wake up that I will be sick. But....it hasn't happened so far, so I think I am hopefully in the clear.
Thank you to everyone who has messaged me and asked how I am doing. I appreciated all the calls, messages, and wishing me well. It was a really rough six weeks and I am hopefully on the other side of the mountain!
acceptance and moving forward
I have a pretty good memory. I remember lines and plots from movies I have seen, I can give you a full synopsis of the tv shows I watch, birthdates, phone numbers, and where I was and when. When a song comes on the radio, I can usually share a memory of who, what, where, when or why it was important at the time. I also remember anniversaries of events, some meaningful, some not.
The last few days, I was remembering some of those times. A year ago was this event that I went to, and a year ago was this concert I went to. Part of the reason that I remember the dates is because last year they fell around Martine's birthday, which was on Friday.
Last night we went out to celebrate Martine's birthday. We went to the Keg in Aurora. I had volunteered to get there a few minutes early, as the line for that location is always quite long (as with most Keg restaurants). I left my house a bit late and didn't really want to go up Bathurst all the way to Wellington. I started to head across highway 7 to the 404, knowing it would be much faster to go up the 404 to Wellington then Bathurst, Young or Bayview.
Got on the 404 and was listening to my music and everything was great. It was like I had done it 1000 times before. The funny thing is that since my car accident, I really haven't done it a 1000 times. It is a road that I don't have to use on a daily basis and therefore don't have to be on there unless I choose to be.
This did not occur to me until I drove past the sign that said Stoufville side road, and then I realized where I was. I was travelling northbound, not southbound, but at that exact moment my heart started to beat faster and I had to take a few deep breaths.
But I worked through it and moved forward.....so much so that I got off at the next exit which wasn't Wellington which I realized after I got off the ramp, but Bloomington. DAMN, I was so in my own head that I didn't watch the signs.
Anyways, I turned up Leslie which is really 'country' roads and had no idea where the hell I was. I followed it around, and then there was a fork in the road, so I figured I had to go north, so I followed. I was just about to phone my dad (ear buds in, phone out and ready to dial), and there was a MAIN road - Wellington! One quick right turn and I was there, and early!
I had planned to go home on the 404, but I ended up going on Bathurst, which was fine.
It takes me a long time to put things behind me and really start to move forward. I don't know why it takes me such a long time, but it does. Even though I will never forget my accident, thankfully it is moving far enough away from my memory that it allows me to live my life on my terms.
The last few days, I was remembering some of those times. A year ago was this event that I went to, and a year ago was this concert I went to. Part of the reason that I remember the dates is because last year they fell around Martine's birthday, which was on Friday.
Last night we went out to celebrate Martine's birthday. We went to the Keg in Aurora. I had volunteered to get there a few minutes early, as the line for that location is always quite long (as with most Keg restaurants). I left my house a bit late and didn't really want to go up Bathurst all the way to Wellington. I started to head across highway 7 to the 404, knowing it would be much faster to go up the 404 to Wellington then Bathurst, Young or Bayview.
Got on the 404 and was listening to my music and everything was great. It was like I had done it 1000 times before. The funny thing is that since my car accident, I really haven't done it a 1000 times. It is a road that I don't have to use on a daily basis and therefore don't have to be on there unless I choose to be.
This did not occur to me until I drove past the sign that said Stoufville side road, and then I realized where I was. I was travelling northbound, not southbound, but at that exact moment my heart started to beat faster and I had to take a few deep breaths.
But I worked through it and moved forward.....so much so that I got off at the next exit which wasn't Wellington which I realized after I got off the ramp, but Bloomington. DAMN, I was so in my own head that I didn't watch the signs.
Anyways, I turned up Leslie which is really 'country' roads and had no idea where the hell I was. I followed it around, and then there was a fork in the road, so I figured I had to go north, so I followed. I was just about to phone my dad (ear buds in, phone out and ready to dial), and there was a MAIN road - Wellington! One quick right turn and I was there, and early!
I had planned to go home on the 404, but I ended up going on Bathurst, which was fine.
It takes me a long time to put things behind me and really start to move forward. I don't know why it takes me such a long time, but it does. Even though I will never forget my accident, thankfully it is moving far enough away from my memory that it allows me to live my life on my terms.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Last dance at the Sahara
As the story goes, our table was having so much fun, that a really nice guy was watching from across the pit. As soon as a seat was available at our table, I called him over to sit down...and the rest they say...is history!
That is the very abbreviated version of our intial meeting. Who really knew on that night, that almost eight years later, we would be sitting playing blackjack at the Saraha on the last night that the hotel was going to be open.
Several months ago Brad emailed me that the hotel was going to be closing their doors due to the hard economic times hitting Las Vegas. At the time we had our west coast road trip planned, and Vegas wasn't on the list of stops....but things changed, and there we were.
It was rumoured that the doors were already closed, but I said that we should drive by and see what was going on. We were happy to see that the lights were on, and they were open. So, we parked and went inside. It was quiet and the people that were there playing, were just like us, taking in the last night of a historical hotel. We played some blackjack, and shared a shot - a sour apple shooter - the first one we had together back in 2003, so we had to have one for old times sake!
Somewhere late in the evening we walked around and just took pictures of everything that said Sahara on it. I even went behind a table in the pit, and was 'scolded' by security. That even though it was the last night, itwas still against Nevada Gambling Laws. What would they do - ban me from the Casino? Bring it!Everything happens for a reason - and that holds true for this story. We were not supposed to be in Las Vegas on that specific day, but our travel plans changed, and there we were. Couldn't have asked for better!
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