Class has Started

Latest updates - First, this is the second writing. Due to a misqueue I lost the entire column I just completed - so this is a re-write. You would have loved the first one. HA.

Saturday - I moved to a new hotel. This one is much nicer, a bit larger than the room I had before. This one has a sofa, full kitchen with dishwasher and everything. Like I'm going to cook - but I do have a fridge where I can keep essentials cool. This room also comes complete with daily maid service and indoor plumbing. Life is good.

Once I got settled in I went to Maryland to visit some old friends. Ted and Jean and family, who moved up this way a few years ago from Dallas and I had a great opportunity to catch up with them, get some pictures of their family. They have 5 kids, which in case you didn't know, tend to get larger over the years. The last time I saw them they were in Jr. high and elementary school respectively. The two older girls are in college now. Kids have a way of growing up - funny how that works huh. Had a great visit and hope to see them again before I leave this area.

Monday was pretty slow with more 'orientation'.. we really didn't do anything other than get our new software loaded on the pc's, update expenses, time etc.. .just normal 'office' kind of stuff getting ready for the real work on Tuesday.

Tuesday - already. It's snowing for the first day of class. I drove over to the training site - which is about 5 minutes from here and very easy to get to. This site is about 5 miles or 30 minutes from where I was in the Unisys building. Just a note about traffic in this area.. there is a lot of it.. so, one must plan accordingly. I recall when I lived in this area back in the olden days there was a lot of traffic then too. It didn't get any better over time - go figure. It does reminde me of one of the reasons I wanted to move away from this area. Don't get me wrong - this is a very nice place, lots to do ,,etc.. but you really have to get used to the traffic. Same as any other large metro city I guess. It makes me appreciate the traffic jams in Broken Arrow. I remember having to wait at one of the 4 way stops once.

Ok.. class.. started out fine. The instructor is a very knowlegeable energetic fellow. Really knows the subject and you can tell he enjoys teaching. That is going to make this a good class, I'm sure. Since I've been doing a 'train the trainer' course over the last year I'm tending to 'evaluate' the instructor as he is teaching. Maybe I'll pick up some good tips.

We launched into the subject, had a very busy morning, and remember I mentioned snow? Well, after careful evaluation, consideration, phone calls and some scientific looking out the window, the decision was made to let us out early today. So off we go about noonish for a 'snow day' from school. We have some local folks in our class and one lady said it took over 2 hours for her to get in this morning. Not that the streets were bad, ,just the snow / traffic combination. Brings everything to a halt - ya'll know what I'm talking about.

The software is pretty neat. I'm starting to navigate around, learn the icon's and such. (Homework)... There will be more to come on that score as I learn more about the product. However, from what I've seen so far - there are a lot of features and it's fast. One of the other nice things about the software is that it is customizable to the site vs. the site having to change their processes,, just modify the software to what their process is and away you go. One of the features of this that helps in the user acceptance phase, for sure. Anyone that has tried to install a new software product with the phrase "I'm from Information Technology, and I'm here to help you!", will know what I mean.

Anyway, that's the latest and greatest. Hope to hear from you. If you have questions / comments etc.. give me a yell.. or a note. Send to jhorn0025@msn.com or comment at the bottom of this. Ya'll take care.