En Route To Montreal
As I write this, I’m on a plane somewhere between Vancouver and Toronto, on the first leg of my journey to Montreal for a 2-day workshop where I will share my research progress with, and learn about the research progress of, other researchers who are in the same funding cohort as me. I had grand plans to put together my presentation ((I haven’t had a chance to put together my presentation because I was just slammed with a million and one other deadlines at work the past couple of weeks and just slammed with homework in the evenings/on weekends for the past, oh, 10 months.)) on this flight, but I have been thwarted by the fact that while I downloaded Prezi Desktop to my computer last night so that I could create a prezi without being connected to the intertubes ((Why is it that in 2012 we still don’t have the intertubes on aeroplanes??)), I didn’t realize until I just tried to open it that I need to activate it, which requires the ‘tubes. Instead, I’m writing this blog posting, which I’ll post when I get back to the land of connectivity.
Happily, our profs decided to make our core final exam, which we were originally scheduled to be writing this morning, a take home exam, so I was able finish it up and submit it last night and will be arriving in Montreal at a reasonable time (4 pm) rather than midnight, as I was originally scheduled to when I thought I was going to be writing an in-class exam right now. With the core final exam under my belt, the only thing remaining in the core (read: nightmarishly busy part of the program, as opposed to the just very, very busy part of the program) is a presentation of the business plan projects that we submitted last week. My group has some kickass ideas for our presentation, which are remaining top secret as we don’t want any of the other groups to scoop us!
Looking at my massively complex spreadsheet that I’ve been using to track my grades ((Even though I said my focus is on learning and that I don’t really care about my grades as long as I pass and don’t look like a total moron, I am compelled to put all data I can get my hands on into spreadsheets, especially data that can be sliced and diced and analyzed every which way!)), I see that over the past 10 months since my MBA program started, I have completed:
- 2 major reports ((Where by “major” I mean reports based on big group projects that lasted a few months each. One was a report on the running of a simulated business, the other was a business plan for an innovative new product.))
- 30 assignments ((7 of which were case study memos.))
- 4 quizzes
- 10 exams
No wonder I’ve been so exhausted! Happily, despite the accompanying sleep deprivation and exam-related nightmares, I’ve learned an insane amount about things that I didn’t know before, many of which I can – and already have been – applying in work and in life ((“Stuff I’ve Learned in School” will be the topic of an upcoming blog post!)).
But enough about that for now – this blog posting was actually supposed to be about my trip! After my workshop in Montreal, I’m hopping a Porter Air flight ((Dear FSM, I love Porter Air!)) to Toronto to see my family. I haven’t seen them since the spring, so I’m super excited to play with my niece and nephew, spend time with my Mom and sister, and see some friends. Plans for my trip include:
- belated Thanksgiving dinner ((My sister, who has gone back to school to get her Master’s ((Boy, we are cut from the same cloth, aren’t we?)) has been extremely busy, so she didn’t have time to do a Thanksgiving dinner this year. So my Mom and I are taking over my sister’s kitchen to make a feast so we can celebrate T-giving, if somewhat late.))
- the Hoot & Howl – a Halloween fair at my niece’s school ((Every year I hear about the Hoot & Howl from my sister and I’m super excited that I get to go this year.)).
- the CN Tower Edgewalk ((I’m completely terrified but also very excited to lean over the edge of one of the tallest buildings in the world! It kind of makes me want to throw up just thinking about it, but omg, it’s going to be awesome!))
Plans for Montreal, aside from the actual workshop I’m going to which will take up the lion’s share of my time, include:
- poutine
- smoked meat sandwich
- spruce beer
- going for a run on the treadmill in the hotel gym, followed by some hot tub time ((Running will be required to atone for the aforementioned poutine, smoked meat, and spruce beer. And hot tub is just because hot tubs are awesome!))!
Two other things:
- At the start of this flight, I fell asleep while holding my coffee and didn’t spill it, which is kind of a miracle. To re-balance the universe, however, after I woke up, discovered that I was precariously holding my coffee, I put down my tray table and put my coffee on it, fell back asleep, only to be woken up when the guy in front of me slammed himself repeatedly against his seat back (presumably “trying to get comfortable”), which spilled my coffee all over me. Fortunately, I had brought a blanket to keep me warm on the flight which I had on top of me, so it took the brunt of the coffee.
- The lady who is shushing her baby in the row behind me is way more annoying than the baby babbling that she is trying to shush.
Posted from Toronto International Airport, where I’m waiting for my flight to Montreal. Have activated my Prezi desktop so that I can work on my presentation on the next flight. Hooray for free wifi!
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Ugh, I hate it when people apparently forget that there’s a tray table attached to the back of their seat and they either tilt back suddenly or do something else that makes you spill your drink and/or food. See also: people who get up out of their seat by grabbing the back of my headrest and hauling themselves up, usually also pulling my hair in the process.