The lobby was filled with tropical trees, plants, and fountains. There were a few exotic birds and a parrot flying around, and entertaining guests. The parrot was carrying on a "conversation" with what appeared to be an 11-year-old boy. The ceiling was about 18 stories high to the skylights. Glass elevators glided along a massive support pillar. I went to the check-in counter and a cute receptionist with a badge that read, "trainee" assisted me. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't locate my reservation that my company "should" have made for me. After a bit of searching, and assistance from another employee, they were able to find my reservation information. They had me in a room with two twin sized beds, even after I had requested a king sized bed because I don't see the point of having two beds when I'm only going to be using one. Luckily that was an easy problem to fix, and I got a room up on the 14^th floor. My room was very nice with a hefty air conditioner, ceiling fan, and a stellar view of the lake, pool, and landscape that included Disney World. I unpacked my stuff, showered, and got dressed for the company dinner. I only had about a half hour before dinner started, but if I knew how informal it was, I wouldn't have rushed too much. I got down to the meeting area, and there was an entire lobby full with tables of food. Not just any food, but exotic food that appeared to have required hours of preparation for each entrée. I was starving after an entire day spent on an airplane unable to break down an pay for a meal on the increasingly frugal airliners. Waiters pestered me when they insisted in getting me a drink from the bar. After several declines, they obviously were uncomfortable with me mingling with others without a glass in my hand, so I had them get me a Pepsi. That prevented further interruptions. I was unsure as to when I could dive into the food, since it all seemed untouched, and nobody was eating. After about 15 minutes of mingling conversations interrupted by glances at the fresh prepared exotic food, I decided I'd suffer the potential social awkwardness of eating before everyone else, and I piled up a plate with crab claws, shrimp, fruit dipped in chocolate, and other stuff I don't have names for. Almost immediately after I was munching on crabmeat, dozens of other people followed my example and began digging in. Eventually I met up with some of the people I was hired on with, and was able to feel a little less out of place. As the night progressed, I met lots of people who work throughout the country, and several people in high positions who were eager to meet up with the "new guys". The only thing I didn't like about the fancy elaborate meal and dinner setting was that of the waiters. They seemed too invasive for my liking. I wouldn't have minded too much if they were like waiters at restaurants who would refill your water and leave you alone. These individuals seemed to want to go the extra mile, and ironically they would neglect to refill your water glass. Instead, they'd INSIST upon pouring you coffee, or getting you a beer. After swatting away about 3 waiters, I asked one to remove my empty coffee mug at the table so I'd stop having to be continually interrupted by hyperactive gnats carrying coffee pitchers. Another thing I wasn't too keen about was the fact that if your plate appeared to approach the "empty" look, someone would come by and snatch your plate and silverware from under you. Many times I wasn't done, but I was just taking a break from eating and talking to someone at the table. Maybe I'm just not used to such luxuries, or perhaps I'm an insufferable snob to find such "service" rather invasive. Despite the pestering waiters, the meal was possibly the best one I've had in a very very long time. The dinner extended well into the night, and everyone became increasingly saturated with alcohol. Simple jokes of mine were met with hysteric laughter, and the freedom of the words being used in casual conversation indicated that everyone around me was well inebriated. I was tired because I didn't sleep the night before, and my sleep on the plane was less than restful, so I retired to my room at this point.
After setting up my computer (they charged for simple internet usage something like $11/day, and wireless was extra) I sent off some emails, checked my schedule, and went to bed. I heard an electrical humming that sounded like a refrigerator in my room. I later located this noise to be originating from the lower cabinet where the TV was residing. The door was locked, so I assumed it was a mini-bar. (lock pick fabrication on standby)
In the morning I woke up early for the company breakfast, and it was more of the same type of waiter stuff, but all was forgiven after I ate one of the best waffles stacked with pounds of fruit, and any combination of fruit juices I could ever want. The meetings proceeding breakfast were of a simple safety subject. Staying awake was difficult, and the hotel staff was able to provide refreshments outside of the conference hall stocked with munchies, coffee, and a vast spectrum of soft drinks with ice. One of these beverages included Mountain Dew, so I was happy. However, I'm not sure if it was the low altitude, but all the carbonation levels seemed off in all the soft drinks. Either that, or I had gained a liking for the fruit juices instead. The meetings were long, and pretty dull. I made origami creatures at my desk to keep myself awake and sane. A coworker dozed off at one point, and almost knocked over a pitcher of water. During one of our breaks we all left to go out in the halls to partake in more refreshments. When we all returned, I found that my collection of origami was disposed of, along with everything else that wasn't bolted to the floor. The waiters strike again!
After one of the meetings some employee asked me about one of the creatures I had made, and requested one for his kid. In no time I had made another creature, and gave it to him. He looked more excited than I'm sure his kid would appear. After our meetings, there was dinner, which was more of the same crazy foods, except with slightly less of a seafood theme. After dinner I watched the skies darken and lightning began to dance within the clouds. I tried my best to encourage coworkers to come out to the pool, but nobody seemed interested in turning down FREE DRINKS! I went to my room, changed into my swimsuit and departed for the pool. The pool was just as elaborate as everything else at the resort. There were several waterfalls that cascaded into various areas of the pool. There wasn't any chlorine, but instead was the saline solution that was much easier on the eyes. In paddling around in the pool, and through the waterfalls, I became aware that the pool extended within a manufactured rock structure to appear like a cave. The pool then extended to a different section of the resort, and opened up to another large pool. There was large suspension footbridge that crossed the pool too. I spotted several Jacuzzis in random locations too. My favorite spot was under one of the more severe waterfalls where I could watch the lightning jump within the clouds, and have the water pound my shoulders and back. The pool had surprisingly few people swimming in it, perhaps because it seemed that way due to its size. As I was leaving the pool, I heard distant thumping noises like fireworks. I wandered out in the golf course to where I could see an elaborate firework display coming from either Disney World or Sea World. Mosquitoes also found me, and luckily hadn't done too much damage by the time the display ended. By the golf shed, there were lamps attracting moths and crickets. Preying upon that gathering was a small colony of white and translucent geckos. Later on I also spotted some green anoles in the gardens back near the hotel.
Tuesday was much like a repeat of Monday except this time I was given an exam that covered the material presented in all the lectures. Apparently there were study materials available for this new type of safety certification, but since I was so new to hire, they weren't made available to me. I really wasn't even required to take the exam because they thought it may be "asking too much" of me as a new hire. There were a few extra tests, so I snagged one. Since I "barely" made it through soooo many hours of lectures awake, I didn't want to have to repeat the process at a later date. Many people were incredibly worried about the test, and apparently it had a very high "failure" rate, almost 40%-50% I wasn't too worried, since they couldn't really get mad at me for botching the test. It actually wasn't too hard at all. Nowhere near some of the exams that I was used to in the gauntlet of academic mania. I'm 90% sure I passed. It was amusing hearing many of the people discuss afterwards on how difficult the exam was. When I was questioned about the difficulty of the test, I responded in a very neutral manner as not to sound like a smartass.
I met some more people at dinner, and this group seemed more inclined to stock up on their beer supplies for their trek to the pool. At least they came outside…. We played pool volleyball for a while until someone lost a wedding ring. I scampered up to my room, retrieved a little Mini-Maglight, borrowed a kid's swimming mask, and searched the pool for the ring. As it turned out, someone discovered the ring out by the rocks. Apparently it slid off as this individual was striking the volleyball. I started to drift asleep later in the hot tub, and knew it was time to go to bed. Wednesday we had some simple games and entertainment arranged for all employees that were all right I suppose since there were prizes and such. At noon, they let us go to go have fun and do whatever we wanted for the day. I got to my room, changed, and went straight towards the boats. I convinced the guy at the rental shop that I had adequate experience to pilot one of the "sunfish" sailboats. There wasn't really much wind to speak of, but the large sail made use of every little breeze. I was able to get around the lake all right without too much trouble. Some spots fo the lake had more wind than others. I saw a turtle, several dozen waterbirds, and something large that thrashed around on the shoreline. I thought It may have been an alligator, but I didn't see it. There were some dark clouds approaching, and the wind picked up a notch as a storm front moved in. I got a few good runs in making use of some nice gusts. As I brought the boat in quite some time later, they had just dispatched a staff member on a motorboat to direct everyone out of the water due to the oncoming lightning storm. By the time I got to my room, the sky opened up and it poured for a while. I watched the lightning from my room, and took a nap. When I awoke, I returned to the outdoor department, but most of the areas were closed. I did some exploring, and visited the pool before retiring for the evening. Thursday was filled with some more lectures of a more technical level rather than simply safety. It was quite a bit more interesting, but later all the new hires had to report to new hire training, which was pretty simple stuff involving computer mojo, and the inner workings of a field engineer. There was an awards ceremony later on which was an even more fancy dinner with waiters that brought food to you. It was tasty, but not as good as some of the other food. This meal was pretty much for appearance more than it was for taste. I ended up winning a neat Alstom flashlight, and a few jumpdrives from some drawings and games later on. With the award ceremony over, they opened up the bar until late, but I needed to pack in order to wake up for my 5am departure. I'm now on a plane flying over the Gulf of Mexico, and someone near me has exceptionally bad body odor. I'll attach some pictures of my trip.
Update: Just landed in SLC, and I am feeling the lack of sleep. Just checked into the Crystal Inn once again, and need to go run some errands.
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