Last weekend I went to SF with Dave to see Alcatraz, ride bikes over the Golden Gate Bridge, and go to the Raiders/Chargers football game (yes, I survived to tell about it!)
The ferry ride over to Alcatraz was about 20 minutes, and we got some great photos of the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, and the island. We learned Alcatraz was a penitentiary until 1963 when it closed and then became a museum for the public (and the star of "The Rock"). One of the famous inmates was Machine Gun Kelly - I don't remember much about him, but hey, his name was Kelly - cool! I also learned that the guards' families lived on the island with them, and that the children grew up playing on a cement playground facing the city. They interviewed some of these children, and they said they actually loved growing up on Alcatraz.
After getting back to SF, we had lunch in the Wharf (chowda and shrimp) then rented bikes to ride over the Golden Gate Bridge. We rode about an hour to the bridge, taking tons of pictures along the way (along with getting sweaty and dirty!) I never knew there was such a nice park under the bridge, with a beach and large beautiful grassy areas for bbq's and birthday parties.
In order to try and make a ferry back to the Wharf, Dave and I raced across the bridge in an attempt to make it to Sausalito by 4:30. With ten minutes left to make it there, we took a wrong turn down hill at 40 mph, and quickly realized we weren't going to be getting back to the Wharf on that ferry! As they say, if you're 1 minute late to the ferry, you're 59 minutes early for the next one :-)
So, as Dave said, we "turned lemons into lemonade," and rode all the way back to the Wharf. As an aside, the wind was never at our backs, and I swear it was uphill both ways!
Saturday night I met Dave's college friend Jeff and his fiance Molly, who let us stay at their place near Coit Tower. We had the best dinner - crab and Caeser salad with garlic bread, and then I enjoyed the rest of the night getting to know his friends.
Sunday we went to Oakland to meet up with Dave's friend's sister and brother-in-law (you follow that?) who had hooked us up with 2 tickets to the Raiders/Chargers game. Let's just say after 8 Raider themed Harley Davidsons in the parking lot and thousands of crazy pirate looking fans, we found our seats in McAfee stadium. I can't believe we ended up winning that game after the 0-15 first half - we didn't wear Bolt clothing, but it was still apparent we were Chargers fans....I'm just glad we made it out of there alive!
This was a great way to spend my last weekend in the Bay Area!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
My last week in CCRP
Well my time away at CCRP is coming to a close......Saturday is my last day in the Bay Area, before I fly home to San Diego to resume my role in Procurement. Today was round 2 of our report-out to the QB Online leaders, sharing our experiences and learnings in the program. This presentation was incredible! In the spirit of rapid piloting, we took all the feedback from last Friday's report-out and improved the presentation for today. Afterwards, our QBO program leader passed out awards highlighting many of the CCRP-ers! I was so excited to be awarded "Best Overall Performer!" Wahoo!
Before the presentation, members of Corporate Strategy and the Global Business Division spoke on their roles at Intuit. The best takeaway I got was this: in order to be a great leader and performer, you must be receptive to feedback. This is something I know I struggle with, as I'm sure others do to. I think it's natural to feel somewhat "offended" when you receive feedback/criticisms. The real learning here to understand that this feedback truly helps you improve your work, processes, etc. Even if the feedback is "looks good," I learned to still solicit feedback and opportunities to improve.
Tomorrow we are going to be discussing the book "Strengthsfinder 2.0." My five strength themes were: Focus, Learner, Restorative, Significance, & Competition. Now that I've identified my strength themes, I'm going to work on incorporating these into my goal setting process.
4 days until my departure!
Before the presentation, members of Corporate Strategy and the Global Business Division spoke on their roles at Intuit. The best takeaway I got was this: in order to be a great leader and performer, you must be receptive to feedback. This is something I know I struggle with, as I'm sure others do to. I think it's natural to feel somewhat "offended" when you receive feedback/criticisms. The real learning here to understand that this feedback truly helps you improve your work, processes, etc. Even if the feedback is "looks good," I learned to still solicit feedback and opportunities to improve.
Tomorrow we are going to be discussing the book "Strengthsfinder 2.0." My five strength themes were: Focus, Learner, Restorative, Significance, & Competition. Now that I've identified my strength themes, I'm going to work on incorporating these into my goal setting process.
4 days until my departure!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
"Rice-A-Roni, a San Francisco treat!"
This weekend my parents flew in from Portland, and we celebrated my mom's birthday in San Fran style! The weekend began with driving around the SJ airport trying to figure out where Alaska baggage claim was. In my haste to get my parents out of the confusing catastrophe that is the airport, I broke the heel of my favorite shoes by slamming my foot in the car door! (Yeah, smooth move I know!)
My mom really wanted to ride the Trolley Car, so on Saturday we drove up to SF and spent the day sight-seeing. We started with taking the Powell-Mason trolley to Fisherman's Wharf. When we got there we had lunch at Tarantino's. We sat on the 2nd floor and looked out on the wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, eating "chowda," crab, and fish n chips. We checked out ships at the Hyde St. Pier and then walked to Ghirardelli Square. Then we caught a cab back to Powell and drove to Golden Gate Park and the Presidio. We walked through the Japanese Tea Garden and walked past the new California Academy of the Sciences with a "living roof." At the Presidio, we checked out the spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge, from artillery structures that used to house cannons. After that we decided to drive back, and grabbed some dinner in downtown San Jose at this Italien place called Spiedo.
Today we watched the US battle Europe for the Ryder Cup, and had some lunch at the Westfield foodcourt (hit the mall to replace those shoes!) before dropping off mom and dad at the airport. Now I'm watching Season 4 of "Friends"...I have 2 more weeks to get through the next 6 seasons before I have to return the DVDs to Alli!
P.S. I added the photos from Monterey and the 17-mile-drive with Dave, and the SF weekend with my parents, to my slideshow. Check it out!
My mom really wanted to ride the Trolley Car, so on Saturday we drove up to SF and spent the day sight-seeing. We started with taking the Powell-Mason trolley to Fisherman's Wharf. When we got there we had lunch at Tarantino's. We sat on the 2nd floor and looked out on the wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, eating "chowda," crab, and fish n chips. We checked out ships at the Hyde St. Pier and then walked to Ghirardelli Square. Then we caught a cab back to Powell and drove to Golden Gate Park and the Presidio. We walked through the Japanese Tea Garden and walked past the new California Academy of the Sciences with a "living roof." At the Presidio, we checked out the spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge, from artillery structures that used to house cannons. After that we decided to drive back, and grabbed some dinner in downtown San Jose at this Italien place called Spiedo.
Today we watched the US battle Europe for the Ryder Cup, and had some lunch at the Westfield foodcourt (hit the mall to replace those shoes!) before dropping off mom and dad at the airport. Now I'm watching Season 4 of "Friends"...I have 2 more weeks to get through the next 6 seasons before I have to return the DVDs to Alli!
P.S. I added the photos from Monterey and the 17-mile-drive with Dave, and the SF weekend with my parents, to my slideshow. Check it out!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
4:30 Wake up call
I'm rounding out week 5 of CCRP, and performing the support agent role on chat. The 6am shift requires getting up at 4:30....but it also means getting out at 3 in the afternoon! Earlier in the week we attended a career coaching event, where we learned about senior leaders' journey lines, forming your work around your skills and value system, and the importance of networking. My big takeway about networking was that the way you know you become masterful at it, is when you not only gain connections through a network, but you can foster those connections for other people.
I can't believe CCRP is almost over for me! These 5 weeks have gone by so quickly, and I have really valued the ability to meet and connect with our leaders, as well as broaden my network with the friendships I've made here. 2 more weeks left!
I can't believe CCRP is almost over for me! These 5 weeks have gone by so quickly, and I have really valued the ability to meet and connect with our leaders, as well as broaden my network with the friendships I've made here. 2 more weeks left!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Last two days on the phone
These are my last couple days speaking with customers on the phone, and then I'll be transitioning to support via IM chatting. My shift starts at 6am, so anyone that knows me, knows I'll be pounding a couple lattes beforehand!
This weekend I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and drove the 17-mile-drive from Monterey to Carmel. I tried to snap a few photos of the golf courses (spyglass and pebble beach I think) and will post those soon. I finished the night with dinner in Santa Cruz and I saw the lighthouse at Steamer Lane. There were a couple guys surfing near the cliffs at Steamer Lane, with only the moonlight to see!
Yesterday I went to a local sports bar on Lafayette (C & J's) to watch the Chargers - Broncos game. I'm still getting over that game.....allow me to momentarily get on my soap box: that game really shows how a couple bad calls from the refs can throw an entire game!
This weekend my parents are coming to visit and we are going to do more San Francisco sight-seeing...which means more photos to post!
This weekend I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and drove the 17-mile-drive from Monterey to Carmel. I tried to snap a few photos of the golf courses (spyglass and pebble beach I think) and will post those soon. I finished the night with dinner in Santa Cruz and I saw the lighthouse at Steamer Lane. There were a couple guys surfing near the cliffs at Steamer Lane, with only the moonlight to see!
Yesterday I went to a local sports bar on Lafayette (C & J's) to watch the Chargers - Broncos game. I'm still getting over that game.....allow me to momentarily get on my soap box: that game really shows how a couple bad calls from the refs can throw an entire game!
This weekend my parents are coming to visit and we are going to do more San Francisco sight-seeing...which means more photos to post!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
I'll always remember where I was on 9/11
I've been thinking about this date a lot this week, contemplating the events of that day, where I was when it happened, how all of America felt when we watched horrified as thousands of people suffered. I read this article on CNN this morning ("Rumsfeld, Bush speak at Pentagon 9/11 ceremony"), noting the moments of silence being observed throughout the morning, flags at half-staff, and victims' relatives reading their names at Ground Zero. Mayor Bloomberg quoted an Irish proverb: "Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory no one can steal."
I will never forget where I was that morning. It was my first week as a freshman at USD, and I woke up to the sound of my dorm neighbor pounding on my door. Coincidentally the night before, that same neighbor had told me this elaborate (and untrue) story about how WWIII was starting, so she didn't really have much credibility at resiting world facts. When I woke up to her knocking on the door and she told me planes had just struck the World Trade Center, I didn't believe her. I almost went back to sleep because I thought it was the same antics as the night before...
It only took a few seconds to process the emotion in her face and realize these events were true. USD cancelled classes that day, and I spent the morning in my PJs watching CNN on the TV in the game room.
One week later, the Chargers' stadium (Qualcomm) filled up with thousands of San Diegans who united to read the names of the victims. I still remember the photos of Qualcomm Stadium- which has the largest parking lot in America - filled to capacity with mourners.
Some people remember where they were when Kennedy was shot. I could never relate until 9/11. I will never forget that day, nor will the rest of America.
I will never forget where I was that morning. It was my first week as a freshman at USD, and I woke up to the sound of my dorm neighbor pounding on my door. Coincidentally the night before, that same neighbor had told me this elaborate (and untrue) story about how WWIII was starting, so she didn't really have much credibility at resiting world facts. When I woke up to her knocking on the door and she told me planes had just struck the World Trade Center, I didn't believe her. I almost went back to sleep because I thought it was the same antics as the night before...
It only took a few seconds to process the emotion in her face and realize these events were true. USD cancelled classes that day, and I spent the morning in my PJs watching CNN on the TV in the game room.
One week later, the Chargers' stadium (Qualcomm) filled up with thousands of San Diegans who united to read the names of the victims. I still remember the photos of Qualcomm Stadium- which has the largest parking lot in America - filled to capacity with mourners.
Some people remember where they were when Kennedy was shot. I could never relate until 9/11. I will never forget that day, nor will the rest of America.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
San Diego Super Chargers!
I went home to SD this weekend to watch the Chargers take on the Panthers. Yes, my jaw dropped as did the jaws of the other millions of people who watched in dismay as the Panthers scored in the last 2 seconds of the game to win. But, regardless of the loss, I had a great weekend. Friday night I got my Thai fix satisfied at Bali Thai (normally a great little hole in the wall place, but that night our dinner took an hour to be served!). Saturday I had lunch at Milton's in Del Mar with Dave and his mom, and that night we hosted a game night with our buddies. Turkey burgers, margaritas, and many cupcakes later we watched a movie and got our beauty sleep as we prepared for the opening Charger game.
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