365 Pix in 365 Days for 2015: Images 026 through 032

The last week of January found me in Chicago at the beginning of the week and ended with me in Maple Grove for a volleyball tournament. As mentioned in my last post, the annual AHR Expo was held during this week. The only people who would know that would be the four who read the blog post. Let's amp up those page views, people!

The tour went off without a hitch and I was able to arrange meetings for the time slots my General Manager requested. Before the trip, he said he wanted all of us to have full days while in Chicago and go home on Wednesday completely exhausted. Mission accomplished; although my exhaustion probably wasn't in the way he intended.

As an introvert, I find constant business meetings and engagements to be mentally and physically taxing. I've grown out of my childhood shyness to a degree, but I recognize I much prefer to think through ideas quietly by myself than to discuss them with others. Also, we all met up in the late evening to early morning of Tuesday and Wednesday, which fed into my overall exhaustion. I woke up at 5 in the morning to shower, having only three hours of sleep and lingering alcohol in my system.

The understanding was Wednesday would be a travel and rest day and then we'd be right back at it on Thursday. No such luck. We arrived at the airport well ahead of our flight, so we had an impromptu meeting for almost an hour. The new expectation was for all Regional Sales Managers (RSMs) to send up follow-up emails with action items once back in Minnesota that afternoon. In a show of defiance, I sent out most of my emails on Thursday, with only one being sent on Wednesday because the GM already promised the Principal I would.

I've already spent more than enough time complaining about work, so I will leave it that the end of January was a carryover from the week prior. Oh, and my mom's birthday was on that Tuesday and I called her from a quiet spot in McCormick Place.

Image 026:  01-26-2015

A view from my room on the 30th floor of the W Chicago Lakefront.

Image 027:  01-27-2015

View of downtown Chicago from McCormick Place.

Image 028:  01-28-2015

The awesome brown liquor wall of the 
Untitled Supper Club 

Image 029:  01-29-2015

St. Paul's version of Stonehenge 

Image 030:  01-30-2015

Minneapolis from Boom Island, which is no longer an island.

Image 031:  01-31-2015

G-Bug showing one of her double threats - throwing it down!

Image 032:  02-01-2015

Her other threat - affecting the opponent's shot.