Cozying up to the players

First posting in regards to my practicum.

My week was spent in Banff Alberta. I was at the Petroleum Safety Conference. I think this was a great introduction to my practicum: The first day, I was able to basically walk around and visit all the other displays at the trade show. My two 'bosses' were taking care of our booth, or going to the many different proceedings offered: discussions of new safety standards, management issues affecting safety, and more. I was given free reign, to explore. Boy oh boy! Do I have the SWAG (Stuff We All Get) to show it. There was tonnes of goodies; some free samples for cleaning stuff, glo strips (which I attached to my friend K for safety's sake), a level/screwdriver/flashlight, a sweater, all sorts of stuff. Our company supplies awesome fabric and more to many awesome companies, so instead of giving out pieces of fabric, they gave out something which would connect with the people who were at the conference. This is apparently the 'fun' conference, the conference which gets business done after hours, and the morning after to show it. These are relaxed people who also come to have a good time, make some deals over dinner, and check out what everyone has going on at the trade show.

Enter the 'Tradeshow Survival Kit' a branded, pocket sized packet of goodies, free for everyone: hand sanitizer, painkillers, antacid, band-aids, and finger protectors (insert slightly inappropriate joke here). The truth is this: the many suppliers my practicum site uses are present at this show, but are already working and communicating with our site on a regular basis. All the manufacturers who use this business as a supplier were also at the conference, showing their wares, and again, communicate with us regularly. The importance of this conference is brand recognition, having people who purchase from all the manufacturers knowing and equating our company with quality product. They (We?) are there just to be recognized and be present.

I visited and talked to all the different competitors and partners. Most people were super friendly. Some competitors saw my company name and weren't very nice. Some manufacturers were missing information, stuff which I would think was key :
Me: Why would i choose you as a safety clothing provider
Them: Why wouldn't you? (nervous laughter) Uh... I guess we focus on service
Me: (in brain) Wow. That was a terrible answer. If service is what you offer, sell me that, don't just say "why not"... because my thought is "because I want the best, I don't want to catch on fire."

Later in the conference I got to work the booth, handing out our fabulous nifty gifties, I got to lunch with my main practicum coordinator, and unfortunately, turned down a fabulous dinner invitation because of my dietary restrictions (it was an evening meeting at a fondue place. I basically would have been eating a piece of meat...)

The best part of this was the informal conversation I got to have with my practicum overseers. There was no formal organization of my participation, and we had lots of time to chat when the booth was slow. I think it overcame a lot of the usual awkwardness a person encounters in a new situation, before the real work begins. Monday, (aka today I guess) I will show up and already have a rapport with the bosses! Horray!

I camped with my husband and besty for the week, we had an awesome time, I had a rough time keeping my work clothes from smelling like campfire, but other than that it was amazing.

Boy have I missed blogging! Pictures to come!

Just Came Home From Camping!

Ha Zah! I return from Jasper, ready to take on new school heights. I am sharing some photos which I have edited to mimic some of the 70's-esque over exposed photography which is becoming more popular. Please provide feedback wether this endeavor is positive or icky. Be blunt! I love feedback!

I got an e-mail inviting me to participate in a self directed class where another student and I problem solve a bit with a real problem: nurses in the OR who get chilly, and how to keep them warm with textiles products without putting their patients in danger of cross contamination, etc... maintaining comfort within a technical construct! My brain is whirring a mile a minute!

But that was after Jasper. Jasper was pure tranquility. Perfect weather! Delicious home made food! Wonderful company!

I missed my little cats. But it definitely put the end of the month on a high note, I am in high gear to get back to school!

Gorgeous Weekend

Hello! So. We went CAMPING. Here is a delicious picture of my darling red car, and other precious moments of our trip. My car made it all the way to the mountains without looking like garbage, and still looks really good. We ran off to enjoy our small little weekend before my design class started.

We managed to get the car packed after our trip in a way that allows us to (gasp) go camping with minimal packing in the back seat- most of our camping gear is in the trunk, which we never use. This is a perfect example of applications of Human Ecological thinking to everyday issues. Why work if you are not able to do what you enjoy? DH (darling husband) and I enjoy getting into a tent and cooking over a stove, and have made it infinitely easier at this time! Working to live is a big deal, and by making it easier to get on with living is a huge part of the struggle. So setting ourselves up for success means we are more likely to throw some bananas and tortillas in the backseat and run off for the weekend. Go us!

And why wouldn't you want to get away? Even though we were relegated to the overflow campsite, I can say it was amazing. You may be thinking: but overflow is just a big boring field. We were able to find our own spot, we had access to washrooms, we had already brought our own water, and I think the pictures show that this was not just a boring field.... Can I say "Boom, Roasted" for only having to pay ten bucks to camp?

Saturday, when we went into Jasper for a quick trip to pick up essentials (chocolate, ice, etc) we saw a bear in our rearview mirror. We turned the car around and scuttled back down the road to see if we could get a better look. Unfortunately, little brown bear had run back into the bushes. *tears* That evening we saw a natural light show with some amazing lightening.

Sunday afternoon, we packed up our goodies and set out to go home. Ahead of us on the road, a truck was going quite slowly. Driving up, I saw a bear running into the brush, and was so excited to at least get a flash of it, but sad that we didn't get a picture. Then DH pointed out that the second bear had not yet vacated the premises...

We got fabulous pictures of a berry hungry little black bear (Get it? Berry hungry? Very Hungry? Did I mention I love puns?). Five feet from our car, we were as close to real nature as we could be.

Which leads me to thinking: what is our natural environment? We are told by parks attendants not to interact with bears and other wildlife. That we will take them away from their own natural existence. Where are we from, what exactly is our natural existence if not within the natural constructs our surroundings provide us? Why have we moved so far away from this natural existence? Is this why we yearn to go back to this world? And what does it say that our mere presence in this natural state can be so disruptive to the other inhabitants, like bears?

Troublesome.