Down came a migraine on me yesterday, spoiling an already lonely Valentine's Day. I'd plans to go out with some other folk with partners at long distance, but stayed home with Thai chicken soup and curtains drawn...
Not out of the woods yet, but better today.
Valentine's is as much a Hallmark holiday, er, celebration in Ireland as back in the states. Instead of flowers and candy, however, colleens around the country received flowers and teddy bears. Parts of our office were decorated with Mylar Pooh-bear balloons in fact. We also had "space hopper" races with representatives from each department. A space hopper is the giant rubber-balloon-ball-like thing with handles that little kids of years past rode around the neighbourhood. The two champion racers were king and queen of the day and were allowed to bring their respective courts into the canteen to enjoy the chocolate fountain and other treats before anyone could.
Interesting Irish-ism that someone with a customer service background would notice. When at a shop or restaurant or the like, instead of being asked "how can I help you?", customers are confronted with a rather abrupt "are you alright?" Almost as if to question why I am there in the first place: "something must be wrong with you if you're shopping here. You want a Big Mac? Really? Are you ill?" The more downscale the establishment, the more likely the 3 words are condensed into 2 barely decipherable syllables, "yaroit?", or even just a nod.
The big news today, however is this: today is Polly's last day at Holland America Line! Having spent 2 years as a driver/guide in Juneau, 4 (5?) years at Gray Line of Seattle, and 2 (3?) years as product manager, her tenure there has been long, varied, and successful. I know she's going to miss the place, and people, a lot. A bittersweet farewell.
For my part, I'm proud of her accomplishments during her career at HAL, sad she's losing her favorite boss ever, and excited as all get-out that she's almost here! So if you didn't hear the crrack of my head exploding yesterday, maybe you'll hear one today as she walks out the door.
Slan.
