Well I am back from Ohio. I unfortunately was only there for a week. Initial plans a couple of months ago was that we were to go a couple of times at two weeks each. That time got shortened to a month total with each of us going two weeks but I could only make it one. Regardless, I think the trip went pretty darn well on my side.
Fortunately for me, the guys I was training had more accesses than my predecessors, though it still was not perfect. They were still missing a lot that they were needing in order to do the job that was being asked of them, or even me. But I did what I could.
I felt that I was far more busy than both of my predecessors and did my best to keep myself active and work with what I had. I sat in with each of them several times and gave help when I could. When that seemed down I gave them sample files to go through and look at and told them how to break the file down. Toward the end of the week I made up a couple of quizzes that helped them figure out some simple problems and helped me figure out what they already knew and where they were in their training.
I hope that I looked good to the people in Ohio and that they appreciated what I did for them. I think they did. Towards the end, they were talking about requesting us to come back in a couple of weeks after one person was back from vacation and the new people had more of their accesses in a row. My hope is that they ask for me specifically and that I get to go back another time. It would both look good for me in the company and it would also be a great chance for me to get a second vacation to Columbus. There was a lot more to see than I did.
Unfortunately, it was drizzling and cool for most of my time in Ohio. So after Labor Day, I really didn’t do a whole lot. I mostly found places to eat that I couldn’t catch here in Madison. The list of places I went to may seem stupid to many, but to me it was all about trying out something different. I mentioned previously some of the places I went. In addition, I stopped by a White Castle and California Pizza Kitchens because we have neither here. Love White Castle but overall disappointed by CPK, it was too expensive and the pizza didn’t taste that great for the price. I went to Whit’s Frozen Custard which was good and a decent price but I don’t think it was as good as Micheal’s here in town or even Culver’s really, but a worthy place to go all the same. I also tried King Gyros I think it was called. The Gyros weren’t as good as Parthenon’s here in town but it wasn’t bad and I would definitely go back. The Gyros were spicier and had a ton of lettuce but not really enough onion (though they used red onion instead of white which I actually think was a mistake).
One mistake that I made was that I misunderstood what the Easton Mall was when I looked at it previously. It looked like it was an outdoor mall, similar to Greenway Station just bigger. And to some extent it was, but it also had two huge indoor sections that were two stories tall. I found this out when I went to the California Pizza Kitchen, but I had ordered my Pizza ahead of time, so I had to go and pick it up instead of explore the mall. This was too bad because it could have been an indoor event and I had some disposable time on Wednesday night as well as Thursday night before the Packer game. I had I known, I would have gone to just look around and do something more indoors. If I get to go back to Ohio, I will have to make an attempt to go there on a rainy day and see if I can find anything cool.