last word

So I absolutely promise that this is the LAST time I'll complain about that training I just had to endure. I know its been the fodder of more than a couple of posts, and you're probably all getting about as tired of it as I was. But to add insult to a whole host of injuries, this was how our last day played out:
8am - 9am Donut breakfast
9 - 9:30 Yada yada yada, discovery of yet another computer issue (this happened almost daily)
9:30 - 9:45 Break while they tried to get the computers up and running
9:45 - 11:00 Possibly the most boring lecture in the world, offering a cursory glance at a topic that every law student knows inside and out
11:00 - 12:00 More yada
12:30 - 12:30 Hemming, hawing, attempting to figure out what to talk about next, inviting people to have more donuts
12:30 - 2:00 Lunch (man, was I thrilled to get a whole hour and a half in exciting Auburn; my co-worker and I went to the mall)
2:00 - 2:20 Stupid little awards ceremony where we had to go up to receive our certificate of endurance (er, i mean completion) and high five all of the instructors; this must be so what graduating from AA must be like
2:20 - DONE (though people that rode the bus had to wait until 3:30)

So is it just me or could all this have been accomplished in half the time, so that I could have actually caught an earlier flight at 2 instead of waiting around til 5????? I heard that the one highlight was that the donuts were pretty good. But since I don't really like donuts, I wouldn't know. And anyway, they would have had to be some amazing (possibly pot-filled?) donuts to make that day worthwhile.

I'm back in the office now, and I guess the one thing that can be said for the whole experience is that I have a new found appreciation for my job. Cuz yesterday, I kept telling myself that it could be A LOT worse, and I could be back in training. But no, it wasn't all bad. I got to hang out with my brother and his awesome girlfriend a lot. :) I saw some other friends I don't get to see often. G came up for the weekend, and it was almost like we had decided to go to Seattle all on our own for a little getaway (and chosen to stay in Federal Way).

Over the course of the two weeks, I tried to think of a good response to tell people at work when they asked me how training went, as pretty much everyone has. I finally settled on, "Well, I'm glad to be home." Sounds neutral right? But that lasted for a whole five minutes before I was complaining to my director about just how bad it was (in a very constructive way, of course). Clearly, I'm not one for lying or subterfuge. So instead, I've now decided to take my comments to a higher source, as well. Recently, I got an email saying that as part of the budget process, President Obama is looking for feedback from all federal employees for ways in which their agency can reduce costs and improve efficiency. I think our budget for training is a great place to start.