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Tag Archives: Residence Inn

The Final two days of Class

22 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by Sherry Gomes in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Colorado Center for the Blind, friendship, guide dogs, Guide Dogs for the Blind, life, puppy raising, Residence Inn, zoomtext training

Last Two Days of ZoomText Fusion Training

Wednesday 21 July 2016

Kindness of strangers and a Dog Day evening

First of all, thank you all for your patience as I was delayed posting this. It will be a long update, to cover Wednesday and Thursday. Someone asked where this was all happening. I was taking a class in an adaptive technology software program called ZoomText fusion, a screen reader and magnifier combined, putting it simply. The class last three days and was held in Littleton Colorado.

I worried all Tuesday night about getting to class on Wednesday. Would it be another disastrous start to the day? And it could have been. I asked the front desk to call the taxi at ten to eight, and at 8:30, it still had not arrived. Crap, I thought, though I’m sure I thought worse than crap, I’m going to be late again! Suddenly, a guest in the hotel walked up to ask if I wanted any breakfast. I had been sitting there a while, waiting for the blasted cab, after all. I politely thanked him, told him no and that I was waiting for a cab. And out of nowhere, he offered to give me a ride! And what did I do? I did exactly what I would have warned any other single woman not to do. I got in a vehicle with a man I did not know and trusted him to take me where I needed to go. And he did! I don’t even know his name, think it was Walter, or something like that. I have good instincts, so I felt I could trust him, and the hotel people knew I’d left with him. He was a businessman, and he was very kind, and I got to class five minutes before start! Thank you sir for your act of generosity. And for being a good guy!

Class went well. We covered so much each day, and I only hope I retained a lot of it. I was getting to know the other members of the class and enjoying their company very much. We got lunch from this incredible place called Etai’s. I had a turkey avocado sandwich with a seasonable fruit salad, chips and carrot cake. The sandwich was so good, and the variety of offerings on the menu blew me away. Oh, Etai’s, please come to my neck of the woods, please. They deliver too, and it would be so nice to have something besides pizza to order for delivery on a Friday night, when I actually want dinner but will not cook.

Wednesday night, I’d arranged to get together with a few friends, guide dog puppy raisers and a former trainer. Dot picked us up from the class and we went directly to her house. She had three dogs there, her old career change guide dog puppy she’d raised, an eight-month old puppy she had, her own dog, and a retired guide she was dogsitting. Then we had Barb with the dog she’s raising, Melissa with the dog she’s raising, and Becky with her career change guide dog puppy, that she raised a few years ago. At one point, we had seven large dogs, Labradors and my golden, running and raising cane in the back yard. It’s a testament to the fine training all the dogs have received, that all seven got along. They had fun, and there were no fights or other problems. Seven well-trained dogs, five experienced dog handlers, great food, great friendship, a perfect evening. Dot made the best food, homemade chicken salad, with these amazing appetizers, and Sangria. It was lovely outside on the patio, just sharing time with friends and laughing at the antics of seven dogs. I never wanted the evening to end. Well, except for being tired.

Thursday, 22 July 2016

Last Day, saying Goodbyes, Coming Home!

If I’d been stressed about the morning situation on Wednesday, it was almost nothing to the stress I felt about it Wednesday night. I probably only slept about three hours. Okay, so yeah, I have insomnia anyway, and I don’t sleep well in a strange place. Add to that the fact that a hotel is never really quiet. Room doors opening and closing, people or luggage bumping walls, it all wakes me up. I knew I’d have to finish packing everything, and somehow get me, my dog and my luggage to the center for class, on time!

That morning, I call the front desk, even before heading over, at 7:30 and asked them to call the taxi. By the time I got Petunia relieved and got to the lobby, it was close to eight, and they had heard from the cab company that it would be another fifteen minutes for the cab. If they showed up, of course. Surprisingly, to me, anyway, they did. At first I thought the cab driver was going to try to refuse the ride. He kinda freaked out when he saw Petunia, but he didn’t object more than saying a few things about how nobody told him there’d be a dog. For those who don’t know, a person with a disability is legally allowed to be accompanied by a service dog in places or services of public accommodation. This definitely includes taxis. Anyway, he didn’t object, and he was reasonably friendly. We got to the center in plenty of time, in fact, I was the first one there. Go me.

Last day of class. I had such mixed feelings about it. I was eager to get home, brain and body tired, wanting desperately to sleep. Petunia doesn’t care much for traveling apparently, as she hadn’t eaten Wednesday night or Thursday morning. I needed to get her back home to her own environment. At the same time, I had enjoyed the class greatly, loved learning the new stuff, was becoming friends with classmates, and part of me hated to have it end and to go back to my quiet lifestyle. Hmmm, I guess there still is a social lady inside me.

At the end of the day, we got to evaluate the class, and I gave it all the top marks I could. I’m very happy I was asked to take the class. I learned a lot and feel like I have the beginnings of a grasp on the program. Obviously, I won’t have a deep grasp until I get to play with it in real life time, but it was a good start.

My classmates and I shared email addresses, and I already heard from a couple of them. I do hope we keep in touch. We’re all scattered around the state, so we probably won’t see each other, but keeping in touch by email will be nice.

We all got a fun goodie bag for completing the training, with shirts, demos, thumb drives of materials we covered in class and a nice certificate of completion. I must admit I had some trouble concentrating in the latter half of the training day though.

Sandie picked us up at the end of the day, and we were finally homeward bound! Petunia got in the back seat and crashed. We made it home in good time, dumped my luggage, relieved all parties, and then we were off to dinner, for the humans anyway. We went to chili’s and had a good dinner, and I had a margarita too. But I was just tired and wanted to get home. Once we did get back, Petunia finally ate her dinner, and Sandie did some yard work for me.

When Sandie left, I thought Petunia and I would both fall upon the bed and sleep, but we didn’t. I unpacked a little, watched a bit of the RNC out of curiosity, and just unwound. Finally, I went to bed, called Doug to catch up and slept till time to get up for work.

I still feel exhausted and brain and body tired to the bone. I want to curl up with a good book or a movie and let the sound lull me off to dreamland for a few hours! But it’s Friday, and that means, the weekend is upon us, once five PM arrives!

Overall, the experience was fabulous. I have to say a huge thank you to the Residence Inn and all there staff. And I don’t even have words to express to the training people how much I enjoyed the class. Thanks, ZoomText University, Mark and all involved! Knowledge increasing is a glorious thing!

Two little comments, I believe I left my charm bracelets in the hotel. I’m kinda crushed about this and need to call them to see if they have been found and if the hotel can send them to me.

And what am I reading, a book called Coyote, about a trip to colonize another planet, but oh, there’s so so much more to it than that. Political intrigue, family dynamics, character development, survival, and all kinds of good stuff. Check it out!

the second day, not the most auspicious start

19 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by Sherry Gomes in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

accessibility, adaptive technology, disability access, Residence Inn, transportation, zoomtext training

The Second Day

Not exactly the way I expected the day to start! It was the day start from hell, sorta, kinda.

The hotel is actually very nice. The staff has helped me get around, helping me teach petunia the way. they’ve helped get Petunia out to do her business. Oh yeah, Petunia is my guide dog. grin.

I had a nice cup of coffee in the common area near the lobby, and felt the day was starting off fine.

Then came the fun. I was supposed to be taking the hotel shuttle to the Center for the Blind for this ZoomText Fusion class. Uh oh. The shuttle was so tall, that I could not step into it. I have a fused knee and an artificial knee, and it was too high for me. Definitely not a wheelchair accessible shuttle. Not that I need a wheel chair, but I need an accessible way to get in. lol. So, back to the lobby and the front desk we go. Yippee. The desk clerk, a very nice woman, called a taxi, and specifically told them that I needed a sedan, a vehicle I could get in. Did they send such a vehicle? Um, noooo. They sent a van, again, not something I could get into. Aaaaaaaahhhhh
111 So, the nice desk clerk called again, double emphasized the need for a sedan, and off I went to wait again. And wait, I did. And wait I did. And again, yes, indeed I waited. We called one more time, and finally, at last, as I was teetering on the edge of despair, rage, tears, anguishh, dramatic mood swings and tears, the cab arrived. And off to the center we went. Only a mere forty minutes late. Sigh. Ah well.

I’m what one might call a tiny bit anal about punctuality. Just a tiny bit. I don’t feak out when I’m late, no not me, never. Okay, so I do. I was ready to go by eight AM, class starting at nine, at a center a whole long five miles away Forty minutes late, when it isn’t my doing, makes me crazy! But at last I arrived, and the purpose of this whole adventure could begin.

Fortunately, nobody was upset that I was late, and I didn’t miss too much. The instructor, Mark, brushed it off, and just let me get seated and went on. There are four other people in the class, and I enjoyed getting to know them all, working with them, laughing with them.

ZoomText Fusion is an adaptive technology software package, combining the ZT screen magnifier with the window Eyes screen reader. I need to learn it for my job, because the program I know like I know my own name is a different program. And I’m not going to use this blog to talk about the program. This is just about my time here taking the class.

We dealt with a lot of interesting topics, somethings very familiar much like the program I know, but other things were different, and I was fascinated, interested and 100 percent engaged in the class. I love learning new things, giving my brain new fodder to chew on, trying unfamiliar stuff. So, if today was any indication, I’m going to have a marvelous time.

For lunch, we all ordered pizza, and we got to know each other a little bit more. I know each of my fellow students and Mark are people I would enjoy socializing with, as colleagues or friends.

The afternoon was more training, where I learned some cool new techniques, and where I had to remember not to use the techniques from my other program. I love the challenge!

I shared a classmate’s Uber ride and didn’t have a problem at all with them accepting Petunia. I got back to the hotel, and Kayla, the very nice evening desk person, helped me get Petunia relieved. I was going to go down to the happy hour social hour but I’m pretty tired, and we’re in the midst of a big thunder storm, and I didn’t want to take Petunia, my thunder fearful girl, didn’t want to make her guide in that situation.

I’m now kicking back with a glass of red wine, some turkey, cheddar and crackers, a couple yummy home made cookies, watching CNN’s coverage of the Republican convention.

Tomorrow, another day of class, a night with friends, and most likely more wine and cookies!

So, though the day didn’t start off, giving me a great impression of this adventure, the day ended up being fantastic, wiping away all the stress and anxiety from the morning.

Let’s keep our fingers and paws crossed for a better start tomorrow!

Oh, and if anyone cares, I’m reading, the Ivy Crown, by mary Luke, an historical fiction novel about Katherine Par, sixth wife of Henry VIII, a woman I admire greatly!

the first day

18 Monday Jul 2016

Posted by Sherry Gomes in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

friendship, guide dogs, life, Petunia and me, Residence Inn, ZoomText

Well, here I am, down by Denver in a Residence Inn. My oomtext fuson class starts tomorrow. It’s been a long long day, and I’m too tired to write this all in Word first, so please forgive typos and brevity. I worked today, and we were quite busy. I shut down and 2:30 and finished packig while waiting for Sandie to arrive. We loaded up me and Petunia and our things and went to Sandie’s house first’ We hung out there, had some pizza and relaxed before driving down here to the hotel Their career changed guide dog, golden retriever Olima is absolutely adorable. She took to me, ad I to her I do love those goldens!

The hotel is nice enough. the room is adorable. The staff are incredibly nice and helpful. We brought a few groceries, but as the class will be providing lunch, and I’m going out to dinner Wednesday. I didn’t bring much. We taught Petunia the way around and she picked it up so fast. This dog is top notch. I’m so blessed in her.

Now, i’m sitting here at the desk in the room, drinking some wine and catching up on email. I’m tired I’ve been stressing and agonizing over this trip for days. Now that I’m here, I’m calm, but I’m exhausted i’m going to call the desk in a minute and ask for assistance finding where to relieve Petunia, and then I’m going to bed.

Just a weird thing about the hotel, there are no little bars of soap. Hmmm.
don’t Hotels always have those little bars? I guess I’m washing with shampoo tomorrow. weird. Also, I asked specifically for a disability room with a roll/walk in shower, and I didn’t get one. Wish me luck and keep me in your prayers, getting in and out of the shower.

And tomorrow, the class starst.

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