That’s What She Said

I can’t say I’m a regular viewer of the show “The Office.”  I’ve probably seen maybe four or five full episodes, and maybe snippets of at least five more.  But the characters and the catch phrases have become part of the current culture, so that even if you have never viewed a single episode, you still might have a good clue as to who “Jim and Pam” are, or be able to respond to a general statement with the thinly disguised sexual innuendo: “That’s What She Said.”

I got to experience a little of THE OFFICE life myself this week as I headed down to Ft. Lauderdale to visit the headquarters of Time4Learning – – the company I have been contracting with for the last few years.  Time4Learning CEO, John Edelson, invited me down to see how things work on their end, and because many of their different websites and programs are aimed at homeschoolers, he thought it was a good idea to let the employees get some face time with a long-time homeschooler who could give them the beef about exactly what is up with us strange folk.  😉 

So…I headed down to the Sunshine State prepared for some heat, humidity, and some invaluable experiences.  And I got a lot of each!  I discovered that in FL in the summer you are always on the run.  You RUN from your air conditioned house to your garaged car, then RUN from your air conditioned car to your air conditioned office, then you RUN from your air conditioned car to your blazing hot car, which you desperately try to air condition on your way back to the comforts of home.  You MIGHT spend five minutes or more of time outside IF there is a pool involved.  Otherwise, you simply sit by the air conditioner until October and hope for the best. 

Since I’m normally quite an out-of-doors addict, you would think this would have been a problem for me, but the folks at Time4Learning made me feel so welcomed, and were so thoroughly awesome, that I barely paid attention to the sweat filling up my bra each day (hey, I’ve always wanted to try one of those water bras, anyway!)

I have no idea if anyone’s office is like the one portrayed on television, but if even 10% of America’s offices were like the one at Time4Learning, we would have the world’s happiest work force.  This was an amazing team of people who have an incredibly diverse group of talents, and work together like a professionally oiled machine while still remaining upbeat, cooperative, and friendly. 

I was wined.  I was dined.  I got to work near some of the greatest visionaries in educational technology today.  And I even walked the beach. 

It was a BIG deal.

That’s what she said.