Tripping

I have been in the finance and accounting related field for almost ten years now. I have had the types of jobs which keep me chained to my desk, accounts payable, payroll, general ledger reconciliation. It hasn't given me any good opportunities to go on all those fun business trips I get to see everyone else take. The Finance department is usually like the "parents" of an organization- we give the money and stay at home waving when everyone else goes off to, well, to not sit at their desks.

In my current job our people go all over fundraising, attending Chemical conferences and interviewing people for oral histories. They usually get to go to good places like Chicago, Florida, San Francisco and even Martha's Vineyard. Of course when I was with the Philadelphia Orchestra my co-workers literally travelled all over the globe. I could never convince them that they should send a finance person with them to handle expenses (I was mostly joking, but then again the expenses would always come back tied in elaborate knots- I really could have helped) I would usually get a nice gift from one of the exotic locations they visited- including a replica of that statue in Brussels that pees into the fountain- yes it even does pee (Thanks A.)

When my Boss suggested that I go to a certain Payroll Seminar I figured, why don't I actually go? I've found that Bosses like it when you do things they ask you to. I figured I'd be able to go to the seminar here in Philadelphia, probably at some airport hotel. When I checked it out I found the seminar wasn't coming to town until next year some time and I had to know about Payroll now-considering I've been doing it for a year already. Checking the locations for the upcoming seminars and knowing my bosses, the Controller and the CFO, wouldn't want me to spend too much money, I determined that I would get to take my first "real" business trip to beautiful Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In July.

Of course the conference wasn't at some big hotel in happening downtown Harrisburg (actual slogan- "We're near Hershey Park!") no it was at some non-descript hotel off of a suburban highway exit. I took Amtrak to Harrisburg (only $19.00 one way) so I had to take a cab to the hotel (almost as much as the train). I've never really stayed in a fancy hotel, so I wasn't all that upset with the accomodations. The room was fine, it was quiet and there was even a pool. There was a Irish Pub type restaurant attached to the hotel that actually had an unuusally good beer list for a pub in a hotel off a highway exit. They had a few kinds of Troeggs, a few Victory beers - including Hop Devil and even Lindemanns Framboise all on tap. The only problem really was that I was there monday and tuesday nights and the place was dead.

There was a mall a few parking lots over on the highway so I decided to go explore the mall for dinner, knowing that I would be stuck in the hotel for most of the next few days. There were many exciting dining options over there - I don't get to go to chain restaurants too much here in the city so I was excited to get to eat at Denny's and the Outback SteakHouse. There was also a place called "Panera" there that I have heard Todd rave about, but that looked too French. There was also a Christian bookstore in the mall - quite a difference from where I grew up where we have gay and lesbian bookstores and Harry's Occult Shop.

The seminar itself was quite informative. I now know all about "Exempt" vs. "non-Exempt" employees, Federal Fair Labor standards and de minimus gifts. They also tried to sell us some books at the seminar which cost three times as much as the seminar itself- how many accounting types would buy a book that is such a poor value?? I really found out that the payroll that I do is quite easy most of the time and I'm pretty lucky.

We were let go a bit early the first day and I had a chance to go to check out one of the local attractions. I knew about it because there was a highway billboard for it outside my hotel window- World Famous Bass Pro Shop Outdoor Outlet. Don't be fooled - this isn't just a fishing store. It's a huge space filled with every kind of outdoor gear you could want from the sea to the mountains. Lots of camping equipment for my upcoming trip - I even got a lamp that will attach to my hat (they had several kinds). Of course this being nearly central Pennsylvania they also had huge displays of guns and NASCAR gear- you don't see that stuff in Philadelphia. This is definitely the Alabama part of Pennsylvania.

This was the most exciting part of my trip. That and waiting for taxis for at least 30 minutes each time. I think our lawmakers there in the Capitol of the Commonwealth should take that pay raise they had to give back and get a few more cabs on the street. I don't think it would cause gridlock.