Tim and Carrie's Blog

Thursday morning brought a good amount of snow and made for some beautiful scenery.  After breakfast I got dressed to go snowshoe hiking and Carrie stayed back to pack for the journey home.

I headed off to Whistler Mountain, riding halfway up the gondola to pick up the snowshoes, and quickly learned of the challenge ahead of me.  Not from the tour guide, but from the fact that I was already out of breath from just climbing up this little hill.  Thoughts of “what was I THINKING?” were going through my head.  But peer pressure makes people do crazy things, and I wasn’t about to be the person who chickened out before we even got to the beginning of the journey, so I pressed on.

Once we got our snow shoes from the storage area, we got back on the gondola and finished our journey up Whistler Mountain.  Once at the top, we put on our snow shoes (all right, I received help), had our group picture taken (evidence of which will STAY in Whistler), and started on our way.

Let me just point out here that the first thing our tour guide did after she taught us how to correctly use the snow shoes was to shout out, “Ok everyone, let’s do a quick warm-up!”  This consisted of jogging uphill on our toes for a while, ostensibly to, I guess, “warm up!”  I was not warmed up.  I was huffing and puffing.  This was a signal of things to come, and I knew it!  I was questioning if what I was about to see was beautiful enough to risk days of sore muscles and sheer exhaustion.  Apparently it was, because I continued on.

We went on our way to our trail, and it seemed rather odd to me that, no matter which direction we were going, it seemed it was always uphill.  Well, it FELT like we were always going up hill!  Then I noticed with each step that my feet were going deeper and deeper into the snow.  As I mentioned earlier, it had snowed quite a bit the night before, and being 7160 feet above sea level (probably 5000 feet above Whistler Village), snow doesn’t have as far to travel to reach the ground.

Yes, there was a lot of snow.

DEEP snow!

Not-yet-groomed DEEEEEEEP snow!

Talk about being a trail blazer!  We were it!  I, of course, was in the back of the line of the 6 of us, so as to further pack down the trail.  Let me tell you, hiking through new, deep snow and having to lift your feet up high with each step is hard.  Snow is heavy.  Who am I kidding?  I couldn’t keep up.  I was exhausted!  Remember fresh, new, knee-deep snow?  A LOT of it?

Fortunately, we had 2 tour guides for the 4 of us, so I received my own personal tour guide with my own personal tour (an abbreviated one, at that) and the 3 in-shape show shoe hikers continued on the normal tour with the other guide.

We met back up near the end of the hike for some hot chocolate and homemade granola bars and then headed to the gondola.  Fortunately we took the groomed ski trails (again uphill) back to the gondola.  Then we rode down, brought our snowshoes back, and finished the ride down.

When I got back, Carrie was in the lobby waiting for me.  We went back up to the room, changed, and went directly to the hot tub.  After that, we went back into Whistler Village to go shopping.  We found some good bargains at the Olympic Store and got Carrie a necklace with an Ammolite stone.  These stones can only be found in Canada, so Carrie was thrilled to come across it.

We headed back and got dressed for dinner.  The 4 areas had dinner in Whistler Village at 4 different restaurants.  We went with the Midwest Area group to a restaurant called Quattro.  We got to meet some couples from Michigan and Indiana.  We had a very nice time at dinner.  Then we were bussed back to the hotel for an after dinner party.  Once all 4 groups were back, Dan Mead spoke briefly and then they showed a video of the week’s events and people.  It was a very enjoyable time.  We headed up to our room, and there were 2 framed photos on our bed.  One was of Carrie and I that was taken on Tuesday night before the awards ceremony, and one was of the 50 Midwest Area winners, also taken before Tuesday’s awards ceremony.  It was a great way to end a great week!

More next time,

Tim

Hi there, everyone -

Today (Wednesday) was a little more relaxed. We didn’t have anything scheduled until 1:00, so we stayed at the hotel for the morning. At 1:00, we got on a shuttle bus and headed to our next adventure. We got off at our destination and went into the office. Then we put on our helmets and goggles and went back outside. Then the instructor showed us a few things, and we got on our snowmobile!

We spent the next 2 hours following our guide on the trails on Cougar Mountain. It was quite an adventure. Carrie was a great copilot! It was a beautiful ride.

When we got back, we had some free time, so we went to the hotel’s outdoor hot tub. After that, we went back to our room and got ready for our evening activity.

We went downstairs and got on a bus to Whistler Village. Then we got on a gondola and rode up to the top of Whistler Mountain for dinner and a party complete with lots of games, music, and several activities to do. There were ping pong games going on as well as foosball, air hockey, pool, and several others. There were also caracature artists, a “recording studio”, and plenty of food and drink. We had a great time. We got a characature of us drawn during the evening which was very cute. We left around 9:45 (the party ended at 10:00), and headed down the mountain on the gondola. Then we headed back to our hotel room and went to bed.

More next time,
Tim

Hi there, everyone -

Tuesday started with the Verizon Wireless 2010 President’s Cabinet Olympic Challenge. Kind of a grandiose name for a scavenger hunt, right? There were a few physical challenges, but for the most part they were mental challenges or trivia tests. There were 4 teams (West, South, Midwest and Northeast), and we were further divided up into groups of 6. Carrie and I were on the Midwest team, which took 3rd place. We even got bronze medals for our efforts.

After the challenge was a lunch before the winners were announced, and then afterwards we had the afternoon to ourselves.

We were in the hotel lobby by 4:45 for formal pictures (suit and tie, etc) and then went to a mixer before the evening dinner. During this time, we also had a picture taken of each area’s winners (approximately 50 per area for Midwest, Northeast, West, and South).

At 6:00, the doors were opened and we all went to our tables for dinner. After a brief introduction by CMO John Stratton, we ate dinner. After dinner was over, the ceremony began.

First the Canadian and US National Anthems were played, then we watched a brief video featuring olympic gold medalists, followed by a speech by company President Lowell McAdam. Then the awards presentation began. We were told that our award would be in our hotel rooms when we got back, and that we would be coming up to the stage when our name was called.

The Midwest Area was first. We were called up in reverse order of our accomplishment, so the later we were called up to the stage, the higher our percent-to-quota was. I was called up in the middle of the 50 Midwest Area winners (probably #25 or #24), and the highest from Wisconsin.

After the ceremony, we took a few pictures, including one with myself and Lowell McAdam (after he fixed my suit coat collar). After the end of the ceremony, there was a celebration party and dance in another ballroom. We stayed for a while, talking with a few people we met here. Then we went to bed for the day.

More next time,
Tim

Hello again, everyone -

Monday brought about several new experiences of its own. After a FABULOUS breakfast, we walked into Whistler to go shopping and sight-seeing. We were also able to view the memorial to Georgian Luger Nodar, who died here on February 12, 2010 during a practice session accident. I included some pictures on a previous post.

We came back to the hotel during the lunch hour, and then headed out to take the ski lift (minus skis) to the top of Blackcomb Mountain. After taking some pictures, we went inside to eat a burger and I called my parents to tell them were we were and what had been happening.

Afterward, we rode the world-record-setting Peak to Peak Gondola. This took us from Blackcomb to Whistler Mountain. After we looked around for a bit, we headed down on the gondola into Whistler Village. Carrie wanted to see the passing of the torch for the Paraolympics in the village.

Probably 5-10 minutes after we got off the gondola and into the village, I heard Carrie tell me to turn around and look. The torchbearer was running into the area where we were. The whole event was over in a few minutes. I was able to get it on video and Carrie was able to take some FANTASTIC pictures of the event. Right after the new torchbearer left, we were able to get a picture of us standing with the torchbearer and his extinguished torch. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

After that, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner, then rode the shuttle into the village and had dinner. Then we rode the shuttle back to the hotel and went to bed for the evening.

More next time,
Tim

Once we got to Vancouver, there were many people holding Verizon Wireless signs guiding us where to go through the airport. When there was a rather large group gathered together, they led us to a new tram-rail shuttle service that was put in place specifically for the Olympics. Since there were so many people flying into Vancouver, they built the tram to move people to parking lots to aviod traffic problems.

When we got off the tram, we were brought to the bus where we were given a box lunch and got on the bus. We drove about 75 minutes and stopped at a rest area in Squamish to rest, then got back on to the bus to go to Whistler.

When we arrived in Whistler, we went to the Fairmont Chateau Whistler hotel. As we got off, the first person to shake my hand and greet me was the President of Verizon Wireless, Lowell McAdam and his wife. Then I was greeted by Dan Mead, the COO of Verizon Wireless and his wife. As I walked in to the hotel, I was greeted by John Stratton, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Verizon Wireless and his wife. I was ASTOUNDED by the warm welcome we were given.

Once we were inside the hotel, we were directed into a room where we received some jackets as gifts, schedules, our hotel room key, and were directed to a different room for a brief orientation given by a guy who called himself Captain Canada.

After the orientation, we went to our room on the 9th floor (out of 10). Some of our luggage was already in our room when we arrived. We looked out our window and saw some snow-capped mountains. What an amazing view!

Then we went downstairs to the welcome dinner. This was another FANTASTIC experience. When we walked in, a jazz trio was already playing. There were many chefs stationed around the ballroom with various entrees representing the different cultures of the area. We met several Verizon reps and listened to Lowell McAdam speak briefly about the significance of the upcoming week.

After we left the dinner party, we went for a walk outside to explore the area and walk off some of what we had just eaten. After our walk, we went back to our hotel room for the evening. We were exhausted after being awake for 21 hours.

More next time,
Tim

Hi there, everyone!

We began our journey this morning at 4:00 am, when our electronic rooster told us it was time to get going. After getting ourselves ready to go, I packed the car on our icy driveway and we were off to the airport. After check-in and going through security, we waited for to board our flight. While we were waiting, Carrie noticed that there was another couple with luggage tags that had the “President’s Cabinet” logo on their luggage. I was aware that there was a Verizon rep from Winona who also was going to Vancouver.

We flew to Minneapolis and had a 1 hour layover. Then we got on the plane and ended up waiting another 45 minutes before we took off. We finally took off and spent the next 3 1/2 hours flying to Vancouver.

Then next part of the story I will tell in the next posting. That’s enough for this one.

Tim

PS – the picture above is one of the views out of our hotel window here in Whistler.

Hi everyone -

There is a lot going on here in the Jensen house these days.  For those of  you who may not know, I have a story to tell you.  Here we go….

There were a number of changes in my job in 2009.  In early January, Verizon Wireless purchased Alltel.  Alltel employees had been told back in June 2008 that the merger was in the works, and the public found out soon afterwards.  After all of the regulatory bodies approved the purchase, the sale was completed in January, 2009. 

As you may have read on this blog last year, I had transferred to the Tomah Alltel in December of 2008.  I had worked in the Onalaska Alltel from May 2007 to November 2008.  I found that I was able to make more sales in the Tomah store than in the Onalaska store simply because I didn’t have to compete with as many sales reps for sales.

Right out of the gate after transferring to the Tomah store, my sales increased IMMENSELY compared to how I was doing in Onalaska.  Month after month I was increasing my sales and ending up at the top of my district’s scorecard for sales.  In February, I was at the top of the scorecard for all of Wisconsin.  I was really blown away by all of this success.  I was doing well as a salesman up to this point, but when I transferred to the Tomah store, my success was multiplying exponentially!

I used this success to apply for a management position, which I was able to earn.  I had never been in management before, so this was a new adventure.  The main reason I applied for management was that I thought I could be useful in teaching other sales reps some of the things that I have learned about sales and people to help them sell better.

Fast-forward to January 29th, 2010.  My supervisor was in my store (earlier in this blog, I mentioned that I had transferred back to Onalaska as part of my management duties) that day.  I generally leave my personal phone on vibrate only or silent when I am on the sales floor, so I had missed a call.  When I was in the back office, I noticed the missed call and listened to the voicemail.  It was the president of the Illinois/Wisconsin region of Verizon Wireless asking me to call him back.  Obviously, I don’t receive these types of calls very often.  I went back onto the sales floor and asked my supervisor why I was receiving a call from this person.  He told me that it was a good thing and that I should return the call.  So I did….

The region president told me that, based on my 2009 sales results, I had been selected to the Verizon Wireless 2009 President’s Cabinet.  I asked what that was.   He told me that only the top 1% of all salespeople in the company are chosen for this out of 25,000 sales reps.  I was floored, but he wasn’t done.  Then he told me that Verizon Wireless was sending me and a guest to Whistler, British Columbia in Canada for a 6 day, 5 night vacation from March 7-12, 2010.  He said I will meet the president of Verizon Wireless, I will be receiving my award during a ceremony while in Whistler, and that I should apply for my passport as soon as possible.  He also said that because I won the national award (President’s Cabinet), that I also won the regional award (Winner’s Circle).  Carrie and I will be travelling to Chicago on March 18th for that awards ceremony.

I felt very honored that I had reached this level of success in the company.  I got off the phone with him and called Carrie.  “Hi Carrie.  How fast are you able to get us our passports?”

“Why????”

“Because we are going to Canada on March 7th.”

“Why????”

And then I told her about my phone call.  Since that time, we have obtained our passports, received our airline tickets, and we are one week away from the big trip.  7 days from the time I am writing this, we will be in Whistler, and we are EXCITED!  We will be on the same mountains that the olympic athletes from this past week were competing on! 

We plan on taking in alot of the beautiful mountains while we are there.  One of the things we will do is ride the gondola as high as they will let us go to see the view from the top of the mountains.  We are excited!  Can you tell?

We will post some of our pictures here of our adventure, as well as on our facebook pages.  Stay tuned for more in the next few weeks!

That’s all for now.  More another time.

Tim

Hi there, everyone!

This past week brought about another change in our life, as Carrie received a promotion at her job.  Carrie is now the Customer Service Manager for Northern Engraving.  Carrie officially begins her new duties next week, on the 18th.  Woo Hoo!

On Friday of this past weekend, Carrie and I traveled to Tomah to pick up Hannah and Caleb for the weekend.  Elizabeth, Danielle, and Joshua headed to Green Bay on Friday for their church’s District Youth Rally, so we had Hannah and Caleb.  We had a nice dinner out before heading back home to watch some shows on TV, and then to bed. 

I had to work on Saturday, so Carrie had them for the day.  They went out to lunch with Carrie’s grandma Irma, and then headed to the farm to check on Diane’s goats, chickens and kittens.  At one point, one of the kittens was playing with the tail feathers of one of the roosters, which was very funny to watch.  It’s a good thing that the kitten was doing it through the fence, or there would be one less kitten in the barn.  Hannah and Caleb had a very fun time at the farm.

Hannah's Smiley Cake

After the farm, Carrie, Hannah and Caleb went to the grocery store, followed by the video store.  The video of the night was “Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs”.  Carrie and Caleb told me that the movie was NOTHING like the book, and I just took their word for it.  Hannah also decided that she wanted to bake a cake that had a smiley face on it and said the word “Hi”.  Take a look at the picture and let me know what you think….:)

Today was church, followed by lunch, and then an afternoon watching the Packers lose their playoff game EVEN THOUGH they scored 45 points.  Hmmmm….It was a sad day in the Jensen house.  Then it was off to Tomah to bring Hannah and Caleb back home.

Tomorrow we are headed back to Tomah for Elizabeth’s high school band concert.  The rest of the week is just our normal routine.

More next week,

Tim