Friday Five

The Excuse

I was at TechEd last week, and there was no way I was going to sit down on Friday and peck one of these out. Sorry.

The Week

  Well, as I mentioned, I was at TechEd. If you’re not familiar, TechEd serves as a great chance to hang out with friends is an annual Microsoft conference that I’ve been fortunate enough to work and present at the last two years. It was up in LA this year, which was nice if for only the fact that Karin was able to sneak up for a night and meet a lot of my MCT friends. Outside of that, the location itself sucked – I hate LA in ways I can’t even describe. I fought traffic both driving up on Saturday and home on Friday. Ugh.

I wound up working the Hands On Labs area which, while not my first choice, turned out to be quite enjoyable. I was also fortunate enough to present two different “Exam Preparation” sessions, one of them winding up as the second highest overall score out of the “Exam Preparations” delivered that week (although I’m thinking the other guy chummed the waters (just kidding Shannon!)).

The event itself was more subdued than normal. There was no big “attendee party” like there has been in years past; instead there was more of a gathering. The keynote was very low-key, focusing more on the challenges businesses are facing than new products that Microsoft is releasing. But it was still a good conference, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to attend.

The Exercise

Again – I knew it wasn’t happening this week. Need to get back on track. Although, I did walk a ton if that counts for anything.

The Restaurant

I really didn’t do much restaurant visiting this week with the conference and all. But I did wind up at a club called The Standard every night that I was there. It wasn’t really planned that way, but after a couple of nights in a row it became a thing – must make it to The Standard. It’s a rooftop bar (about 12 stories up) in downtown LA. Very cool little place. It’s outdoors, so the music can only get so loud, meaning you can have a conversation. (Wow am I getting old!) There’s a pool up there, 4 water bed pods, and weird movies (Kubrick-esque) being projected on the building across the street. Very overpriced, and I certainly realized I’m not hip any longer (if I ever was), but I really enjoyed the place.

The Travel Note

I still don’t understand how people on airplanes aren’t aware of the fact that pulling on the seat in front of them is not a good thing. There is someone sitting in that seat!

The Five

Just some little things about me

1. I’ve wanted to live in San Diego since I can remember – basically since I became a Chargers fan. I love being a San Diegan.
2. Despite having lived in upstate New York and Minnesota, I’m now a wimp when it comes to cold weather. Of course Karin acclimated to San Diego weather the day we arrived out there despite spending her entire life in Minnesota.
3. At some point I want to get my car out to Duluth and Vermont. I’ve wanted to do the Duluth to Thunder Bay drive and tool around Green Mountains in my Miata since I’ve had one.
4. One of the biggest things I miss, besides the food, that I miss about the East Coast is a real mass transit system. Few towns west of Philadelphia have a real mass transit system.
5. When we were living in Minnesota the most dangerous possession we had was a heated water bed. When it’s –30 outside and 80 in your bed it’s awful hard to actually get out.