Friday, December 21, 2007
Travels, Work & Holidays
December has been more hectic than I ever remember. Typically December is when the IT stuff slows down, and I get to catch up. Not so in 2007 as it comes to a close. I have already travelled out of town 3 times, and I am leaving again tomorrow. I am looking forward to next week where I can finally catch up (I really need to catch up on the whole year ... I can do it in 3 days ;).
I went to Edmonton with AJ. We stayed over in Leduc, which is our new plan from now on. It was a real productive day at the L&Y Edmonton office, meeting some new staff, and getting close to the pulse of end users is always nice. I got some great ideas and feedback from Suzi, and Kevin just finished putting her ideas into motion. Then I was back for < class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Banff. Rich and I travelled together. We stayed at the Banff Rocky Mountain Resort. We had a few (_alot_) of cocktails before diner. We were definitely the fun drunk guys at all of our respective tables (Me, Rich, John, Craig, Scott). I brought my bottle of port with me as usual, and was willing to share. Great meal, and good fun at the table I was at (Kevin Brown, Jess + BF, Crystal + husband and others). For the first time I did not close down the event with AJ and Rich and the usual suspects. I was so far gone, I had to go back to my room at about 11:30. I did manage to pick up some spaghetti, and a HUGE bottle of ice tea before, and they were my savior. I watched Eastern Promises, and passed out. It was a great weekend. But it was the coldest day of the year.
So then I was back in town for < class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">AJ and Ian.Thom dropped us off at the Airport in his new Jeep. The flight was alright. It went quick going down, but my knees started to lock up somewhat. We ran in Ron's wife Christine at the airport waiting for luggage ... and I didn't recognize her. We felt like asses. Sorry. We found our hotel downtown near crescent st, and AJ picked up some drinks and snackies. We settled in and headed down to Thursday's. Good eats ... GREAT ONION SOUP!. Then it was off to the Downtown for some fun and games. The bouncers outside were entertaining trying to convince us which club to hit up. The beer was glowing green, I forgot that highballs are served with the coke on the side, the bar was dead, the girls were alright. Volley Ball girl was good for a dance. The waitress was the hottest girl in the place. And the funniest thing ever was her explaining to me and AJ about the peep show place next door outside when having a smoke. The amateur session (impromptu) was interesting. We eventually head back to home base. I opted for the couch, but was too tired / lazy to pull out the couch. The knees paid for that the next day.
We met with Serge and Brigitte at Jevco. Always great to see them. Business plans got changed on us, but it was not vindictive. Just not what we planned. Life goes on, and Serge took us out later. We snacked on soup and poutine at Winstons, which filled us up too much before diner with them. Weinsteins and Gavino's was a great restaurant. The platter was insanely huge. Sausages and peppers, I even at Octopus. Which I didn't even mind much. It was seared, and spicy ... pretty cool. We went clubbing again, and Chantal from Ottawa was a sweetheart. AJ disappeared walking Serge back to his car, and I was left at the table alone for quite a while. The night was fun. We headed back to sleep. I pulled out the bed this time. Bigger mistake. My back paid in the worst way. I could barely move next day. We headed to Brossard and met with Marine Expert. Cool people. We went for lunch at Vinnie Gambini's. Another great Italian meal. The lasagna was massive, and sooooo good. I couldn't even finish it. At the end of the day Guy dropped us off at the airport, and we waited around for our flight. We ran into Christine at the Airport again. She didn't notice us, so when we called out her name, we totally redeemed ourselves. the snow storm hit, flight was delayed, and the head winds made a long flight, loose a couple of hours for time change, and we end up in Calgary at 1:45 AM. the trip was 3 days, but seemed like a week.
So now I've been back for < week. Had the Fortress Xmas party at Gregg's on the weekend. In between travels I have tried to keep up on the work front, and there's so much happening. Co-lo moves, hard disks fail, programming, research, meetings, help, on and on. Maybe it's just because I'm so intermittent this year. But I am so ready for a break. I'm not even taking the laptop with me when I leave.
I'm heading back to the homeland (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan) tomorrow. Right after Rich and I get our pictures taken with Santa. Then the drive home. Meeting up with Diana when she's back from her concert deal. Saturday is unplanned, Sunday is a trip to Regina to see Grandma. Monday is Christmas Eve, and that's when we are celebrating. Diana is flying back to Nova Scotia early morning on the 25th, and I am going to drive back to Calgary. So it's all planned out. That way I am back for a few days of peace and quiet catch up, instead of sitting around in MJ twiddling thumbs. So a very Merry Christmas to all, and I'll probably catch up with you in the new Year. ¶ 12:26:00 AM
I went to Edmonton with AJ. We stayed over in Leduc, which is our new plan from now on. It was a real productive day at the L&Y Edmonton office, meeting some new staff, and getting close to the pulse of end users is always nice. I got some great ideas and feedback from Suzi, and Kevin just finished putting her ideas into motion. Then I was back for < class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Banff. Rich and I travelled together. We stayed at the Banff Rocky Mountain Resort. We had a few (_alot_) of cocktails before diner. We were definitely the fun drunk guys at all of our respective tables (Me, Rich, John, Craig, Scott). I brought my bottle of port with me as usual, and was willing to share. Great meal, and good fun at the table I was at (Kevin Brown, Jess + BF, Crystal + husband and others). For the first time I did not close down the event with AJ and Rich and the usual suspects. I was so far gone, I had to go back to my room at about 11:30. I did manage to pick up some spaghetti, and a HUGE bottle of ice tea before, and they were my savior. I watched Eastern Promises, and passed out. It was a great weekend. But it was the coldest day of the year.
So then I was back in town for < class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">AJ and Ian.Thom dropped us off at the Airport in his new Jeep. The flight was alright. It went quick going down, but my knees started to lock up somewhat. We ran in Ron's wife Christine at the airport waiting for luggage ... and I didn't recognize her. We felt like asses. Sorry. We found our hotel downtown near crescent st, and AJ picked up some drinks and snackies. We settled in and headed down to Thursday's. Good eats ... GREAT ONION SOUP!. Then it was off to the Downtown for some fun and games. The bouncers outside were entertaining trying to convince us which club to hit up. The beer was glowing green, I forgot that highballs are served with the coke on the side, the bar was dead, the girls were alright. Volley Ball girl was good for a dance. The waitress was the hottest girl in the place. And the funniest thing ever was her explaining to me and AJ about the peep show place next door outside when having a smoke. The amateur session (impromptu) was interesting. We eventually head back to home base. I opted for the couch, but was too tired / lazy to pull out the couch. The knees paid for that the next day.
We met with Serge and Brigitte at Jevco. Always great to see them. Business plans got changed on us, but it was not vindictive. Just not what we planned. Life goes on, and Serge took us out later. We snacked on soup and poutine at Winstons, which filled us up too much before diner with them. Weinsteins and Gavino's was a great restaurant. The platter was insanely huge. Sausages and peppers, I even at Octopus. Which I didn't even mind much. It was seared, and spicy ... pretty cool. We went clubbing again, and Chantal from Ottawa was a sweetheart. AJ disappeared walking Serge back to his car, and I was left at the table alone for quite a while. The night was fun. We headed back to sleep. I pulled out the bed this time. Bigger mistake. My back paid in the worst way. I could barely move next day. We headed to Brossard and met with Marine Expert. Cool people. We went for lunch at Vinnie Gambini's. Another great Italian meal. The lasagna was massive, and sooooo good. I couldn't even finish it. At the end of the day Guy dropped us off at the airport, and we waited around for our flight. We ran into Christine at the Airport again. She didn't notice us, so when we called out her name, we totally redeemed ourselves. the snow storm hit, flight was delayed, and the head winds made a long flight, loose a couple of hours for time change, and we end up in Calgary at 1:45 AM. the trip was 3 days, but seemed like a week.
So now I've been back for < week. Had the Fortress Xmas party at Gregg's on the weekend. In between travels I have tried to keep up on the work front, and there's so much happening. Co-lo moves, hard disks fail, programming, research, meetings, help, on and on. Maybe it's just because I'm so intermittent this year. But I am so ready for a break. I'm not even taking the laptop with me when I leave.
I'm heading back to the homeland (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan) tomorrow. Right after Rich and I get our pictures taken with Santa. Then the drive home. Meeting up with Diana when she's back from her concert deal. Saturday is unplanned, Sunday is a trip to Regina to see Grandma. Monday is Christmas Eve, and that's when we are celebrating. Diana is flying back to Nova Scotia early morning on the 25th, and I am going to drive back to Calgary. So it's all planned out. That way I am back for a few days of peace and quiet catch up, instead of sitting around in MJ twiddling thumbs. So a very Merry Christmas to all, and I'll probably catch up with you in the new Year. ¶ 12:26:00 AM
