My trip earlier this week cost me two work days in total.
I could have flown out from Austin late after a full day of work (or almost full day) but then I would not have arrived into NYC until around 10 or 11 am. That would then put me into the hotel at around midnight. Needless to say, not a fun idea when the meeting was to start at 9:30 am.
Now, in an interesting twist of fate I caught an early flight out of NYC back home. I had originally booked my flight without knowing what time exactly the meeting was supposed to take place. However, given my previous experiences in trying to catch flights out of NYC, I figured it was better to book a later flight vs the stress of rushing (and worse yet, missing my flight, most likely due to traffic).
So the meeting wrapped up a little after 1pm, afterwards Jack and I went back to the Hotel to grab our bags and catch a cab to the airport. It was probably about a 20 minute walk back to the Hotel. I will say this, I love NYC, in regards to the fact that you can get just about anywhere you need to be by walking (or taking the subway). I am not a huge fan of taking Taxis, but some times you have to.
When we arrived, I decided to try and get an earlier flight out. The initial thought was to get on Jack's flight which would route through Dallas and then on to Austin. However, when I was given my ticket, I noticed the time was departure time was different than Jack's, I then also noticed that I only had one ticket and it said Austin on it.
SWEET!!!
I had landed a direct flight.
After arriving at the gate, I realized that the flight was going to be stopping in Raleigh, then continuing on to Austin.
No matter, the Raleigh-Austin flight would get in about 9:10 or so vs my original Chicago-Austin flight's arrival time at midnight.
It was a good flight. I got a lot of reading done. I had a chance to watch some Band of Brothers on my iPod, all in all a very good flight. The flight attendants were quite nice as well, particularly since I was one of only about 5 people who were continuing on beyond Raleigh.
Oh yeah, I forgot about the Hotel in NYC.
I had to find Jack and I a hotel near the meeting. There were a lot of hotels around the immediate area, however no available rooms. So while the meeting was up near 35th street on 7th. The best hotel I could find (for the price and the brand) was the Holiday Inn-Express on 29th street.
When I arrived the hotel was bristling with activity, lots of folks checking in and out, sitting in the cafe/breakfast area downstairs. When I checked in they handed me a white paper bag (think lunch sack) that contained a diet pepsi, a bottle of water, a rice krispie treat and finally a bag of bbq potato chips. I was genuinely surprised. I mean back when I was spending lots of time in Dallas, the Bradford Suites would leave a Nutri-Grain bar and some popcorn. The Holiday-Inn Express Madison Square Garden wins out in regards to snacks.
Then there was the follow-up call the front-desk gave me about 20 minutes after check-in. Another level of service that I haven't experienced before.
I made one stop on the way home to grab some flowers, ice cream and some Martini Asti.
(I had not brought Gina flowers in a while, so I figured I would be a good husband.)
So that delayed me getting home until just about 10 pm. Still better than the midnight airport arrival I had been expecting.
I was extremely busy this week. However, I did get the opportunity to play some golf.
The CEO of NetworkIP was in town and offered the Austin office a chance to play golf on Thursday afternoon.
To make a long story short, I drove past the golf course on the way there and in turning around and backtracking we hit some nasty traffic on southbound I-35, which made what would be a 20 minute drive take over an hour.
Jeremy was much better at golf than I was, he apparently played back in High School. That game of golf made my 3rd game ever. I have enjoyed playing golf, though towards the end of the round I am pretty tired though.
I had a few good shots and a few bad ones. I did manage to win a beer for being closest to the pin on one of the holes.
Jeremy and I headed over to Golfsmith after work on Friday. I have to say that if they let me I might spend a lunch hour up there once a week (or twice). They have this built in driving range. You get to test out all the cool clubs (for FREE).
I must say that the hybrid irons were very kind to me. I tried out a few of the modern drivers, the kind that make that 'crack' sound when you hit the sweet spot just right. I really want a new driver and a couple of those hybrid clubs.
However, improvement to my game is going to come from practice (and lessons) not from new hardware. Needless to say, new hardware will eventually be needed. My clubs are nice, but not great.
Oh yeah, they had this 1000cc Golfsmith driver. It is HUGE. I called it 'novelty', Jeremy said that it is probably not considered novelty.
However, all the rest of the drivers I looked at while we were wandering the store maxed out around 460cc.
Anyway, it was an eventful week.
Next week is likely to be eventful as well.
I will be in Dallas on Monday and Tuesday and then my calendar has me in Longview the rest of the week. From the looks of my meeting schedules I won't be able to come back to Austin, I wil need to head straight to Longview from Dallas.
Laterz
After the
NetworkIP golf outing, I think I might now be a golfer.
For quite some time my clubs have just hung on the wall in the garage. I took them out to the driving range from time to time. I never really had any times for a lesson. And since I had no lessons and never played before, I usually didn't get invited to play.
So the outing was fun. I learned a few things from my partner, Chad, a co-workers husband. Most important thing is to keep your head down. Don't look up, keep it down.
I hit the driving range across the street in an effort not to completely suck before actually going out onto the field. I wanted to try out the different clubs and figure out which ones I should use. Conclusion, Irons 4 - 9, avoid the 3 & 5 wood and the driver. The 5 & 6 were my favorites during the game of golf.
I turned out to be a half decent putter. Putt-Putt rules!!!
We were playing a two-man scramble, that was until one of opponents on the other team had to leave. His wife is pregnant and wasn't feeling well, so he had to run home and take care of her. So we turned into a three-man scramble. This means that all team members tee-off and then you play your next swing from the best ball position. You keep that up until you finish off the hole.
We took 2nd Place I think, shooting like a 72 (might have been a 74). I would likely have shot a 100-110 if it was just me. (70 is par)
I look forward to going out and playing another round.
Oh yeah, except for the fact that it got freezing about 3/4 of the way through the game. I mean it was getting to be nice like mid 50s. Then the clouds rolled in and it dropped like 5-10 degrees and the wind picked up. It made playing kind of not fun.
Well back to the grind.
Laterz
Gina and I are in Longview, TX. We came up a day early, tomorrow is the company x-mas party. Since Gina works for the company this makes it a bit easier for us to come up a day early, as she doesn't have to take time off. We both just worked from the Longview office.
Tomorrow morning is the 1st annual NetworkIP golf outing.
I bought some clubs a few years ago. However, I have never played a 'round' of golf. I've been the driving range before and did ok. I can hit the ball but not extremely far.
I offered to participate if they needed people to fill the slots. Apparently, they had slots to fill, thus I will be playing my first round of golf tomorrow.
Should be interesting. I hope I don't completely suck.
And since there is an unusual cold front that has come through town, I made sure to bring my thermal underwear. I didn't want to wear my leather coat, I am pretty sure it would mess up my swing.
I hope to make it to the driving range before the games start at 9am. So I best hit the sack.
Laterz.
