Category: Work News

Homeless WiFi Consultant

2012-01-08 23:29:13

Today, I didn’t have to go into the office, so I worked from the hotel. Work, that is, until check-out time at noon. Then, I had to leave and find another place to work. I didn’t want to go into an office to work, but I though a cafe would be nice. However, all the cafes around cost money for WiFi. The nearest free one was quite a walk away. So, instead of wasting money, I decided to work from the airport as I have a Continental President’s Club membership. This is nice.

I got to the airport club about 1:00pm EST. I’ve been here now for FIVE hours… I feel like I’m having a bad layover or something. At first, it was nice since no one was here and I had work to do. Now that I’ve finished my work, there are too many people around talking and I’ve just been sitting here way too long. Maybe it wasn’t the BEST idea I’ve had lately, but it is certainly the cheapest and did accomplish my goal of finishing up work in a place with free WiFi.

Now, if I could just fly home early…

Soon, A Vacation…

I need a vacation. I’ve been working and traveling for eons, it seems. Well, not entirely, but mostly. I did get off around Christmas… but that’s not the point. I’m taking next week off and I’m not going ANYWHERE! That’s right – a vacation to nowhere. I’ve recently begun to appreciate that – even more so now that I’m married to a wonderful person. In the last two years, I have not had any significant down-time at my job, so I’ve been working or on the go the whole time with no break between projects even. That’s pretty rare. Maybe the business will slow down a bit so I can rest… Well, that’s not what I really want, though. They wouldn’t give me a raise if that happened, and I’d really like a raise.

The weather here in DC is very nice for this time of year – hardly any clouds in the sky today and quite unseasonably warm. Question is: will it be like this when Laura comes up? Who knows… She’ll be coming up here in a couple of weeks and then I won’t be so lonely. I’m counting the days…

Light Flurries? I Think Not…

In the course of my travels, I have been in the DC area – mostly south of the District near Springfield, VA this week. The weather forecast for today said “PM Snow – Light Flurries”… I look outside this morning [note: it’s AM, not PM] and what do I see? A “dusting”? “Light flurries”? No. Full-blown, heavy, AM snow… It’s everywhere and will probably continue all day. Of course, since the ambient temperature has not gotten above freezing for many days here, the ground is frozen and the snow will stick. More snow to come, too. I’m sure it will be pretty, but I’m more concerned about my flight home. They’d better warm up those de-icers…

Could It Be True?

Can it be real? I was told that I was to get a new computer – an IBM T41. Close to the most current model, no less. And none too soon! My old one, with which I type this, is literally falling apart. The keyboard is cracked, and so is the display casing – not to mention it’s slow speed. I’ve been told it’s being shipped, so hopefully it will get to me before I go out on my next business trip… I’d hate to have it waiting for me at home for an entire week! Well, I’ve waited three or so years for this upgrade – I suppose I can wait a bit longer…

On The Road Again (or “One Million Miles and Counting”)

I’m back traveling again – this time in Washington, D.C. again. Even though I don’t like being away from Laura, I’m glad to be traveling now. When I travel for work, it’s so much easier to communicate with customers and co-workers; much easier to get things accomplished. Knowing I’m going to be here for the next couple of weeks [excluding weekends, of course] is a bit of a comfort for me job-wise. I’ll be able to answer questions posed to me in person rather than over an impersonal email or phone call. I hope that my presence will also help to accelerate the timetable a little so that I can work on the fun stuff: server installations! [I know: I should be getting over this and moving into the project management mentality and from there into middle management. I just can’t do that! I love to play with the toys still – and I love to build things, even when the things I build are not built with manual labor but by keystrokes and mouseclicks.]

I don’t really know if I’ve traveled a million miles, but I’m pretty sure I have. I’ve been doing this for about nine years and racked up almost 100,000 travel miles each year, not to mention the free trips I’ve used my miles for and the trans-global travel I did in college to visit my parents in the Middle East. Hmm. It could be closer to two million miles…

Training In Atlanta

Funny thing: I’ve been complaining here on this site about my company not providing training for me. I’ll have to issue a retraction now since I have just gotten back from Atlanta where I participated in an MIIS training course. MIIS is Microsoft’s metadirectory product. It’s quite nice and much easier to use than the previous versions, I hear. [I wouldn’t know as I’ve never used those.] But, since I had been labeled as the metadirectory ‘expert’ and had never even used the product, now I won’t feel ashamed to claim some knowledge.

The training was very interesting, which is unusual for a MSFT training class. There are usually long stretches of lecture which are exceedingly dull. However, this was not the case with this class. Every lecture was useful and interesting and there were plenty of hands-on labs where we even got to write some code. [There’s a lot of code writing when one manages a metadirectory.]

While I was in Atlanta, I looked up my friend Ron. We hung out, had dinner, and tried to catch up on a year’s worth of history. It is very fulfilling to know that as you grow in life and experience trials that you are not alone and that someone can always be blessed to hear what God is doing in your life. I guess Atlanta’s not such a bad place after all… except for that Ted Turner guy.

Short Trip

I’ve just gotten back [well, last night] from a short trip to the Washington DC area – namely Bethesda, Maryland. I think it’s kind of a nice place – except for all the traffic. Lots of green and hills. Except: I really didn’t see much. I went to an office and sat in a room without windows for 6 hours or so. Next time I go, maybe I’ll be there long enough to do some touring and take some pictures. I’ve never been to the Smithsonian yet.

The cool thing about this trip was that since it was a one night trip, I didn’t have much in the way of luggage – so I rode the motorcycle to the airport. It was pretty cool to be able to do that. The only problem is that I had nowhere to stash my helmet – they’ve taken all the lockers offline.

One thing I did notice about the area though – there are a lot of political talk radio shows on the air. I even listened a while to CSPAN Radio… Well, it is the capitol.

Boomtown, Arkansas?

Bentonville, Arkansas is quite the boomtown these days. Of course, if Wal-Mart ever goes under, this town is in serious trouble. I haven’t seen much of the town itself, but from what I’ve seen most buildings are new, including new subdivisions and homes. They’re even expanding my hotel – which took a little effort to get into. I couldn’t even get a car at the “preferred” vendor… I’ll set off a few flags on my expense report for this week.

Not surprisingly, there’s a rather large Wal-Mart Supercenter smack in the middle of town. No other stores, though… wonder why…

New Project? Doh!

Looks like I’ll get to add a new airport to my list: XNA – this is Fayetteville/NW Arkansas airport. I’ll be going to Bentonville, AR for the remainder of the week. While I’m not too pleased that my week of studying for the Exchange exams is interrupted, I am yet at the demand of my employer… After all, they still do write me that paycheck. And while I’m adding another airport, I’m not adding another state as I have been in Arkansas before for my summer job between college semesters. So: now, I’m at 73 airports on my ::: airports i’ve seen ::: page.

I guess I didn’t stay far enough under the radar last week since they found me available. I was hoping for a little more time…

Houston!

Working from home is great! I finally get to use my office and phone headset and multiple computers to perform my job. Not knowing where I need to be next is still annoying though. I think I may have to stay on this project to help transition people – especially since they are having difficulty with the new environment. At least I get to use my gym membership while I’m home.