Back from a quick trip to Seattle. It was ostensibly for work -- I attended a big conference in my industry -- but it was something of a (short) personal vacation as well. I got to hang out with a bunch of friends and family. And honestly, that was part of the reason my company sent me out there. They know I'm from the area and that I would probably appreciate traveling there on the company dime. They're good about stuff like that.
I flew in on Friday and stayed one night with my friend JY. I had the Lyft driver take me straight to a pub from the airport, which is always ominous, but it actually wasn't a crazy night at all. We had a pint or two at an old stamping grounds, and then we watched Deadpool, which was better than I was expecting. (I'm not into the MCU or superhero blockbusters.) I did have trouble getting over the fact that the main character's name is Wade Wilson -- the same as the recently-deceased ex-Vikings quarterback -- but I doubt that bothered many people other than me.
The next day, we watched the Oregon-Washington football game with JY's mom and his brother, whom I hadn't seen in, like, 10 years. It was fun. It's a big rivalry game. They're all Ducks fans (even though JY went to UW); I used to be a Huskies fan, back in the day, but I mostly lost the love sometime over the years. I still root for them, but I don't really care when they lose, so it's actually a perfect sports relationship: Happy when they win; indifferent when they lose. I wish that's how all my fandom was. JY and his fam are not like this with the Ducks -- not at all. Early in the game the Huskies were leading and everybody was getting a bit salty (especially JY). Ultimately, however, the Ducks came back and pulled it out, so everybody was happy, including me, as I'd rather have UW lose than spend the day with a bunch of mopey people. Plus, it was JY's birthday. Plus, I was also watching the Sounders game on my phone (another team with which I have a very healthy sports relationship), and they won.
I got some grief from the peanut gallery for watching soccer, but I don't care. I don't understand the mockery of certain sports by fans of other sports. If you just don't care for a sport, the way I don't care for white wine, then that's fine. But I don't denounce the drinking of white wine. I just prefer red is all. I mean, if you're watching 19-year-olds throw a ball and slam into each other on a field, I don't think you have much room to make fun of people for watching pretty much anything.
The next day I went down to UP to visit my family for lunch. It was a brief trip, but it worked out perfectly. JY let me borrow his car, which was great, but I was now staying at a hotel for the conference in downtown Seattle, and he lives in North Seattle many miles away. For me to get to his house from the hotel would have added literally 45 minutes to my trip to UP, and it's only about an hour-long trip total. As luck would have it though, my friend JW has a parking pass for work in a lot right by my hotel, so I was able to take JY's car the night before and park it in the lot overnight, and then just head down to UP the next day straightaway. That ended up being a huge convenience, as I had to do a bunch of stuff for the conference before I could leave. You know how in life it often seems as if the world is conspiring in a manner just to irritate you specifically? Well, this was one of those times that helps balance that out. I too frequently complain about life's annoyances, so I wanted to call out an instance in which things broke the other way.
I spent all of Monday attending conference activities. They were fine. I went to a bunch of talks -- some good, some bad, some in the middle. I did a bit of networking (not my forte) and met a prospective employee, which were the most important parts of the trip, work-wise. My company is trying to expand our R&D "presence" in the industry, so my main goal was just to be an ambassador. I spoke briefly with my advisor and a few other former mentors, but they're bigwigs at this conference, so it was hard to get their ears for longer than 30 seconds.
This type of interaction wears me out. I'm not bad at it, by any means, I just find it kind of stressful. So, Monday night I "treated" myself to a $25 Cobb salad and a $8 pint of Modelo. Really, I just didn't want to leave the hotel, so I went to the (always overpriced) hotel bar for dinner. Also, I found that I kinda dig hotel bars. There's something comforting about dining alone in a place where you are supposed to dine alone. I would have liked it more if the Monday Night Football game was close, but by the time I sat down the Patriots were beating the Jets like 33-0. Oh well.
The next day, I finished up at the conference by attending a few more talks (some good, some bad, some in the middle), and then I headed back north with JY to get dinner and watch the World Series game (Nats!). Later in the night JW came and picked me up, and we met BJ and his brother DJ at another old stamping ground. Once I heard DJ was coming, I knew it was going to be a boozy night. That dude doesn't miss an opportunity to tie one on, work night or otherwise. But I was game. I had an early flight home the next day (I got up at 5:00 am to catch it), but I didn't have any kids to worry about, and flights suck anyway. Yeah, being hung over would make it even more miserable, but either way it's a wasted day -- might as well have some fun. And we did.
I made it home the next day without any major incident. As unluck would have it, I landed at Dulles Airport at 4:30 pm, which if you are familiar with the area you know is literally the very worst time you can possibly land given traffic patterns. It took an hour and a half to go from the airport to my house, which is double how long it takes not during rush hour. My Lyft driver made it much more tolerable, however, by talking sports with me the entire time. Dude knew his shit too. About 30 seconds into a conversation about sports I can tell whether somebody is a true aficionado or a casual fan. This guy was definitely the former. I happily gave him the largest recommended tip.
The trip was great overall. But I'm happy to be back. I don't like being away from my kids for that long. I don't understand how deadbeat dads do it.
Until next time...
I flew in on Friday and stayed one night with my friend JY. I had the Lyft driver take me straight to a pub from the airport, which is always ominous, but it actually wasn't a crazy night at all. We had a pint or two at an old stamping grounds, and then we watched Deadpool, which was better than I was expecting. (I'm not into the MCU or superhero blockbusters.) I did have trouble getting over the fact that the main character's name is Wade Wilson -- the same as the recently-deceased ex-Vikings quarterback -- but I doubt that bothered many people other than me.
[This one drove me crazy until I looked it up: "Oh, right! Brody's wife! Of course!"]
The next day, we watched the Oregon-Washington football game with JY's mom and his brother, whom I hadn't seen in, like, 10 years. It was fun. It's a big rivalry game. They're all Ducks fans (even though JY went to UW); I used to be a Huskies fan, back in the day, but I mostly lost the love sometime over the years. I still root for them, but I don't really care when they lose, so it's actually a perfect sports relationship: Happy when they win; indifferent when they lose. I wish that's how all my fandom was. JY and his fam are not like this with the Ducks -- not at all. Early in the game the Huskies were leading and everybody was getting a bit salty (especially JY). Ultimately, however, the Ducks came back and pulled it out, so everybody was happy, including me, as I'd rather have UW lose than spend the day with a bunch of mopey people. Plus, it was JY's birthday. Plus, I was also watching the Sounders game on my phone (another team with which I have a very healthy sports relationship), and they won.
I got some grief from the peanut gallery for watching soccer, but I don't care. I don't understand the mockery of certain sports by fans of other sports. If you just don't care for a sport, the way I don't care for white wine, then that's fine. But I don't denounce the drinking of white wine. I just prefer red is all. I mean, if you're watching 19-year-olds throw a ball and slam into each other on a field, I don't think you have much room to make fun of people for watching pretty much anything.
The next day I went down to UP to visit my family for lunch. It was a brief trip, but it worked out perfectly. JY let me borrow his car, which was great, but I was now staying at a hotel for the conference in downtown Seattle, and he lives in North Seattle many miles away. For me to get to his house from the hotel would have added literally 45 minutes to my trip to UP, and it's only about an hour-long trip total. As luck would have it though, my friend JW has a parking pass for work in a lot right by my hotel, so I was able to take JY's car the night before and park it in the lot overnight, and then just head down to UP the next day straightaway. That ended up being a huge convenience, as I had to do a bunch of stuff for the conference before I could leave. You know how in life it often seems as if the world is conspiring in a manner just to irritate you specifically? Well, this was one of those times that helps balance that out. I too frequently complain about life's annoyances, so I wanted to call out an instance in which things broke the other way.
I spent all of Monday attending conference activities. They were fine. I went to a bunch of talks -- some good, some bad, some in the middle. I did a bit of networking (not my forte) and met a prospective employee, which were the most important parts of the trip, work-wise. My company is trying to expand our R&D "presence" in the industry, so my main goal was just to be an ambassador. I spoke briefly with my advisor and a few other former mentors, but they're bigwigs at this conference, so it was hard to get their ears for longer than 30 seconds.
This type of interaction wears me out. I'm not bad at it, by any means, I just find it kind of stressful. So, Monday night I "treated" myself to a $25 Cobb salad and a $8 pint of Modelo. Really, I just didn't want to leave the hotel, so I went to the (always overpriced) hotel bar for dinner. Also, I found that I kinda dig hotel bars. There's something comforting about dining alone in a place where you are supposed to dine alone. I would have liked it more if the Monday Night Football game was close, but by the time I sat down the Patriots were beating the Jets like 33-0. Oh well.
The next day, I finished up at the conference by attending a few more talks (some good, some bad, some in the middle), and then I headed back north with JY to get dinner and watch the World Series game (Nats!). Later in the night JW came and picked me up, and we met BJ and his brother DJ at another old stamping ground. Once I heard DJ was coming, I knew it was going to be a boozy night. That dude doesn't miss an opportunity to tie one on, work night or otherwise. But I was game. I had an early flight home the next day (I got up at 5:00 am to catch it), but I didn't have any kids to worry about, and flights suck anyway. Yeah, being hung over would make it even more miserable, but either way it's a wasted day -- might as well have some fun. And we did.
I made it home the next day without any major incident. As unluck would have it, I landed at Dulles Airport at 4:30 pm, which if you are familiar with the area you know is literally the very worst time you can possibly land given traffic patterns. It took an hour and a half to go from the airport to my house, which is double how long it takes not during rush hour. My Lyft driver made it much more tolerable, however, by talking sports with me the entire time. Dude knew his shit too. About 30 seconds into a conversation about sports I can tell whether somebody is a true aficionado or a casual fan. This guy was definitely the former. I happily gave him the largest recommended tip.
The trip was great overall. But I'm happy to be back. I don't like being away from my kids for that long. I don't understand how deadbeat dads do it.
Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment