We finished the report!!!

OK, so I thought that I would actually start to post stuff to my blog (yes, I've had it for several months now J )

Getting there…and commuting

So, we'll start with last week and my trip to Boston for training and work. Overall – Awesome trip! Even though it started with a 2-hour delay on UsAirways (my preferred carrier..not my choice, but by them controlling almost 50% of market in the ROC). Got in late to Logan, grabbed my zippy SUV rental and had to find my way through the maze of back roads, cow paths and inverted directions (due to the big dig…). I recommend before going, head to the logan traffic site for info. I stayed with my Boss out in Waltham and had a unique experience taking the commuter rail into Porter Square where I'd grab the T into DOwnton Crossing. By Mid-week I was actually stating to feel like a real city-ite…Even making friends with my group on the commuter rail. It was sad on Thursday when I had to say my goodbyes, wish Jack luck on his daughter's wedding and Diane luck on her daughters art project……yup, I'm going to miss them my new friends on the commuter line.

Training:

One brought training, Microsoft course 2373, VB.Net. Now keep in mind, it's been since 1999 since I did anything related to programming (other than mad shell scripting J ). So I decided that since my title has "Developer" in it, I should update my skills. Training was excellent, ONLC did a great job of offering our content. I tried to keep a low-profile as a Microsoft Employee to get a real customer experience. The only goofy part of the whole thing was this it was distance learning….which means I sat in a box with 2 computers (running "go to my PC") and my trusty polycom conference phone. Not what I was expecting, but it did the trick!

The rest of Boston…

Philip had be hopping the entire week….his promises of beer drinking and dart playing ( J )were shattered by:

• dinner on Monday night (where I heard about how the Democrats are going to change the world),
• a talk at Harvard with Jim Miller (my new hero)
• participating in an MBA class at Bentley on Wednesday
• a marathon work session on Thursday
• attending another marketing class on Friday at Bentely College, and heading to UMass Boston for an FPIT event (great job by Edwin here!)

   

  I had a great time hanging out with Edwin (the new guy in Boston) and Jim Miller and Philip. All in all great trip!

Jim Miller…The 4^th Amigo last week

I actually got to meet the good Dr.Jim Miller. I had heard about him from Philip and spent a week setting up a speaking trip for him in NYC (PACE, Columbia, Drexel, Temple, and CUNY). Jim is an icon in the developer works, and basically is the father of the CLR (Common Language Runtime) for .NET. After seeing Jim interact with the students at Harvard, I'm really pissed that I didn't spend some T&E to get to NYC to hang out with him for the week. Jim is a great guy,a wonderful speaker and absolutely brilliant. I felt honored to share some beers with him and hear his stories….and If I could only plug in my laplink cable from my brain to his…I could only help think that he was laughing hysterically at me as I spoke about what I was learning in VB.NET..

Zune:

So I got my new Zune (demo unit of course J ) while I was in Boston. Mine is that nifty terd brown (apparently brown is the new black?). My immediate impressions were as follows:

Negatives:

• Where in the hell is the AC adaptor?
• How come in 100 years of modern scientific invention we have not come up with GOOD OEM headphones
• Where's the click wheel?
• How come it doesn't go to my last spot I was when I stop using it?
• What in the hell am I going to-do with 1,000 songs from Itunes?
• Should I need to build a bridge in a hurry, I can use my ZUNE as the keystone

Positives:

• Very compelling story for the video (me likey!)
• Intuitive interface (after I got over biatching about the click wheel)
• Better than expected battery life (not as good as my IPOD granted….but above my expectations)
• Quick sync time
• Nifty packaging!
• Sharing songs with Philip and Edwin in the office (not sure who else I'll be able to share with in Rochester)

Overall, I like it. I took it on my NYC trip, and was able to get a few people in the airport to ask me what I had…..Unfortunately, I think that Viral marketing will be the most effective, but we need to get someone else other than a MS employee to be the virus!

New York City:

After my quick 7-hour turn in Rochester to re-pack and rest, off to NYC to the weekend I went. I had promised Juleen that we would make the weekend trip at Christmas for 3 years now, and this year the bill came due! SO I Cashed in some Marriott rewards for the Courtyard Midtown (114^th west 40, between Broadway and 6^th). Nice place, bigger than average NYC room.

We hit the city like champs. Saturday we did central park, 5^th avenue shopping, the radio city rockettes (scored free tickets for the 9am show), apple store, Macy's and the fashion Musuem….all on Foot. Had dinner at Fankie and Johnnie's. Food was OK, not great.

Sunday we hit more 5^th ave shopping, the South Street Seaport, Greenwich Village, Ground Zero, JandR (every geek should make a pilgrimage to J&R) , and the MS office on Avenue of the America's (we needed a water J ). We called for our car (ended up being 30 minutes late) and headed out to LaGuardia. Ate some dinner, chilled in the Us Airways Club and got home to Rochester around 11.

Overall, we walked our asses off. I think that my feet still hurt. But the weather was nice, and the scenery beautiful…so all in all, great trip!

What a great past couple of weeks. Busy as they were. Now off to the rest of the week, Christmas shopping and wedding planning!