7 posts tagged “business trip”

So I was leaving the mall today and decided that since nothing interesting had happened, and since I didn't see anything of any interest, I'd just not do a blog entry today.  5 minutes after thinking that thought, I had a perfect blog entry - me getting rear ended by a car at an intersection.  I was sitting at a stop light, looking down, and WHAM!  The other guy told me he was reaching down for his cell phone and never even hit his brakes.  Here are the pictures.  I love carrying a camera around with me.

 

 

 

Yesterday was a much better day after getting a good nights sleep.  There is some kind of thing going on at the convention center this week, and all the hotels I like to stay at were booked in the immediate Tampa downtown area.  Because of this, I'm staying about 10 miles outside of the city and have to commute in.  Holy cow, you'd think this place is a mini DC with all the traffic.  Yesterday it took me 50 minutes to get to were I'm working.  Today it took 35, not too bad compared to yesterday I suppose.

I got out of work around 3pm, and decided to roam around downtown Tampa.  If you live in or around Tampa, please forgive the following comment: Tampa is really, kind of a boring city.  It's cool looking and all, with it's palm trees lining the downtown streets, but other than that, there wasn't too much to it.

I did pass quite a few nice houses as I drove the water front.  I took these while driving so forgive me if they're a little crooked.

 

 

 

Boring downtown Tampa.....

 

 

 

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I'm driving a ford mustang this trip.  Steve Betz, don't be jealous.

 

 

Janie recommended a place she scoped out last time we were down here, Tina Tapa's.  It's a spanish restaurant that serves small sized portions.

 

 

Even though I'd heard the movie wasn't very good, I decided to watch Speed Racer at the IMAX theatre.  The story line was just eh, and there was no character development to speak of, but the special effects were just crazy, if not over the top.  If you are prone to epileptic seizures, you probably shouldn't watch this movie.

 

 

I think tomorrow I'm going to try Jackson's Bistro, since the old valet guy in the golf recommended it.  If you're from Tampa and have any other suggestions, I'll gladly take them.

Let me warn you, this is going to be a boring entry.  I only had 5 hours sleep on Sunday night, and 4 hours of sleep the night before that, so I was dragging the whole day.  Throw a plan ride into the mix, and by the end of the day I was ready to go to sleep, and not do much else.  There was a restaurant right by my hotel that was REALLY good, so I had an excellent dinner and was able to do something that I enjoy but haven't been able to do for a while - read a book while enjoying a good meal.  I started Courage Undaunted by Stephen Ambrose.  Hopefully today will be better, and I'll have more photographic oportunities.  Oh yeah, the weather has been overcast and raining.

 

 

 

 

A couple weeks ago I had to go to Tampa on business.  Janie's mom was nice enough to watch the kids so Janie could go with me on the couple day trip.  Well, here it is two weeks later, and I'm back in Tampa.  This time by myself.  Since I never got around to posting the pictures from Janie and I's trip, I feel compelled to do that before I start posting pictures from this trip.  So here are Janie and I's pictures from two weeks ago....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janie was able to go with me on last weeks business trip to Fayetteville, so that was pretty cool.  We stayed at Pinehurst, which is just west of Fayetteville.  If you all have seen the pictures of Fayetteville from past posts, than you know that it's not an area known for having lots of money.  It's actually an area that makes one grateful and appreciative for the things he has.  I now know why Fayetteville doesn't have any money - it's all it Pinehurst.  That place is beautiful, but such a different way of life.  Everyone was dressed like they were ready to hit the golf course or the tennis courts.  Older couples, with sweaters tied around their necks, were playing tennis with their tennis instructors.  Over the course of a couple days, I witnessed counless scenes that I've seen played out numerous times in Dockers commercials and Sears catalogs.  You know, the ones where a group of people are standing around in semi-circles, laughing like they don't have a care in the world.  That's Pinehurst - one big bizzaro world.  Here are a bunch of pictures from our trip....

I love it when I get a hotel that has a hot breakfast.  I love free eggs, sausages and waffles.

 

 

 

Pinehurst had some beautiful houses.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first day we went out to dinner in Fayetteville with a couple co-workers.  Tuesday evening we went to Southern Pines, to walk around and have dinner at a little German restaurant Janie found....

 

 

Can't take Mr. Bill anywhere....

 

 

 

On the way home we stopped in Chapel Hill for lunch, at a place Janie had heard Jen mention before...

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove through Petersburg Virginia on the way home.  That historic little town is really rundown, but has so much potential.  If someone doesn't do something soon, it'll be too late to repair.

 

 

Guess where I get to go back to.  That's right, Fayetteville North Carolina.  Ugh.  Of all the places I've had to go to for work, Fayetteville is the one place I'd prefer to not go back to.  Why couldn't it be Germany?  Gone are the days where I was sent to Germany, England, and Japan for buisness.  Unfortunately Fayetteville has quickly become the place I've had to go to the most.  I think it's now overtaken Tucson Arizona.  To keep the place from getting too boring I'm starting to change up where I stay when I'm in that area.  Last trip I stayed in Lumberton, this time I'm going to be crazy and stay in Pinehurst. 

I've been troubleshooting a problem on our network.  Last trip I isolated the problem to the satellite portion of the network.  I installed the network portion of this satellite site a few years ago with a couple satellite technicians.  These same technician are going to be in Fayetteville this coming week.  I told my gov't guy they'd be down there, and it'd be a good idea for them to look at the satellite equipment while there in the area.  He said, "That's a great idea.  I think you should go ahead and go down there."  Um, ok.  I wasn't really thinking of me going down there, but alright.  Thankfully it's only a one day trip.  I'll leave on Sunday afternoon and return on Tuesday afternoon.

Since it's only a one day trip, Janie's mom was nice enough to stay here and watch the kids so Janie can go with me.  Should turn out to be a nice little trip.

This time last year I was in Fayetteville North Carolina for work.  One year later, I get to return.  Yeah for me.  Actually, this time isn't so bad since I brought Janie and the kids with me.  You can see last years posts here here and here.  Hopefully this years posts will be just as interesting.  Fayetteville is just bursting at the seems with blogging material, so I have high hopes.  I'm taking Mr. Bill to the Tactical Assault shop, and that can only turn out to be a good thing. 

I didn't really take any pictures today, but I'll leave you with this statement overheard at Cracker Barrel tonight from the table behind us....

".....and I told em, 'Don't cha not know how ta speak English?'"