Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Liking the Brisbane office


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Beautiful view from Victoria Park


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Monday, April 29, 2024

Cockatoos in Brisbane


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The overnight train from Sydney to brisbane was a fun adventure for us. First time booking a sleeper car


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Sunday, April 28, 2024

Manly Beach


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Last Sydney sunrise


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Thursday, April 25, 2024

View from our bed


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Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Crossing the harbor bridge from the north side. A beautiful day for a hike.


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Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Surviving day 1 in Sydney


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Made it


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Saturday, April 20, 2024

The last couple days with this team.


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Friday, April 19, 2024

Made it home though just got the notification for my next trip as I landed


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Thursday, April 18, 2024

Love the photo wall in the Redgate Software office


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Team dinner


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Wednesday, April 17, 2024

One of my four sessions today. Not, am I tired. Still a bit of networking and a dinner to get through before a commute to Cambridge.


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Shirt du jour (to kick off my wings stretch of travel)


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Prepping for the keynote


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Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Dinner with great views at the Duck and Waffle


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Today's office. A large and private lounge at the Heathrow Hilton. Everyone is checked out and not checked in so I've been here alone for a couple hours prepping for tomorrow.


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Familiar Sights in London

 Yesterday was a long day in London. I arrived late in the am, and as I was walking from the plane to the border check, I went down the escalator on the entering-the-country side of the terminal. I had this view:



There's nothing special here, but through the glass there are the outbound escalators that I've taken up and a Caffe Nero coffee shop. That's a place I used to stop often on my way out of the UK early in my time at Redgate.

I used to always stay at a hotel near the airport, first the Renaissance Hotel with Brad McGehee and later at the Hilton or DoubleTree with Grant. I'd often have an early flight, which meant getting up and trying to catch the Hoppa bus or get a cab. The hotels usually didn't have breakfast ready then, so I'd stress over the transport, which could be funny, get to the airport and through security and then stop here for a cup of coffee and a chocolate croissant.

Hectic, but very impressionable trips on me. So many memories of sitting near a gate, eating and looking forward to coming home. I didn't travel much those early days outside of a few UK trips, and it was a relief to be going home.

The last 5-6 years, with a direct flight to Denver and more airline status, I get a late flight, enjoy the lounge, and skip Nero, but I always reflect on my memories there as I think of the early days, paying with coins or bills, or swiping my American credit card and having to sign, something so few European travelers did.

Hotel Confusion

I spent the night in the Hilton at T4, which is one of two hotels I use now. There is a Garden Inn at T2 as well, which I often pick when leaving since I can walk to the terminal. Yesterday, arriving tired in the morning, I was on autopilot and walked to the Garden Inn. They said they didn't have a reservation for me.

Doh! I hadn't even checked, assuming I was there, but when I looked in the app, I realized I was at the T4 Hilton, which is a nicer hotel, just a bit of a trek. I walked back, found a train and was at the Hilton 30-45 minutes later. Not a long time, but also not quick for a tired traveler.

A nap, some work, and a workout made me feel more human, but still a long day. Plus I had a 730p call in Denver, which was 230a in London. It's been a long 24 hours.

However, I had a quiet dinner in the hotel and snapped this picture after.




This large atrium has a lot of memories for me. I've been here often, including quite a few times with my wife. We've eaten in this spot, grabbing dinner after a trip in the EU somewhere, having a quiet night before a morning flight. While this hotel is a walk and train to T2, in the morning, it's an early morning and stressful, so an early night here is often on our agenda.

This hotel also has a special place in my mind as the gym is on the ground level (this is the first floor), but it's on the side of the hotel with no windows. It's a dark, quiet spot, and it's where I once got up at 430a to run.

I had a long running streak (day 1000 here) where I ran at least a mile every day. I did this for 1564 days, over 4 years. During that time I had a few trips to the UK and back, with the return trips back being hard. Depending on weather and equipment, I've had 20+ hour trips. Most of the time I'd get home and manage a jog at home, though one time at 1130p at night. Rather than chance things, I got up one time in this hotel, the only person on a treadmill at 435a trying to get a mile done before heading to the airport.

That sticks with me.

Monday, April 15, 2024

Self Driving from Home to Gym

 I wrote a short post, with a video link, of the Tesla driving itself from my house to the gym. I paused during the straightaways, but it went well. 

Home to Gym

I was pleasantly surprised.

Sunday, April 14, 2024

Haven't been here in a minute. Hopefully I can sleep on the way to London


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Friday, April 12, 2024

Springtime on the ranch


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Thursday, April 11, 2024

Fun with Maps

 Someone at work was looking for a map and I decided to try and map out where I'm speaking. Here's a rough view, which is likely to be out of date as soon as I post this.

Fortunately, I can store the map, so you can see the up to date view here: https://www.batchgeo.com/map/f92b94bb6f655320dd11ebfea73b6c43

That's assuming I remember to change this as I get accepted or find new places. My most current schedule is here: speaking schedule.


Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Tonight's dinner and dessert https://ift.tt/6Cc5G0W https://ift.tt/m4E05hi


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Salt Lake City Showdown 2024

 Our one and only travel trip for the 2024 Panther 13 Black team was last weekend in Salt Lake City. It was a long weekend, and one that wasn't successful in the outcome, but was a good time for the team and they grew up a bit. This was the first travel trip for many of them, and they did well in some days. We didn't see the energy crash we did at our other three day tournaments, partially because we'd prepared them.

First, Salt Lake is beautiful. We enjoyed the views of mountains all around. Our hotel was about 25mi from the convention center, and a parent drove us around a couple times, so we were able to look around and see the sights. Image on instragram.

From a record, we were 7-10 in games, and 2-5 in matches. The first day we played the eventual winner of the 13 American division. Our team was sure these were 14 or 15 year old girls on steroids. They wiped the floor with us. The other two teams were beatable, and we took them to three sets, but lost. Surprisingly, we didn't serve well, which has been a strength for us.

I blame some nerves.

The second day we won easily, then lost a close one where we thought we might win. After winning the first, the other team leaned on their dynamic middle and she performed. We didn't have a good answer, neither in blocking or digging. That was disappointing. Still, somehow they lost to the team we beat and we took 1st place in the pool.

The third day we lost to a much better team. I felt bad for them, as they were in the lower half with us because the first day they lost a 3 way tie in their pool to the eventual 3rd and 5th place teams. We lost 17-25 and 14-25 and it didn't feel that close.

Much needed beer at the airport.

It was a good weekend overall. Some nice team bonding, some funny pics when the team took my phone. Long days, but not too stressful for me and a nice travel trip.

Slightly sad it's our only one, but it's been a long season, so ready for things to end.

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Day 3 at the Salt Lake City Showdowb


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Monday, April 8, 2024

Lost my phone again while reffing


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Sunday, April 7, 2024

Day 2


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Reffing at 10pm isn't fun


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Morning team building with Starbucks and friendship bracelets


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Saturday, April 6, 2024

Easy for the Salt Lake City Showdown


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Forgot how beautiful Salt Lake City can be


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