This morning, the bus line was extremely long - one of the cons of being the second hotel on the route. Breakfast's bacon was much better today, though, so I was quite happy with the morning.
My morning talk was on managed to native interop best practices, which turned out to be a slight waste of time. C++/CLI and COM interop don't really apply to my current programming tasks, so I plan on remembering the keywords to look up when/if I actually need them. I will continue to use PInvoke, is what it comes down to. The second talk on LINQ and VS2008 IDE tips and tricks (combined and how they relate) was an excellent session. The speaker was Amanda Silver, so if you ever have the chance to attend a presentation of hers, I highly recommend it.
Lunch was a bit on the mediocre side, but the baked macaroni and cheese was surprisingly good. The conversation was better, and just as informative for me as most of the talks here. Which brings me to a surprising fact: Attending conferences can be tiring, even when you're just sitting in rooms learning. I guess my brain is working harder than I think sometimes.
I missed the afternoon sessions in order to prepare a virtual machine for a DataDude talk on Friday morning. It is nice to see all my work over the past few months start to come together for something practical, even if it's just a presentation, rather than a functional product. But, at one point, the press releases seemed to indicate that I need to have something done by the end of the year, so we'll have to see what happens. My busy work schedule may continue for awhile...
Dinner this evening was at SeaWorld in one of the pavilions. It was a bit awkward at first, because there was a live band for background music and very few people. The food was nothing to write home about, but I guess I'm doing that anyway, in a way. We left dinner on the earlier side in order to enter the rest of the park. We saw the Shamu Rocks show, and a ski show, then walked around until the 10:00pm fireworks Mystify show. The word cheesy comes to mind. I was only there for a couple of hours, and I'm just glad that I didn't have to pay, and that I didn't have to be there longer. If there's one thing recently that would keep me from having kids, it's attending this amusement park. I do not look forward to having to be at one again, and keeping track of kids in that chaos can only make such an experience even more taxing. And you all should know by now how much I hate taxes.
Needless to say, I'm going straight to bed tonight.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Microsoft Tech-Ed: Tuesday June 3
The keynote presentation was fairly enjoyable. Bill Gates had a "last full day at Microsoft" video which had some funny appearances from multiple celebrities. The demonstrations were interesting enough, too. IBM made an appearance in one, and that can be read about on an MSDN blog: DataDude goes multi-platform. It was nice to see some of my work make an appearance in front of thousands of people, but even better was that the demonstration worked!
Anyway, breakfast was pretty decent. The bacon needed to be crisper in order to be really enjoyable, but luckily, I only grabbed 7 pieces. I spent the rest of the day attending talks on LINQ, data binding in Windows Presentation Framework, DataDude, and parallel programming.
Probably the coolest part of the day was the dinner/party thing for the various sponsors. There was good food all around the booths and most booths were giving away some cool stuff. I got 6 new t-shirts, so I don't have to go shopping for shirts this year, plus a key chain compass, a squishy basketball, a noisy monkey toy, a LINQ pocket reference book, and a slinky! Free stuff rocks!
Anyway, breakfast was pretty decent. The bacon needed to be crisper in order to be really enjoyable, but luckily, I only grabbed 7 pieces. I spent the rest of the day attending talks on LINQ, data binding in Windows Presentation Framework, DataDude, and parallel programming.
Probably the coolest part of the day was the dinner/party thing for the various sponsors. There was good food all around the booths and most booths were giving away some cool stuff. I got 6 new t-shirts, so I don't have to go shopping for shirts this year, plus a key chain compass, a squishy basketball, a noisy monkey toy, a LINQ pocket reference book, and a slinky! Free stuff rocks!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Microsoft Tech-Ed: Monday June 2
I woke up at 4am in order to get cleaned, packed, and off to Orlando by 7am. I arrived at the gate as they called for final boarding - just in time! 2.5 hours later, I was in Orlando with a stiff neck. Despite the stiff neck, I still think Midwest might be my favorite airline to fly. Although...I'm not sure if I slept through the fresh-baked cookies, or if they don't serve them on early morning flights. I wanted cookies!
As long as I'm reviewing things, I might as well talk about Enterprise car rentals. So far, I've been fairly happy with my two rentals with them. The cars have been clean and functional, the staff has been courteous, and their shuttles to/from the airport have been frequent and pleasant. This week, I'm stuck in a Chevy Cobalt. I cannot give that a positive review. There is no way to lock/unlock all the doors at once. Even my powerless locks in the Altima could be unlocked with a double turn of the key. The window reel thing is also placed too near to part of the door, and so I scraped my hand at the TWO toll booths (in under 10 miles - inefficient!) I had to go through to get to my hotel. Perhaps most annoying, between the front seats is an empty space. There's no arm rest, and it's very unbalancing. The only positive thing about it is it's phenomenally small turning radius, which came in handy a few times, unfortunately.
I got to the hotel and checked in about noon, but my room wasn't ready. I caught the shuttle to the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) and registered for Tech-Ed. It was a painless process, and they gave me a backpack with water bottle and a t-shirt. Free stuff! I'll have two carry-on pieces on the return flight, though, which I dislike. That's another good thing about Midwest: Their large seats reduce the number of people on the flight which leaves plenty of overhead bin space.
I still had 3 hours to kill, so I went to Subway. Based on that experience, I can't recommend Orlando Subways. It just didn't taste right. I then headed over to Wallgreen's to pick up fingernail clippers and a small tube of toothpaste. I still had a couple hours to kill, though. I went back to the hotel to look through the packet of stuff inside the backpack.
That was a boring 15 minutes finding out it was all stuff like MSDN Magazine, sample software from random companies, and a few advertisements. Perhaps if I worked more with Microsoft technologies as a developer, instead of as a partner, I'd be more excited about the sample packs of grid forms and whatnot. Still, I'm definitely looking forward to the conference stuff. It should be a lot of fun and hopefully a bit educational, too.
As long as I'm reviewing things, I might as well talk about Enterprise car rentals. So far, I've been fairly happy with my two rentals with them. The cars have been clean and functional, the staff has been courteous, and their shuttles to/from the airport have been frequent and pleasant. This week, I'm stuck in a Chevy Cobalt. I cannot give that a positive review. There is no way to lock/unlock all the doors at once. Even my powerless locks in the Altima could be unlocked with a double turn of the key. The window reel thing is also placed too near to part of the door, and so I scraped my hand at the TWO toll booths (in under 10 miles - inefficient!) I had to go through to get to my hotel. Perhaps most annoying, between the front seats is an empty space. There's no arm rest, and it's very unbalancing. The only positive thing about it is it's phenomenally small turning radius, which came in handy a few times, unfortunately.
I got to the hotel and checked in about noon, but my room wasn't ready. I caught the shuttle to the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) and registered for Tech-Ed. It was a painless process, and they gave me a backpack with water bottle and a t-shirt. Free stuff! I'll have two carry-on pieces on the return flight, though, which I dislike. That's another good thing about Midwest: Their large seats reduce the number of people on the flight which leaves plenty of overhead bin space.
I still had 3 hours to kill, so I went to Subway. Based on that experience, I can't recommend Orlando Subways. It just didn't taste right. I then headed over to Wallgreen's to pick up fingernail clippers and a small tube of toothpaste. I still had a couple hours to kill, though. I went back to the hotel to look through the packet of stuff inside the backpack.
That was a boring 15 minutes finding out it was all stuff like MSDN Magazine, sample software from random companies, and a few advertisements. Perhaps if I worked more with Microsoft technologies as a developer, instead of as a partner, I'd be more excited about the sample packs of grid forms and whatnot. Still, I'm definitely looking forward to the conference stuff. It should be a lot of fun and hopefully a bit educational, too.
Deep Sea Fishing
I've also never been a huge fan of fishing. Unlike my day at the beach, my day fishing didn't really change that. We got up and were on the road by 4am. We arrived at the check-in building at 4:45, left dock at 5:30, left the bait barge by 6, and were on our way. It was cold. I was cold. But the sun was coming up, and by the time we started fishing at about 7, I wasn't too cold anymore. The first place we stopped, my older brother, Brian, and I dropped our bait fish into the water and they were almost immediately snatched up. I found myself wrestling a yellow-tail tuna, and he struggled with a barracuda. We reeled them in and each thought to ourselves (at this rate, we'll each catch like 10 fish!).
I didn't catch anything else worth keeping, but Brian caught one other fish, I think. Aimee, Brian's fiancée (congratulations!), caught a bass near the end. My little brother, Jake, was the big winner, catching a tuna, two barracuda, and a bass.
Overall, I was a bit bored moving from location to location, hooking bait fish after bait fish, throwing back 8-inch mackerels, and in general just standing around. Perhaps it would have been better if there was a nice sink that I could wash my hands in, so I could cleanly eat my lunch and snack food. Or if I used a lure instead of having to sacrifice tens of tiny sardines and anchovies. It was slimy, wet, hot, and boring. But I'm glad I went.
One lesson learned was to fish early in the week, rather than at the very end. Having caught so many fish (and I have the feeling the average day probably results in a better haul), Friday was spent eating fish. Fish for lunch, fish for dinner, and Brian even ate fish for breakfast on Saturday morning. Now, I've never been a huge fan of eating fish, but this was downright tasty. Perhaps it was the freshness, perhaps it was the bread crumbs and frying, perhaps it was just my taste buds changing since childhood, but I like fish! Not enough to go out and buy it on my own, but enough so that I won't be upset when I have to eat it.
Not a bad trip, all in all.
I didn't catch anything else worth keeping, but Brian caught one other fish, I think. Aimee, Brian's fiancée (congratulations!), caught a bass near the end. My little brother, Jake, was the big winner, catching a tuna, two barracuda, and a bass.
Overall, I was a bit bored moving from location to location, hooking bait fish after bait fish, throwing back 8-inch mackerels, and in general just standing around. Perhaps it would have been better if there was a nice sink that I could wash my hands in, so I could cleanly eat my lunch and snack food. Or if I used a lure instead of having to sacrifice tens of tiny sardines and anchovies. It was slimy, wet, hot, and boring. But I'm glad I went.
One lesson learned was to fish early in the week, rather than at the very end. Having caught so many fish (and I have the feeling the average day probably results in a better haul), Friday was spent eating fish. Fish for lunch, fish for dinner, and Brian even ate fish for breakfast on Saturday morning. Now, I've never been a huge fan of eating fish, but this was downright tasty. Perhaps it was the freshness, perhaps it was the bread crumbs and frying, perhaps it was just my taste buds changing since childhood, but I like fish! Not enough to go out and buy it on my own, but enough so that I won't be upset when I have to eat it.
Not a bad trip, all in all.
The Beach
I've never been a huge fan of the beach. It's sandy, hot, the water is salty and cold, and there's sharp things to cut your feet. Wednesday's trip to the beach, however, was thoroughly enjoyable. We hiked from our car up some trails and then back down to the beach, where we made our way back to the car. The sand was very fine, the sharp things were easily avoidable, the water wasn't too cold, and since I only went in up to my calves, for the most part, the saltiness didn't matter. Except for the cuts on my legs - saltwater is not comfortable on cuts. Luckily, I have nothing against pain and even enjoyed trudging along through it.
We had some fairly decent Mexican food for dinner, and then made our way home for a quiet evening. It was by far the most relaxing day of the vacation. I'd be up for another beach excursion, so long as I wasn't expected to swim. Fun times.
We had some fairly decent Mexican food for dinner, and then made our way home for a quiet evening. It was by far the most relaxing day of the vacation. I'd be up for another beach excursion, so long as I wasn't expected to swim. Fun times.
Climbing a mountain (and golf)
Tuesday morning, my little brother, Jake, and I went to an hour-long golf lesson on the full swing. I got to touch a 3-iron, but no golf balls, and no full swings were taken. It was just a guy talking about golf grips and hip movement. Not very exciting.
To liven up the day, Jake and I decided to climb the mountain behind our resort. I didn't have a whole lot to wear with me, so I chose shorts and a short sleeve shirt. It was a bit hot out, so I thought I was well prepared. The movies never prepared me for climbing a real southern-California mountain, though. The steepness, the rocks, the loose dirt, those aren't the problem. The problem is plants. Burrs. Pokey things. Thorns. Surprisingly, even though there was always a bee within a couple feet of me, I wasn't stung at all. But, I was still left with plenty of cuts and scrapes.
Getting up the mountain took about 2.5 hours and was a lot of fun. I'm a little bit afraid of heights, but I found that I could control that - sometimes with an effort of will (DC 10). Often, I would be in an uncomfortable position with one foot tenuously perched on a small toehold a few feet away from my other foot. I wouldn't be at all comfortable with staying still or moving forward, but invariably, once I threw my weight toward that foot, it supported me and launching up to the next resting point was easy. I'm sure there's a life lesson in there somewhere, but at the moment, I'm just happy to know that I can climb a mountain as long as it's not too steep or too tall.
There was a road to the left of the mountain as we climbed up. It was our plan to take that back down. Unfortunately, getting from the very top back to the road (maybe 100 vertical feet down after ~1000 feet up) took a full 2 hours. There was a solid covering of thick bushes on that side and we had to tear them apart with our feet and hands. It was very slow going, not at all helped by our encounter with a rattlesnake and what Jake said was a sand boa. We got down without getting bitten, and without too much other trouble. It was just slow going - and after we were already tired and thirsty from our climb.
Even including all that, I had fun that day and would recommend climbing a mountain at some point. I suppose it gave me a bit of confidence or something.
To liven up the day, Jake and I decided to climb the mountain behind our resort. I didn't have a whole lot to wear with me, so I chose shorts and a short sleeve shirt. It was a bit hot out, so I thought I was well prepared. The movies never prepared me for climbing a real southern-California mountain, though. The steepness, the rocks, the loose dirt, those aren't the problem. The problem is plants. Burrs. Pokey things. Thorns. Surprisingly, even though there was always a bee within a couple feet of me, I wasn't stung at all. But, I was still left with plenty of cuts and scrapes.
Getting up the mountain took about 2.5 hours and was a lot of fun. I'm a little bit afraid of heights, but I found that I could control that - sometimes with an effort of will (DC 10). Often, I would be in an uncomfortable position with one foot tenuously perched on a small toehold a few feet away from my other foot. I wouldn't be at all comfortable with staying still or moving forward, but invariably, once I threw my weight toward that foot, it supported me and launching up to the next resting point was easy. I'm sure there's a life lesson in there somewhere, but at the moment, I'm just happy to know that I can climb a mountain as long as it's not too steep or too tall.
There was a road to the left of the mountain as we climbed up. It was our plan to take that back down. Unfortunately, getting from the very top back to the road (maybe 100 vertical feet down after ~1000 feet up) took a full 2 hours. There was a solid covering of thick bushes on that side and we had to tear them apart with our feet and hands. It was very slow going, not at all helped by our encounter with a rattlesnake and what Jake said was a sand boa. We got down without getting bitten, and without too much other trouble. It was just slow going - and after we were already tired and thirsty from our climb.
Even including all that, I had fun that day and would recommend climbing a mountain at some point. I suppose it gave me a bit of confidence or something.
Monday, May 26, 2008
3 Days in San Diego
It's my third day in San Diego, and so far the trip has been pretty fun. I'm glad I have my work laptop here - I don't think I could relax as much if I weren't able to keep up with work a bit. Internet wasn't included in the package, so I'm going to try and expense the $40 connection charge for the week. It really is a legitimate expense, though, since I wouldn't have gotten it except for work.
Anyway, Saturday was spent flying to San Diego via Chicago (seems out of the way to me, too). Sunday was a relaxing day at the beach. We walked a few miles along a boardwalk spanning Mission Beach and Pacific Beach. We ate lunch at a nice pizzeria, then picked up hamburgers to cook on the grill outside our building at the resort (which we've agreed to call "The Compound" even though it doesn't resemble a compound). We didn't spend all that much time on the beach, though, because it was chilly enough that the water was uncomfortable cold. I had fun kicking sand around, so it wasn't a total loss.
Today was spent at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. I'm not a big fan of zoos, but it was pretty enjoyable. I learned first-hand that lions have round pupils as opposed to the slits my cats have. I haven't looked it up yet, but I have a couple theories as to why they might have evolved differently. There were plenty of cute baby animals, and the petting area was nice enough.
The best part of the trip so far would probably be the Vietnamese restaurant we ate dinner at today (Royal Pho Vietnamese Restaurant). I was thoroughly impressed. After some order confusion, they brought out our spring roll orders. They were large, had whole shrimp, some beef, and were accompanied by my favorite: peanut sauce. My rice noodles, shrimp, charbroiled pork, egg rolls, and other miscellaneous things were comparably excellent. I'd be happy to go back again this trip, and if there was a place like it in Kansas City, I would patronize it frequently.
Tomorrow, I have plans to attend a free golf lesson. This will be my first introduction to golf outside of putt-putt-style places. Wish me luck!
Anyway, Saturday was spent flying to San Diego via Chicago (seems out of the way to me, too). Sunday was a relaxing day at the beach. We walked a few miles along a boardwalk spanning Mission Beach and Pacific Beach. We ate lunch at a nice pizzeria, then picked up hamburgers to cook on the grill outside our building at the resort (which we've agreed to call "The Compound" even though it doesn't resemble a compound). We didn't spend all that much time on the beach, though, because it was chilly enough that the water was uncomfortable cold. I had fun kicking sand around, so it wasn't a total loss.
Today was spent at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. I'm not a big fan of zoos, but it was pretty enjoyable. I learned first-hand that lions have round pupils as opposed to the slits my cats have. I haven't looked it up yet, but I have a couple theories as to why they might have evolved differently. There were plenty of cute baby animals, and the petting area was nice enough.
The best part of the trip so far would probably be the Vietnamese restaurant we ate dinner at today (Royal Pho Vietnamese Restaurant). I was thoroughly impressed. After some order confusion, they brought out our spring roll orders. They were large, had whole shrimp, some beef, and were accompanied by my favorite: peanut sauce. My rice noodles, shrimp, charbroiled pork, egg rolls, and other miscellaneous things were comparably excellent. I'd be happy to go back again this trip, and if there was a place like it in Kansas City, I would patronize it frequently.
Tomorrow, I have plans to attend a free golf lesson. This will be my first introduction to golf outside of putt-putt-style places. Wish me luck!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Youtube
So, I've been contemplating submitting some youtube videos for a year or two. Now, I don't have a video camera with which to create said videos. If I did have one, I still don't think I could subject the world to that kind of horrible content, even if it is optional viewing.
I guess I like the idea of being loved and adored by thens of thousands of people like some of the vloggers out there. But, then I realize that I'm not nearly as creative as most of the loved and adored vloggers. I'm happy to talk at length about many topics, but I don't ever do so in a unique and/or funny way. I list facts, build arguments, and forget what I want to say. At least with that last one, I might have an endearing quality, if done right.
The lovable and adorable Natalie from Australia is the one who deserves the most credit for inspiring me to join the ranks of youtube vloggers. The problem is that she also deserves the most credit for intimidating me away from that course of action. I could never hope to be so lovable/loved nor adorable/adored. Ah well. Because my vacation next week keeps me from viewing the early-round action of The French Open, I decided to share Natalie's tennis video to show what I aspire to. Well, I might also aspire to this.
I guess I like the idea of being loved and adored by thens of thousands of people like some of the vloggers out there. But, then I realize that I'm not nearly as creative as most of the loved and adored vloggers. I'm happy to talk at length about many topics, but I don't ever do so in a unique and/or funny way. I list facts, build arguments, and forget what I want to say. At least with that last one, I might have an endearing quality, if done right.
The lovable and adorable Natalie from Australia is the one who deserves the most credit for inspiring me to join the ranks of youtube vloggers. The problem is that she also deserves the most credit for intimidating me away from that course of action. I could never hope to be so lovable/loved nor adorable/adored. Ah well. Because my vacation next week keeps me from viewing the early-round action of The French Open, I decided to share Natalie's tennis video to show what I aspire to. Well, I might also aspire to this.
One year
I've been in my house for a full year now. I officially bought my house on April 30, 2007. The anniversary went by only vaguely recognized until today. I don't have any deep thoughts regarding homeownership, but I figured I might as well recap what I've learned about it in roughly 366 days (leap year!).
I had more, but I forgot about this post until now. Add to it in comments!
- Maintenance expenses can be higher that you think. There is insurance, lawn care, pest control, utility bills, and property taxes.
- Furnishing a house can be expensive. After a year of payments, even, I'm still ~$5000 in debt to Nebraska Furniture Mart (thankfully at 0% interest).
- When you opt not to escrow your insurance and property tax payments, they can catch you by surprise.
- Living in a house is more fun when someone else is around, too.
- Mowing the lawn sucks, even when it's your own lawn.
I had more, but I forgot about this post until now. Add to it in comments!
Vacation(s)
I'm leaving for San Diego on a week-long family vacation. After that, I'm headed to Orlando for most of a week for Microsoft's TechEd. You can blame TechEd for my recent lack of posting. I've been crazy-busy at work getting ready for that. But, if I have internet access in San Diego, I will do my best to do a couple posts from the road, if for no other reason than to say I've blogged from San Diego.
Have a good week, all!
Have a good week, all!
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