i got back from boston last night without incident. in fact, that was pretty much how the entire week went — without incident. i’m glad.
i met some really interesting people on my trip though.
Kevin: on the plane ride up, i met kevin who works for BoA in one of their vast IT groups. turns out he might be an interesting networking opportunity. we had an interesting discussion on the makeup of IT departments and the possibilities there. we’ll see where this connection goes.
Pinku: for the entire week, pinku taught the class was in boston for, which was basically on architecting distributed system in .net 2.0. he is very knowledgeable on the subject, and gave me lots of ideas for methods of implementing systems at my company. he just completed his doctorate, and we started discussing all the things surrounding getting a PhD. (reasons for getting one, etc.). i enjoyed the class and the opportunity to meet this
intelligent fellow.
Jeff: on monday night, i went to the hotel bar after dinner to watch monday night football. there, i drank too many cosmos, and met jeff who was working at the hotel at the front desk. he’s an eagles fan and is actually from philly (didn’t get why they had him in boston for a period). he was impressed by my knowledge of football (i.e. that madden was no longer on monday night football duty…fraunies!), and we spent a good bit lamenting pittsburgh’s loss to the jags.
Sox Fan at 99: 99 restaurant is a sister chain to O’Charley’s (from what i could gather), and a colleague had recommended it to me while i was in boston. so i took a chance, and stopped in for dinner one night. the red sox were playing minnesota, and though i’m not a baseball fan, i was watching the game over my meal and beers. this red-haired young fella started a conversation about the game, and we talked a little about being fans of our respective sports (me: football, he: baseball). he was an electrician’s apprentice from woburn (burb of boston where we were). didn’t get his name, but he was a nice bostonian who crossed my path.
Robert & Glen: i typically don’t talk to many people in these training classes, but when robert and glen showed up at subway during a lunchbreak, we decided to eat together. it was better than not talking to anyone during the week. they were from Tulsa, OK, and seemed to be my age, which was cool. we mostly talked about football (fantasy football in particular) and cars. on their suggestion, i spent the last few hours i had in boston at the USS Constitution. it was well worth the trip. thanks, guys.
Brad: my flight home was delayed 20 minutes, so i decided to stop at a bar near my gate. between only 2 bars and delayed flights all over the place, the bars were packed. i chose to stand in line at the fox sports bar, and wait my turn for a seat, not expecting to get one anytime soon. smalltalk ensued with this weary traveller behind me. within the bar, there were many solo traveller’s. when a table for 2 became available, i told this fellow behind me that if he didn’t mind sharing a table, i didn’t either. so that’s what we did. it worked out nicely. over smalltalk, i found out brad works for nasa on experiment/system integration. basically, he works on taking all the pieces of the various experiments that are done on missions and puts it all together, giving all parties involved information on quirks, bugs, workarounds, etc. he was really neat to talk to. turns out he went to cornell and stanford, at which i was impressed. but he quickly put my impression to rest saying that all ivy league doesn’t necessarily mean better education. he explained most people go to those schools for themselves. whether that’s a good reason or not is not my call. brad was a good spirit, and i’m glad our paths crossed.
funny story: at the table, brad was working on his laptop, and i was reading my book. we really were just sharing a table and smalltalk. the waiter had no idea what our situation was nor did he have any reason to. about halfway into the 2nd beer, he came by and scolded brad by saying, “dude you should put that laptop away! i’m sure your girlfriend over here doesn’t appreciate being ignored!” i’m sure we both blushed as we realized how it must’ve looked. then i told him that we had just met. he replied with “oh so you’re on the 10 second dating thing, eh?!” brad and i laughed as the waiter left sheepishly. i later deduced that brad is married (i was relieved…didn’t want him to get the wrong idea), and i was able to communicate i’m in a most-successful relationship as well.
Francis: i finally got home, and picked up the car in the remote lot. on my way out, this parking attendant was particularly chatty. the first thing he said to me was “well, i just got to shake the hand of the nice lady before you. am i gonna have to shake yours too?” i replied, “it may just be your lucky day!” we conversed a little about his wife getting jealous and what my boyfriend would think (shaking hands? lol @ harmless). he noticed my fat book, and asked me about reading and such. turns out he sells books of various types online. he gave me his e-mail address so i could contact him about a deal on any book i’m looking for at the time. how neat!
all in all, this trip was very different in terms of my social interactions. where i used to keep to myself, i was much more open to chatting with people about whatever they felt like. and i felt enlightened by doing so. i think you can learn something from each person you meet.
currently playing: AZWETHINKWEIZ – incubus
posting time: 5 hours (kept getting interrupted)
