So I just got back from my Seattle trip! I didn’t keep a crazy journal like I did last year since I had done it already, but I did take a nice amount of pictures. Since pictures equal a 1000 words, I’m gonna do a photoblog/journal thing for the trip!
So I left pretty freaken early to get a cab from my house to get the commuter rail train to Boston so I could get to Logan to catch my flight at 11am, whooo. I took the silver line from South Station to Logan, which was super convenient. The silver line has tunnels that buses only can travel in, which seems kind of silly, but it was much better than taking 3 different subway lines to “Airport” and then taking the shuttle.
So I ate brunch in the Airport right outside my gate; one of those shitty prewrapped airport sandwiches … but I was starving so it was great. This time around I was on Coach the whole way there, so I eventually get on the plane after feeling like a 2nd class citizen after all the first class people get on the plane. Ya know what pisses me off, this boarding time for “People who need extra time.” Fuckin a, everyone seemed to be like “I’m a tard, I need extra time.” Anyway, this first flight was to Minneapolis, of all places. I sat on a isle seat with two other guys who seemed as pissed to be on the flight as I was. The flight felt like a rollorcoaster … like crazy turbulence … i wasn’t really scared … it was more annoying just to be bouncing around. So after a couple hours we landed, waited forever as dumb people take 10 minutes each to get out of their seat and leave the plane, and got off the plane.
The Minneapolis airport has those people mover flat escalator things … I almost fell after walking on those things every time. So again, I get the same damn sandwich in the airport and sit in the airport working on my MQP until we board this plane. This is where the unthinkable happens. I’m sitting in the middle seat of 3 on the plane … and this woman with a little baby sits down in the aisle seat … AH! The kid was kinda cute, but smelled. At this point there is no one sitting in the window seat. Like 10 fuckin minutes before we take off another woman with a little baby comes points to that window seat and says “I’m sitting there”. Are you fuckin kidding me?!?!? My damn luck to sit between two women with like 8-10 month old babies. But it gets better. The woman was just sitting there turned away from me with her baby, and then turns to me and says “I hope it doesn’t freak you out that I’m breastfeeding” ….. WHAT!? Who the hell does that!? Then the stewardess comes up to me and says “there are only 4 masks above, so you’ll have to reach in front or in back” … great, so not only do I have to sit between these smelly things but in the event of a loss in cabin pressure I won’t be able to breathe … sweet. The kid near the window was the dumbest looking baby ever; his mouth always dumbly open and drool just pouring out … yeah. Anyway, for the last hour of this amazing flight to seattle they two joys were asleep, so I whipped out the laptop and worked on my MQP some more. The woman in the aisle at some point said “I think GOD is trying to tell you something … sitting between two babies like this” …. she meant that I should have kids … and she’s out of her mind. So when we land the two mothers thank me for being so nice to their kids, and then the stewardess comes over to me and says “You weren’t traveling with them??” I responded with “Do I look like the fathers?”, and just walked away … fuckin idiot.
Anyway, I got my rent-a-car, a Chevy HHF … ugliest car ever, and drove to the hotel (without getting lost this time!). Here’s the non-smoking hotel room (woohoo) and wonderful car …
Anyway, I just ate that sandwhich I bought in the airport for dinner, watched TV, and went to bed early. My interview was at 11am, and of course I woke up at like 5am since I set my phone alarm for 8am … but that’s 3 hours ahead, yay. I slept for a little bit more … and by a little bit I woke up when my phone said 11am … and then I though I was late for my interview … but it was really 8am … I hate time zones. So I got myself all cleaned and dressed and had a decent breakfast … yeah, that’s before my interview.
To be honest, I don’t remember all my interviewers’ names this time, but they did ask me some fun stuff, like designing a office numbering scheme, a universal remote control, and some coding stuff. I interviewed with the Common Language Runtime group (CLR) … they basically make VB and C# work. I’m more interested in language design but this is much more of a fit then last year’s team, Customer Relations Management (CRM). The Microsoft Campus is really nice, though it was raining the entire 3 days I was there! I did get to snap some shots of inside Building 19 though …
So after my interview I went to a little strip mall thing in Redmond, and ate at Red Robin! Holy crap, those things are all over the place there. I had a burger and a beer … and played around on my Blackberry since I was eating alone and felt like a loser. Here’s the proof I was there though …
So I drove around Redmond and Seattle that night … didn’t really do anything other than that though since my flight out of there was at noon. I went to bed kinda early and woke up … packed my stuff … missed the breakfast but drove the the airport and grabbed something to eat there … the same place I went to last year … nice place. Anyway, so I upgraded myself to first class from Miniappolis to Boston since I wanted to make sure I wasn’t stuck between kids, again. So I go to board and my ticket beeps when the scan it … and the woman says “Oh, we moved you! You were going to be sitting between a family of 6 with little childred …” WFT! So she said I’d be sitting the seat behind … not a big deal. So I get on the plane and get comfortable … and another stewartess approaches me and says, “Sir, there’s going to be a little girl sitting next to you, would you care to switch with her mother?” “Sure, all for the families!” … what I whitty responce … ::pats self on back::. Anyway, I sat between an older lady and a woman who ran her mouth the entire time … I worked on my MQP and kinda tuned her out.
Ah, Miniappolis to Boston, first class … how I missed it :) I had like 2 gin and tonics and alot of wine, plus a great dinner … and a window seat so I could take pictures to my hearts content … definitely worth the $80 step up. So here’s what I saw!
Trisha picked me up from the airport and then we got coffee from Cafe Dolce. I was exausted even after the coffee, so I passed out pretty fast. And that was my Microsoft trip!